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Ugandan Legislators Address the Role of Cryptocurrency in Pyramid Schemes – CryptoGlobe

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Ugandan Legislators Address the Role of Cryptocurrency in Pyramid Schemes

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Ugandan politicians are targeting the role of cryptocurrencies in pyramid schemes that have plagued the country in recent months.

According to a report by local newspaper PML Daily on Feb. 4, legislators are advancing a proposal to criminalize Ponzi schemes which will include coverage for the role of cryptocurrencies.

State Minister of Finance David Bahati told members of parliament the government has established a task force to explore the impact of cryptocurrencies on Uganda, in addition to global trends.

Bahati also addressed the prevalence of Ponzi schemes in the country and pushed a government initiative that would educate citizens on recognizing financial scams.

He said,

We are also discussing with the Internal Affairs Ministry to ban such schemes. The challenge is that operators of such schemes register as financial institutions but when they get on the ground, their operations are different.

Bahati also recommended against investing in cryptocurrencies due to their lack of regulation.

He continued,

We have continued to advise the public to desist from investing in cryptocurrencies since they are yet to be supervised and regulated in Uganda. We have, therefore, strongly encouraged the members of the public to do their business transactions with only licensed financial institutions.

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Ugandan Legislators Address the Role of Cryptocurrency in Pyramid Schemes - CryptoGlobe

Definition of a Cryptocurrency Fork; Why Are They Necessary? – Coin Idol

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Feb 09, 2020 at 10:19 // News

Forks are tools employed by blockchain and DLT networks to increase blockchain execution and run the protocol. These are generally distributed into Soft Fork and Hard Fork (hardfork).

A Soft Fork is realized and implemented by creating a modernized version of the DLT protocol compatible with earlier versions. The Soft Fork puts in place a reversible change that enables contribution in the DLT network even to all those nodes that for various reasons decide not to upgrade.

A Hard Fork introduces irreversible change and needs blockchain nodes to create the upgrade mandatorily. With Hard Fork, new cryptocurrencies are formed as in the past, for example, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) cases or zcash and Litecoin (LTC).

Hard Forks can be Planned and Scheduled, or Contentious, which means they can't find community consent.

Regarding Contentious hard forks, the proposed modification to the protocol does not reach an agreement within the community and with the Hardfork we come to a type of blockchain splitting. A Contentious Hard Fork leads to the establishment of a new coin.

Regarding planned Hard Forks, the protocol change is planned and the transition is approved by community participants. A Planned Hard Fork is not leading to the splitting of the DLT and the rules are rationalized in the formula of continuity.

The reasons which can lead to a Hardfork are different but can be summarized in some places:

One of the themes that leads the blockchain community to face a fork is scalability. For example, regarding the DLT net, the starting point is a DLT created to process transactions every ten minutes. A time closely associated with the amount of transactions and the number of users. In the second half of 2017 there was an exponential increase in registrations due to a very strong increase in the spread of the currency. This "demand" has also resulted in a slowdown in the time of consolidation of consolidation of blocks consolidation on the DLT.

And let's get to the Forks, which is the subject of the division between the developer family who want to maintain the traditional blockchain structure and developers who want to increase the volume of locks and transactions, trying to make the recordings faster. This contrast has generated some forks of the DLT and the emergence of new virtual currencies originating from Bitcoin blockchain (like BCH and BTC).

But it should not be forgotten that each new separation of the blockchain also determines the risk of a possible centralization in the running of the blockchain itself and thus of weakening the trust mechanism, that is, a trust that is directly proportional to the number of nodes in the DLT network.

If you assume that, for the Miner, the chances of winning the Proof of Work are directly proportional to the computing capacity you have, you notice that the Bitcoin blockchain is exposed to an imbalance risk in favor of those who may have greater computing power or, in other respects, can access more computing capacity at more affordable costs. In these cases, for example, the purpose of remediation is to define protocol-level innovations that will lower the importance of computing capacity in the resolution of Proof of Work, that is, by trying to reduce the risks of concentration of the Miners.

The subject of performance and scalability has always accompanied the development of blockchain tech. BTC's ability to process transactions compares to time limits of less than 10 transactions per second. Among the themes of the community is that we have a protocol that can improve these performances. Among the "streets" is to increase the block size, which is to double the amount of dealings in each block.

Interventions on the DLT protocol are also intended to run the DLT ecosystem, or the set of rules and balances that underlie the blockchain's own view. Among the themes is the controlling of the Forks itself and to the precision of the Hardforks that leading the community to face real splits poses a theme of protecting the overall value of the ecosystem and, directly, also a theme of shared rules, of distributed and shared governance for Bitcoin.

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Definition of a Cryptocurrency Fork; Why Are They Necessary? - Coin Idol

Three Reasons Why Bitcoin is Bearish, Explains Analyst – newsBTC

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Bitcoin may have surged bombastically heading into 2020 but one analyst thinks the cryptocurrency is going to fall back.

Options trader Dyme said bitcoin is entering a perfect bearish setup, listing three converging negative indicators that hint a deep price retracement in the coming trading sessions. They are Rising Wedge, Bearish Divergence, and Overleveraged Longs.

Everything about [the setup] screams short, added Dyme.

In retrospect, each indicator typically leads to a price drop in an otherwise booming asset. Rising Wedge, for instance, appears if any asset trends upward, creating higher highs and higher lows, creating a conical pattern. But it breaks out to the downside upon reaching the apex of the diagram.

Bitcoin moving inside the red Rising Wedge pattern | Source: TradingView.com, Coinbase

In its decade-old existence, bitcoin has broken down from Rising Wedge patterns on several occasions. That allowed Dyme to predict a similar scenario in the current cryptocurrency uptrend.

Similarly, Bearish Divergence also predicts a potential reversal in a bull market. The formation occurs when an asset makes higher highs but its momentum indicator (such as a Relative Strength Index) makes lower highs.

On bitcoins daily chart, there is merely a hint of divergence, with the RSI tops almost leveled equally among each other. On lower timeframes, however, the momentum indicator is making lower highs against bitcoins higher high formations. It fits the description of a potential trend reversal.

A set of bitcoins trade statistics shows that the cryptocurrency might be overleveraged at this point in time. While Dyme merely mentioned it, his fellow analyst Cantering Clark gave evidence of risky Long positions in the market, citing its funding rate, open interest, and futures premium.

I think the market is likely due to punishing late longs soon, the analyst wrote Thursday. The market is likely very long right now, as it should be, with the trend.

Clark stated that the next pullback could cause a $700-1,000 drop in the bitcoin price, adding:

We havent seen any major divergences in delta overall toward this recent high. If anything, I suspect a roll over / fall under own weight i.e. Cascade of stops and liquidations.

Alex Krger, a prominent market analyst, also noticed a pullback pattern brewing on BitMEX. He found that the funding rate on the derivatives platform had lately touched 0.12 percent that historically sends the bitcoin prices lower.

Source: Alex Krger

The boxplot shows what happens with bitcoins price when Bitmex funding reaches levels as extreme as todays, said Krger. Bitmex funding can be used as a proxy for traders positioning. The mean return after 5 days has been -7%.

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Three Reasons Why Bitcoin is Bearish, Explains Analyst - newsBTC

Keene Solidifies Position as Global Leader in Cryptocurrency Acceptance with Three More Businesses Onboard in January! – Free Keene

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by Ian | Feb 7, 2020 | Bitcoin, Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash, Cool, Cryptocurrency, DASH, Economic Freedom, International, News, Update |

Anypaymap.com shows the most active crypto-accepting businesses in the area.

With her new business, EuPHOria, the founding chef of Keenes Pho Keene Great, Isabelle Rose, has struck out on her own and is now regularly meeting customers in Keene with hot Vietnamese food cooked-to-order. Another recent addition is Pure Bliss Clean, a professional cleaning service that handles home and small businesses. Also, Kenzy Dietz of KD Prestige Detailing recently won Monadnock Cryptos radio giveaway contest on 92.7 Bratt FM and decided to set up Anypay Cash Register shortly thereafter. Dietz had already been introduced to cryptocurrency by someone close to her and was elated to be the winner of the $500-worth-of-crypto giveaway. When asked what her reasons were for accepting cryptocurrency at her car detailing business, Dietz said, Cryptocurrency is the currency of the future, so I am delighted to be a local business that accepts it as payment. Not only is it easy to accept, but its a great way to broaden my businesses acceptance of alternatives to paying with just cash, checks, or debit. The future is coming.

You can read the full article over on the Monadnock Crypto blog here.

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Keene Solidifies Position as Global Leader in Cryptocurrency Acceptance with Three More Businesses Onboard in January! - Free Keene

USA Is Looking Closely To Launching Its Own Cryptocurrency, According To Fed Governor Lael Brainard – CryptoPotato

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The U.S. Federal Reserve is experimenting with blockchain technology to establish potential use cases for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Feds Governor Lael Brainard said this in a recent speech, but she also noted that risks still exist, and they have to be addressed before launching a digital currency.

As reported by Reuters, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard recently mentioned the countrys potential involvement in central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. According to her, the U.S. central bank is researching the feasibility of issuing a digital currency.

We are conducting research and experimentation related to distributed ledger technologies and their potential use case for digital currencies, including the potential for a CBDC.

We are collaborating with other central banks as we advance our understanding for central bank digital currencies.

Cryptopotato recently reported that a survey from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) regarding the emerging trend of CBDCs. The findings were that 80% of all participating banks are working on launching their own digital currency.

Brainard also noted the extreme competition in the field and added that there are a set of reasons to also be making sure that we are the frontier of both research and policy development.

Interestingly enough, less than two years ago, Brainard appeared extremely against the idea of launching a CBDC. Aside from all regulatory hurdles that she mentioned, Feds Governor also indicated that there is no compelling demonstrated need for a Fed-issued digital currency.

Now, though, the situation has changed dramatically as she referred to Facebooks plans to launch its own cryptocurrency Libra. Brainard said that ever since it was announced last year, it brought imparted urgency around the digital currency topic.

The Governor believes that projects similar to Libra could deliver additional risks, which need to be addressed before the product is live:

Some of the new players are outside the financial systems regulatory guardrails, and their new currencies could pose challenges in areas such as illicit finance, privacy, financial stability, and monetary policy transmission. according to Brainard.

Ultimately, she seemed more optimistic regarding the positive benefits of digital currencies, and concluded that by transforming payments, digitization has the potential to deliver greater value and convenience at a lower cost. Despite Facebook intentions, the Libra project may not come alive, according to Facebook itself.

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USA Is Looking Closely To Launching Its Own Cryptocurrency, According To Fed Governor Lael Brainard - CryptoPotato

Bitcoin (BTC) Price, Chart, Value & Market Cap | CoinCodex

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Statistics

The Bitcoin price is currently $10,061 with a 24-hour trading volume of $31.35B across 174 exchanges. The BTC price is up 2.03% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin reached its highest price on 17 December, 2017, when it was trading at its all-time high of $19,927. It has a circulating supply of 18.09M BTC with a total supply of 21.00M BTC. The best exchange for trading Bitcoin is Binance.

Invented in 2008 and launched in early 2009, Bitcoin introduced the world to the concept of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin was invented by someone using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, but it is still unclear whether this name represents one person or a group of people.

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer system that allows users to transfer value between each other without requiring a trusted third party to act as an intermediary. The design of the Bitcoin protocol prevents double spending and the arbitrary creation of new coins.

Key Bitcoin features:

Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a fully transparent public ledger called the blockchain. Approximately every 10 minutes, Bitcoin transactions are batched into a block and added to the ledger. The blocks reference each other this is where the chain part of blockchain comes from.

In order to ensure the security of the network, Bitcoin uses a proof-of-work algorithm. The process of facilitating transactions and creating new coins is referred to as mining. Miners deploy their computers to solve resource-intensive mathematical problems the miner that reaches the correct solution first has the privilege of adding the next block to the Bitcoin blockchain and receives a reward in the form of BTC for their trouble.

However, the reward received by miners is cut in half approximately every 4 years in what are known as Bitcoin halvings. The maximum supply of Bitcoin is capped at 21 million coins. The last Bitcoin will be mined around the year 2140, according to estimates.

Each BTC can be subdivided in 100 million units called satoshis. This means that you don't have to buy a whole BTC in order to invest in Bitcoin.

One satoshi is the smallest denomination of Bitcoin that can exist. Satoshis are commonly referred to as sats by cryptocurrency fans.

The more computing power thats used for mining Bitcoin, the more robust the network becomes, as it becomes increasingly difficult for a single entity to intentionally promote invalid transactions or re-arrange the history of the ledger.

The Bitcoin network is permissionless, which means that anyone can become a miner and participate in its consensus process.

Bitcoin started off as a niche interest for cryptography and technology enthusiasts and eventually exploded in popularity, with the BTC price growing to thousands of dollars.

With Bitcoins rise in value and popularity, the technology that makes Bitcoin possible was started being leveraged for a number of use cases, leading to the emergence of crypto assets as an asset class - practically every cryptocurrency on the market today employs some of the concepts introduced by Bitcoin.

On CoinCodex, you can stay up to date with the latest information regarding the Bitcoin price, market cap and news.

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Weiss Ratings Upgrades Bitcoin to A- Ahead of Halving – Cointelegraph

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American provider of investment data Weiss Ratings has ranked Bitcoin (BTC) as excellent by assigning it an A- grade due to strong price performance.

In a tweet published on Feb. 7, Weiss Ratings announced:

The Weiss Crypto Rating for #BTC is now A- (excellent), thanks to improving fundamentals and positive price action ahead of Bitcoin's next halving.

Previously, in late March 2019, Weiss Ratings put Bitcoin aside XRP and EOS as cryptocurrencies that have the best combination of adoption and technology. Now, Bitcoin has a higher grade than both those assets, with XRP standing at B- and EOS at C after a downgrade for centralization. XRPs current rating is also lower than the A it was assigned in March.

Comparatively, China one of the most blockchain-friendly countries worldwide periodically issues its own cryptocurrency ratings, namely from Chinas state-backed tech workgroup, the Center for Information and Industry Development (CCID). The latest ratings published at the end of September put Bitcoin in the eleventh spot.

Meanwhile, the CCID puts EOS in the top spot with Tron (TRX) second and Ethereum (ETH) third. XRP, on the other hand, is ranked twentieth.

Weiss Ratings emphasizes the importance of the upcoming Bitcoin halving event, which refers to the reduction by 50% of the rate at which new coins are produced. Miners that secure the blockchain are compensated with new coins for every new block that they create and soon the number of new Bitcoins created for every block will drop from 12.5 to 6.25 coins.

Further in the future, the creation of new blocks will only be compensated with the transaction fees and new coins will not be created anymore.

As Cointelegraph reported yesterday, major United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently said that halving will move Bitcoin closer to being digital gold. The firm noted:

Armed with a myriad of technological advantages, accelerating development, and maturing global market, Bitcoin is a store of value to rival gold in the digital age.

As reported earlier today, Bitcoin has just broken $10,000 for the first time this year. After starting 2019 at $7,227, Bitcoins price consistently grew until reaching the current value of $10,140, a 40% gain since the beginning of the year.

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Weiss Ratings Upgrades Bitcoin to A- Ahead of Halving - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin Price Hits $10,000 for the First Time in 2020 Up 40% YTD – Cointelegraph

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Bitcoin (BTC) briefly hit $10,000 on Feb. 9, capping a momentous first month of 2020 to reach its highest level since October last year.

Crypto market weekly price chart. Source: Coin360

Data from Coinbase exchange and Cointelegraph Markets showed that shortly after 3:00 a.m. UTC BTC/USD moved to $10,000 on a high volume spike but the digital asset quickly pulled back to $9,975. The feat of reclaiming five figures occurred after a nearly four-month absence.

During that time, the pair traded as low as $6,400 before an abrupt bullish turnaround saw January alone deliver gains of 35%.

The move to the symbolic $10,000 level was preceded by Bitcoin futures markets, which briefly entered the zone on Feb. 6.

Traders had been primed to expect a strong directional move, with Cointelegraph Markets analyst filbfilb identifying $9,550 as likely support.

Fellow analyst Mati Greenspan added:

This isn't the first time bitcoin has been valued above $10,000 and it might not be the last, but it is the first time that the valuation is justifiable based on fundamentals of the network.

Bitcoin weekly price chart. Source: Coin360

Currently, the overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $283.9 billion, with Bitcoins dominance rate is 63.5%. A handful of major altcoins mirrored Bitcoins success, with Ether (ETH) rising 2.27% to pass $225, EOS rallying 8.27% and Bitcoin SV (BSV) reaching $365.14 on the back of a 24.24% daily gain.

Earlier in the week, many tokens repeatedly put in a solid performance for investors, with daily gains for some topping 25%.

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Bitcoin Price Hits $10,000 for the First Time in 2020 Up 40% YTD - Cointelegraph

Exchange Deposits in Bitcoin Slide to Lowest Level in 3 Years – Coindesk

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The number of bitcoin on-chain deposits has dropped sharply over the last six months, indicating a strong optimistic or HODLing, sentiment in the market.

The seven-day average of the number of transfers to exchange addresses, or unique daily exchange deposits, fell to 23,986 on Jan. 1. Thats the lowest level since November 2016 and comes after topping out at 58,925 at the end of June 2019, according to crypto analytics firm Glassnode. The number has since inched up to 27,289 as of Feb. 4.

Notably, the count of deposits dropped by 60 percent in the second half of 2019 even as prices collapsed from $13,800 to $6,425.

During violent price drops, investors usually move their coins to exchanges to sell them in the market. However, investors held onto their coins during the second half of 2019 despite the price slide.

It indicates increased HODLing, a sign of strengthening belief in the long-term viability of the cryptocurrency, according to Ashish Singhal, CEO and co-founder at CRUXPay and CoinSwitch.co.

HODLers are not in it for a get rich quick mentality and are now less fazed by micro factors that previously led to an exodus or panic sell, Singhal told CoinDesk.

Nicholas Pelecanos, advisor to NEM Ventures, sees the slowdown in trading and on-chain transaction volumes as indicative of a not-so-healthy market in the short-term.

A divergence between on-chain transaction volume and price appreciation has typically been a bearish signal, Pelecanos told CoinDesk.

Bitcoins price rallied by 30 percent in January, diverging higher from the the count of transfers to exchange addresses, which remained near multi-year lows hit on Jan. 1.

Although the number of transfers to exchanges declined, the number of transactions recently saw an upswing along with price. The seven-day average of transactions jumped rose from 290,200 on Jan. 6 to a three-month high of 324,745 on Feb. 3.

That investors hoarded coins in January amid a price rally suggests strong bullish sentiment among investors; if they had doubted the sustainability of the recent price gains, they would have moved their coins to exchanges to sell them at market price, leading to a rise in exchange deposits.

Exchange deposits may rise after halving

Bitcoin will undergo mining reward halving in May 2020. The process aims to curb inflation by reducing rewards per block mined by 50 percent. When it occurs, the block rewards will drop to 6.25 BTC from the current 12.5 BTC.

Bitcoin has picked up a bid ahead of the supply-cutting event. The cryptocurrency is currently trading at $9,400, representing a 46 percent gain on Decembers low of $6,425.

Connor Abendschein, crypto research analyst at Digital Assets Data, expects exchange deposits to rise should the price of the cryptocurrency continue to do so ahead of the halving and in the following months. Thats because some investors may decide to book profits, he said.

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

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Exchange Deposits in Bitcoin Slide to Lowest Level in 3 Years - Coindesk

Bitcoin Has Erased Over 45% of 2019 Sell-Off in Just 7 Weeks – CoinDesk

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Bitcoin is continuing to pile on the gains.

The number one cryptocurrency by market value rose to a three-month high of $9,859 during the U.S. trading hours on Thursday and was last seen trading at $9,801, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index.

With the surge to multi-month highs,bitcoin has recovered a significant portion of the ground lost in the secondhalf of 2019.

Bitcoin's bull move from the April 2019 low of $4,100 topped out at $13,880 at the end of June. The bears seized control in July and ended up pushing prices to below $7,000 by the end of November.

December, therefore, began on a negative note with prominent analysts calling for a deeper drop to $6,000 or below on miner selling of the digital asset.

The decline, however, was cut short at the seven-month low of $6,425 on Dec. 18. Since then the cryptocurrency has risen sharply by more than $3,300.

The speed of the ascent has been impressive nearly 46 percent of the decline from $13,880 to $6,425 seen in the 25 weeks to Dec. 18 has been reversed in just seven weeks.

With the bulls in control and momentum looking quite strong, the cryptocurrency could soon rise into five figures.

The daily chart looks constructive with the cryptocurrency printing bullish higher highs and higher lows with each passing week.

Confirming the uptrend are the ascending five- and 10-day moving averages (MAs) and a bullish crossover of the 50- and 100-day MAs. The MACD histogram, meanwhile, is printing higher bars above the zero line, indicating a strengthening of bullish momentum.

Importantly, the market is showing no signs of bull fatigue. The 14-day relative strength index is yet to cross into overbought territory above 70 and the cryptocurrency continues to print solid green candles with small wicks, a sign there is no hesitation among buyers while pushing prices higher.

So, the odds appear stacked in favor of a rise to the October high of $10,350. Pullbacks, if any, could find take the support of the ascendingfive- and 10-day MAs located at $9,526 and $9,445, respectively.

Bitcoin has faced rejection near $9,850 two times in the last 24 hours. Another failure might see some buyers opting to take their profits, leading to a minor price pullback to $9,635 (horizontal support line). Acceptance below that level might bring in deeper losses toward $9,500.

Disclosure: The author does not currently hold any digital assets.

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 Has Erased Over 45% of 2019 Sell-Off in Just 7 Weeks - CoinDesk


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