Bitcoin could become an $8 trillion asset by 2030, according to Andy Edstrom of California-based WESCAP Group.

The wealth manager said the cryptocurrency could take away a part of capitalization from all the leading markets. They include gold, shares, fiat, offshore assets, or demonetized store of values like real estates.He added that investors would explore bitcoin also because of its new use-cases as its technology grows in the next decade. Excerpts:

Whether its micropayments or similar things enabled by [the] Lightning [Network] or its Abra or similar systems whereby you can get synthetic exposure to any asset in the world just by holding bitcoin as collateral. So theres a lot of upsides.

The statements came after a series of global media coverages called out bitcoin for being the best investment of the decade ending 2019. The period saw the cryptocurrencys rate journeying from a few cents to $7,100, wherein its market valuation even surpassed that of US investment banking giant Goldman Sachs.

Entering 2020, bitcoin was among the leading gainers even so mounting global geopolitical and macroeconomic risks kept risk-on sentiments at bay. The cryptocurrencys move uphill prompted analysts to call it a new form of safe-asset, which investors treated as insurance assets against gloomy macro conditions.

Bitcoin lifetime performance | TradingView.com, Coinbase

Nevertheless, Mr. Edstrom noted that bitcoins major upside in the last decade came on the back of FOMO a backronym for Fear of Missing Out.

The former hedge fund investor cited it as hyper-bitcoinization caused by the notorious initial coin offering boom in late 2017, adding that FOMO could happen even in the next bullish cycle. Also, a more researched class of investors could measure bitcoin against expansionary fiscal policies undertaken by governments and central banks around the world.

Either way, the investment thesis of bitcoin is good, said Mr. Edstrom.

The upside sentiments in the bitcoin market have encountered resistance from traditional financial experts. Many of them still see bitcoin as a speculative asset having no underlying value. Jeff Schumacher of BCG Digital Ventures, for instance, said the cryptocurrencys price might even go down to zero.

I do believe it will go to zero. I think its a great technology but I dont believe its a currency. Its not based on anything, the top financial analyst said at the sidelines of recently-held World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Other financial analysts that see bitcoins so-called bubble popping in the next decade include legendary investor Warren Buffett, perma-bear economist Nouriel Roubini, and gold bull Peter Schiff.

See the original post:
Bitcoin Will Be $8 Trillion Economy by 2030, Top Wealth Manager Explains Why - newsBTC

In his latest weekly crypto report, commodity trading legend Peter Brandt explained why he thinks that Bitcoin (BTC) could be in the early stages of another parabolic move.

Must Read

Brandt says that Bitcoin (BTC) remains within a massive bull channel that goes back to 2013. He noted that the top cryptocurrency recently started to redefine another parabolic advance, which is reminiscent of the previous bull market.

The chart shared by Brandt shows that Bitcoin has finally managed to break out of a falling channel after forming an inverse head-and-shoulders (iH&S) pattern on the daily chart.

"That was important (to complete the channel) because it was an indication that this retest of this massive lower boundary on the weekly chart is held."

The $6,500 level, which was tested in December, could end up being a significant bottom for a long period of time.

Must Read

In his video, Brandt also noted that weak hands had been FOMO'd out with the formation of the above-mentioned iH&S chart. The fact that Twitter permabulls were waiting for a dip to the $5,000 level was a signal that the bottom was already in.

"So I think we've just got rid of a lot of people, and what that means is weak hands are out. There is nothing more bullish to a market when you have a lot of bulls who are basically sold out."

As reported by U.Today, Brandt claimed that the BTC price could aim for $50,000 if the bulls had been completely purged from Twitter.

Here is the original post:
Peter Brandt Says Bitcoin (BTC) Is in 'Early Stages' of Another Parabolic Move - U.Today

Instead of flaring off gas, they are burning it to run computers that mine bitcoins. Is this any better?

TreeHugger has often complained about the power consumption of mining bitcoins. Right now, according to the digiconomist, Bitcoin is consuming 73.68 terawatts of electricity every year, as much as all of Austria, and is has a carbon footprint of 35 million tonnes of CO2, about the same as all of Denmark. It's enough electricity to power 6,822,107 American homes.

The numbers for a single transaction are even more ridiculous; the energy needed to mine just one bitcoin could power 22.06 houses for a day, and has a carbon footprint of 309.99 kilograms of CO2, my carbon budget for 45 days.

All this electricity, all this carbon dioxide, for what? What are they good for? According to Bloomberg, mostly speculation. One source said 90 percent of all trading is speculation. We are cooking the planet for speculation.

And now, we learn that Bitcoin miners are setting up in the Permian Basin in Texas, where natural gas is a byproduct of fracking for oil and they are flaring or burning it off. So Crusoe Energy Systems has developed a small gas-fired one-megawatt generator system with a box full of computers so that they can convert that natural gas into carbon dioxide and bitcoins. According to Bloomberg, 70 of these units would consume 10 million cubic feet of gas per day. According to Denver Business Journal,

With the agreement of an oil and gas well owner, Crusoe Energy connects a catalytic converter and generator to the natural gas from the well, cleanly turning it into electric energy powering the computer servers mining Bitcoin. The well owner gets free emissions reduction at a well where the natural gas would typically be flared off into the atmosphere. Crusoe receives free energy with which to mine Bitcoin.

Its a very creative way to solve an environmental and economic problem for the oil and gas industry, says one investor. Its easier to move data than a remote commodity, says the Crusoe founder.

But how does this solve an environmental problem? They were burning the gas before. They are burning the gas now. The only difference is that they are getting a Bitcoin out of it.

So many articles are calling this a solution to flaring, but really, the gas bubble is feeding the speculative bubble and we all lose.

Instead of flaring off gas, they are burning it to run computers that mine bitcoins. Is this any better?

More here:
The gas bubble is feeding the speculative Bitcoin bubble - Treehugger

Casa is working on securing your Bitcoin. Whats the company willing to do?

In its new official post, Casa claims to have had an amazing year in 2019. In 2020, the company is willing to continue improving its services. Particularly, ensuring that your BTC is safe and sound.

To begin with, Casa will be laser-focused on Keymaster. The latter is a multisig solution. The company also plans to offer an affordable subscription. For $10/month, anyone can take advantage of securing BTC.

We will be open-sourcing the Casa Node so that anyone can build it on their own hardware (and we wont be building new Nodes for now), the company notes.

The reason why the company is working on securing BTC is evident. Its still difficult to protect your hard-traded BTC. As a result, about 4 million bitcoinshave been lost forever. Every year the crypto community is outraged by yet another major crypto hack. In 2019 alone, the malign actors managed to stealover$150 million in cryptocurrency.

To protect BTC, many people resort to weird acts like burying their keys in their yard. Or just leaving their funds in their hot wallets, waiting to be attacked. Trust me you will be, especially if youre a honey-pot.

Holding your own coins, and your own private keys, unlocks the true value and vision of Bitcoin: the ability to have full control and full sovereignty over your money, says Casa.

The advantage of the keymaster in this regard is that it forgives you for making a mistake.

If you lose a key, you simply rotate it out for a new one using the remaining keys you still have, and your bitcoin remains safe, the company claims.

Accordingly, you dont need your seed phrase at all. The upcoming updates include:

The company says that its product the Casa Node was a massive step forward in usability for Bitcoin and Lightning nodes.

According to it, Node 2 is being shipped and is about to reach its customers. Its sold out. Because the company wants to focus on KeyMaster, itll stop selling Casa Node 2 in the near term.

At the same time, the company is planning to fully open source the Casa Node software and its build scripts/images. Thus, anyone can start building the Casa Node on their own hardware!

Lastly, the company is willing to make changes to its Casa Gold membership. From now on, itll only cost $10/month. The sum will be billed annually.

That means 2-of-3 multisig and peace of mind that your bitcoin is safe now costs less than your Netflix subscription, the company notes.

To remind, Charlie Lee, the founder of Litecoin, was one of the original investors of Casa.

More:
Securing Your Bitcoin: Casa is Working on It - Product Release & Updates - Altcoin Buzz

Silvergate Bank is venturing even further into a field where few financial institutions dare to tiptoe.

The La Jolla, Calif., lender made a name for itself providing hard-to-come-by U.S.-dollar banking services for businesses that deal in cryptocurrency. But now Silvergate wants to handle digital assets themselves.

While the bank has no such services on its roadmap yet, it has applied for the New York trust license with the aim of providing custody and settlement for crypto. One example of this might look like providing settlement services for their bitcoin trades, Silvergate CEO Alan J. Lane said.

In this scenario, Silvergate would be the intermediary ensuring settlement of a fiat-for-bitcoin exchange between two participants on its Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), a payments platform that allows commercial customers to instantly move U.S. dollars between crypto exchanges.

"In order for us to be able to be that trusted intermediary, we have to be able to touch the digital assets ourselves, Lane said. "Think about it as if Silvergate also had the ability to be the SEN for bitcoin."

The service, almost certainly the first of its kind offered by a U.S. commercial bank, wouldnt apply to retail investors or institutional investors that are already comfortable with bitcoin as an asset class.

Its folks that arent quite ready to be in the business, and part of the reason is because this doesnt exist, Lane said, emphasizing the bank doesnt yet have a product in mind to solve the problem. Our current customers, theyve already figured out a way to get comfortable with this, but they tell us there are other counterparties out there that theyre not yet doing business with because they dont have a trusted way to settle.

Lane spoke to CoinDesk Thursday after Silvergates first conference call as a publicly traded company. Earlier in the day it had reported fourth-quarter results, including a 6 percent increase in crypto clients and a 4 percent decrease in deposits from those clients.

Coming soon

Silvergate Banks 2020 will be characterized by staff getting the banks bitcoin-collateralized margin lending running well and solving other pain points in the digital asset industry, Lane said.

Salary expenses climbed nearly 6 percent from a year earlier to $8.7 million in the fourth quarter. The majority of this went toward customer service and software engineers, Lane said when asked what share of the expenses was from compliance costs.

The bank does spend money on compliance, of course: Silvergate uses both Chainalysis and Elliptic, Lane said. These vendors analyze the public blockchains to flag suspicious activity, which banks are required under Federal Reserve regulations to report.

With $2.1 billion in assets, Silvergate is a relatively small institution, 0.07 percent the size of JPMorgan. The asset side of its balance sheet looks like a traditional community lender, composed mainly of real estate loans. But that may start to evolve soon.

In the immediate future, Silvergate's biggest focus is its pilot of the SEN Leverage product, which allows proprietary traders to put up bitcoin as collateral for fiat loans they can then use to buy more bitcoin.

Since the 90-to-180-day pilot will include only SEN participants, the bank will be able to monitor SEN Leverage loans more closely than it could other types of loans.

We will be able to monitor the loan, the collateral underlying the loan and the balance of the loan, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Lane said. Well be able to monitor this much more closely than we can monitor just about any other loan we make.

In response to questions from analysts in the companys earnings call about yield on SEN loans, Lane said, The way weve thought about this initially is this would likely be a high single-digit type of cost to the borrower.

In the interview, Lane emphasized the bank wouldnt take advantage of crypto customers on SEN loans just because other banks arent offering the same product. Were certainly not going to poke their eyes out on what were charging them, Lane said.

Silvergate is also working to increase the number of fiat currencies it supports for foreign exchange transactions on the SEN to include at least the top five to 10 major global currencies. From fourth-quarter 2018 to fourth-quarter 2019, volume on the SEN increased by 150 percent to an all-time high of 14,400 transactions handling $9.6 billion.

Our customers are saying, Wed love to have the SEN for the euro and the SEN for the yen, Lane said. That involves having correspondent banking relationships with banks in those areas where those currencies are predominant and then being able to create a similar type of network as to what weve created with the SEN.

Dry powder

Taking Silvergate public has given the crypto industry a clearer window into the bank's business. It also positions Silvergate to more easily raise capital should the need arise.

Currently, Silvergate has a 10.5 percent leverage ratio, meaning the bank has more than twice the amount of capital required by banking regulators (5 percent).

"On that metric alone, we could double the size of the bank and not run out of capital," Lane said. "That's just one metric, and I'm not suggesting we would do that but if we saw that leverage ratio going down to 8 percent, we would look to raise additional capital."

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.

Continue reading here:
Few Banks Will Touch Crypto Firms, but Silvergate Wants to Touch Bitcoin Itself - Coindesk

Bitcoin spiked above $9,400 and $9,500 against the US Dollar. BTC traded to a new yearly high at $9,569 and it is currently showing signs of a downside correction.

Yesterday, bitcoin remained well bid above the $9,200 support against the US Dollar. As a result, BTC extended its upward move above the $9,400 resistance area. The price even spiked above the $9,500 resistance and traded to a new 2020 high at $9,569.

However, the bulls fails to remain in action above the $9,500 level. It corrected lower below the $9,500 level, plus the 23.3% Fib retracement level of the recent move from the $9,167 swing low to $9,569 high.

More importantly, this weeks crucial bullish trend line was breached with support near $9,420 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. Therefore, it seems like bitcoin price is preparing to start a downside correction below $9,400.

Bitcoin Price

An immediate support is near the $9,360 level. It coincides with the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent move from the $9,167 swing low to $9,569 high. The first key support is near the $9,260 level, below which the bears are likely to eye a test of the $9,150 support area.

The bulls need to be careful if bitcoin slides further below the $9,150 support. In the mentioned case, there is a risk of a large downside correction below the $9,000 support area.

The recent downside break below the trend line and $9,400 could be false. To restart the current uptrend, the bulls need to push the price back above the $9,480 and $9,500 level.

A successful daily close above the $9,500 resistance level will most likely open the doors for a run towards the main $10,000 resistance area. An intermediate resistance might be near $9,850.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD The MACD is now back into the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) The RSI for BTC/USD is currently declining and is now below the 50 level.

Major Support Levels $9,260 followed by $9,150.

Major Resistance Levels $9,500, $9,850 and $10,000.

See the original post here:
Are Bitcoin Bulls Finally Giving Up? BTC Shows First Signs of a Big Correction - newsBTC

eclipse_images | E+ | Getty Images

If you can't beat the crypto crowd, it might be time to join them, experts say.

Virtual currency and its underlying technology, blockchain, are here to stay and that means both will play some role in investors' lives.

"It's actually very hard to decouple blockchain and bitcoin," said Sunayna Tuteja, head of digital assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) at TD Ameritrade.

She spoke at the TD Ameritrade LINC conference in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday.

"On the one end, how do we commercialize the value of DLT and blockchain to bring more innovation to traditional markets?" Tuteja asked. "On the other end of the spectrum: How do you tap into this nascent asset class?"

Cryptocurrency at least bitcoin has staying power. "Because there's a fixed number of bitcoin, it's inflation-proof and it's virtually instantaneous," said conference speaker Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines.

Even investors in retirement plans are dipping a toe into the asset class.

In the third quarter of 2019, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which tracks the price of the cryptocurrency, was the fifth-largest holding among millennial investors in Charles Schwab's self-directed brokerage accounts.

Self-directed brokerage accounts are sometimes offered within retirement plans and allow investors to select individual stocks, bonds and other assets that aren't on a 401(k) plan's general investment menu.

Luc MacGregor | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The price of bitcoin surged to its zenith on Dec. 15, 2017, when one unit of the virtual currency was valued at $19,650. The price cratered a year later, slumping to $3,183 on Dec. 14, 2018.

As of Jan. 30, one bitcoin is equal to about $9,300.

Volatility notwithstanding, this virtual currency also carries little correlation with other asset classes investors may hold in their portfolio, including stocks and bonds, Edelman said.

A 1% allocation to bitcoin that is, going from 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds to 59% in stocks, 1% in bitcoin and 40% in bonds -- just might be enough to give investors the benefit of diversification without risking the whole portfolio, Edelman said.

"We need to acknowledge that 1% allocation isn't going to materially harm a client," he said. "It isn't going to prevent them from achieving their financial goals, and won't damage their personal finances."

Oliver Furrer | Cultura | Getty Images

Making a tiny allocation toward bitcoin doesn't absolve investors of the need to do their homework before buying, say experts. They should get schooled on digital assets, as well as the underlying blockchain technology, first.

"Don't consider investing unless you understand the technology," said Edelman. "Otherwise, you're not investing; you're spending."

Investors hoping to jump into the crypto pool should approach it with a long-term mentality and prepare to ride out volatile times including the chance of a 100% loss from that digital currency, he said.

More from FA Playbook:Blockchain's potential will continue to spur investmentHow much investors should invest in alternativesAre collectibles good investments or just hobbies?

Finally, don't forget that if investors acquire, sell or exchange cryptocurrency, they'll need to report it to the IRS. The tax agency treats bitcoin holdings as property, the same way it would regard stocks and other investments.

Cryptocurrency exchanges may provide investors with a Form 1099-K detailing capital gains and losses, but there is no guarantee that they'll get one.

That means it's up to bitcoin owners to track their basis their original investment in the virtual currency -- and their transactions for accurate tax reporting.

Here is the original post:
This is the right amount of bitcoin to keep in an investment portfolio - CNBC

Bitcoin [BTC] price looked prime for a run up to the $10,000 mark. The uncertainty in the market was palpable as the open interest and long orders continued to rise. However, while Bitcoin [BTC] ranged around $9350-$9600, Tesla [TSLA] logged a high at $650 on Thursday.

Reportedly, a 11% rise in Tesla yesterday caused a short order liquidation of more than $1.5 billion. The price has been in an uptrend since October last year.

Moreover, $TSLA has soared more than 52% in the month of the January alone. The compiled liquidations of betting against Tesla has risen to $5.2 billion for the year.

The CSO of Coinshares, Meletem Demirors, leading digital assets firm in the US tweeted, on the success of tech assets like Tesla shares, Bitcoin prices including Beyond Meat, the vegan substitute of meat. She tweeted,

On the other hand, crypto traders went on compiling long-orders looking for a breakout. However, the price got rejected from the resistance around November highs at $9590.

The Open Interest (OI) in Bitcoin [BTC] swept above $1 billion on BitMEX. Historically, such high levels of open market orders often makes it susceptible to huge volatility movements on the opposite side of the bets.

Nevertheless, while there was quite a bit of uncertainty, the price did not deviate much from the $9400 mark. The overall bias technically and with strong fundamentals are still bullish.

The futures Open Interest on Huobi and Okex is rising as well. on Okex, the funding and BTC basis is positives signalling a long inclination as well.

Surprisingly, on Huobi, while the overall position seems balanced (50-50%), there is a majority traders looking for a correction.

The price of Bitcoin [BTC] at 4: 40 hours UTC is $9400. The swing lows are near $9153, while the high is near $9590.

Do you think Bitcoin [BTC] will reach 10,000 or long orders will get squeezed? Please share your views with us.

Summary

Article Name

Bitcoin [BTC] Avoids a Price Squeeze to $9,000, as Tesla Soars over Bleeding Shorts

Description

Bitcoin [BTC] price looked prime for a run up to the $10,000 mark. The uncertainty in the market was palpable as the open interest and long orders continued to rise. However, while Bitcoin [BTC] ranged around $9350-$9600, Tesla [TSLA] logged a high of $650 on Thursday.

Author

Nivesh Rustgi

Publisher Name

CoinGape

Publisher Logo

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on Linkedin

Share on Telegram

Read this article:
Bitcoin [BTC] Avoids a Price Squeeze to $9,000, as Tesla Soars over Bleeding Shorts - Coingape