Category Archives: Bitcoin

Update (11:10 UTC, Nov. 27 2020): OKEx saw a total outflow of 24,631 bitcoin on Thursday, according to CryptoQuant, the largest amount since the March markets crash.

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx recorded a major bitcoin outflow just minutes after it lifted a five-week-long withdrawal suspension at 08:00 UTC Thursday.

About 2,822 BTC was moved from OKEx in block number 658,728 mined at 08:12 UTC. Thats the biggest single-block outflow since May 2019, according to blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.

Of the 2,822 coins withdrawn, 456 were transferred to cryptocurrency exchange Binance and more than 400 were moved to other exchanges. Meanwhile, 54 accounts or addresses took direct custody of some coins.

OKEx halted withdrawals indefinitely on Oct. 16 after one of the exchanges key holders went out of touch with the exchange because they were held by authorities to assist an investigation.

Some analysts have associated bitcoins recent meteoric rise to 35-month highs above $19,000 with a supply shortage due in part to OKExs suspension of crypto withdrawals. Thats because the price rally began after OKExs decision, dated Oct. 16.

However, many market observers do not see a strong reason to link the latest price rally with OKExs issues. The perfect timing of OKExs suspension and the price rally could be purely coincidental, Ryan Watkins, bitcoin analyst at Messari, told CoinDesk.

Bitcoin plunged nearly $3,000 on Thursday, shortly before OKEx was due to restart withdrawals. Its also not clear if the two events may be linked.

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OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 8 Months After Resuming Withdrawals - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Over the years, we have been introduced to a digital transformation, which has created and shaped communities around the world. Digital technologies have introduced newly evolved ways of how the world interacts, operates, and most of all, conducts exchanges. In the current economic hardship and the Covid-19 global pandemic, the European Union has had to face many operational and structural facts, one of them being the strength of the fiat currency; the Euro.

Since the introduction of the Euro, the currency has been in a consistent debate, regarding its strength and endurance within the global exchange.

This specific criticism is defined by a strategic error, showcasing a dominant flaw; specifically, the Euro not having a strong asset-backed united economy. The fault has been well argued for the fact that the creation of the Euro intended to mimic the firm stance and ability of the US dollar, yet the European Union is still divided via an economic standpoint between members.

Although opinions may vary, one cannot argue the strength of the organizational base of the US economy and consistency of the USD currency portraying a robust stance even with the turmoil of changes the year 2020 has presented.

This is why the US economy was more prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic. The European economy operates via a differentmaybe, one could say, a flawed economic system, and therefore it becomes more vulnerable to change of regulations and stabilize operations during such times Simone Mazzuca

With that in mind, the economic hardship for individuals and businesses within the EU could be reduced by the creating regulations which embrace current and future digital technological possibilities.

The basis of Europe has a strategic position through the exchange and global power, however, in its current stance with addition to BREXIT, Europe finds itself in an even more vulnerable position Simone Mazzuca

Henceforth, the development of stablecoins comes at the right time, especially when international financial policies seem to be polarized by different financial variables and the inflationary nature of the Fiat.

This is why Mr Mazzuca created EURST, a USD asset-backed and live audited stablecoin. The newly developed digital currency from Wallex Trust represents 1 worth of USD, secured by the accounts of the federal reserve and Wallex Trust itself.

Issued as a token on the Ethereum network according to the well-established ERC20 standards, the advanced capabilities of blockchain technology enables users to conduct faster and more secure transactions. This is enabled through the use of smart contracts, which digitize deposited funds that are held in a segregated account by the issuer. Thus, empowering users to transact their money without the high costs and lengthy delays of the current financial system.

EURST can be used as a logistical background for the representation of the Euro Simone Mazzuca

Even more, blockchain technology enables EURST to be fully transparent and live audited as transactions are recorded on the digital ledger, in addition to having regular third-party audits.

This presents the ability not solely to bring transparency and security, but also allows users to store their funds within a trusted Custodian, Wallex Custody. Through the use of opening an account within Wallex Custody, users can benefit from additional security and privacy while maintaining fluidity in the deposit, transfer or withdrawal of personal funds convertible to any currency of choice within a quick and borderless matter.

In conclusion, EURST presents itself with opportunities and possibilities for a better economy, and, we highlight some dominant features:

1. The protection of wealth from losing value in relation to the Euro may use the stablecoin to save money without opening a bank account in Europe2. Users wanting to deposit funds to cryptocurrency exchanges for trading may use EURST instead of Fiat.3. Oversees workers may use EURST to bypass the expensive transfer fees charger when making fiat remittances to their family back home.

Following the above-mentioned advantages, EURST does indeed portray the possibility and opportunity to bring a sort of chameleon option for operations with the Euro currency. The transparency and security of the stablecoin, EURST, is that it brings and gives support to individuals and businesses to operate successfully and this, within an economy that is yet to provide us all with reassurance.

Link to EURST: https://eurst.io/

Link to Wallex Trust: https://wallextrust.com/

Link to Wallex Custody: https://www.wallexcustody.com/

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EURST Stablecoin Reinvention of the European Economy | Sponsored - Bitcoin News

Bitcoin climbed back above $18,000 last week to flirt with record levels, a spectacular rally driven by a new group of buyers seeking the opportunity for big profits.

The digital currency traded as high as $18,965 on Friday, according to CoinDesk, about 4% below its all-time high of $19,783 set in December 2017. It has surged more than 50% in the past month alone.

The rally has attracted a wide cast of characters, from the Wall Street billionaires Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller to momentum investors who aim to ride winning assets higher and losing markets lower.

Their participation, in turn, has fueled more buying, which mirrors a similar dynamic playing out in stocks such as Tesla Inc., which investors keep pushing higher with little regard for fundamentals. As in 2017, when bitcoin became a cultural phenomenon, much of the hype has traveled by word-of-mouth.

Lately, bitcoin has even been a winning topic on sports radio. Gregg Giannotti, co-host of the Boomer & Gio morning sports-talk radio show on WFAN in New York, has been talking up the cryptocurrency on the air after investing $10,000 earlier this month.

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Bitcoin Trades Again Near Record, Driven by New Group of Buyers - The Wall Street Journal

Bitcoin has become headline news again as it approached a record valuation this week, surpassing $19,000 (14,230), before subsequently falling back down towards the $16,500 mark.

A growing number of professional investors argue that Bitcoin, the oldest cryptocurrency and the largest by market value, deserves a place in a diversified portfolio.

Sceptics counter that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value as few people use it to buy things, it is unproven as a safe haven asset and faces the threat of legal clampdowns that could make it worthless.

So should you buy some? And is it ever safe to do so?

Investors should steer clear, according to Felix Milton of Philip J Milton, a financial planning firm, because governments could intervene at any moment and outlaw it as a currency, making it illegal to own. At the moment its allowed to operate but that may not last forever, he said. I would strongly advise against investing unless it becomes regulated by the Government.

If this happened, it would reduce price volatility and legitimise it as an investment. But right now it is too risky to own as a serious investment and is more of a gamble.

Simon King of Vermeer Partners, a wealth manager, said Bitcoin faced two main hurdles before it could be considered investible. He said it needed to be used as a means of exchange, like other currencies, but this was currently not the case. Secondly, it needed to be accepted as a store of value, like gold, but as it was launched only in 2009 it was too early to conclude this.

All this, along with issues around fraud and theft, drastically limit its merits for a serious investor. For those who want to take a small gamble on volatility, fine. But it should not be an investment choice as part of a considered strategy and portfolio, he said.

But not all professional investors are put off by Bitcoins volatility and newcomer status. Tancredi Cordero of Kuros Associates, a wealth manager, said the most important reason to own Bitcoin was that it acted as a hedge as its price moved in different directions from other investments, including gold.

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Should you invest in Bitcoin and how to do it - Telegraph.co.uk

A poorly organized cryptocurrency mining farm has caused a fire in an apartment in St. Petersburg, Russia, and injured the operator, according to a 78.ru report citing the Ministry of Emergencies.

The resident of the seven-bedroom apartment had apparently failed to set up sufficient cooling for his equipment, and was hospitalized due to severe burns to his hands, neck and back.

The blaze took four fire engines, 16 firefighters and 40 minutes of work to put out, the report indicates.

This is not the first incident of its kind in Russia. In December of 2019, a mining farm set up in a private car garage in the city of Vologda also caught fire, destroying all the equipment, Cnews reported at the time.

And, in February 2019, a larger fire destroyed seven apartments in a residential building in the town of Artem, in the east of Russia.

Illicit mining is a problem across the country. The federal power grid company Rosseti reported losing about $6.6 million last year because of the mining farms plugged into the electric grid illegally.

In 2018, scientists in a nuclear research institute were arrested and later sentenced for using the institutions computers to mine bitcoin.

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Russian Hospitalized After Bitcoin Mining Farm Sets Apartment on Fire - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

A bitcoin logo on a mobile phone.

Omar Marques | SOPA Images, LightRocket | Getty Images

Bitcoin just climbed past $18,000 for the first time since December 2017, extending a wild run for the cryptocurrency this year.

The price of bitcoin was trading about 8.6% higher Wednesday morning at $18,172, breaching a level it hasn't hit since Dec. 20, 2017, according to data from industry site CoinDesk.

Bitcoin has been on a tear in 2020, skyrocketing over 150% in a jump crypto enthusiasts have accredited to unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as well as interest from big-name investors such as Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller.

It is now creeping up toward the all-time high of $19,783 which it posted in a late 2017 rally that saw the values of several cryptocurrencies surge. After hitting that milestone, the bubble burst and bitcoin plummeted to as low as $3,122 the following year.

But many crypto fans claim things are different this time. They've cheered big moves in the industry from the likes of Fidelity Investments, Square and PayPal.

PayPal recently started letting its users buy, hold and sell virtual currencies. The payments giant is set to enable shopping with crypto early next year.

Bitcoin's market value which is calculated by multiplying the total number ofbitcoins in circulation by theprice now stands at $337.2 billion, higher than the $331.8 billion it hit in December 2017, according to CoinMarketCap data.

"Bitcoin's market cap is now higher despite the cryptoasset being worth slightly less because there are more bitcoins in the system than there were in 2017," Adam Vettese, market analyst at online investment platform eToro, said via email on Wednesday. "The supply has expanded by roughly 10.75% since its last record."

The total number of bitcoins that will ever be produced is capped at 21 million. The cryptocurrency underwent a key technical event in the spring known as the "halving," which saw the amount of bitcoins rewarded to the so-called "miners" who add bitcoin transactions to its public ledger get cut in half.

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Bitcoin shoots past $18,000 for the first time since December 2017 - CNBC

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Amid a pandemic that's seen the U.S. dollar tank in value, the price of bitcoin has exploded nearly 150% this year and 15% in the past week alone, sparking a wave of renewed attention from Wall Street as the pioneering cryptocurrency nears its all-time price peak from late 2017 (before the crypto market infamously crashed).

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio at Fox Business Network Studios in New York City. (Photo by ... [+] Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

At a New York Times conference on Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase's billionaire chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, who in 2017 regrettably called bitcoin a fraud, said he's a "believer" in blockchain technology (JPMorgan has its own token) and "properly backed, properly regulated" cryptocurrency, but that bitcoin isn't his "cup of tea" and too many questions remain around its regulation.

But Bitcoin's resurgent price prompted billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio to question his own skepticism on Tuesday: "I might be missing something about Bitcoin so Id love to be corrected," Dalio tweeted before launching into a slew of perceived downfalls, echoing much of the bearish sentiment on Wall Street.

As a medium of exchange, bitcoin still isn't widely accepted by merchants, which Dalio postulates is because of its volatilitysomething that also makes it "not very good as a store-hold of wealth," he added.

"Bitcoin has made me an honest man in 2020," DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said at Forbes' Wealth Management Summit last week touting his January prediction that prices would eclipse $15,000 this year; in October hed noted that bitcoin was a lie.

He also said bitcoin has been soaring in tandem with gold, a sign investors are flocking to the cryptocurrency as a hedge against inflation.

The CEO of $12 billion wealth advisory DeVere Group, Nigel Green, agreed with that in a note on Wednesday, saying inflation fears spurred by massive government spending during the pandemic have investors "piling into safe-haven assets, in particular those not tied to any specific country, such as bitcoin and gold, as a shield against the turbulence."

Many investors are now taking to bitcoin as a legitimate hedge against longer-term inflation concerns, which have come to the fore due to stimulus packages," Green further noted on Wednesday. "These emergency measures, like the massive money-printing agenda, reduce the value of traditional currencies like the dollar, and other inherent characteristics of cryptocurrencies are piquing interest [in bitcoin] too," he added, pointing to trends like increased global trade, digitalization and younger consumersall of which bode well for bitcoin.

DeVere Group said on Wednesday that 73% of the more than 700 of its millionaire clients who responded to the firm's annual cryptocurrency survey said they are already invested in or will invest in cryptocurrencies by 2023, up from 68% last year as high net worth individuals rebalance their portfolios toward crypto, Green said.

"Unlike gold, which is the third highest reserve assets that central banks own, I cant imagine central banks, big institutional investors, businesses or multinational companies using [bitcoin]," Dalio tweeted on Tuesday, but past volatilityand the lack of day-to-day transferabilityhasn't stopped a cadre of institutional investors and corporations from at least warming up to bitcoin this year. Through the first half of 2020, more than 20 financial institutions, ranging in assets from $10 million to more than $5 billion, revealed they owned bitcoin via the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a publicly traded investment vehicle that owns bitcoin and loosely tracks its price. In October, payments company Square invested $50 million in bitcoin in order to diversify its largely USD-denominated balance sheet, becoming the latest large institution plowing big money into the world's first cryptocurrency.

Regulation. "My experience with the government is they can regulate whatever they want, when they feel like it and if [bitcoin] gets bigger and bigger, it will be regulated," Dimon said on Wednesday. "Around the world, it's already starting to happen," he added, likely referencing enhanced regulation in countries like South Korea, India and China, which bars financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions. The SEC, meanwhile, has largely cracked down on crypto-fundraising through "initial coin offerings," but it's been hesitant to issue guidance on the industry as a wholethough that could soon change. "There is more and more interest from a wide spectrum of people, both inside the crypto space as well as inside the traditional financial institutions who are asking us for guidance," an SEC Commissioner told CoinDesk last month. "I think we're going to be forced to confront that more and more in the coming years."

$19,783. That's the price bitcoin peaked at in late 2017 after climbing 15-fold that year amid a flood of heightened attention and surging mainstream adoption, as retail trading became easier through pioneering bitcoin platforms like brokerage Coinbase. But that bubble proved unsustainable, and bitcoin's price crashed 80% by the end of 2018. Bitcoin's rise this year has boosted prices to about 90% of peak levels.

A Major Tesla Investor Has Predicted Bitcoin Will Be Worth More Than $1 Trillion In Under 10 Years (Forbes)

20 Institutional Bitcoin Investors Revealed, But Soon The List May Vanish (Forbes)

Billionaire-Founded Square Invests $50 Million In Bitcoin, Pushing Shares To All-Time High (Forbes)

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As Bitcoin Surges 15%, Here's What Wall Street's Saying About The Cryptocurrency's Meteoric Resurgence - Forbes

Bitcoin (BTC) is setting new records in almost all aspects except USD spot price, says a new digest, which concludes that 2020 is not like the 2017 rally.

In a blog post on Nov. 17, Nic Carter, co-founder of statistics resource CoinMetrics, highlighted nine charts, which as of this week, are higher than ever.

From wallet balances over $10 to institutional holdings and even Bitcoin spot prices in various fiat currencies, the data shows that Bitcoin is outperforming on a historic level.

To sum up, todays market is far more mature, more financialized, more surveilled, more orderly, more restrained, less reflexive, more capital-efficient, and more liquid than the market that powered the prior bull run in 2017, Carter summarized.

PlanB, creator of the stock-to-flow Bitcoin price models, supplied one more metric Bitcoins fundamental 200-week moving average.

All serve to differentiate the Bitcoin of 2020 with that of three years ago, when a fervent few weeks at the end of Q4 produced fleeting all-time highs near $20,000.

As Cointelegraph reported, the past few days have produced a fresh round of bullish price predictions from well-known sources, who claim that $20,000 will not act as a ceiling this time around, and that breaking it will allow the bull run to continue.

For 2021, entities from crypto investors to traditional banks have given sky-high price targets, among them, Citibanks $318,000 punt by year end.

Yet, not everyone is so optimistic. Even as $18,000 became a reality this week, one strategist told mainstream media that the lack of publicity Bitcoin is getting is proof that interest has died.

The fascination with it has worn off, Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist for Schwab Center for Financial Research, declared to Bloomberg:

The perspective underscores the divide between those within the cryptocurrency sphere and those outside it, the latter still convinced that 2017 marked the peak of the Bitcoin fad.

The $20,000 level is clearly the next target for Bitcoin. Should we surpass that this year, which I believe is possible, then we are into uncharted territory as sentiment remains positive, Simon Peters, crypto-asset analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro, commented to Cointelegraph.

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This time is different 10 Bitcoin charts show that this rally isnt like 2017s - Cointelegraph

The worlds most prominent digital currency on Wednesday was back to carving out records just like it was 2017. The No. 1 cryptos nearly 11.7% weekly rise and 34% gain so far in November has helped the asset hit a market value of around $334 billion, according to digital-currency data site CoinMarketCap.

Read: He accurately called bitcoins near-term surge to $16,000, but now sees chance of a 20% tumble

That level surpasses the roughly $322.7 billion value that bitcoin hit on Dec. 17 when its price was nearly $20,000 (see chart).

Although bitcoins price BTCUSD, +0.22% BTCUSD, +0.22% hasnt exceeded that 2017 record level, it currently sits about 10% shy of touching a round-number milestone at $20,000. It quietly has been drawing more attention and notching a fresh all-time peak for an asset considered one of the most polarizing of this generation of financial markets.

Bitcoins record market capitalization reflects the attention that the blockchain-based asset has garnered over its rivals.

So-called bitcoin dominance, or the share of bitcoins value as it contributes to the universe of recognized digital currencies, was at 66.5%, as tracked by CoinMarketCap. Bitcoins market-cap dominance is near to its highest level since May of 2020.

Bitcoin and other cryptos were boosted last month after PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, -1.13% said it wouldallow customers to buy cryptocurrency through their accounts anduse it for merchant payments.

Bitcoin prices have gained nearly 151% so far this year, with Bitcoin futures BTC.1, +0.84% trading on the CME Group seeing a similar rise. By comparison, gold GCZ20, -0.15% has gained 23% in the year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.15% has climbed 4.4% so far in 2020. The S&P 500 index SPX, -1.15% has gained about 12% and the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.82% has surged roughly 33% over the same period.

Still, bitcoin bears and detractors arent hard to find. On Tuesday, Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the worlds largest hedge fund, and a longtime bitcoin skeptic, on Twitter challenged proponents of the currency to explain to him why bitcoin is worth his attention and not doomed to collapse.

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Bitcoin rises over $18,000 and touches record market value, exceeding its 2017 top - MarketWatch

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The price of Bitcoin is gaining again Wednesdayand its not far away from its all-time high. How much higher can it go?

The digital currency is up 0.7% to $17,797 at 10:48 a.m. Wednesday, after briefly cracking $18,000 earlier in the day, putting it up nearly 150% in 2020. Its a remarkable comeback for Bitcoin, which had fallen out of favor with investors after hitting an all-time high of $19,783 in December 2017, and then falling as low as $3,135.55 in December 2018, an 84% drop.

Now, Bitcoin is just 11% away from its all-time high and momentum has been on its side. The coin is up 9% in the past five trading days. So if the current momentum is sustained, it could reach its high fairly soon. That could depend on continued dollar weakness, if the current action is anything to go by, as the U.S. Dollar Index is down 0.7% since Sept. 8, a period that corresponds with renewed Bitcoin strength.

On the persistent dollar weakness, its only been Bitcoin recently that has gotten going to the upside while gold and silver continue to consolidate its gains this year, said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer for Bleakley Advisory Group.

And if Bitcoin trades a new all-time high? It could be headed for $25,000, according to research firm Fundstrat, 40% higher than current levels. Driving those gains, according to Fundstrat: the potential for new Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, interest from hedge-fund managers, and the overall recognition the coin is gaining traction as an alternative asset class.

Still, not everyone on Wall Street is a fan of Bitcoin. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon was recently quoted saying he has no interest in the currency. Bridgewaters Ray Dalio, meanwhile, said that governments could try to shut it down if it becomes successful enough.

For now, though, its up, up, and away.

Email: Jacob Sonenshine at Jacob.Sonenshine@barrons.com

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Bitcoin Is Nearing a Record High. Heres How Much Higher It Can Go. - Barron's