Category Archives: Bitcoin

Crypto accounts arent like traditional investment accounts. They can be more vulnerable to security issues, and you generally cant name a beneficiary. For example, if you store your crypto on a physical device at home and a few friends know your key a password of sorts that grants access to a crypto wallet one of those so-called friends could wander into your house and steal your crypto as easily as they could walk off with your great-grandmothers diamond earrings. Or, if you shared the keys with no one, your crypto is lost forever.

Its important to understand how to safely store your crypto and communicate your wishes with your loved ones, just like you would with any other valuable asset.

KNOW HOW YOUR CRYPTO IS STORED

You trade and store crypto in wallets, but not the leather kind. Crypto wallets can either be digital and managed on an app or website, or physical like a thumb drive. The kind you choose depends on what you intend to do with your crypto.

HOT WALLETS: These are used for trading and purchasing crypto. The upside is theyre typically free and convenient, but the downside is theyre less secure because theyre always connected to the internet.

COLD WALLETS: These are used to store crypto for a longer period of time. Think of it like putting your crypto in a freezer.

The hot wallet is like a checking account with money moving in and out while the cold wallet is more like a savings account, where you park money for a longer time. You can have both at the same time.

Whoever holds the keys that is, who maintains custody over a password of randomly generated numbers and letters has access to your crypto. It could be you, a third-party crypto exchange or a hybrid of both.

Dont keep more than youre willing to lose on a third-party exchange as a long-term solution," says Alex Mejias, founder and managing attorney at James River Law in Richmond, Virginia. You dont control the keys. They could freeze your funds or get attacked." Mejias recommends a self-custody or hybrid option as the value of your crypto grows.

KEEP YOUR CRYPTO SECURE, YET ACCESSIBLE

A cold wallet can be a small physical storage device thats easy to misplace. Your cold wallet requires a PIN code for access, plus you set up a recovery phrase as a backup in case you lose your key. According to Mejias, a fireproof safe at home or a safety deposit box at a bank is a must, but dont store your cold wallet in the same place as the note containing your key, PIN and recovery phrase. If someone finds all of those items together, its bye-bye Bitcoin.

Above all, design a storage method that makes sense. Dont get so cute that you make some complicated system that you cant remember," Mejias says. Hes heard of people writing down their keys and cutting the paper into three pieces, hiding each piece in a separate location. It sounds like a good idea, but its a horrible idea. If you lose one of those three, its gone forever. Youve tripled your risk."

MAKE A DETAILED PLAN FOR LOVED ONES

Name a beneficiary in your will and add a document to your estate plan that lists your crypto assets and any passwords, PINs, keys and instructions to find your cold wallet. If you have an account at a cryptocurrency exchange, your beneficiary can contact customer support to notify them of your death.

According to a Coinbase representative, there is a process in place to guide next of kin, including one-on-one assistance from a Coinbase analyst. Gemini requires a death certificate and power of attorney to initiate a transfer out of a deceased persons account.

We hope to simplify this process in the future, so we are working to add account beneficiaries functionality to our platform," a Gemini representative said in an email.

UPDATE YOUR PLAN AND YOUR WALLET

Ensure that your assets will go to the right people by keeping your estate plan updated, especially after a life change like marriage or divorce. Provide up-to-date instructions so beneficiaries can access your assets. Cold wallets need maintenance, too, in the form of periodic firmware updates. This can help lessen the burden on your loved ones and hopefully prevent fights as they settle your estate after your death.

Crypto has the potential to be a very explosive thing because the value can be so huge so quickly," Mejias says. When you think about five, 10 years from now, were potentially talking about a whole lot of money."

This article provides information for educational purposes. NerdWallet does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend specific investments, including stocks, securities or cryptocurrencies.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters

* Enter a valid email

* Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!

See the original post here:
Bitcoin, Ether: What happens to your crypto if you die? - Mint

This is not an article about selling your bitcoin. Rather, we will be discussing profiteering or being an influencer in Bitcoin. At what point is it acceptable to make a profit for this type of work in Bitcoin? Not using the asset as a store of value, or as a currency like in El Salvador, but as a source for content or another service.

Were all familiar with the influencers pursuing recycled content, taken from someone else and rebranded as their own; dropping repetitive buzzwords around Bitcoin; or participating in the neverending echo chambers where rising pundits of social media despotism all desperately seek to get in a one liner that could garner them a greater following.

You could say some of those activities apply to me as a writer in the space. But what about those who are truly making a difference? How do we separate simple profiteering from those who enact real change? First, we should discuss why it matters.

Inherently, Bitcoin is a resistance to controlled power and cults of personality. Centralization and leaders are subject to the single greatest weakness humanity faces: the human element.

Bitcoin is the first solution to the problem of the human element. It is money written in programmatic code that cannot be controlled by anyone and only listens to the established rules accepted by the system. Attempts to resuscitate the human element back into the network are justifiably met by Bitcoins immune system.

Bitcoin has an inherent resistance to influencer personalities and applications that do not practice the established ethos of Bitcoin. Why? Arguably, one might consider that much of the dogma within Bitcoin furthers many values, such as freedom, sovereignty, free markets and others. But it also represents a better future for humanity that is only achievable without centralized control of finance, which brings us to

Satoshi Nakamoto.

For those who dont know, this is the pseudonym of the person or people who developed Bitcoin. The amount of bitcoin held in the wallet controlled by this pseudonymous creator is immense and has never been used. And thats the point. But why has Satoshis Bitcoin largely gone unused?

Because Satoshi left. They disappeared, and we havent heard as much as a peep in years. By now, the creator of this platform could have emerged in a stupendous exhibition of ego, shouting I told you so! from the mountains as they paraded the streets of Dubai with a receipt for purchasing Apple that they set on fire because they had enough money to do so.

Not only did Satoshi leave, but no wallet holding that substantial amount of bitcoin has ever sold any of it. Satoshi never sold their bitcoin (at least not the majority). The first influencer of Bitcoin never attempted a claim to fame, never pursued their 15 minutes and allowed their bags of wealth to solidify a worldwide network, while Satoshi held those bags for everyone else.

No credit. No podcast. No monetized blog. No YouTube channel making millions. Just the delivery of the only truly decentralized form of finance humanity will ever achieve because the creator walked away.

If the creator of Bitcoin wouldnt profit from their own name, why should we?

The Bitcoin protocol is maintained every second of the day without compensation for those who provide the single most crucial element of the entire ecosystem: the nodes.

Nodes operate as validators for the network. They keep track of all of the transactions and agree on what consensus is for the entire blockchain. They are low cost to set up, and low cost to maintain. This is what allows decentralization, and simultaneously is what the block wars were about. Because the blocks of transactions are so small, a lot of people can afford to run a node.

They are not compensated. Nodes are completely voluntary, and anyone can enter the system, but they are not compensated for the crucial importance of maintaining the network. Much like Satoshi before them, node operators seek the greater good of furthering the network without personal gain (though running a node does allow you to verify your own transactions).

Does all of this mean that Satoshi never wanted anyone to profit? Not even close. They probably used a few bitcoin before vanishing. But we know the system wants people to profit. How?

Nodes maintain the network by validating all of the transactions and giving the proof in a proof-of-work system. Miners provide the work.

Miners are given a puzzle to solve at the beginning of each block, which comes about every 10 minutes. In a simplified explanation, if the miners can guess the password of the block, then they are given the block reward, which is bitcoin. The miner that solves the block is paid in bitcoin. This is very clearly a model for profit. Solve this puzzle, get paid. So, why did Satoshi believe that the miners should be compensated?

Work, effort, resources. In the proof-of-work model, a necessary output of resources is needed to achieve the calculations that result in solving the block. This can result in heavy energy expenses for the miners, depending on how they acquire their energy, most of which is now clean and renewable. They are incentivized to find clean energy and get their costs as low as possible, allowing a greater margin when expending resources into mining Bitcoin.

Understanding the mechanisms that allow Bitcoin to operate and understanding its origin allows us to see a very clear message: Profiting in Bitcoin is permissible when following proof of work.

Resources need to be spent. Cost is associated with the efforts put into the craft associated with Bitcoin. Whether it is leading a course to teach people about Bitcoin, creating content in the form of podcasting or vlogging, creating a new hardware wallet, or even developing financial instruments built for institutions we cannot say that any of these activities, nor their creators, are pure to principle. What we can do is check the block.

Is this particular person, product or company furthering adoption? Is there a focus on premium content and mentorship offered to the community at large? Or do they seem to be making a political position? Perhaps they are using the network of Bitcoin to further their own audience for personal gain?

Once we have determined the motive, we evaluate the work. In mining, the work is considered the expenditure of resources when solving the puzzle. Michael Saylor famously said that money is energy. In many ways, this picture allows us to see the obvious: Energy spent away from home provides money. We go to our jobs, expend energy and return with money (ideally). In many ways, energy can be thought of as time and effort put towards the goal of a particular outcome.

If someone is putting real effort into their creation and an audience forms from that creation, that audience very well may have never entered the ecosystem at all. If we can see the resources spent (time and energy), and we can attribute a positive experience to the product or influencer, then Its up to the community to decide if the product or influencer provides justifiable value. Measure the proof of work.

Passion fuels many of us, but rarely pays rent. We should address the elephant in the room, which is that all of us have bills to pay. It is perfectly justifiable to want to do something you love and pay your bills at the same time.

What is not justifiable is truly profiteering, or taking advantage of a community, nor is having expectations or feelings of being owed something for your contribution.

I was guilty of this.

Ive been a writer for years, and when I fell in love with Bitcoin and its values, I desperately wanted to be a writer in the space, and I didnt care how. When I learned I could be a contributor, I craved the option of having a full-time job as a writer. Not because I thought I deserved it, or that I was better than others. I simply wanted to do what I love and be able to pay my bills.

I needed proof of work. More importantly, I needed to understand the ideals of Bitcoin. The possession of a skill does not entitle one to an income for its utilization.

I encourage those who are like me to create, review the feedback of the community and adjust. The protocol, the principles and the protest to the current system put all of that before your own personal gain. There are moments where we have to contribute selflessly for the sake of others and for ourselves, there are times of strife and sweat equity that allow us to reach a place of reciprocity based on our effort, or resources expended. Quality begets recognition. Recognition favors those worth being recognized.

The nodes arent paid but are essential to the continuation of the protocol. I dont know that I truly understood Bitcoin until I understood this. We must all be a node before we become a miner.

This is a guest post by Shawn Amick. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

Here is the original post:
Is It OK To Profit From Bitcoin Influence? - Bitcoin Magazine

The 13th birthday of the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper has crept up just as the world continues to deal with a global pandemic, inflation fears, an astounding memecoin mania trendand growing institutional adoption of the cryptocurrency space.

On October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper to a cryptography mailing list hosted by Metzdow. The Metzdow mailing list was run by a group of cypherpunks and was filled with ideas meant to create a form of digital currency: some of these have even been cited in the Bitcoin white paper.

Satoshis white paper came in a message titled "Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper," in which Nakamoto explained that his digital currency is fully peer-to-peer (P2P) and requires no trusted third party for a transaction to occur. Through a peer-to-peer network, Bitcoin solved the double-spending problem. Bitcoin also allowed network participants to remain anonymous and was secured through a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm.

At the time, the white paper wasn't received the way people would expect it to be, knowing what they know today. Only a handful of people saw Nakamotos email and replied with their thoughts and concerns surrounding Bitcoin.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Leo Matchett, co-founder and CEO of Decentralized Pictures, a non-profit organization supporting independent filmmakers, said that the Bitcoin white paper is the genesis of a new era in monetary sovereignty, adding, Satoshi stood on the shoulders of giants and solved problems that those who came before could not.

Matchett opined further that the white paper was truly the beginning of a new era for monetary systems of the world because it brought forth the idea that decentralization has more value than centralization. Indeed, the idea of Bitcoin attempted to solve numerous problems including counterfeiting, steep on-ramps and counterparty risk.

After the white paper was shared on the cryptography mailing list, slowly but surely, discussion surrounding the document started growing, with the Bitcoin network being launched in early 2009. At that time, Hal Finney, a cypherpunk that worked with the PGP Corporation developing leading encryption products, was already involved.

Hal Finney is well-known in the cryptocurrency space for being involved in the first Bitcoin transaction and being the first person after Nakamoto to run a copy of the network through a node. After setting it up, Finney tweeted he was running bitcoin.

The cypherpunk, who tragically passed away in 2014 as a result of ALS complications and had his body cryopreserved by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, described his work with Satoshi in a forum post where he revealed he started mining BTC on block 70-something, and that after some correspondence, Satoshi sent him 10 BTC to test whether the network worked.

At the time, there was no demand for space on the blockchain, so the transaction was successfully processed with a 0 BTC fee attached to it. The 10 BTC were worthless at the time, but the transaction helped fix some bugs in BTCs early days.

That first Bitcoin transaction made it clear that the network worked, and while there was still a lot of work to be done to get where it is today, it was a first step in the right direction. A year later, in 2010, the first commercial Bitcoin transaction would occur.

On May 18, 2010 developer Laszlo Hanyecz created a post on the Bitcointalk forum offering 10,000 Bitcoin for a couple of pizzas. Hanyecz offered to pay another forum member the coins if they got him two large pizzas, which could even be homemade.

The post was met with skepticism, as 10,000 BTC at the time werent worth the cost of two pizzas, or were anywhere near it. Only on May 22, after a follow-up, did Hanyecz report that he successfully traded 10,000 bitcoins for pizza.

At the time and despite Bitcoins low value and the communitys small size, one user noted that a great milestone was reached. That day is now known in the cryptocurrency community as the Bitcoin Pizza Day.

The first commercial Bitcoin transaction led to the creation of an ecosystem now worth over $2 trillion and proved that Bitcoin has a number of use cases that need to be considered. For the first time ever, Bitcoin was used as a true medium of exchange.

The cryptocurrencys price would rise over time, partly because of adoption and partly because of speculators looking to profit off of its incredible volatility. In the midst of all that, new businesses were created in what ended up becoming a large asset class.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Miha Grar, head of global business development at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, said: no one could have predicted the tidal wave of change unleashed by the publication of a 9-page PDF.

The Bitcoin white paper, Grar said, laid out a vision for a digital currency that can be used as a store of value and medium of exchange independent of centralized control. Per his words, the potential it has hasnt been fully unleashed:

Bitcoin, he said, instigated a paradigm shift that now underpins a multi-trillion dollar industry and showed the world there was a better way where sovereignty, finance and individual freedoms all co-exist outside the clutches of corrupt outdated socio-economic systems ridden with insiders, cronies and backroom deals.

As understood from the first commercial Bitcoin transaction, BTCs value hasnt always been clear. The cryptocurrency has gone through substantial crashes in its history and has been declared dead over 400 times by popular media outlets and analysts.

Bitcoins market cap is now above $1.16 trillion, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro.While most wish they could have heard about the cryptocurrency in 2010 or 2011 to invest in it and build up wealth through that investment, most would have likely failed to see how big BTC would get.

Early Bitcoin investor Greg Schoen published, in May 2011, a now-famous tweet where he showed regret for selling 1,700 BTC for $0.30, after getting them when the cryptocurrency was trading at $0.06, as he could have sold his coins at $8 apiece. As one BTC is now trading above $61,000, his 1,700 BTC would now be worth over $104 million. A pity indeed.

Bitcoins rise has been supported by a thriving industry filled with innovation that has already seen cryptocurrency exchanges start trading on the Nasdaq exchange and by institutional investors who recognize that BTC can be used to diversify their portfolios and hedge against inflation.

Earlier this year, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender with the countrys Bitcoin Law officially coming into effect on Sept. 7. El Salvadorans can use the cryptocurrency through a wallet called Chivo launched by the government that uses the Lightning Network, a layer-two scaling solution.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Javier Moro, chief product officer at Latin American cryptocurrency exchange Bitso, noted that El Salvadors move was rooted in hope for a better future for El Salvadorans, and its success will depend on the spread of cryptocurrency-related knowledge in the country.

Earlier in October, the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) was launched in the United States. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF began trading under the ticker BITO on the New York Stock Exchange. It became the second-most heavily traded fund on record in its debut.

In a statement sent to Cointelegraph, Ron Levy, CEO and co-founder of blockchain consulting firm The Crypto Company, stated that the Bitcoin white paper laid the groundwork for what would become a decentralized industry beyond what anyone thought was possible.

The next leap in this space, he said, are clear laws and regulations around what can and cant be done with crypto currency. But, its obviously not clear how that may turn out, as all new technological breakthroughs face resistance from established mechanisms.

Brittany Laughlin, executive director at the Stacks Foundation, which bridges decentralized finance (DeFi) and the Bitcoin network, told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin has come a long way from just being a store of value, as its now possible to build smart contracts on Bitcoin, welcoming the millions of BTC holders to the world of DeFi, NFTs and true ownership.

Notably, Satoshi Nakamoto seemingly predicted that additional blockchains could use tokens, which they called domain objects at the time, to represent ownership of assets. Satoshis example was for a token representing the right to own a domain for a year.

As Grar said, humankind has only begun scratching the surface of what Bitcoin and blockchain technology are capable of. So much so, that the developments we have today were seemingly thought of by Bitcoins creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

The Bitcoin white paper has made the idea of a decentralized network viable and proved that even a short nine-page document was able to change the world in ways so radical they may be hard to comprehend even at this point in time.

While it isnt clear whether more countries will adopt BTC as legal tender in the future, or whether interest for Bitcoin ETFs will wane, it appears clear that Bitcoin is here to stay and serve as both a store of value and medium of exchange, and thats only 13 years after the idea was first introduced. Imagine what will happen in the next 13 years.

Read the original here:
Bitcoin white paper turns 13 years old: The journey so far - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin

Bitcoin, BTC to USD, rose by 0.82% in the week ending 31st October. Reversing a 1.07% decline from the week prior, Bitcoin ended the week at $61,330.0.

A bullish start to the week saw Bitcoin rise to a Monday intraweek high $63,666.0 before hitting reverse.

Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $65,285, Bitcoin slid to a Thursday intraweek low $57,606.0.

Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $58,082, before revisiting $62,900 levels.

A bearish weekend, however, left Bitcoin at sub-$62,000 levels for the week.

3-days in the green that included a 3.70% rally on Monday and a 3.68% gain on Thursday delivered the upside for the week. A 4.46% slide on Tuesday limited the upside, however.

Bitcoin would need to avoid the $60,867 pivot to support a run the first major resistance level at $64,129.

Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break out from last weeks high $63,666.0.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $65,000 would likely cap any upside.

In the event of an extended breakout, Bitcoin could test resistance at $70,000 before any pullback. The second major resistance level sits at $66,927. Bitcoin would need plenty of support, however, to breakout from Octobers ATH $66,958.0.

A fall through the $60,867 pivot would bring the first major support level at $58,069 into play.

Barring an extended sell-off, Bitcoin should steer clear of the sub-$57,000 levels. The second major support level sits at $54,807.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.70% to $61,758.0. A mixed start to the week saw Bitcoin fall to an early Monday low $61,131.0 before rising to a high $61,762.0.

Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Ethereum rose by 5.10% in the week ending 31st October. Following a 6.11% gain from the previous week, Ethereum ended the week at $4,290.16.

After a mixed start to the week, Ethereum fell to a Thursday intraweek low $3,899.41 before making a move.

Story continues

Ethereum fell through the first major support level at $4,046 before rallying to a Friday intraweek high and ATH $4,461.96.

Ethereum broke through the first major resistance level at $4,413 before easing back to end the week at sub-$4,350 levels.

3-days in the green that included a 9.28% jump on Thursday delivered the upside in the week.

Ethereum would need avoid the $4,217 pivot level to support a run at the first major resistance level at $4,535.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break out from last weeks ATH $4,461.96.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.

In the event of another extended breakout, Ethereum could test resistance at $5,000 levels before any pullback. The second major resistance level sits at $4,780.

A fall through the $4,217 pivot would bring the first major support level at $3,972 into play.

Barring an extended sell-off in the week, Ethereum should steer clear of sub-$3,800 levels. The second major support level sits at $3,655.

At the time of writing, Ethereum was up by 0.63% to $4,316.98. A mixed start to the week saw Ethereum fall to an early Monday low $4,281.33 before rising to a high $4,328.05.

Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

Continued here:
Bitcoin and Ethereum Weekly Technical Analysis November 1st, 2021 - Yahoo Finance

Bitcoin (BTC) sees a volatile start to a new week and a new month after its first-ever monthly close above $60,000 whats next?

After a highly anticipated end to Uptober, bulls are looking to November to provide the next phase of what they hope and sometimes promise will be a BTC price surge like no other.

The timing varies, and so do the predictions. In store for BTC/USD this month could be a monthly close of nearly $100,000 but also a dip to near $50,000.

With everything to play for and solid buyer support in the upper $50,000s holding, Cointelegraph takes a look at what could help shape Bitcoin price action in the coming week.

Regardless of what comes next, market participants are in a celebratory mood this week as Bitcoin sees the highest monthly close in its history.

Not only $60,000 but $61,000 has now become the target to beat for November.

Bitcoin is anything but up only on short timeframes, however, and Sundays close was met with noticeable downside volatility post factum a trip to $59,500 before another surprise took it above $62,000 hours later.

Perhaps slightly nervous are fans of PlanBs worst-case scenario price predictions, these calling for at least $63,000 for the end of October.

While still more or less on track, for the series to continue its historical accuracy, $98,000 needs to be on the table by the end of this month.

For PlanB himself, however, the results have been more than satisfactory.

Yes, Bitcoin might not close above $63K this month, Cointelegraph contributor Michal van de Poppe, meanwhile,added about the situation.

After a correction from overnight lows, BTC/USD is trading at around $62,000. October, then, was its best month since December 2020, with returns just shy of 40%.

Those looking for something that truly is in up only mode need look no further than Bitcoin network fundamentals.

This week, difficulty will put in its eighth consecutive positive adjustment something which has not happened since 2018.

Reflective of the increasingly competitive mining arena, the mining difficulty has now all but made up for the losses it necessarily inflicted after China forced miners to down tools in May.

Difficulty will increase to 21.89 trillion this week, just over 3 trillion below all-time highs.

Thehash rate the measure of processing power dedicated to mining tells a similar story.

Despite being impossible to measure in definitive terms, the hash rate is still trending toward new all-time highs, estimates show.

Raw data trends up and down, and different estimates often end up with considerably different readings. The weekly average hash rate, however, now stands at around 159 exahashes per second (EH/s) closer than ever to the 180 EH/s-record from April.

September provided a golden buy the dip opportunity for Bitcoin buyers, and October was likewise not without its brief retracements.

Did you buy the dip? If you did, you added to the increasingly strong cohort of long-term hodlers whose conviction has only increased in October.

As noted in research from major exchange Kraken last week, the price gains and run to $67,100 all-time highs have failed to tempt hodlers to sell BTC.

Notably, while long-term holders were unfazed by the retracement last month and used it as an opportunity to continue accumulating, this trend has not changed despite a significant rebound in price to new all-time highs near $67,000, researchers concluded.

It is these entities, rather than short-term speculators, who are driving price performance in Q4 this year, they add.

This chimes with a previous analysis, notably by analyst Willy Woo, showing that the so-called hodlers of last resort or Rick Astley investors remain committed to their investment. Among the long-term holders, since 2020, are miners themselves.

Since 2020 miners have been HODLers (and buyers) of BTC, this is a sea change in behaviour, Woo noted this weekend.

On the topic of a supply shock, the picture from exchanges is grim from the perspective of a Bitcoin bear.

According to fresh data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, exchange BTC reserves are now at their lowest in three years.

At that time, in late 2018, Bitcoin was heading into the pit of its previous bear market, which bottomed out in December at $3,100.

Since then, price action has changed by an order of magnitude, but balances are still dwindling all pointing to the scale of the potential shock should demand increase heavily from here.

Exchanges now control 2.47 million BTC. While at its peak in April 2020, over 3.1 million BTC stood on their orderbooks.

Balance changes can vary considerably among exchanges. Over the past 24 hours, for example, Coinbase Pro led the decrease, down almost 20,000 BTC, while some other players saw slight increases in their balance.

The coming week could produce some familiar trends on traditional markets and their traditional knock-on impact on crypto markets.

Related:Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, ETH, BNB, MATIC, FTM

These could come thanks to fresh comments from the United States Federal Reserve on coronavirus management Tuesday and Wednesday as markets expect further cues on asset-buying tapering.

This comes as inflation ramps up worldwide, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell previously admitted that the accompanying narrative supply chain crisis will likely persist well into next year.

I think the Fed has pretty well determined to start the taper pretty quickly. We expect them to announce it next week and then start it soon thereafter, so thats pretty well carved in stone, Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab, told Yahoo Finance last week.

Such conditions serve to increase Bitcoins attractiveness as an inherently deflationary asset class with a mathematically verifiable supply cap.

Institutional inflows into extant Bitcoin investment products, along with the newly launched futures exchange-traded funds (ETF), highlight growing demand.

Originally posted here:
'Uptober' closes at record high in best month of 2021 5 things to watch in Bitcoin this week - Cointelegraph

The original cryptocurrency is still hewing closely to one of its most famous price predictions raising hopes in hodlers hearts that theyre all gonna make it.

At 11am Sydney time (midnight UTC), Bitcoin closed out the month of October at US$61,300, up 29 per cent from the end of September.

The pseudonymous Plan B made a bold prediction in June, when BTC was changing hands for US$35,000, having crashed from $64,000.

The Dutch former institutional investor with decades of experience in financial markets said that his worst-case scenario for Bitcoin was Aug>47K, Sep>43K, Oct>63K, Nov>98K, Dec>135K.

He was right about August and September and Plan B tweeted that this morning his three per cent rounding error for October was close enough for me.

Plan B uses a stock to flow model to predict Bitcoin price. His thesis is that that the diminishing supply (or stock) of Bitcoin from the halving events every four years causes boom-and-bust cycles for the original cryptocurrency.

Smaller altcoins are popping this morning while blue-chip cryptos have taken a breather over the past 24 hours.

Solana has been the only token in the top 20 to move more than three per cent, rising 5.6 per cent to US$206.

SOL was very close to flipping Carano as the No. 5 crypto.

Meanwhile, Dogecoin had reclaimed the No. 9 spot from Shiba Inu, currently No. 10.

Bitcoin and Ethereum were both down around 1.5 per cent, to US$61,392 and US$4,302, respectively.

But No. 69 crypto Holochain (HOT) has soared 37.1 per cent, No. 89 Qtum is up 13 per cent, and No. 77 Spell has risen 12.7 per cent. Outside of the top 100, Zenon, Vulcan Forged, Alchemy Pay, Storj and DigitalBits had all soared by between 59 and 25 per cent.

Aussie-founded gaming token Illuvium was trading for over US$1,000 after hitting an all-time high of $1,040 yesterday.

Overall the crypto market was down 0.17 per cent to US$2.64 trillion.

Get the latest Stockhead news delivered free to your inbox.

It's free. Unsubscribe whenever you want.

You might be interested in

Original post:
Plan B sticks to US$135k Bitcoin year-end price prediction after October rounding error - Stockhead

Bitcoin price failed to stay above the $62,000 support against the US Dollar. BTC could decline heavily if it breaks the $60,000 support zone in the near term.

Bitcoin price attempted an upside break above the $62,500 resistance level. However, BTC failed to gain strength above $62,500. A high was formed near $62,950 and started a fresh decline.

There was a clear break below the $61,200 and $61,000 support levels. There was also a break below a key bullish trend line with support near $61,500 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. It is now trading below $62,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

The pair even spiked below the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $58,140 swing low to $62,950 high. On the upside, an immediate resistance is near the $61,000 level.

The first major resistance is near the $61,200 level and the 100 hourly SMA. A clear break above $61,200 resistance may possibly call open the doors for a move towards the $62,000 level. The next major resistance sits near the $62,500 level. A close above $62,500 might start a steady increase.

If bitcoin fails to clear the $62,000 resistance zone, it could extend its decline. An immediate support on the downside is near the $60,200 level. The first major support is now forming near the $60,000 level.

It is near the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $58,140 swing low to $62,950 high. A break below the $60,000 support may possibly spark a sharp decline. The next key support is near the $58,500 level. Any more losses might call for a move towards the $55,000 level.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD The MACD is slowly gaining pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) The RSI for BTC/USD is now below the 50 level.

Major Support Levels $60,200, followed by $60,000.

Major Resistance Levels $61,200, $62,000 and $62,500.

View original post here:
Bitcoin Price Dips, Why BTC Could Dive Below $60K - NewsBTC

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) may finish 2021 defined by the same vertigo-inducing price action that took it from under $30,000 to a fresh record near $66,000 within the space of a few months, analysts say.

On Thursday, investors booking profits in the wake of the successful launch of two Bitcoin futures-based exchange traded funds (ETFs) last week dragged the digital coin down by about 5% on the day. More new funds are expected to hit the market from issuers like VanEck, Galaxy Digital and Bitwise, leading many investors to believe the price has more room to run up in 2021.

Meanwhile, leveraged investors also liquidated positions on future Bitcoin bets. Leverage is money borrowed from an exchange or market maker that allows a trader to increase both the gains and losses they might receive from buying a specific asset.

With more than $185 million of BTC liquidations in the last 24 hours, according to ByBit, analysts expect more short-term volatility as the year ends.

I am expecting weekly moves over $20,000 each way as we close out the year, wrote Nik Bhatia, author of the macro-economics focused newsletter, Layered Money, on Tuesday.

To be sure, this most recent BTC price swing is paltry relative to the $4.87 billion liquidated on April 15, the years worst day for BTC derivatives traders.

Yet both movements, as well as the $1.2 billion liquidation in levered positions that occurred in early September, come with an obvious lesson: highly levered Bitcoin positions can lead to a cascade of selling that can ultimately sink the spot price.

Story continues

One major cause of liquidations in the options and futures market is the cost for holding a levered position, which is high. If these margins grow too pricey for traders taking long positions, they can decide to liquidate their position instead of paying the margin.

"It could be unexpected events that really changes the mood of the market. Also, if leverage keeps building and expectations get higher and higher than those expectations alone not being filled and having so much money behind them can cause a significant correction, Sui Chung, CEO of CFBenchmarks, told Yahoo Finance.

Chungs company is one of the major firms that provides indices - aggregated price measurements - on various crypto assets for large institutions like the CME and Goldman Sachs. Up until last week, premiums for going long on BTC options havent worried him. That means this relatively small drop could signal a healthy market by BTC standards.

However, with the first U.S. futures-based Bitcoin ETFs now tradable, the combined leverage from BTC futures and options contracts can be expected to play a growing role in Bitcoins price swings according to Velte Lunde, an analyst with Arcane Research, a crypto firm.

And Like Bhatia, Lundt anticipates volatility in the crypto asset to continue through the end of the year, in addition to the asset seeing higher prices in that time.

Weekly moves between $10K to $20k is a likely scenario, due to active traders and high leverage. It's fair to assume that a bunch of these traders are not comfortable now that bitcoin is once again trading below $60k, he told Yahoo Finance.

The CME futures lead the price discovery of bitcoin both within the futures market and spot market according to research from Lundt and asset manager, Bitwise. That should only increase until the SEC approves a Bitcoin spot ETF which could catch more investor interest given the additional costs associated with futures-based ETFs.

While futures-based ETFs like BITO and BTF dont hold BTC directly, they do influence Bitcoins price according to Sui Chung of CFBenchmarks.

For instance, like the major U.S. oil futures-based ETF, USO, $BITO is already one of the major holders of Bitcoin futures contracts. "If you liquidated all the assets in USO tomorrow morning, the price of oil is going to fall" Chung told Yahoo Finance.

Any significant liquidation by an ETF is small, but one leveraged ETF provider, Direxion, has recently filed for an ETF that shorts Bitcoin futures.

Bull markets can be very emotional. In bitcoin, they happen fiercely, rapidly, and end before youre able to catch your breath, Bhatia added.

David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn

Read the original here:
Bitcoin's retreat from $66K may signal a whipsaw end to an 'emotional' year - Yahoo Finance

Colin Crossman:

Aspirational projects like the Declaration of Monetary Independence are designed to engender strong feelings thats part of their power. Much contemporary art was made about the American Independence movement, such as William Blakes America, A Prophecy, and Philip Freneau in both A Political Litany and American Liberty. Such works help communicate the overall message of the movement to a broader audience, and often do a better job conveying the emotionality of the movement than the base layer argument.

We can see much artistic output coming from the broad Bitcoin community, with a great output of audio and visual works. For me, when I was exposed to early versions of the Declaration of Monetary Independence project, I was moved to write a couple of haiku. Upon hearing that they were looking for more of such work to assist with the project, I decided that this would be my contribution to it.

A few notes about the below. Each haiku is intended to stand on its own, while also being a part of a larger story. One apparent departure from the norm, haiku generally evokes nature. Here, while I do evoke nature, I also include aspects of Bitcoins construction (SHA-256), and memes. To my mind, these are part of Bitcoins nature, and so in evoking these, I believe these remain true to the spirit of English language haiku.

Rick Poach:

A little over a month ago, on a whim, I started posting Bitcoin/Econ themed limericks to a Telegram board of Denver Bitcoiners. The limericks were to form: humorous and unserious snippets of verse. I didn't think much about them other than the fact that they were coming to mind in the first place.

For nearly twelve years, I have written what I label as political satire (sarcasm) in verse. However, after what, in my opinion, was a false flag insurrection, whatever inspiration to write that I might have had remaining had dried up. Any attempt that I made at writing felt like, and was, a half-hearted effort: the absurdities were so apparent, what more could my sarcasm do to reveal it?With the exception of a couple of half-hearted pieces, I had stopped writing for almost a year.

However, during that year, two interesting things happened to me. The first was that, in April, Colin Crossman introduced me to Bitcoin. I quickly went down the rabbit hole, as I almost immediately intuited that eventually, Bitcoin fixes, the absurdist forces which have seized power. The second was that, about a month ago, Mark Maraia read those throwaway limericks that I had posted, and asked me to write some verse in support of the Declaration of Monetary Independence.

The result of those two interesting things is the piece, Hum.

I would like to thank both Colin and Mark for their unknowing contribution to Hum. I would not have had the inspiration to write it without them.

If needed, here is a key to better understand Hum:

This is a guest post by Rick Poach And Colin Crossman. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

View original post here:
Bitcoin Community Projects Communicate The Message Of Freedom - Bitcoin Magazine

Crypto analyst and trader Nicholas Merten is working out when the next big Bitcoin (BTC) correction could take place.

In a new strategy session, Merten says his expectations for the rest of Bitcoins bull cycle are likely more conservative than most analysts.

The analyst says that the $100,000 level will probably act as a massive point of resistance for Bitcoin, and potentially trigger a significant correction should it be hit.

A rally to potentially here ($100,000) into Q1, I dont doubt that for a second, but I think its going to be a more conservative one, somewhere around $100,000, that big six-figure mark. When we do hit that, I think its going to play out as a pretty decent degree of resistance, and from there, were going to have I know this is something people dont want to hear or might disagree with, its definitely contrarian is that were going to have a correction of some sort.

Merten draws a rough price path that forecasts Bitcoin hitting the $100,000 level early next year, before dropping about 40% to the $60,000 range thereafter. While it would be a significant dip, the analyst notes that such a correction would be less severe than what BTC experienced between June 2019 and March 2020, as well as the plunge in May of this year where Bitcoin dropped roughly 56%.

The closely followed analyst is suggesting that this time around, Bitcoin goes through an extended, less volatile bull market than previous cycles. He predicts BTC finishing off its bull market around November 2022 with a rough target of $200,000.

How amazing would it be if we had a breakout towards $100,000 here in Q1, we correct down and make the $60,000 previous resistance new support, and then we leapfrog up toward $200,000, toward November of 2022 playing into the expanding cycles that weve seen time and time again for the last three cycles?

I think that is much much more reasonable.

I

Featured Image: Shutterstock/ bestfoto77

See original here:
Heres When the Next Nasty Bitcoin Correction Could Happen, According to Crypto Analyst Nicholas Merten - The Daily Hodl