Category Archives: Bitcoin

Bitcoin continues to advance like a rising river which slowly but surely overcomes each obstacle in its path. Indeed, while it is surprising that the advance has not yet taken on a greed-fueled vertical ascent, the tepid and fearful, but relentless, advance has served it well. Advances can continue longer when they assume a more measured climb.

As these words are being typed, the asset has stumbled after hitting a 5th arc on a 4-hour chart. That is not surprising. The surprise will be when/if the 5th arc folds before continued buying pressure, like so many resistance points before it, over the past few weeks. Usually, I view 5th arcs as points to expect a reversal. But somehow, I feel it more likely that the arc will yield over the next several hours. Time will tell.

Still however, it is an axiom of this business that corrections must come sooner or later, even if they are just small ones. The age-old question looms: When and where will the next (relatively) significant one occur?

Obviously I cant say for a certainty where or when. But I can see where the sweet spots on the charts are points to watch. And there is a point that stands out as place to watch carefully.

There are 3 points that intersect on the chart above. The top of the 5th square, a 0.5 pitchfork line, and an energetic point in time on the 26th. I realize that the term energetic point in time sounds ridiculous to those not steeped in the esoteric. But they exist, for whatever the reason. WD Gann made millions in a time when a good house sold for $5000, utilizing esoterica far more bizarre than that.

The 3 points meet on 2/26, at a price ~ $1215. While I dont think that this will mark a long-term top, it is a likely a good place to take profits, and wait to see what happens next, if pricetime gets to that place. We will see

Happy trading!

Remember: The author is a trader who is subject to all manner of error in judgement. Do your own research, and be prepared to take full responsibility for your own trades.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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Bitcoin is Challenging the All-Time High - CryptoCoinsNews

Forbes

If You Traded Bitcoin, You Should Report Capital Gains To The IRS Forbes The IRS considers cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, to be intangible property. Investors and traders holding cryptocurrency as a capital asset should use capital gain or loss tax treatment on sales and exchanges, with the realization method. For ... BitCoin For Weed Could Revolutionize The Entire IndustryGreen Rush Daily Bitcoin Plus The new up and comer of cryptocurrencyPress Release Rocket all 4 news articles »

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If You Traded Bitcoin, You Should Report Capital Gains To The IRS - Forbes

The price of a single bitcoin leapt to its highest level in more than three years on Tuesday, as traders bought up coins in anticipation of the Securities and Exchange Commissions ruling on a proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

One bitcoin US:BTCUSD went for as much as $1,105.48 on Tuesday, its highest level since December 2013, according to data from Coin Market Cap.

Both Amith B. Nirgunarthy, director of marketing & HNW Partnerships at Bitcoin IRA, and Chris Dannen, a founding partner at Iterative Instinct, a small New York-based private-equity fund that trades crypto-assets, said investors are attempting to so-called front-run the SECs decision on the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust ETF. Front-running refers to buying an asset with the expectation of a larger buyer, or group of buyers, expected to come to push prices higher.

In this case, the SEC is expected to deliver its final decision on the trust by March 11. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who were famously portrayed by actor Armie Hammer in the hit movie The Social Network, first filed for creation of the ETF back in 2013. If approved, it will trade on the BATS exchange and could support prices of bitcoin.

This is probably front-running for a potential Winklevoss ETF, Nirgunarthy said.

To be sure, even if the Winklevoss ETF isnt approved, a Japanese law that introduces a regulatory framework for bitcoin is set to take effect in April, potentially leading to an influx of institutional money from that country, Dannen said.

There will be a lot of fresh fish out there next month, either way the [SEC] decision goes, Dannen said.

Read: And 2016s best-performing commodity isbitcoin?

Read: Path to Bitcoin ETF still uncertain but may be easier under Trump

Read: Bitcoin hits milestone of $1,000 as 2017 begins

Competition to launch what would be the first exchange-traded bitcoin fund has intensified in recent months. Back in January, Grayscale, the creator of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC, +2.78% filed to list shares of the trust on the New York Stock Exchange. It presently trades over the counter, with a large premium over its relative net-asset value in bitcoin. In January, the SEC delayed its decision on a third fund, the SolidX Bitcoin Trust, which would also trade on the NYSE.

Resurgent trading volume in China, which was, until recently, bitcoins largest market, has also helped to support the price, Nirgunarthy said.

Since the beginning of the year, Chinas largest bitcoin exchanges have imposed new transaction fees and halted customer withdrawals while they upgrade their antimoney laundering systems. These decisions, undertaken in response to stepped-up scrutiny from the Peoples Bank of China, initially caused trading volume in the country to plummet.

The bitcoin price more than doubled in 2016 as Chinese investors sought ways to protect their wealth from a depreciating yuan. Crackdowns on cash in India and Venezuela also helped support the digital currencys ascent, Dannen said.

Spencer Bogart, a bitcoin analyst at Needham & Co., doubts the SEC will approve a bitcoin ETF. However, if it does, it could lead to as much as $300 million in institutional money entering the bitcoin market during the first week alone.

This would likely have an outsize impact on the price of a single coin, he said.

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Bitcoin prices touch fresh 3-year high - MarketWatch

A Hannan Ismail has spent 25 years in government relations and public policy advisory, corporate strategy and project management.

In this opinion piece, Ismail looks at how bitcoin could drive the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, broadly aimed at improving the prospectsof everyone on the planet.

Never let a good crisis go to waste, said one Winston Churchill.

To set things straight from the beginning, I dont have a bust of the former British Prime Minister in my office. For one thing, he was rather off on his views of Mahatma Gandhi, the most influential British subject of the 20th Century.

The reason that this remark endures is obvious. We as a global community find ourselves in an accelerating centrifuge of crises that are economic, political and ultimately moral all at once.

The way out can seem to be more elusive at each turn. "Stop the world: I want to get off"isnt an option yet, although Elon Musk is working on that one.

Disruptions abound. Disruption of the ecosystem, disruption of the political order, disruption of institutions and disruption of societies. (There are many ways to skin this cat, including this one from McKinsey Global Institute.)

These disruptions have created another crisis of a fundamental and corrosive kind: the loss of trust.

Why put faith in political classes who are raised, schooled and nakedly represent vested interests engaged in 'socially useless' activity?

Why be surprised when public institutions that are mandated to protect and promote human rights go on to intrude into personal privacy and lawful behaviour?

Why trust large private businesses, that cultivate prospects through sophisticated psychographic and behavioral marketing, in order to sell goods and services that poison you and your children?

We stare at a world at war where the theatre of conflict isnt just far away Abyssinia or Czechoslovakia or Manchuria or Spain. Or Iraq or Syria.

Today the theatre of war is everywhere.

Refugees might justifiably argue that we are here because you were there, but its become even more invidious than this.

The theatre is you and me, and it is being fought on an increasingly intimate terrain.

If youre reading this on your personal device, the war is happening in the palm of your hand through the likely encroachment of your privacy. Right now.

It isnt easy for good people to turn their back on struggling or compromised institutions, or to be wary of something as close to us as our personal device.

We grow up with them as part of our lives. We invest in them with the expectation that they will invest in us, or deliver benefits to us. They are part of who we are.

At least this is the working assumption in relatively developed societies. The story has been rather different in the majority of the world where countries and communities struggle daily to hold things together.

For the governments and peoples living in least-development countries, landlocked least-developed countries, and small-island developing states, crisis was the new normal decades ago.

Now spare a thought for women, men and children in territories wracked by conflict, with no government or business sector or rule of law.

Institutional crisis in specific jurisdictions has become a crisis of institutions everywhere.

Trust, a commodity that requires careful handling, is in peril. And it is not surprising that this prompts over-reaction towards extremes.

For some, public institutions are to blame, thereforewe need to turn our back on them and go full-libertarian.

To others, private interests can be just as malevolent, or incompetent, or both, thereforewe need the state to restore order.

We can have sympathy for both outlooks, but the solutions arising from each side can descend quickly into dogma. Neither help.

What we need is a negotiated middle ground that makes sense for present and future generations. This middle ground belongs to a shared agenda powered by innovation.

Two developments since the 20072008 economic crisis can, in my view, help and help enormously.

They both have some things in common: they both emerged from a hot mess and they are both still in their infancy.

At first glance, they both seem implausible. They both face a challenge to pass the giggle test in an age where fear, uncertainty and doubt prevail.

They also share qualities that are altogether more positive. They promise a better world. They are the products of long experience and ingenuity. They are both brilliant in their design.

Chronologically, the first was bitcoin, which emerged in 2009.

The second is the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Here are the goals in brief:

Is there a single one of these 17 goals, or any of their 169 targets, where bitcoin cannot improve prospects? The answer may not be immediately obvious.

I expect that entrepreneurs, researchers, policy makers and institutions will be asking and acting on this question over the coming years.

The space is ripe for investment.

The origins of bitcoin lie in code and cryptography. In its early adoption, it has attracted the attention of bona fide entrepreneurs operating in a gray regulatory area prone to over-reaction, plus speculators and criminals.

In the space of eight years, bitcoin (and its underlying protocol) has grown to the extent that central banks around the world and large financial institutions have begun to take serious notice.

This is good. Still, while its ecosystem is growing, many of its use cases are still hypothetical or untested, and some advocates are prone to wishful thinking. A few betray a whiff of technological fundamentalism.

Meanwhile, the Sustainable Development Goals arose in 2015 after sustained political debate and empirical evidence on what has and has not worked to improve the lot of people and planet.

Their number and complexity is an admission that the world we live in is interdependent. Long-term fixes in one location can have positive effects elsewhere.

For those skeptical of the ability of public and private institutions to come together to agree on an agenda this bold, the Sustainable Development Goals are a major source of inspiration and hope.

They enjoy traction in an otherwise distracted world.

Bringing bitcoin and the Sustainable Development Goals together will take an act of loving midwifery. It will require patience, cultivation and evidence.

On this, we have precedence.

It took more than 20years for the development and environment communities to come together and agree on terms of engagement. Why so long?

There are many reasons, of course. Development as a profession privileges planners and economists who occasionally stumble into history, sociology and anthropology to understand lived realities. Environmental proponents tend to be natural scientists and activists.

These represent different, sometimes parallel cultures. It can take mega-trends or external shocks to force convergence. In the meantime, conservatism holds sway. Received wisdom, self-interest and a lack of lateral awareness dictate priorities and behaviour.

It can be a bemusing spectacle and we must expect more of the same.

Any effort to bring bitcoin into the Sustainable Development Goals will require an appreciation of how to achieve successful convergence between communities of interest. It will take communication, experimentation and demonstration of value.

Bitcoin is beginning to hint at intrinsic value, to the extent that its protocol has the potential to deliver material value to state, society, economy and individual.

Some argue that the S-curve of technology adoption, characterized by fractals repeating, exponentially increasing Gartner Hype Cycles, might in time force convergence. Perhaps.

At the same time, we should not underestimate the political economy of technology adoption.

It does not yet have the social capital that say, gold, enjoys. Its extrinsic value is still moot. This makes it vulnerable and a risky bet.

For now, it isnt so much the old imperialist Churchill from whom we can draw inspiration. Instead, its the wily Gandhi and his vision of the autonomous human being, free from encumbrance and able to pursue life to its full potential.

Born in the wake of crisis, the Sustainable Development Goals shape that course, and I believe bitcoin can drive it.

This article was previously published on the author's Medium blog, and has been republished here with permission. Minor edits have been made.

Planet earthimage via Shutterstock

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, CoinDesk.

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Sustainable Development Through Bitcoin - CoinDesk

Even thoughthere are fewer bitcoin mining pools supporting Bitcoin Unlimited compared to SegWit, it would seem both solutions have virtually the same level of overall network support. With a total of six pools supporting BUright now, it is evident there is still a long way to go before this solution is activated on the network. That being said, this alternative branch of development is off to a good start, all things considered.

The newly launched Canoepool signals support for Bitcoin Unlimited right out of the gate. That is not unusual, albeit it would seem this pool is dealing with some controversy. Many people believe it is operated by the ViaBTC team in an effort to fake Bitcoin Unlimited mining decentralization. For now, Canoe represents a minuscule portion of the BU support.

One of the oldest mining pools in the world of bitcoin is trying to keep an open mind. Slush pool has different servers for both SegWit and Unlimited support, giving their miners all of the choices they need. Right now, Slush is the second-smallest Unlimited mining pool, although they are a valuable addition to the list.

While most people know the Bitcoin.com domain for other reasons, the team is also running a dedicated Bitcoin Unlimited mining pool. It was one of the first of its kind to support BU, yet has been overtaken in size by three others ever since. Nearly 10% of all BU blocks are mined by this pool, making them an invaluable pillar of the Unlimited ecosystem.

While most people may have never heard of the BTC.top mining pool, it is the third-largest pool supporting Bitcoin Unlimited. No one knows for sure who runs this pool, even though many believe the Antpool team is behind this project. That has not been proven to be either wrong or right up until this point. Either way, BTC.top is generating one in four BU blocks on the network right now. An intriguing pool to keep an eye on, that much is certain.

It has to be said, the GBMiners pool quickly limbed the Bitcoin Unlimited support ranks and is currently the second-largest mining pool on the list. It is good to see some of these pools gain such a large market stake, albeit it does not necessarily benefit decentralization in the long run. Then again, Bitcoin Unlimited is till in the early stages of gaining support right now.

No one will deny ViaBTC has taken the world by storm, as they are the leadingBitcoin Unlimited mining pool right now. Looking back over the BU blocks mined over the past seven days, ViaBTC is responsible for generating roughly 35% of all blocks. They are a vital part of BUs chance of success right now, although for nowit remains unclear if this scalability solution will activate anytime soon on the network.

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Top 6 Mining Pools Signaling Bitcoin Unlimited - The Merkle

A recent article by Yves Lamoureux states that Bitcoin price is going to hit $25,000 in the future. Read more...

Bitcoin is known for its volatile nature, which allows people to come up with their own predictions based on their observations, analysis or even guesswork at times. There are many occasions where Bitcoin has been declared dead (121 times according to Bitcoin Obituaries), but each time cryptocurrency has proven them all wrong.

Yves Lamoureux, the president of a market research firm Lamoureux & Co., has recently published an article where he has predicted the digital currencys price to hit $25,000. The prediction sounds sweet yet unbelievable. However, Yves goes on to explain his reasoning behind the forecast.

According to Yves, the prediction is not some guesswork but has a firm mathematical basis. For starters, the finite supply of Bitcoin, capped at 21 million tokens prevents the value of Bitcoin from diluting. He reiterates the familiar comparison between gold and bitcoin.

Gold is one of the most trusted assets out there. People love to invest their money in gold to prevent its value from getting diluted with time. This way, they can conserve the purchasing power of their money even in the future. The same can be applied to Bitcoin as well, and the growing demand for blockchain technology across industries is going to provide further credence to the digital currency.

The article states that like housing, tech stocks, etc., there is a need for increased public participation for any new asset to gain significant traction. The present-day numbers of Bitcoin traders indicate that the digital currency is going the right way at the moment.

In the article Yves states,

People trade today as they did last year, as they did 100 years ago. The psychology remains the same. Behavior does not change. Provide the same set of incentives throughout time, and the Pavlovian bell rings the same.

Even though Bitcoins price is predicted to hit $25,000, it is not going to happen right away. Before the cryptocurrencys price reaches that point, the digital currency will have to overcome the current skepticism and the inevitable pressure from the government and regulators.

While the prediction of Bitcoin price reaching $25,000 sounds plausible, it has its own challenges, including the scalability issue currently being faced by the network. If all goes well, the Bitcoin community is going to have a great time looking at their investment grow multiple folds.

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Yves Lamoureux Predicts Bitcoin will Hit $25000 - newsBTC

The much-anticipated bitcoin ETF, which has been going through the bureaucratic process for now more than three years, will likely be rejected according to a Bitmex prediction contract launched almost two weeks ago.

Since its listing, the market has always given Winklevoss ETF a less than 50% chance, usually standing at around 40% for much of the past week, falling to as low as 18% yesterday.

The Bitcoin ETF has only a 24% chance of approval according to a prediction contract image from Bitmex

There were suggestions its sharp drop was due to a bug, but Greg Dwyer, Business Development Manager at BitMEX, told CCN:

There have been no bugs with the ETF prediction market and it is operating exactly as intended. It is currently trading in a range between 24 37%. That is, the price represents the probability of the ETF being approved by the SEC come March 11.

Spencer Bogart, Vice President of Equity Research for Needham & Co, gave the ETF only a 25% chance of approval.

The main reason appears to be due to bitcoins volatile nature, but stock markets have previously crashed, some company stocks have instantly become worthless and some have instantly jumped in price.

Furthermore, Kevin Lu, a hedge fund analyst, describes in a detailed article for Seeking Alpha how Bitcoin is a unique, uncorrelated asset class and that makes bitcoin extremely desirable from a portfolio construction perspective.

The SECs thinking on the matter is not quite clear. We have reached out for comments, but have received no response in time for publishing.

SEC personnel has just changed or is in the process of changing. As such, the decision might be made in somewhat chaotic circumstances with the new personnel potentially not fully up to speed on the fairly complicated matter.

To illustrate, SECs page still lists the old chair, but President Trump has chosen a new nominee, Walter J. Clayton, described by the New York Times as the Wall Street Lawyer and as the insiders insider. It further states:

He had a front-row seat to the financial crisis, advising Barclays Capital in buying the assets of the bankrupt Lehman Brothers in 2008 and Bear Stearns in its fire sale to JPMorgan Chase in 2007. He has advised on mergers and initial public offerings, including the biggest ever, the $25 billion offering by Alibaba Group of China in 2013.

Whether that experience makes him more favorable to bitcoin or more against it, remains to be seen, but the new administration does have some bitcoin supporters in its cabinet and emphasizes de-regulation with the aim of fostering economic growth. However, Clayton himself, a law graduate, has not previously made any comments on bitcoin.

He will soon be familiar with the digital currency, if he is not already, and will most probably be a very influential figure in this space. The ETF decision, whether approved or rejected, will have considerable implications. Equally, and perhaps more importantly, he might eventually want to give some sort of guidelines on the currently booming ICO markets.

Finally, the new administration might wish to allow margins and futures trading on regulated exchanges such as Coinbase and Gemini for its refusal by inaction so far has forced many to use somewhat shady and seemingly amateurish exchanges which has led to losses, opening the relevant agencies to criticism for failing to protect the public and worse, for indirectly causing the losses.

Whether they will take any such action is too early to say, but we might soon get a glimpse of the new administrations approach towards digital currencies, the blockchain space and, more widely, the Fintech industry.

Image from Shutterstock.

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The Bitcoin ETF Will Be Rejected According to Prediction Markets - CryptoCoinsNews

Chris Hill and Simon Erickson

In this episode of Market Foolery, Chris Hill and Simon Erickson review Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA)after its solid quarter; talk about where bitcoin is headed -- possibly into an ETF; and reflect on the rumors that Burger King's parent has been testing the waters for an acquisition of spicy fried chicken specialist Popeyes(NASDAQ:PLKI).

A full transcript follows the video.

This podcast was recorded on Feb. 14, 2017.

Chris Hill: We've gotearnings to get to. We're going to follow up on yesterday's storythat we did onRestaurant Brands(NYSE:QSR),because the news continues there, and we'regoing to share some Market Foolery newsat the end of this episode. We've got a little bit of an announcement. But let's start with fourth-quarter profits fromDiscovery Communications, whichcame in a little higher than expected. When you'relooking at media companies,I think it's safe to say that the thesis for Discovery Communications,as much as anything, is this is a global play. If youlive in the United States and you have cable, you'refamiliar with at least some of their networks --Animal Planet, TLC, theDiscovery Channel, that sort of thing. But when you look at the global footprint of whereDiscovery Communications operates,I think that's part of the thesis, isn't it?

Simon Erickson: Absolutely,it is. I think that's probably whatinvestors are looking at for this company right now. Like you said,there's some definitely established channels here in the United States. We actually saw aslight decline in U.S.subscribers. So the real story here is that international growth. The one thatreally sticks out for me, Chris, it's actually in Europe of all places. Discovery Communications hasEurosport,which is kind of broadcasting live events. They have done Wimbledon. They've done Formula 1. They've donea variety of other events. Typically not soccer, because that's expensive, but otherlive sports in Europe. And they've got theexclusive rights for the Winter Olympics of 2018, tobroadcast nearly 740 million peopleacross in Europe. Great, right?

Hill: Yeah.

Erickson: Butthe other thing that's really interesting to me is,there's various ways that you can reach people. They're going to,of course, do the free network TV. They'regoing to do some other paid TV events like that. But the thing that's interesting to me is the over-the-top offering, thedigital streaming that they're going to be doingin the next few years. They're usingBAMtechtechnology to create this. We know BAMtech becauseDisney is also working with them for live sports here in the U.S.Discovery is using them in Europe. They have the guy fromDirecTV. They built out theNFL Sunday Ticket,incredibly successful here in this country.

Hill: I was going to say...that's a nice thing to have on your resume.

Erickson: Yeah,the right guy on the right project. I think that more and more,you and I talk quite a bit aboutwhere the media industry is heading. It's not just that linear free TV anymore, butstuff you could watch at any timeover computer andhave it streamed directly to youfor a certain price.

Hill: I want to go back to the first point you hit, which is decliningsubscriber ship in the U.S. Nice reminder that, for all of the headlines that Disney hasgotten over the last 18 months aboutthe following subscribership of ESPN,this is a nice reminder thatit's not just ESPN. Whenpeople are cutting the cord, it's also affecting companies likeDiscovery Communications.

Erickson: Absolutely. The subscriber numberis only one piece of this puzzle. As thatcontinues to evolve over time,you can't just look at that and that's the only thing that you're following as aninvestor, there's a lot of other things going on, too. Andlet's not forget currency, too. A lot of this is revenue that's generated overseas. When youtranslate that back to a strong dollar in U.S. dollar,it doesn't look, sometimes, as strong as it really is out there.

Hill: Where is this stockin terms of its valuation? This is a good quarter,but I think the declining cable subscriber numbermight be a little bit of why we'reseeing the stock fall 2.5% today. That'snot a big drop, and this is a stock that was trading near a 52-week high. But it's really been in the 20s for a year now,and I'm just wondering if it's pricey,if that has anything to do with the drop today,or if it's really all just about the cable subscribers?

Erickson: Well,I mean, a $13 billion valuation for a media company -- that's asmaller media company than the juggernauts -- but obviously larger than a smaller regional one would be oranything like that. So, Istill think it has room to run, Chris. I think a lot of that over-the-top anddigital streaming stuff really isn't priced into the stock at this point, but we stillneed to continue to see them gain traction on that,especially with that Eurosport in Europe.

Hill: All right. Here'ssomething we haven't talked about in...I don't even remember the last time wetalked about bitcoin,but we're going to talk about bitcoin.

I feel like, if he's listening over in Germany,Matt Koppenheffer is smiling, if not outright laughing at me, because I've been bearish on bitcoin from the start, and over the past year, the price of bitcoin has quadrupled. It broke the $1,000 mark last week, and it's dipped back down. But you're someone, likeMatt Koppenheffer, who's beenpretty bullish on bitcoin. First, before we diginto the news with bitcoin, tell me why. Why the bull case for bitcoin? Because, to me, it just seems likeMonopoly money, it seems like a made-up currency, andas I have admitted before,the fact that the Winklevoss twins wereinvolved in this doesn'thelp the bull case, in my opinion.

Erickson: Right. This iskind of an ethereal discussion here, Chris. There's a lot ofspeculation in bitcoin right now. Wedon't have any stocks tied to this --

Hill: Not yet. We'll get to that.

Erickson: Yes,exactly. But it is a very interesting story. Just, generally,my personal thesis,disclaimer, I own one bitcoin, have had quite a year with that.[laughs]

Hill: Congratulations, that's worked out well for you.

Erickson: But,I think there's just a lot of transactionalfriction in the way that we buy and sell things today. Think about it, we'rebuild off of a financing infrastructure. You have a bank account thatyou have a credit card that ties into, youpay your statement at the end of the month, andevery step along the way, somebody is taking a small piece of this. Butit's the way that we built it out over the last several decades. And if you build adigital infrastructurecorrectly, as bitcoin did andBlockchain is trying to do, you don't needa lot of those steps. It's basically digital cash. I always think about it as, you'rehanding a digital dollar to somebody, and that's it. There'sno statements. There's no financing. There's no APR at the end of the year, anything like that. But to do that, there's a lot ofregulators who don't like thatbecause you can do bad things with that. Youcan't track the person giving you the cash at the end of the day and various other things. That's hadbitcoin held back on what its true potential, possibly, could be. Butat the end of the day, you'restarting to see more and more transactions using bitcoin allacross the globe, not just in the United States, but in China andJapan and a bunch of different places. Because bitcoin isgoing to tap out at 21 million bitcoins, once they're mined, you have a fixed supply and increasing demand, and that's pushing the value of each one bitcoin up over the years.

Hill: We've seen this run up over the past 12 months,and you look at the fact that the SEC is considering threeseparate potential bitcoin ETFs. Considering approval of any one of the three. Let's say one of them gets approved -- what kind of run-up are we going to see then? Becauseif we're seeing this run-up now...this actually gets me,I don't want to say bullish on bitcoin,but it gets me slightly less bearish as an investor, because ETFs are a way that a lot of people investif they're looking to get exposure to something without really having the concentrated upside and, therefore, downside of a single stock.I'm not looking to buy a bitcoin, but I'mslightly more interestedin a bitcoin ETF. What happens if they actually approve one of these things?

Erickson: Sure. On thecontinuum of uncertainty, it goes down a notch. If the SEC is going to say, "This is alright, to create bitcoin ETFs," andthey have until March 11th, I believe, to approve of this, but the people who said, "No way, this is too early, I haveso many questions about this even being possible,"those people will start saying, "You know,this still sounds speculative to me, but I think it's interesting now that the SEC is behind it." Basically, anything new, almost all of innovation has got a zillionquestions when it first gets introduced that, over time, as it grows and getsmore and more approvals or people behind it, the questions tend to either linger or go away. And I thinkthat's what you're seeing with bitcoin. That's what the SEC decisionis going to have an impact on this.

Hill: Yesterday,we talked about the latest earnings from Restaurant Brands,which is the parent company of Burger King andTim Hortons. After we taped the episode, Restaurant Brands wasback in the news reportedly talking toPopeyes Louisiana Kitchenabout apotential acquisition, andas a result of those reports,shares of Popeyes are up 14% at one point yesterday. They have sincecome back down to earth, so they are basically flat day to day. This isinteresting to me, though. We were talking about this earlier this morning --it seems like, in the restaurant business, anyway, that if you're good atmanaging one type of restaurant,keeping in the category of quick-serve restaurants, if you're good at that, thenthat's a skill that translates to others.

So, without knowing what they were looking to buyPopeyes for, just on the surface of it,assuming they got the right price, I saw that news and I thought, "You know what? That could work out well for Restaurant Brands." Ultimately, theywalked away because they didn't want to pay the price, becausePopeyes is a stock that has done wellrecently, and as a result of that,the company is more expensive. I guess, the larger question for me is, when you think aboutacquisitions, when you just see, "Company X is thinking about acquiring Company Y," what goes through your mind? Do you have any gut feeling in terms of "That makes sense" or "I need to see the terms first?" What'sthe first thing that you think of?

Erickson: Sure. First of all, to step back,there's definitely different types of acquisitions going on. Themost speculative, if you will, ofacquisitions is technology acquisitions,especially softwareacquisitions, because things change so quickly. There'sa lot of unknowns ofwhat's going to happen five years from now. It'svery difficult to tell. And maybeHPis the poster child of making bad acquisitions, very large, $10 billion acquisitions that they write downsignificantly in a couple of years.

Hill:[laughs] Ifthey're not the poster child, they're onMount Rushmore.

Erickson: [laughs] So manyuncertainties for that. But then you have more predictablebusinesses like we're talking aboutin the restaurant industry. Restaurantsare not software companies, they'remuch more predictableas far as the traffic andhow the business looks. At that point, the acquisition ismuch more predictable for the acquirer, and if they'relarger and can scale the business, and be moreefficient than they were previously, thenyou can drop a lot more moneyto the bottom line to your shareholders and your investors. AndI think that's what Restaurant Brands,who was actually majority-owned by3G Capitalin Brazil, is after in this. They want thepredictable, steady cash flows of a restaurant, but they want to be a little bit more creative, I think, on how they're raising financing and taking what I would call non-strategic costs out of this business to drop more down to the bottom line.

Hill: I don't think this is over, in terms of theirpursuit of Popeyes. I think,at the right price, and today is clearly not the right price because,again, this is a stock that has done very well over the last few years, I think ifthere was some sort of short-term hit the stock took,I could see Restaurant Brands going back to them. In the meantime, they clearly seem like they are looking for,Warren Buffett talks about the elephant gun,I don't know if they have an elephant gun,because they don't have that amount of cash on hand thatBerkshire Hathawaydoes. But they clearly seem like they are looking toexpand their portfolio.

Erickson: I'm glad you mentioned Warren Buffett,because Berkshire Hathaway is kind of partners with 3G Capital. Theygo after and make big deals like these together,which is kind of interesting because I think 3G isclearly a leader in the food spaceand the restaurant space, and that'sdirecting a lot of Warren Buffett's,the greatest investor we have in theUnited States, capital. And they'relooking to build an empire here,and they got creative in doingdeals in the past. If you look at theacquisition of Tim Hortons,people were calling that a taxinversion deal, you're avoiding a lot of U.S.-based taxes byacquiring and moving the company to Canada. The Popeyes one isgoing to be interesting because that's based here in the U.S. That'snot something you have to worry about, the inversions. But,there's a reason that they're looking at it for doing this. Theyhave a price and their mind. Yousee them walking away now as Popeyesstock price has increased significantlyover the last four or five months or so. But,it'll be interesting to see what they're going after on this one. It'snot as obvious to me, but they see something they like.

Hill:Well,I think it's probably just the category. Yes, it's a quick-serverestaurant, but it's not burgers,it's not coffee and donuts. Quick-serve chicken makes upsomewhere in the neighborhood of 10-15% of quick-serverestaurants. And,as we were talking about with our man behind the glass, Dan Boyd, beforehand, yes, you can haveKFC. IfJason Moser were here,I'm sure he would be talking aboutBojangles. Give me Popeyes every day. Their biscuits. And the honey, oh!

Erickson: Theirbiscuits are great. So good.

Hill: AsChris Rock said, it's too good. It's too good! That was hiscomment to Jerry Seinfeld onSeinfeld's web series, that Popeyes is so good that you actually need one of those memory sticks from theMen in Black movies to erase your memory,because otherwise you would just go back every single day.

Erickson: Right. Now,do they do significantly more business today because it'sValentine's Day?

Hill: [laughs]I don't know. I don't knowif they're doing any sort of big promotion. Look,you could do a lot worsefor that special someone in your life thantake them to Popeyes. Dan,you're a Popeyes fan, aren't you?

Dan Boyd: I am, yes.

Hill:Any chance you're going to be thinkingValentine's Day or anything like that?

Boyd: Ifmy girlfriend was amenable to the idea, which,I'm sure she's not,I would love to go to Popeyes forValentine's Day.

Hill: Let'sflip this around. If she came to you and said, "Hey,here's what I'm thinking for Valentine's Day.I'm taking you to Popeyes," you'reeven more in love?

Boyd: We'd make a short stopon the way to Popeyes to a jewelry storeso I could buy her an engagement ring.

Hill: [laughs] All right. Before we wrap up,as I mentioned,a little something, apropos thatSimon is in the studio for this, becauseI'm happy to say that next month, we are going back toSouth by Southwest. If you're in theGreater Austin Texas area or you're going toSouth by Southwest, drop us an email, marketfoolery@fool.com, or hit us up on Twitter, because Simon, Dylan Lewis, who you may know from the Industry Focus podcast, Dan Boyd and I will be going. We'regoing to be recording from thebrand new podcast center that they have atSouth by Southwest. Excited to check that out. Simon, I know thatyou have only begun to look at --I mean, we're going to be doing a whole week's worth of Market Foolery there,but there are also breakout sessions,there are keynote speakers that you're going to be checking out. Do you have an early sense of what's going to be on your agenda?

Erickson: Absolutely, Chris. This isone of my favorite events in the entire year. It has such a window towhat the future is going to bring in, especially in the tech world.Kimbal Musk will be speaking about trust.I saw that on the agenda. I saw Ray Kurzweil, going to betalking about collaboration. And two topics that I'm very personally interested in isconnected health and the future of wearable technology. Those are both going to be tracks atSouth by Southwest in Austin.I'm super stoked about the event.

Hill: AndI should say,just as we did last year, we'regoing to try and put together a little meet and greet. Stay tuned formore details on that,but we did that last year, we went to Guero's.

Erickson: Guero's Taco Bar.

Hill: Abunch of listeners came out,a bunch of Motley Fool members. It was a great time, and we're looking to do that again. In terms of dates, we're lookingbroadly at March 11th through the 15th. Again,if you're going to South by Southwest,if you're in the Austin area,we would love to see you. More details to come. Dan Boyd, are there food truckson your agenda that you're looking to hit?

Boyd: Absolutely, Keith's Barbecue is the main one. Theyoperate out of an old school bus, and I think I ate there every single day last year in Austin, because it was amazing.

Hill: All right! Simon Erickson,thanks for being here!

Erickson: Thanks, Chris!

Hill: Asalways, people on the program may have interestsin the stocks that they talk about,and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against,so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. That'sgoing to do it for this edition of Market Foolery. The show was mixed byDan Boyd. I'm Chris Hill. Thanks for listening. We'llsee you tomorrow!

Chris Hill has no position in any stocks mentioned. Simon Erickson owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and Twitter. The Motley Fool recommends Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Originally posted here:
How Strong Is the Bull Case for Bitcoin? -- The Motley Fool - Motley Fool

Remitano, a Vietnam-based P2P platform for trading bitcoin, has expanded its services across the English-speaking world.

The company is targeting bitcoin exchangers, investors and users of remittance services, beginning with Asian countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and China.

Leading sources of traffic on Remitano besides Vietnam are Nigeria and Malaysia.

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Also read: Bitcoin survey: 1 in 4 bitcoin users defrauded by exchanges

The Remitano support team will resolve disputes based on evidence provided by both sides.

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Follow this link:
Vietnamese Bitcoin P2P Platform Remitano Targets Global Expansion - CryptoCoinsNews

Bitcoin price gained bids against the US Dollar to trade above a crucial hurdle ($1000). BTC/USD now has moved into the bullish zone with buy dips approach.

Bitcoin price gained bids against the US Dollar to trade above a crucial hurdle ($1000). BTC/USD now has moved into the bullish zone with buy dips approach.

It looks like Bitcoin price managed to recover well during the past week against the US Dollar, as it moved above $1000. There was a perfect structure formation for a recovery. The best part was a close above the $1000 level, and also above the 100 simple moving average (H4). The same 100 SMA may now act as a support on the downside near $1023 if the price moves down.

There are a few important support levels formed on the downside near $1020 and $1000. The 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $916 low to $1056 high is positioned at $1023. It is perfectly aligned with the 100 SMA. It means there is a crucial support formation near $1023. Below $1023, there is a nice bullish trend line formed on the 4-hours chart (data feed from SimpleFX) of BTC/USD.

It can be considered as a buy zone, as the trend line is moving higher and might slowly align near $1020. Overall, the price remains supported on the downside near $1023 and the trend line. As long as there is no close below $1000, one may consider buying on dips.

Looking at the technical indicators:

4-hours MACD The MACD is in the bullish zone and suggesting positive signs.

4-hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) The RSI is moving down from the overbought levels, but remains well above the 50 level.

Major Support Level $1020

Major Resistance Level $1050

Charts courtesy SimpleFX

See more here:
Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis BTC/USD Remains a Buy - newsBTC