Bitcoin has settled above SMA50 weekly for the first time since the beginning of December. If the coin holds the ground, we may see another bullish leg towards $8,500 in the nearest future.

At the time of writing, BTC/USD is changing hands at $7,859. The first digital coin stopped within a whisker of psychological $8,000 before the technical correction pushed it back below $7,900. Bitcoin gained over 4% in recent 24 hours and 1.2% since the beginning of the day. Notably, Bitcoin has been growing strongly since January 3 and printed the fifth bullish candle in a row amid strong upside momentum.

Iran-US tensions tops the list of possible Bitcoin bullish drivers. While opinions divided on this matter, the escalation may have had at least an indirect influence on the cryptocurrency market. The conflict may lead to growing oil prices, which in turn will translate into higher inflation rates. Being regarded as a hedge against inflation along with gold, Bitcoin may gain popularity among investors.

Upcoming halving is another potential reason behind the pump. A stock to flow (S2F) ratio implies that Bitcoin is grossly undervalued even after the current price surge. The Bitcoin's S2F ration that defines how long would it take to reach the maximum supply at the current rate of production has multiple -0.15, which means that its fair value is about $8,500. However, the data is retrieved from the S2F Multiple Twitter bot that has a history of overestimating Bitcoin price potential. While the model is not perfect, it can be used in conjunction with other tools and indicators.

At the time of writing, BTC recovery is capped by SMA100 (Simple Moving Average) at $7,950. This barrier is closely followed by a psychological $8,000. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $8,400. This barrier is created by a confluence of 50.0% Fibo retracement for the upside move from December 2018 low to July 2019 high and the upper boundary of the long-term descending wedge.

On the downside, the initial support lies with $7,700 (SMA50 weekly and the upper line of the daily Bollinger Band). If this area is cleared, the sell-off may be extended towards $7,350 (SMA50 daily) and $7,000.

Read more:
Bitcoin may extend the growth to $8,500 and here is why - FXStreet

Bitcoin may have started 2019 strong but ever since it posted a high of $13,880 in June, the top cryptocurrency has been correcting. It dropped to as low as $6,425 in December. At that point, bearish calls for a revisit to $5,000 levels were strong.

Those who have been waiting to buy below $6,000 have been left out. The digital gold is now trading above $7,000 and analysts are expecting bitcoin to leave this price area soon. Many see a base being formed, which can propel the number one cryptocurrency to greater heights early this year.

After a weak second half of 2019, it appears that the worst is behind for the most dominant cryptocurrency. A number of widely-followed analysts on Twitter say that bitcoin is carving a bottom.

For instance, Faisal Sohail believes that the cryptocurrency has already tapped the bottom when it dropped to $6,475 in December. He believes that the digital asset will trade between $7,000 and $12,000 before the halving.

User Bitcoin Macro supports Faisals view. In an emphatic tweet, Bitcoin Macro exclaims that the bottom is already in. He also tells his followers not to get shaken out.

Majin, Crypto Twitters biggest bull, has also turned bullish after months of uncertainty. The liquidity game theorist believes bitcoin will take off and leave $7,000 behind.

BTC has been range trading between $6,700 and $7,600 since November 20, 2019. Thats a $900 range over 45 days. To many analysts, this is a sign that a new base is being built to prepare bitcoin for the next leg up, hence, the call for a bottom.

Charles Edwards, head of digital investment firm Capriole, sees a potential accumulation pattern forming. More importantly, he believes that the bottom is already in. According to Edwards, his bias would be confirmed once bitcoin trades above $8,000.

Edwards is not alone in seeing a pattern indicating that whales and other smart money investors are accumulating the largest cryptocurrency. Trader CryptoWolf also sees an accumulation pattern developing. His bias will be confirmed once the price goes above $8,090. A move above that level would also trigger the breakout from a large falling wedge.

CryptoWolfs initial target is $9,550 and then $11,600.

With these signals, other traders are expressing their optimism on the prospects of the top cryptocurrency. The popular trader The Crypto Dog tweeted that hes bullish on bitcoin.

The widely-followed Crypto Rand shares The Crypto Dogs upbeat outlook on the dominant cryptocurrency.

Is it a coincidence that the top analysts are tweeting bullish statements on bitcoin as the top cryptocurrency prints an accumulation pattern? Probably not. Its very likely that these analysts are also seeing the bottom or base-building signals on the number one coin. If theyre right, then strap in. Bitcoins 2020 price action might start off with fireworks.

Disclaimer: This article represents the authors opinion and should not be considered investment or trading advice from CCN.

This article was edited by Sam Bourgi.

Last modified: January 6, 2020 5:00 PM UTC

See the rest here:
Bitcoin 2020: The Bottom is In and Prices are About to Surge, Several Analysts Claim - CCN.com

With massive earthquakes and a possible Tsunami warning for Puerto Rico, Bitcoin (BTC) billionaires like Brock Pierce have an opportunity to make good on promises made to transform the Caribbean island.

The U.S. Geological Survey says another earthquake hit Puerto Rico on Tuesday (January 7, 2020). Tuesdays 6.4 magnitude tremor follows a 5.8 magnitude shock that ripped through the island on Monday (January 6, 2020).

According to CNN, Puerto Ricos Electric Power Authority is reporting power outages across the island as the tremors have triggered emergency protection protocols in many electric power stations.

Back in 2017, following the decimation of Hurricane Mara, Brock Pierce and several other Bitcoin billionaires moved to Puerto Rico promising to revamp the islands infrastructure while enjoying massive tax holidays.

At the time, the group of crypto billionaires reportedly wished to create a cryptocurrency utopia in Puerto Rico transforming the island into a high-tech virtual currency paradise.

Now, with the island suffering another major devastation, its perhaps time for these Bitcoin billionaires to make good on their promises. Still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Mara, the island is likely in need of emergency relief. Crypto funds are certainly better suited to fund such an endeavor with lightning fast payment channels available and low fees.

While Pierce and co may have been unable to build their crypto utopia on Puerto Rico, the current situation is perhaps an opportunity to stand up and be counted.

As previously reported by Bitcoinist, Bitcoin has proven to be an effective currency for supporting relief efforts across the globe. Global charity organizations like UNICEF are open to the growing utility of BTC for humanitarian projects.

Amid the ongoing devastation of wildfires in Australia, a Bitcoin donation address has been created to assist those fighting the flames. Bitcoin donations are also providing sustenance for thousands of economically disenfranchised people in Venezuela as reported by Bitcoinist back in 2019. Bitcoin donations were also sent after the Notre Dame fire incident in April 2019.

Apart from emergency relief efforts, Bitcoin donations are also supporting projects that combat internet censorship. In mid-2019, Tor raised 65% of its $10,000 target from Bitcoin donations in only one day.

Do you think the likes of Brock Pierce and other crypto billionaires in Puerto Rico have a duty to contribute to relief efforts on the island following the recent earthquakes? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock

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Puerto Rico Suffers 2 Earthquakes, Will its Bitcoin Billionaires Help Out? - Bitcoinist

While much of the world may have been tuned into the 77th Golden Globes awards to see who took home the award for Best Motion Picture, Bitcoin investors couldnt take their eyes off the weekly candle close last night.

The first-ever cryptocurrency has been stuck in a downtrend for months, and last nights close was bulls best opportunity to close out the week on a bullish note. But instead, Bitcoin closed its sixth consecutive week in a row under the critical resistance level of $7,500.

Bitcoin price has been falling since June, with very few signs that the leading crypto asset by market cap is ready to reverse. After a third retest of lows was swiftly defended by bulls earlier in the week, it gave hope that the weekly close last night could be the first in over a month to close above the key level of $7,500.

Related Reading | The Most Lucrative Signal in Bitcoin History Just Flipped Buy

However, a short-lived selloff kept the price at bay leading up to the important weekly close, falling short of $7,500 for the sixth straight week in a row.

Six weeks of trading below a resistance level with multiple failed attempts doesnt appear to be very bullish for Bitcoin and the crypto market, however, altcoins have been breaking out today, suggesting that BTC could soon follow.

Bitcoin is currently trading at around $7,530, trying to make its way through the overhead resistance and break higher.

While things do look bleak for bulls, repeatedly failing to break and close above $7,500 on weekly timeframes, the asset is currently trading above that price, and after sending those six weeks below $7,500 building a base, support could end up being stronger than the resistance, and one side will eventually give way causing this weeks close to be lucky number 7.

Former IMF economist Mark Dow had been advocating for crypto traders to wait for such a base to be built much like the base it built back when it bottomed at the bear market low trading range around $3,000. At that time, many tests of support held up, and eventually, resistance failed, causing the asset to skyrocket.

If Bitcoin is once again building a base and readying a breakout, the bull run may be back on. The last time this occurred, Bitcoin rallied from $3,000 to $14,000, bringing investors a 350% return before falling back to current prices.

Related Reading | Crypto Comeback: After Two Years of Bear Market, Bitcoin And Ethereum May Be Ready To Rebound

Should a similar breakout and rally follow, Bitcoin could set its sights on setting a new local high. If its able to take out its previous all-time high at $20,000, a new bull market will be confirmed and serious FOMO should boost the crypto market to new heights once again.

Original post:
Lucky Number 7? Bitcoin Closes Six Consecutive Weeks Below $7,500 - newsBTC

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Bitcoin Surging Toward $8,000 As Speculators Bet on It Becoming a Safe Haven Asset

As the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas Day today (January 7), Bitcoin HODLers around the world are celebrating the fact that Bitcoin is now trading at the highest level it has been since 20 November 2019.

According to data from CryptoCompare, Bitcoin started the year at $7,174. Since then, it has gone up almost 10% since it is currently (08:40 on 7 January 2020) trading at $7,888, up 4.65% in the past 24-hour period:

This surge toward the $8K level has reversed the losses suffered during the past seven weeks, and it has brought the Bitcoin price to where it was on 20 November 2019, as you can see in the three-month price chart shown below:

Within the crypto community, there are three competing explanations for the great start to the year that Bitcoin has enjoyed:

One man who remains highly skeptical of Bitcoin despite Bitcoin outperforming gold in the first week of 2020 (and more importantly despite admitting that Bitcoin was the top performing asset of the previous decade) is gold bug Peter Schiff, who isthe CEO of Euro Pacific Capital and Chairman of SchiffGold.

Here is what Schiff said on January 2:

This is what he had to say on January 3:

And finally, this is Schiff tweeting about Bitcoin yesterday:

Schiff has undoubtedly said many silly things about Bitcoin in the past, but it is hard to argue with his assertion that Bitcoin is "being bought by speculators betting that investors will buy it as a safe haven."

Here is what highly-respected macroeconomist and crypto analyst/traderAlex Krger says about this comment by Schiff:

Featured Image Credit: Photo via Pexels.com

Continued here:
Bitcoin Surging Toward $8,000 As Speculators Bet on It Becoming a Safe Haven Asset - CryptoGlobe

Last year was pretty dismal for the bitcoin and crypto industry in India. Regulatory procrastination and a negative outlook from politicians have stifled the ecosystem and innovation, will 2020 be any better?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been relentless with its disapproval towards bitcoin and the crypto industry over the past couple of years. Bankers and politicians remained resolute in their stance on digital assets during 2019 as Supreme Court hearings got left on the back burner.

According to reports, Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, remained cautious on cryptocurrencies in her speech at the weekend. Her primary concern at the moment is one shared by many other nations Facebooks Libra.

She told reporters than many countries are cautions about rushing into this, and that the term stable currency or stablecoin should not be used to describe it.

Last year, the social media giant kicked the digital hornets nest with its plans for financial domination through its own crypto coin. Central banks across the globe were worried, and rightly so.

Reports last month indicate that the RBI may be joining the growing crowd of central banks researching their own digital currencies (CBDCs), in response to the threat of Facebook domination. China is already leading this particular race.

In December, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das stated that the bank was very clearly against any private digital currency. Bitcoin, however, is the complete opposite, but it is unlikely that Indias central bank will change its stance on that anytime soon either.

There was a little light at the end of the 2019 tunnel when Binance acquired Indian bitcoin exchange WazirX, with plans to create a fiat onramp for the Rupee.

Company chief executive, Nischal Shetty, said that a CBDC would be of major benefit to Indians, and open the doors for further innovation in the crypto asset space. In an interview with bitcoin.com, he was asked about the RBI ban, Supreme Court hearing, and possibility of it being lifted;

I really hope they do. I think well see some solid progress with the case in 2020 as the matter has reached a stage where its being heard in court.

As it stands, proceedings are set to resume sometime later this month when the hearing may finally take place.

Shetty stated that the government has taken its time over a cryptocurrency bill, as they want to understand the technology beforehand. He added,

Were confident that our leaders will engage with the crypto industry of India and then progress in the right direction.

He continued to assert that the state will eventually turn pro-crypto but that may not happen for another year or two. India will wait and watch other progressive nations before making any regulatory moves in crypto.

For 2020, he predicted more competition among exchanges, lawmakers and politicians taking positive steps towards understanding the industry with a view towards a regulatory framework, and a massive growth in DeFi markets.

What will 2020 have in store for bitcoin in India? Add your thoughts below.

Images via Shutterstock

See the article here:
What's Going to Happen with Bitcoin in India in 2020? - Bitcoinist

Financial commentators tend to lean bullish on Square (NYSE:SQ) stock as a targeted bet on the future growth of digital payments. I see this as a perfectly reasonable position, as millennials seem willing to give Squares Cash App a chance in a sphere once entirely dominated by the likes of Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA).

Source: Shutterstock

However, I believe theres more to the story.

Millennials and other demographic segments are becoming more aware of cryptocurrency, and Bitcoin (BTC) in particular. So, unlike the stodgy, payment-processing companies that have hesitated to embrace Bitcoin as a viable currency, Square is preparing for a blockchain-powered world right now. With that said, a position in Square stock could be a serious moneymaker if this gambit succeeds.

When Im on Internet forums, I sometimes get the feeling that investors divide into two mutually exclusive camps; Those who invest in stocks, and those who buy or HODL (hold on for dear life) cryptocurrency. The dividing line isnt necessarily generational, but Ive observed that younger investors seem more willing to give crypto a chance.

Theres something to be said for the safety of investing in long-standing Dow Jones components like Visa and Mastercard. However, now that millennials are Americas biggest generation population-wise, investors need to understand that point-of-sale payment processing has changed; and so has the way people perceive money itself.

The U.S. dollar has lost much of its value over the years. With that, Bitcoin has become an attractive alternative currency to open-minded consumers. In this regard, Square got a big head start compared to its old-school rivals. As early as November of 2017, the companys Cash App allowed its users to buy and sell Bitcoin.

Not everyone wants to open up a Coinbase or Binance account. Therefore, I feel that early Bitcoin integration was a savvy move on Squares part. The numbers bear this out, as Squares third quarter 2019 Bitcoin sales totaled an impressive $148 million. This represents a 20% increase in volume quarter-over-quarter, as well as a massive 245% year-over-year increase.

As a financial reporter, sometimes I gather information from interesting and unexpected sources. In this instance, I discovered a job advertisement on LinkedIn that teases a number of potentially new Bitcoin-friendly Cash App features. If these pan out, Square could end up being miles ahead of Visa and Mastercard in the crypto-integration department.

Along with a six-figure salary range and a daunting list of job requirements that would disqualify 99.99% of the population, the employment ad signals Squares eagerness to add Bitcoin functionality to the Cash App in 2020:

The Cash App continues to push the boundaries in finance and Bitcoin sits at the very forefront of these efforts. Cash Apps large and ever-expanding network of customers uniquely positions us to add utility to BTC and to bring Bitcoin to the masses in a user-friendly way.

Square investors already sensed the companys crypto-friendly vision. But, its still nice to hear it stated so forcefully and with a tone of commitment that I havent heard from Visa or Mastercard. However, its the next part of the job ad that indicated the Cash Apps potential upcoming perks:

[The chosen job candidate] will own the Crypto Investing product and be entirely responsible for growing its adoption in whatever ways you see fit, which could include tried and true growth tactics, new functionality (e.g. limit orders, auto-invest), or building entirely new features like BTC gifting (P2P).

Whether these Cash App features are actually built out in 2020 is immaterial. Square stock investors, if theyre also Bitcoin devotees, should be excited at the prospect of peer-to-peer (P2P) BTC gifting and auto-invest functionality.

Call me a visionary or a nut, but I can easily imagine a time in the near future when payment processors will have to integrate these types of Bitcoin-friendly features. The fact that Squarewants to move in this direction at this early stage is, to me, highly encouraging.

Maybe you like Bitcoin and maybe you dont; I can see the merit of both sides of the argument. Overall though, if youre willing to keep an open mind concerning Bitcoins potential to transform the way we use money, then you might consider HODLing some BTC; and while youre at it, some Square stock too.

As of this writing, David Moadel did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Link:
The Bitcoin Angle Could Give Square Stock an Edge - Investorplace.com

On January 3, 2009, the pseudonymous developer(s) Satoshi Nakamoto bootstrapped the Bitcoin network by mining its first ever block, block 0. The Genesis Block, as it has become known, came etched with a message that would invariably position Bitcoin as an alternative monetary system to rival the realm of central banking: Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks, the memo read, in reference to a headline about the U.K. governments actions during the global recession of 2008 and 2009.

The rest, as you no doubt know, is history. Eleven years on and Bitcoin has harnessed the fervor of a community that was inspired by the philosophical tenets embedded in the Genesis Block message. Bitcoins meteoric success in the past decade defied the expectations of believers and skeptics alike, and with a thriving market that has captured $130 billion in value, it has graduated from fringe interest to a global economic phenomenon.

To commemorate Bitcoins 11th birthday and usher in a new decade, we compiled some stats to plot Bitcoins growth from 2019 to 2020 and provide a hard picture of the state of the network today.

From 2019 to 2020, we saw the following year-over-year changes to Bitcoins market, network and technical infrastructure:

At the beginning of 2019, 601 contributors had provided 19,104 commits to the Bitcoin Core Github; these figures would grow to 22,536 commits from 678 unique contributors by 2020.

Bitcoins price increased from $3,860 to $7,180, an 85 percent increase from the onset of 2019 to the onset of 2020. This accompanied a doubling of bitcoins market capitalization from $65.5 billion to $131 billion.

Amidst the wider crypto market, bitcoins dominance (i.e., its share of market value compared to that of altcoins) climbed from 51.8 to 68.3 percent.

Bitcoins supply grew from 17,457,634 to 18,135,846 over the course of the year, an annualized inflation of roughly 3.8 percent.

Bitcoins daily transaction volume grew fivefold over 2019, from $4.3 billion to $20.2 billion by the first day of 2020.

On the first day of 2019, Bitcoins network logged 235,813 transactions; this would increase a modest 6 percent by the first day of the new decade to 251,867. Notably, over this timeframe, the percentage of SegWit transactions out of the total transactions surged from 33.4 percent to 62.2 percent.

The value of daily transactions on the network shot up from $1.4 billion on January 1, 2019, to $4.1 billion to ring in the new year in 2020. As the value of transactions on the network trends with the price, the networks all-time high transaction volume in 2019 was $21.3 billion on June 18, 2019.

The highest median bitcoin transaction fee in 2019 was $3.55, while the lowest median fee last year was $0.03. The latest data available for January 2020 shows a median fee of $0.07.

The total number of unspent transactions (aka UTXOs, or bitcoin that havent been spent and included as an input for a new transaction) rose from 49,591,771 to 64,530,177 over the course of 2019, a 30 percent increase.

Bitcoins blockchain size grew 29 percent, from 198 GB to 256 GB from the beginning of 2019 to the beginning of 2020.

Bitcoins hash rate experienced an explosive increase over 2019, jumping from 42 exahashes per second (EH/s) (or, 42,000,000,000,000,000,000 hashes per second) to 112 EH/s.

Mining difficulty more than doubled from the beginning to the end of 2019, rising from 6 T to 13 T.

Bitcoin node count across the board unfortunately dropped from 2019 to 2020. The total number of listening nodes (i.e., nodes that are publically open to connect to other nodes) fell from 6,344 to 5,859, a 7 percent decrease. The total number of active nodes fell a drastic 25 percent from 64,746 to 48,141.

The number of total active addresses rose from 433,715 to 524,360, a nudge of 20 percent.

The total number of (known) Lightning Network channels jumped from 21,130 to 36,130 by the end of 2019 for a 41 percent increase. The average capacity per channel decreased from 3,115,316 sats to 2,721,418 sats, a fall of 12 percent on the year.

2,297 Lightning Network nodes were operational at the beginning of 2019. This increased 114 percent to 4,923 by the start of 2020. The average capacity per node, however, fell similarly to the average capacity per channel from 45,781,712 sats to 34,693,516 sats, a 24 percent decrease.

525 bitcoin were locked in Lightning channels for a cumulative value of $1.9 million at the onset of 2019. At the time of writing, 853 bitcoin worth $6.2 million are locked in Lightning channels, representing a 62 percent increase in total capacity and a 226 percent increase in the value of this capacity.

The number of cut channels on the Lightning Network (i.e., channels between two nodes that serve as a bridge to otherwise disparate nodes by providing a routing path) increased from 518 to 1,567 from 2019 to 2020. These channels comprise 31.8 percent of the network at the time of writing.

Read more:
Happy Birthday Bitcoin! Here's a Look at Bitcoin's 11th Year by the Numbers - Bitcoin Magazine