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Category Archives: Bitcoin
Bitcoin Surpasses $30 Billion Market Cap – The Merkle
Posted: May 11, 2017 at 12:28 pm
The past few days Bitcoin has been reaching and breaking past all time highs seemingly every hour. Last night, after a short pullback of 2%, massive buy orders appeared on exchanges pushing the price to new heights. Today, the market reached yet another all time high of $1892 per coin.
Given the current price increase, Bitcoins market cap has risen over $3 billion since Monday only, putting it at a current record high market cap of just over $30 billion. To put that in perspective, according to NASDAQ, PayPals stock market cap is at $59.87 billion. While Bitcoin is still nowhere near the amount of transactions compared to PayPal, it is interesting to see how the two payment solutions compare against each other. In comparison, VISAs market cap is a whopping $212.88 billion, and MasterCards is at $124.82 billion.
We speculated earlier that the market might have been forming a head and shoulders pattern, however that theory has been proven wrong as Bitcoins price launched an extra $100. Looking at the increased trading volume, it looks like this rally still has fuel left.
As the May 15th deadline approaches for the SEC to make a decision on the appealed Bitcoin ETF application, the market is eagerly awaiting. Take a look at this chart reflecting Bitcoins price when the SEC first denied the application on March 10th:
As you can see, the price tanked over 30% from a high of $1350 to a low of $980.Up until that point, the price has been on a steady climb from January. While it is true that basing trade decision on past market action is not reliable, it is important to understand that unregulated cryptocurrency markets are more prone to manipulation.
Another interesting development to keep an eye on is MtGoxs possible rise from the ashes. We all remember MtGox as the exchange which went down and was responsible for the collapse of Bitcoins first bubble.However, due to Bitcoins recent price hike it is possible the exchange couldreimburse creditors after all and avoid liquidation and bankruptcy.
According to our calculations, Bitcoins price would have to rise to approximately $2900 to allow MtGox to repay its customers. In the event that MtGox is able to repay its customers, that will undoubtedly create positive pressure in the market and may send Bitcoin price to even higher astronomical levels.
Speaking of Japan, while there was a dip in volume last night which created a roughly 2% pullback, that volume is back. Japan has been leading this rally as volume on their exchanges has increased drastically. Furthermore, the CEO of one of Japans largest Bitcoin exchange has released a statement claiming the volume coming from the exchanges in the country is real. Unlike Chinese exchanges such asBTCC, OkCoin, and Huobithat didnt charge fees for trading, Japan is extremely careful with compliance and regulation. Since legislature outlining Bitcoin exchange protocols has only recently been passed, the platforms have been treading with caution.Mike Kayamori, CEO of QUOINE said:
We are charging fees on all trades other than spot trading of BTC/JPY. Every other currency pair, as well as margin trading, there is a fee. And our spreads are quite large, hence our volume is actually lower in April/May than it was March.
Last but not least, China may soon resume withdrawals from their exchanges, as the PBoC is looking to finish drafting the final pieces of AML and KYC regulations for Bitcoin exchanges by June of this year. This is another factor which is most likely responsible for the recent rally.
Combine the upcoming ETF reconsideration, Japans extreme adoption, and Chinas possible resume of withdrawals and you get a $1892 Bitcoin.
Dislaimer: This is not trading advice, this article is for educational purposes only. If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.
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Bitcoin Price Analysis: $1700 and Rising (But So Are Fees) – Bitcoin Magazine
Posted: May 9, 2017 at 3:05 pm
With bitcoin making new all-time highs (ATHs) in price and market capitalization almost every day, the block size and scalability debate has taken a back seat over the past week. From a user perspective, unconfirmed transactions are on the rise due to a clogged and busy network. Without any changes to the Bitcoin protocol, this will not improve, especially if bitcoin continues to push higher on heavy demand.
The number of unconfirmed transactions hit an ATH of 140,000 on May 5. Although this isnt the best metric to evaluate health of the network because large numbers of spam transactions can inflate this number, it does give a user an indication of how quickly or slowly they will receive their bitcoin. To determine the optimal fee that will give your transaction a chance to be processed in a reasonable time, its a good idea to use a wallet that will calculate this for you. Alternatively, you can reference a website. At the current rate, microtransactions are not exactly feasible due to high transaction costs.
Here are some tips for what to do if your transaction gets stuck.
Prices and premiums between the various USD exchanges have been fluctuating wildly, with GDAX and Bitfinex often leading in price.
No amendments have been made to the COIN ETF since the SECs review of rejection, but this will be something to keep a close eye on since it could spark a media frenzy and drive price higher. GBTC, an OTC market that uses a BTC derivative available to the public, hit a new ATH of $2,000 per bitcoin yesterday, or a $200+ premium from the current spot price. We can expect this premium to shrink to $0 if the COIN ETF gets approved, as those same investors would likely move toward that market.
With prices this high, getting close to parabolic movement, its hard to estimate targets or true resistance in price discovery mode. Even a price target of $4,000 isnt exactly impossible. The inverted head and shoulders that confirmed a few weeks ago hit its measured target of $1,575.
A slightly modified pitchfork yields targets around $1,8002,000, with price recently breaking the resistance diagonal rather cleanly.
Heikin-Ashi candlesticks on the daily timeframe continue to show strong bullish momentum despite volume or oscillators suggesting otherwise. Typically, a Heikin-Ashi run like this will end in a blow-off top, similar to the price structure of January 4 and 5, as well as November 2015 (not shown).
Summary
Unconfirmed transactions will continue to plague Bitcoin, especially as new users and traders ramp onto the network. Stuck transactions can be avoided by using an appropriate transaction fee.
The Bitfinex premium in excess of $100 at one point between exchanges continues to shrink.
Most technicals are of little use with this price structure and discovery, although a large parabolic move is likely coming in the very near future.
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Bitcoin Price Analysis: $1700 and Rising (But So Are Fees) - Bitcoin Magazine
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Bitcoin soars past $1700 – MarketWatch
Posted: at 3:05 pm
Bitcoin surged past $1,700 on Tuesday, extending an astonishing rally that has seen the total market value of all virtual currencies more than double since the beginning of 2017.
The price of a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +8.45% has gained more than $300 in the past week, to trade as high as $1,747 on Tuesday, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, which aggregates pricing across a handful of the largest exchanges. Meanwhile, daily trading volume has surpassed $1.3 billion for the first time, according to Coin Market Cap.
However, prices varied widely between exchanges. On Kraken, one of the biggest U.S.-based exchanges, one bitcoin recently went for $1,578, while simultaneously trading at $1,742 on GDAX, another popular U.S.-based digital-currency exchange.
Price discrepancies were even wider across different markets, with coins trading on Korean exchanges like Korbit and Coinone in excess of $2,000, valued in Korean won USDKRW, +0.30%
Spencer Bogart, head of research at Blockchain Capital, said the Securities and Exchange Commissions decision to revisit its rejection of the proposed Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded fund was one possible catalyst for bitcoins recent rally.
But he said the massive appreciation in smaller rivals like Litecoin and Ripple has probably contributed to the bulk of bitcoins move: Many of these coins are denominated in bitcoin, so investors who wish to buy them must first have it on hand.
The virtual-currency market has all the trappings of a bubble, Bogart said, though he thinks it could have more room to rise before a correction occurs. A correction is typically defined as a decline in an asset from a recent peak of at least 10%.
Its definitely unsustainable, Bogart said, though I dont know if its in its final moments right now.
Chris Dannen, founder of New York-based cryptoasset fund Iterative Instinct, said the massive wealth creation in the space has fostered a pattern where wealth shuttles back and forth between bitcoin and other alt-coins, or alternative cryptocurrencies.
Though Dannen added that he suspects at least some of the recent run-up could be the result of manipulation by a handful of whaleswealthy traders with large reservoirs of cryptocurrency wealth, who use their relative heft in the marketplace to move prices to their advantage.
Theres a group of whales out there, they kind of bounce around from coin to coin, he said. They clearly have a system. Its almost like the tide is coming in and out; you know theres a pattern.
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Bitcoin’s appeal is at an all-time high | New York Post – New York Post
Posted: May 7, 2017 at 11:29 pm
Global stock indexes are not the only asset class making new highs on a daily basis. Cryptocurrencies specifically bitcoin are soaring to fresh levels as well.
Despite two major setbacks for bitcoin in 2017, it has soared nearly 55 percent from its year-to-date lows as Asian investors flock to the new-age currency.
Bitcoin prices are now trading at previously uncharted levels as the value of the cryptocurrency reached a high of $1,588 on CoinDesk on Friday morning.
In January the Peoples Bank of China, the countrys central bank, launched a crackdown on bitcoin, believing that citizens were using it to move wealth out of the country. Prices fell as low as $750 on Jan. 12 before recovering.
In March the cryptocurrency had a run-up on anticipation that the Securites and Exchange Commission would decide in favor of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund driven by the Winklevoss brothers. Bitcoin prices reached a high of $1,350 before the feds nixed the proposal, sending prices to a low of $891 soon afterward.
Prices began to recover as Japan officially acknowledged the use of cryptocurrencies and passed legislation allowing retailers to accept payment in digital form.
Russia and India have also loosened restrictions on cryptocurrencies, leading to wider acceptance within their borders as both countries India especially struggle with their own internal currency crises.
The SEC announced in April that it would take a second look at a bitcoin ETF by reviewing its ruling in the Winklevoss brothers application. No timetable has been released on when that may happen.
Bitcoins market cap is now north of $23 billion, which is chump change for any asset class. But with more acceptance and wider appeal, the digital currency can be divided into smaller units such as decibits, millibits and centibits to make smaller transactions possible.
Ethereum, which is the second-most prominent cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, struck a new all-time high Tuesday as well, trading at $85.
It now has a market cap of $7 billion on the strength of its acceptance in gaming circles in Asian countries.
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‘E-gold’ bitcoin shines past $1500 – Times of India
Posted: at 11:29 pm
CHENNAI: Bitcoin surged into an all-time high territory last week as investors bet the digital currency will gain greater acceptance globally as an investment vehicle. The cryptocurrency crossed the $1,500 mark on Thursday and, besides a slip to $1,491 on Friday , it has remained above this mark till Sunday. To give context, gold price as on Sunday was about $1,230 per ounce (around $39 per gram).The price of the yellow metal has not touched the $1,500 range in the last four years. Since 2013, when gold was in the $1,500-1,600 range, its price has been hovering around $1,200. The crypto currency , on the other hand, has been growing ever since it crossed the $1,000 mark in January this year. "Today , one bitcoin is worth almost Rs 1 lakh. Last month, we saw some stagna tion, which is the result of demand and supply pull. There is some amount of speculation involved as well," said Benson Samuel, CTO and co-founder, Coinsecure, a bitcoin exchange in India. The virtual currency exchange has over 1,50,000 users who trade on average 200 bitcoins daily . In the last month alone, they have seen 100 new users sign up. The demonetisation drive by the government saw a lot of users looking at alternate modes of investment, with bitcoins being sought after. "Two years ago, I had to explain what a bitcoin is. Now, there is more adoption as a commodity," said Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder, Unocoin, backed by the likes of Blume Ventures, Boost VC and other international investors. The acceptance of the cryptocurrency's legality by the Chinese and Japanese governments has come as a big boost.
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Vinny Lingham: The Curse Of ‘Satoshi’s Choice’ – A Bitcoin Community Mired In insult And Emotion – CryptoCoinsNews
Posted: at 11:29 pm
Vinny Lingham
The bitcoin scaling debate has driven many people in the bitcoin community to assume a cult-like viewpoint, an observation Vinny Lingham makes with despair. In a blog titled, Satoshis Choice, Lingham observed that the bitcoin community has failed to maintain a level attitude aimed at achieving the greater good for the community. Hence, he doesnt see a resolution to the current impasse on bitcoin scaling in the short term.
Without a reasonable resolution to the current impasse, it will be difficult to avoid exogenous pricing pressure or another external catalyst for change.
Lingham noted that the replies to his tweets have been emotive and insulting. When emotions get the upper hand and people cant communicate with decorum, they suffer from impaired judgment.
Most bitcoiners care about bitcoins price, he noted. Emotionally, they are invested in bitcoin as a digital currency and a store of value.
Lingham once believed a bitcoin price under $875 would push parties to reach an agreement. He did not expect the price to stay above $1,000 for an extended period since the incentive to go beyond this did not exist. But he was wrong about this, and market forces are affecting the price, which he believes is not necessarily a negative development in the near term.
While he believes there are pros and cons to all sides of the scaling debate, one path that Lingham says should be avoided at all costs is a contentious hard fork resulting in a minority chain.
Bitcoin is still viewed by the public at large as a negative entity, thanks to Silk Road and other misadventures. One indication is the current set of issues dealing with getting fiat in and out of bitcoin exchanges.
Satoshi made a choice, Lingham noted, to leave the bitcoin community to its own devices. He did this to give the community a gift, but one that came with a curse. The more the community loves bitcoin, the more greed emerged within the community and outside of it.
Linghams question now is: why does the community need a leader if bitcoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer currency? The answer is that bitcoin is not yet a decentralized, peer-to-peer currency.
For bitcoin to be immune tomanipulation, it must be decentralized at every layer. The bitcoin community, however, has focused on the price, scaling and other issues to the degree that bitcoin is the most secure but least innovative cryptocurrency.
Lingham would agree that immutability gives bitcoin its strength if the immutability was by distributed choice, not by default since decisions are centralized.
But instead of decentralized mining and decentralized exchanges with hefty volumes, the community has a few exchanges at the mercy of the banking system, as well as large mining pools controlled by a few operators, manufacturing controlled by two firms, and development that is run by one group of individuals.
Where capital formation has become decentralized, bitcoin is not making progress in removing monopolies.
Also read: Vinny Lingham says bitcoin hard fork should be avoided, Buterin argues
Diversification is what leads to positive outcomes, Lingham claims.
He wants a world with multiple chip manufacturing and mining hardware providers competing for business from thousands of miners if not millions distributed worldwide. He wants to have a choice of dozens of mining pools with different bitcoin philosophies focused on the greater good butacting on their own accord.
He wants to see the market choose the best clients and BIPs, where dissenting voices find groups to join and not feel ostracized.
He wants to see each layer of decentralization working to make it more accessible to others as opposed to trying to fork bitcoin contentiously.
In the short term, people could start being more respectful of each other.
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Vinny Lingham: The Curse Of 'Satoshi's Choice' - A Bitcoin Community Mired In insult And Emotion - CryptoCoinsNews
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How Ripple is Targeting an Entirely Different Market to Bitcoin – CryptoCoinsNews
Posted: at 11:29 pm
Bitcoin was introduced in 2009 as an alternative network to the global financial system monopolized by centralized institutions and strictly regulated financial service providers. By providing a peer to peer protocol wherein users can send and receive transactions with the absence of intermediaries, Bitcoin essentially became the first decentralized financial platform.
Replicating or being inspired by Bitcoins structure, alternative cryptocurrencies or altcoins emerged. One of the most successful cryptocurrencies that has maintained its market cap and client base over a relatively long period of time is Ripple. It consistently has ranked in the top three altcoin, falling behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. Ripples vision was to provide a more efficient infrastructure for the centralized institutions and the conventional finance industry.
Ripple is significantly different to Bitcoin philosophically and structurally. If bitcoin is described as a decentralized peer to peer network developed to operate as an alternative financial network to that of the existing global financial system, Ripple can be explained as a protocol structured to serve and enhance the existing global financial system. It has partnered with leading banks and major financial institutions to settle cross-border and cross-bank transactions transparently, with strong security measures in real time.
The current global financial system operates on top of an outdated and inefficient IT infrastructure and system. For a transaction to become fully verified and settled, it could take days to weeks with a substantial fee, usually in the range of $30 to $50 per transaction. Often times, transactions initiated by banks through an international financial network such as SWIFT get lost within the system, requiring manual confirmation and a period of weeks for the transaction to be recovered and settled.
Essentially, Ripple utilizes blockchain technology and the concept of digital tokens to simplify global banking. Major banks and financial institutions are in agreement with Ripples vision and strategy and have adopted Ripples system. Most recently, CryptoCoinsNews reported that Spanish banking giant BBVA began to utilize Ripple blockchain for Spain-Mexico money transfers.
This pioneer initiative is a clear demonstration of how payment processes can be vastly improved through the implementation of emerging technologies. These improvements will benefit our clients transnationality, head of digital transformation in investment banking at BBVA stated.
However, an ambiguous component of Ripples services is the necessity of intermediaries. In an email, Ripple representative told CryptoCoinsNews that Ripple executives believe banks arent going away and that bitcoin is getting it wrong. Yet, by growth, bitcoin has evidently appealed to a wider range of users, businesses and investors as it is valued at $23.7 billion at the time of reporting. Ripples market cap is below 10 percent of bitcoins.
`An intermediary such as BBVA utilizing the Ripple network for a customer can be understood as an intermediary using another intermediary to process transactions. Thus, in the long run, one of the two intermediaries could be rendered ineffective. Either users will solely rely on the Ripple network and utilize XRP to make transactions with each other or banks will develop their own blockchain network similar to SWIFT and simply discard its partnership with Ripple.
The issue with banks developing their independent blockchain networks is the necessity of cooperation and collaboration. Hence, by relying on an existing blockchain network structured to serve financial institutions, banks can cut development costs.
Three advantages Ripple offers to its banks is speed, certainty and cost. By utilizing a decentralized blockchain in Ripple, banks can potentially see a reduction of billions of dollars in operating costs. Whether banks will remain with Ripple and work on the development of a cross-bank network or form their own blockchain network like JP Morgan is still difficult to speculate.
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Bitcoin surpasses $1500 milestone – MarketWatch
Posted: May 6, 2017 at 3:17 am
Bitcoin sailed past the $1,500 mark on Thursday, pushing the total value of the digital-currency market above $40 billion for the first time.
Litecoin, another prominent bitcoin rival, advanced 22% to $25, its highest level in more than three years, after Coinbase, one of the most popular digital-currency exchanges in the U.S., enabled trading in the cryptocurrency.
The top 14 most heavily traded digital currencies have all realized astounding gains over the past month as investors who have booked large profits trading bitcoin and rival Ethereum have sought to diversify and increase their chances of cashing in on the next big cryptocurrency rally, according to Chris Dannen, founder of Iterative Instinct a New York-based cryptocurrency venture fund.
Not only are the smaller coins obscure and cheap, but they represent a chance to get those huge returns all over again, Dannen said.
The price of a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.05% has more than tripled since the beginning of 2016, when it traded around $450. It peaked at $1,589 on Thursday, according to the CoinDesk bitcoin price index. One ether token traded at $90.95. Dash, the fifth most popular token, traded at $96.
Bitcoins advance has coincided with its growing acceptance by regulators. A law passed by Japanese lawmakers earlier this year that allows financial institutions to participate in the digital-currency market took effect in April.
Also, regulators in Russia and India have signaled their willingness to legalize bitcoin and its peers.
However, bitcoin trading volume in China, once its largest market, plunged after authorities forced the largest exchanges in the country to institute transaction fees and halt withdrawals until they could upgrade their anti-money-laundering systems. New rules require exchanges based in China to verify customers identities.
In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected two proposals that would have led to the creation of bitcoin-focused exchange-traded funds. But the decision elicited only a brief dip in the bitcoin price.
The SEC has since said it would review its March 10 decision that effectively killed the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust. Grayscales proposal to allow its Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchanges ETF platform is currently being reviewed, but a decision isnt imminent.
The value of cryptocurrencies, however, have varied dramatically between exchanges, prompting Charles Hayter, the chief executive officer and founder of Cryptocompare, to worry about a possible pullback.
On Bitfinex, one of the largest digital currency exchanges in the world, customers paid a $100 premium as they scrambled to move their assets off its platform. The exchange announced two weeks ago that it would temporarily suspend dollar withdrawals after it was effectively cut off from the financial system.
Cryptos have hit a period of volatility as the markets have become dislocated. Prices on exchanges are showing huge discrepancies in terms of pricing and arbitrage is rife, Hayter said.
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The Death of Bitcoin – The Daily Reckoning – Daily Reckoning
Posted: at 3:17 am
Warning.
What youre about to read is wildly opinionated.
But hey, its Friday. And its time to get a MASSIVE market forecast in front of you. After all, I want YOU to be ahead of the big story before it shows up on the nightly news.
My publisher, Matt Insley who rarely writes his own articles these days felt that this story was too important not to be heard.
This is a story the mainstream media isnt covering.
And millennials arent going to get the memo either, before its too late.
But, mark my words
This is the death of Bitcoin
Over the weekend we saw a random pop culture/news story hit the wire
The worlds foremost TV/movie streaming company, Netflix, was hacked. And the trail of breadcrumbs leading away from the crime scene leads me to a shocking conclusion.
The hack was simple and deliberate. A hacker by the name of thedarkoverlord gained access to the upcoming season of a popular Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black.
Long story short, the hacker stole TV content and threatened to give it away online before Netflixs intended release date. Unless Netflix paid a modest ransom of around $50,000.
Another ho-hum hacking story, right? Not so fast. This is where the story takes a turn.
Any good movie-watcher knows that when a ransom is demanded, its not the money that matters its the getaway.
After all, how are you supposed to ransom $1 Million (or in this case $50k) pick it up from a gas station trash can and actually GET AWAY with it?
Ah ha! Thats the hard part.
You see, the Netflix ransom was demanded in mysterious and untraceable Bitcoin.
And its becoming more common practice to demand ransom in Bitcoin, too. This from the NYT:
Those threats have increased with the advent of ransomware, malicious software that encrypts victims data and prevents them from accessing it until they pay a ransom, often hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency.
If you dont know the story about Bitcoin Ill get you caught up.
With my opinion of course
The cryptocurrency holds a lot of technology. And to really understand it, you need to know about blockchain. (Keep up here. Times are changing and knowing about things like blockchain matter in todays market, as youll see)
Blockchain is a distributed database that continuously evolves. Think of it as a growing list of records that cant be tampered with. Or for a real world example, pretend for a second that every single U.S. dollar bill in America was catalogued electronically in an online database by serial number. From the second it comes off the printing press the bills history is on record. Every transaction, continuously updated.
Importantly, blockchain doesnt require anyones legal name or actual address, either in that sense its anonymous.
Okay. So thats what blockchain brings to the table solid technology that can track transactions and keep tabs on digital currency.
And over the years the popularity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin has gone through the roof
All said, Bitcoin is impressively-encrypted, money-transferring technology. From my perch, calling it a currency is a little generous.
Looking through the lens of a technology, thats where things get interesting with this Netflix/Bitcoin story.
History shows that with great technology comes great responsibility.
The revolver and semi-automatic weapons
Automobiles
Military weaponry
Even the advent of the internet
With each of these impressive technologies came a sinister downside
Bitcoin is no different. If you look under the hood youll see that what really makes Bitcoin tick is less-talked-about, more sinister transaction record. Oh if that blockchain could talk!
Money laundering. Illegal transfers. Moving money outside of U.S. sanctions. Funding offshore accounts. Funding illegal online gambling are just a few of the HUGE black-market forces that underpin bitcoin.
So, the Silicon Valley logic that bitcoin is free market technology and you can use it to protect against inflation invest pay friends shop etc is NOT the whole picture. Its also why Im all puffed-up about Bitcoin.
And mark my words, coming soon the script on Bitcoin is going to flip
Similar to the disruptive technologies I listed above, Bitcoin will undergo the standard lifecycle of development and I believe that will include swift, sweeping government regulation. Similar to gun control, car insurance, cyber regulation and more
However, unlike most of those other technologies, I dont think Bitcoin will survive this deathblow of regulation.
Heres an example of what I mean
The Netflix example above was, for all intents and purposes, harmless. Yes, hacking and demanding a ransom is illegal. But, the large scale ramifications arent that big.
Thats all going to change when the bad guys up the game.
For instance, what if someone hacks a more important/vital piece of U.S. infrastructure? Instead of the latest season of Orange Is The New Black?
Or, worse
What if American lives are at stake. What if ransoms for high-value kidnappings come tethered to one nasty little reoccurring detail pay us in Bitcoin.
Thats when the encrypted emperor will be stripped naked. Bitcoin will bear the full brunt of a media and government onslaught. It wont be pretty.
Mind you, this could happen overnight. Just like the Netflix news a few days ago.
All it takes is large-scale ransom disaster and swift action by congress. And that $30B in crypto-cash market cap could be wiped out.
After all, weve seen this exact type of action before. Much like the sanctions against countries like Russia or Iran or the financial regulation changes for say, online gambling.
You see, right now you can transfer money directly from U.S. bank accounts, through a third party, into Bitcoin.
But, like a sock puppet, the U.S. Government controls the banking system as well as the credit system.
Add it all up and one single emotional, urgent, media-driven government regulation could destroy the financial transaction that funds cryptocurrency.
Itll be the death blow to Bitcoin. And its not just me saying it either
I just heard an interview from Agora Financials Chief Technology Officer, Ray Blanco, who shares my same concerns about Bitcoin:
I look at bitcoin right now, I see huge risk. Blockchain advances all get figured out in the years ahead regardless. Bitcoin itself, its doomed. The end is near. Soon as Congress has a reason, they figure out how to shut it down. You mark my words. Too many banks have too much to lose. And if we know one thing, its that big banks and Congress are part of the same beast.
Just wait until the next hack comes to light and the victim is a bit more important than a Netflix series.
This is a story you wont find in the mainstream. And if you or any loved ones are playing around with Bitcoin accounts, this is your fair warning. This Bitcoin disaster could happen overnight. Any day.
I bet its only a matter of time.
Have a good weekend,
Matt Insley
Publisher, The Daily Edge EdgeFeedback@AgoraFinancial.com
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Welcome to /r/btc! Home of free and open bitcoin discussion, bitcoin news, and exclusive AMA (Ask Me Anything) interviews from top bitcoin industry leaders!
Bitcoin is the currency of the Internet. A distributed, worldwide, decentralized digital money. Unlike traditional currencies such as dollars, bitcoins are issued and managed without the need for any central authority whatsoever.
There is no government, company, or bank in charge of Bitcoin. As such, it is more resistant to wild inflation and corrupt banks. With Bitcoin, you can be your own bank.
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