Buying Bitcoin in the first few years after its creation would have been the investment equivalent of winning the lottery.

But what might happen if an actual recent lottery winner invested half of his winnings into Bitcoin, and how much could he potentially earn if Bitcoin reaches its full potential?

The emerging asset class of digital currencies is a speculative, high-risk market. Those interested in investing into crypto or Bitcoin are often told to never invest more than they can afford to lose.

Related Reading | Dot Com Vs Crypto Bubble: A Glimpse Into Human Psychology and The Future of Bitcoin?

But what happens when a millennial male happens to win the lottery, and suddenly finds himself with an excess of money they dont actually need, and can easily afford to lose? He invested half of it in Bitcoin, of course.

Reddit user /u/Joxnlol recently won half a million dollars on a scratch ticket from the Illinois State lottery this past April and promptly invested half of it in Bitcoin the following month in May.

Given Bitcoins penchant for rising a few thousand percent in value during bull runs, then later dropping 90% in value in downtrends, will either make the decision the smartest one the man has ever made or possibly the most foolish only time will tell.

Depending on when the investment was made in May 2019, the price of Bitcoin was anywhere between $5,000 and $9,000. Assuming the investor bought in around early May, at the recent $14,000 peak, a $250,000 investment in Bitcoin at $5,000 would have netted the bold Reddit user a 180% profit, taking the $250,000 and turning it into $700,000 had he sold the top.

A $250,000 investment in $5,000 Bitcoin would result in holdings of 50 BTC. Bitcoin has been predicted to reach prices ranging from $100,000 per BTC to as much as $1,000,000.

If Bitcoin reaches $100,000 per BTC, it would represent a 1,900% increase in the investment and would take the total value to $5,000,000, earning the investor a $4,750,000 profit.

If Bitcoin reaches the highest predicted amount a prediction that John McAfee is willing to bet his manhood on it would earn the investor a nearly 20,000% ROI, and take the total value of 50 BTC to over $50,000,000, with a profit of just under.

Of course, these numbers are only possible if Bitcoin reaches such lofty predictions. The other factor is a matter of when this occurs, and if it does at all.

On the flipside, most investors in the first-ever cryptocurrency agree that the asset will reach such incredible values, or fall to zero and disappear from existence with very few scenarios possible in between. Bitcoin either fulfills its potential and replaces fiat currencies, or it doesnt.

If Bitcoin does fall to zero, it would represent a total loss for the investor, and hell have thrown away $250,000 he had just won via a scratch ticket.

Related Reading | Make It Or Break It Time For Bitcoin, Rally In Jeopardy If Support Is Lost

If you were to win the lottery, would you take the same risk this bold Reddit user did? If you do, just be sure not to tell the world youve done so, as the second most important advice crypto investors are given after the dont invest more than you can afford to lose is never disclose your crypto holdings.

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Reddit User Wins Lottery, Buys Bitcoin: Heres What He Could Earn - newsBTC

Bitcoin transactions have been exploding recently, and the network managed to collect over half a million in fees within only 24 hours.

The last several days have been pretty happening for bitcoin. This time, the benchmark cryptocurrency did not see a massive surge that added thousands of dollars to its price, but it did make a few milestones, of sorts.

Only a week ago, on October 30th, the bitcoin network surpassed $1 billion in cumulative fee revenue, which is quite an important milestone.

Now, however, BTC is once again a topic of conversations and speculations as it reportedly collected over $500,000 in transaction fees within only 24 hours.

As many are likely aware, the bitcoin blockchain is not among the fastest ones out there. In fact, it might be among the slowest ones, with only 5-7 transactions being processed per block, each of which requires around 10 minutes to be solved, on an average. This can lead to some prolonged waiting periods to have a transaction processed.

However, the network also allows users to choose how large of a fee they are willing to pay. Higher fees get the advantage, and so transactions that pay more end up being processed faster.

Meanwhile, the number of BTC users continues to appreciate, which leads to even higher fees. As mentioned, bitcoin has collected over $500k in fees within only 24 hours. At the same time, other bitcoin forks are not seeing nearly as high transaction fee count. BSV has collected only $220 within 24 hours, while BCH has even less, only $200.

As for other well-known coins, Ethereum managed to collect $96,000, while Litecoin only has $840.

What do you think about the huge amount that the bitcoin network has collected through fees? Leave a comment below, and let us know your thoughts on the matter.

Images via Shutterstock, Twitter: @yassineARK @CryptoBacon

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Bitcoin Transactions Brought in $500k in Fees Within 24 Hours - Bitcoinist

Ethereum price is slowly climbing higher versus the US Dollar, similar to bitcoin. ETH price is likely to rise towards the $200 level as long as above $182.

After forming a support base near $180, Ethereum started a steady rise above $182 against the US Dollar. ETH price recovered and broke a strong resistance near the $185 and $186 levels.

Moreover, there was a close above the $185 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. During the rise, there was a break above yesterdays highlighted bearish trend line with resistance near $182.

Finally, the price tested the $190 resistance area and it is currently correcting lower. There was a break below the $188 level, plus the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $179 swing low to $189 swing high.

However, the previous resistance near the $185 area is now acting as a decent support. More importantly, there is a new bullish trend line forming with support near $185 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD.

The 50% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $179 swing low to $189 swing high is also near the trend line to provide support. The main support is near the $182 level since it coincides with the 100 hourly SMA.

If Ethereum breaks the trend line and trades below $182, it could move back into a bearish zone. On the upside, an immediate resistance is near the $190 level. If there is a proper break above $190, the price could start an increase towards the main $200 resistance area.

Looking at the chart, Ethereum price is showing a few positive signs above the $185 support area. Having said that, the path towards the $200 barrier wont be easy. If the bulls struggle to clear the $190 and $192 resistance levels, there could be a bearish reaction below the $185 support. In the mentioned case, the $182 support holds the key.

Hourly MACD The MACD for ETH/USD is about to move back into the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI The RSI for ETH/USD is currently well above the 50 level, with positive signs.

Major Support Level $182

Major Resistance Level $190

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Ethereum (ETH) Eyes Fresh Rally To $200, Bitcoin Up 3% - newsBTC

Ethereum developers are using the Lightning payments network to build bridges into the bitcoin ecosystem.

The venture-backed crypto startup Radar, best known for its decentralized exchange (DEX) relayers for 0x, just launched a service called RedShift, which allows people to pay a lightning invoice from an ethereum wallet.

Radar product lead Brandon Curtis told CoinDesk:

There are some people out there who want to be bitcoin maximalists or only work on ethereum things. But I think theres a large, silent majority of us that are interested in multiple chains, in multiple assets, and want to build things that bridge between them.

MetaMask wallet users with an in-browser widget can simply add a second widget to their browsers and paste a lightning invoice into the ethereum wallet, like a normal wallet address. On the back end, Radar will swap the ether for bitcoin and manage channels so the recipient is paid in bitcoin. This widget will eventually connect the user to a pool of market makers beyond Radar, Curtis said, and work for other ethereum-based tokens as well.

Our number one request from [DEX] users and market makers was somehow adding the ability to trade bitcoin, Curtis said. [Bitcoin has] more liquidity and just a lot of holders, users, a lot of interest.

Radar may see the move as a competitive differentiator as it jockeys for usage in the DEX space. Currently, IDEX and Kyber Network are the leading DEXs in terms of trading volume, according to Etherscan statistics.

Radar is now among a handful of projects working to connect various cryptocurrency ecosystems.

Indeed, the Cross-Chain Working Group is already building a system for wrapped bitcoin tokens that can be used on the ethereum blockchain. Plus, the Electronic Coin Company is working on bridges for zcash into the ethereum network, according to ECCs VP of marketing, Josh Swihart.

Likewise, Arwen CEO Sharon Goldberg told CoinDesk her startups atomic swap and settlement service for centralized exchanges like KuCoin now offers ethereum mainnet capabilities.

You can take some bitcoin, buy some ETH, and do that settlement without losing custody, she said. The way were doing it is free of any third party. We dont have any pegs, or any of the complexity were seeing from some of the other projects. Youre actually introducing new counterparty risk with those types of things.

Whether startups focus on sidechains, lightning or other layered protocols like Arwen, Radars Curtis said that bitcoin is still the best form of cryptographic money, due to open questions about how ethereum development will play out. However, from his perspective, bridges that allow flows of value into bitcoin from more experimental assets can add more value to the bitcoin ecosystem by opening it up to new users.

Right now, the hardest part about lightning is the onboarding process, Curtis said, adding:

With tools like RedShift, we can allow people who already have digital assets to tap into the [lightning] network without all that setup.

Team photo courtesy of Radar Relay

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Ether on Lightning Is the Latest Bridge Crossing Crypto's Great Divide - Coindesk

Bitcoin Cash's Roger Ver took to Facebook to announce that he is giving away Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to further spread the adoption of the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

On Nov. 4, the Bitcoin Cash proponent and former CEO of Bitcoin.com, Roger Ver, said that he will send $5 worth of BCH to all of his Facebook friends, which could easily become worth $5,000 some day an increase of 99,900%.

If people are not already part of Vers network of Facebook friends, Ver will still send them $1 in BCH, which as well could easily become worth $1,000 some day. Ver asked interested parties to post a Bitcoin Cash address below the Facebook post.

Ver, who recently told Cointelegraph that he has been involved in the crypto space since Bitcoin (BTC) was less than $1 per coin, is attracting some attention to his give-away, as he claims that BCH could easily see a massive gain of almost 100,000 percent. At press time the post is closing in on 900 comments, with many of them including wallet addresses.

As the current price of BCH sits at $290.88, for one of the recipients to reap the returns purported by Ver, the price would need to shoot up to $290,880 per coin. Ver did not pinpoint a specific date or reason for the astronomical price increase.

In August, Bitcoin.com appointed Stefan Rust as the companys new chief executive officer as Roger Ver left the post. Rust stated that he will continue working on the development of the companys new products and services that promote peer-to-peer electronic cash. Commenting on the appointment, Rust said:

Im hugely excited to take on the role of CEO working alongside Roger. Together we can now turbocharge the awesome team and great brand that is Bitcoin.com. [...] We will play an integral part in making money work for everybody as society undergoes such an enormous and pivotal change. Its going to be a wild ride, so dont miss it!

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Roger Ver Apparently Thinks Bitcoin Cash Value Could Increase 100,000% - Cointelegraph

Wary investors are holding about $3.4 trillion in cash, waiting for the right moment to enter the markets. This huge cash stockpile demonstrates investors worries amid the Sino-US trade conflict. Nevertheless, some economists argue that excessive cash reserves will drive the stock markets even higher, and the bitcoin and crypto space might also be a beneficiary.

Money-market funds have expanded by $1 trillion in assets over the last three years, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing Lipper data. This is the highest level since the financial crisis.

For those unfamiliar, a money-market fund invests exclusively in highly liquid assets. Think about cash, cash equivalent securities, and short-term debt securities whose maturity is less than 13 months.

The fact that money-market funds thrive suggests that investors feel safer about holding more cash than ever, as they hesitate to bet on the stock market. Some of them are wary of a supersaturated bull market while others are not confident about the health of the 10-year economic growth.

For instance, money-management firm Farr, Miller & Washington is currently holding twice as much cash as usual. President Michael Farr explained:

Cash always makes me feel good, both having it and seeing it on the sidelines. It keeps things a little bit safer.

Another important driver behind the phenomenon is higher returns in money markets. As of October, money-market funds offered an annual return of 1.6% per year on average. This is way more than 0.02% from eight years ago. The rising yields benefited from Feds rate hikes since 2015, but the central bank turned dovish in the last months, showing a preference for aggressive easing.

Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch consider that the huge cash reserves will eventually drive the stock markets to even higher levels.

Nevertheless, alternative markets might also benefit from this, including the bitcoin and cryptocurrency space.

Interestingly, decreasing interest rates should push investors to invest their cash, but theyre still hesitant. This paradox demonstrates the public sentiment prevails over any logic and fundamentals.

It remains to be seen why investors are so wary. Whether its the toxic political environment or the ongoing trade war, they will have to enter the markets sooner or later because their cash doesnt bring any value from the modest money market returns that barely beat inflation.

Ultimately, bitcoin will be an option for many investors with higher risk appetite. If only 1% of money market assets were invested in bitcoin, it would be enough to boost the cryptocurrencys market cap by over 20%.

Do you think investors will allocate a greater portion of their portfolio to bitcoin and crypto-assets? Share your thoughts in the comments section!

Images via Shutterstock, Wall Street Journal

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Bitcoin Awaiting Slice of Investors' Trillions in Cash Reserves - Bitcoinist

NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite its volatile nature, nearly half of financial professionals believe Bitcoin will be the investment class with the highest growth rate over the next 12 months according to a recent survey conducted by Chainalysis, the blockchain analysis company. Chainalysis polled 350 finance professionals including executives from banks, credit unions, financial services providers, and regulatory agencies at the ACAMS 19th Annual AML & Financial Crime Conference.

Following the 48% of financial professionals that chose Bitcoin, one-third of survey respondents said equities (S&P 500) would be the investment class with the highest year-over-year growth, followed by fixed income (Bloomberg Barclays Bond Index) and the House Pricing Index (HPI) at 13% and 5%, respectively.

The Gap Between Perception and Reality

Despite recognizing the value in cryptocurrency, more than three-fourths (78%) of financial professionals said less than half of their retail clients transact with cryptocurrency businesses. Twenty-eight percent of financial professionals noted that between 1-10% of their customers transact with cryptocurrency businesses while one-third of respondents said that none of their customers are involved at all.

"Many finance professionals understand that cryptocurrency presents a massive opportunity, yet institutions are hesitant to enter the market due to perceived risk and some don't even realize the exposure that they already have to cryptocurrency," said Michael Gronager, Co-Founder and CEO at Chainalysis. "Blockchain analysis can help institutions and exchanges monitor transactions and detect criminal activity. The integration of these tools will allow the financial sector to mitigate existing risk, provide banking services to cryptocurrency businesses, offer new opportunities to clients, and ultimately promote transparency and build trust in blockchains."

Risk Vs. Customer Reward

Nearly 40% of professionals cited the 'inability to control for illicit activity' as the number one thing holding them back from doing more work with cryptocurrency. While many finance professionals recognize the potential for cryptocurrency, 25% said the number one thing holding them back from doing more work with cryptocurrency is that the market opportunity isn't big enough. Lack of executive support (18%) and inability to comply with regulations (18%) were also cited as reasons respondents' firms are not more involved in cryptocurrency activity.

When asked what is or would be the most likely factor to motivate their employer to get more involved with cryptocurrency, almost half (44%) answered client demand. Other motivating aspects include the opportunity to future-proof the institution (20%), the money-making opportunity (18%), and being viewed as a pioneer in a growing industry (18%).

The Future of Digital Currency

Strikingly, Chainalysis's survey found that 70% of financial professionals believe that there will be a global digital currency in the next 5-10 years. More than one-third (37%) believe that the United States will control that currency, followed by 21% who believe that China will control it.

"Our belief in the potential of cryptocurrency was echoed by the number of finance professionals who view Bitcoin as a high-growth asset class and envision a global digital currency in the near future," said Jonathan Levin, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Chainalysis. "Financial institutions are a critical component to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. At Chainalysis, we're focused on creating transparency across blockchains to mitigate risk and promote confident engagement in cryptocurrency so institutions can realize the major opportunity available to them."

Survey Methodology

Chainalysis polled finance professionals at the ACAMS 19th Annual AML & Financial Crime Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 24 and 25, 2019. A total of 350 responses were collected from industry professionals including banks, credit unions, financial services providers and regulatory agencies.

About Chainalysis

Chainalysis is the blockchain analysis company. We provide compliance and investigation software to the world's leading banks, businesses, and governments. Our experts in financial crime and economic analysis empower our customers to derive insights they can act on. Backed by Accel, Benchmark, and other leading names in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains. For more information, visit http://www.chainalysis.com.

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Despite Volatility, Nearly Half of Financial Professionals Believe Bitcoin Will Outperform S&P 500 Over the Next 12 Months - Salamanca Press