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Project TITANIUM: The EU's Plan to Decloak Cryptocurrency Bitcoin Magazine Project TITANIUM will develop tools and best practices for criminal investigations involving cryptocurrency in Europe, which, up to now, most law enforcement agencies have pursued on an ad-hoc basis. The project plans to create forensic tools to spot ... and more »

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Project TITANIUM: The EU's Plan to Decloak Cryptocurrency - Bitcoin Magazine

We pointed out a couple of weeks ago that cryptocurrency miners are largely to blame for the scarcity of AMD Radeon RX 580 and 570 graphics cards. That has not changedfinding an RX 580/570 in stock and without a grossly inflated price tag is a near-impossible taskbut what has changed is that miners now seem to be driving up the price of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1060 and 1070 cards too.

A user on Reddit lamented that GTX 1060 pricing is "skyrocketing," which is an exaggeration of the situation, though not totally off base.

"I just checked Jet and their cheapest 6GB 1060 was $280 when yesterday it was $246. On Newegg, the cheapest was $226 and now it's $270? Is this because of mining? Should I buy one now before the prices get higher? I'm freaking out guys!," Lions_for_Life posted.

He also pointed out that he had the opportunity to grab a GeForce GTX 1060 card the other day for $210, only to now see that prices have jumped across the board. Is there any merit to his claim? We decided to do some digging and as it turns out, he appears to be onto something.

One of the cheaper GTX 1060 cards out there is MSI's GTX 1060 Aero ITX 6TG OC. It is the least expensive 6GB 1060 on Newegg, which as the Reddit user noted is priced at $270. Over at Amazon, only third-party vendors offer the same card, albeit starting at $294yikes!

We headed over to CamelCamelCamel to see how this card has been trending, and sure enough the asking price is as high as it's ever been.

About a month and a half ago, this same card sold for around $220 on Amazon, via third-parties. So in other words, pricing has risen 34 percent in the span of about six weeks.

A similar situation seems to playing out in GeForce GTX 1070 territory as well. Take the Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ROG Strix OC Edition (STRIX-GTX1070-O8G-GAMING). Amazon has this one in stock for $470, versus $399 as recently as May 22. Have a look:

For the most part, this fluctuated between $420 and $450 for several months for dipping down to $399, but has now ballooned to a new high.

So what does all of this mean? We can't say with 100 percent certainty that cryptocurrency miners are the culprit, but it sure seems that way. That's where AMD's hardware partners pinned the blame the shortage of Radeon RX 580 and 570 cards, and with those being out of stock, it makes sense that miners would turn to alternative hardwarein this case, GeForce GTX 1060 and 1070 cards.

In case you're new to all of this, cryptocurrency participants use graphics cards to "mine" various coins, which can be traded for Bitcoin and then sold for actual cash. The right hardware can pay for itself within months, and at that point anything that is mined is pure profit (minus the power bill).

This was not an issue for gamers over the past few years because miners had turned to ASIC hardware built specifically for mining. However, GPUs are popular again because of newer hashing algorithms, like Ethereum's DaggerHashimoto or ZCash's Equihash, which are resistant to ASIC hardware. On top of that, there has been a spike in the value of Ethereum and Bitcoin lately, the latter of which recently topped the $3,000 mark for the first time.

Another reason we're seeing this play out among Pascal cards is that Nvidia GPUs are proving nearly as profitable as AMD GPUs with some cryptocurrencies. While AMD's GPUs are still generally better, some of Nvidia's card's are cheaper and consume less power.

Hopefully AMD and Nvidia both can get handle on things by increasing production and/or building a separate set of cards specifically intended for miners. Otherwise, your best bet is to pounce on a good deal when you find one, as the aforementioned Reddit user wishes he had done.

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It looks like cryptocurrency mining is driving up Nvidia graphics card prices too - PC Gamer

AvaTrade, a forex and CFDs brokerage, has announced the addition of cryptocurrency pairs to its asset list on its website, and noted its intention to add more in the future. As of now, the online trading firm offers Ethereum Classic versus the American dollar (ETH/USD), and the Bitcoin versus the euro (BTC/EUR).

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The allure of cryptocurrencies appears to be their high volatility, as well as the ability of their value to soar to new highs even when other markets are not volatile. About two weeks ago, Finance Magnates covered the Bitcoin versus the dollar exchange rate reaching $2877. Being able to trade cryptocurrencies within currency pairs rather than just as individual assets may be a sign of more advanced stages to come.

Dire Ferguson, the CEO of AvaTrade, commented: These are exciting times; the trading world is changing in front of our eyes, and we are glad to play a major role in it. Cryptocurrencies are the future, and AvaTrade stands in the frontline of brokers when it comes to trading them. We work hard to insure we offer our clients the best trading conditions and possibilities.

AvaTrade is a brokerage offering forex and contracts for difference (CFDs) trading. The company was established back in 2006, and is authorized and licensed to offer financial advice and online trading services to clients by several regulatory authorities such as the Central Bank of Ireland (Reference No.: C53877).

Last week, Finance Magnates reported HYCMs having added cryptocurrency pair Bitcoin versus the American dollar to its asset list. The reason behind adding these new currency pairs is the increase in demand for them from traders.

This morning, Finance Magnates covered XTBs having added several cryptocurrency pairs of its own.

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AvaTrade Launches New Tradable Cryptocurrency Pairs | Finance ... - Finance Magnates

More money in circulation will ultimately lead to more investments in cryptocurrencies.

A lot people wonder where the sudden interest in cryptocurrencies is coming from. Rising prices certainly help to raise more awareness. However,it appears the global central bank woes are the biggest driving factor right now. Up until recently, demand for Bitcoin was small other than from a speculative point of view. A recent Federal Reserve decision will drive more people to cryptocurrency in the future. Central banks are making the swithc to Bitcoin a lot easier these days.

It is evident central banks around the world are slowly losing an uphill battle. Consumers are less eager to trust banks, for obvious reasons. Moreover, despite plenty of evidence suggesting otherwise, central banks feel printing more money is always the solution. Helicopter money has always been ineffective, now more than ever before. When financial turmoil occurs, investors do not buy bonds anymore. Instead, they flock to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The Federal Reserve plans to keep raising interest rates. On paper, this is a good idea for US consumers. In reality, however, things are very different. The US economy is not in a good place and raising interest rates will stress the economy even more. Moreover, these hikes will only be provided by printing more money. More money in circulation will ultimately lead to more investments in cryptocurrencies.

One thing that sets cryptocurrencies apart from central banks is how there is no inflation. At least, where Bitcoin is concerned, as other currencies may not follow the same path. Cash and traditional assets are in high demand to hedge against inflation. Bitcoin has a fixed market cap, although the amount of coins in circulation will continue to grow until the year 2140. At the same time, Bitcoin can be seen as deflationary. Its purchasing power per unit increases, whereas cash has the opposite effect.

It is evident central banks have their work cut out for them. Printing more money is not a solution under any circumstance. It only makes matters worse for the local and global economy. If central banks continue down the path of helicopter money, they will effectively push people toward cryptocurrency. No one would mind that outcome, though. It is due time people learn to take back control of their own wealth. Now is as good a time as any.

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Helicopter Money Policy by Central Banks Will Benefit Global Cryptocurrency Adoption - newsBTC

SAN FRANCISCO What goes precipitously up, often comes crashing down to earth.

So it was with bitcoin on Thursday, when the price of the digital currency plunged19% its steepest drop in more than two years after a record run. The volatility remained on full display late Thursday and, as of Friday evening, bitcoin rebounded to$2,484.59.

The cryptocurrency, which flirted with $3,000 on Monday, sunk as low as $2,076.16 in intraday trading early Thursday amid a confluence of bad omens. Tech stocks have recently taken a thumping over concerns about their lofty valuations. Ominous reports from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley suggested bitcoin was due for a reversal in price and required government regulation. The Federal Reserve hiked interest ratesWednesday.

Compounding worries, digital currency exchange Coinbase experienced an outage Monday because of high-trading volume. Another exchange, Bitfinex, on Tuesday said it was under DDOS attack.

Meanwhile, prices for digital currenciesripple andNEM declined the past week, though Ethereum, the second-largest currency, has soared 20% on speculation it will be the top currency. At $371.36, it lags far behind bitcoin in value.

CryptoCurrency Market Capitalizations

"Bitcoin and other digital currencies are experiencing rapid growth these days," says Guy Zyskind, CEO of Enigma,a start-up incryptocurrency investing."For this to be sustainable over time, the market has to correct itself from time to time."

The market's wild ride this week underscores"the ebbs and flows of an entirely new asset class," says Bill Barhydt, CEO of Abra, a peer-to-peer payment service.

"While the bitcoin price will likely recover and continue to rise, what we should see in the future is bitcoin becoming a solid store of value, much like gold," saysMihir Magudia, executive director of LEOcoin Foundation. "It will be relatively easy to liquidate but will not be used to commonly pay for goods and services."

Follow USA TODAY's San Francisco Bureau Chief Jon Swartz @jswartz on Twitter.

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Cryptocurrency prices likely to continue wild ride

It was only a matter of time until regulators caught up with cryptocurrency ICOs. These coin offerings have gone unregulated for quite some time now, while raising millions in funding. Anyone buying into these token sales in the US is according to the law buying securities, which require special licenses from the company holding the ICO. With US regulators aiming to venture into the cryptocurrency ICO world, things could get quite interesting moving forward.

Various aspects of cryptocurrency will never be subject to traditional regulation. Virtually all of these projects are decentralized, with no single entity responsible for issuing the coins or controlling the majority of funds circulating on the network. The only entity regulators can go after are the third-party service providers found within the world of cryptocurrency. Wallet providers, exchanges, and investment schemes are bound to see more attention from US regulators moving forward.

Which brings us to cryptocurrency ICOs, the modern-day crowdfunding efforts without regulation or oversight. Everyone in the cryptocurrency world knows how ICOs are growing in popularity and seemingly raise more money than ever before. Projects raising over US$10m in funding are slowly becoming the norm rather than an exception right now. However, there are a lot of legal questions regarding the ICOs and how the tokens are distributed.

It is believed the SEC is currently taking a very close look at any cryptocurrency ICO on the agenda. This does not bode well for most of the projects out there, as very few of these teams have someone with the necessary legal knowledge on board. It is only normal US regulators want to pay close attention to what is going on in this regard, as ICOs can be seen as a way to launder money, in their opinion. A group of people raising millions of dollars overnight without regulation or oversight is suspicious, regardless of how you want to look at it.

The bigger question on peoples mind is whether or not they buy tokens or securities. According to the US legislation, a cryptocurrency token can quickly turn into a security, which causes all kinds of legal issues. If a security is created voluntarily or by accident it needs to be overseen and regulated by the SEC, regardless of its ties with cryptocurrency or otherwise. This confusion needs to be avoided at all costs, but for now, there are no clear regulatory guidelines whatsoever.

Rest assured it will not take all that long until the SEC will introduce some form of cryptocurrency ICO regulation moving forward. For now, it remains anybodys guess as to what we can expect from such a decision. If ICOs are put on the same level as IPOs, things will look very dire for cryptocurrency companies looking at this mechanism as a way to quickly secure funding. Although the SEC is apparently investigating this matter, it may take years until they come to a conclusion.

Moreover, there is the topic of trading these ICO tokens across cryptocurrency exchanges. A lot of tokens can be traded against fiat currencies, which can pose some new challenges as well once regulation materializes. For the time being, the cryptocurrency ICO sector has nothing to worry about just yet. However, this situation could change at any given moment, and a lot of teams will find themselves in an awkward position because of it.

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SEC may be Looking for Ways to Regulate the Cryptocurrency ICO Market - The Merkle

Just hours after traders reported a shift in strategy, the global cryptocurrency markets appear to be correcting and fast.

At press time, the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization were all in steep periods of decline, with eight seeing declines of more than 10%. Even bitcoin, heralded as the 'safe haven' among available alternatives wasn't immune, dropping 15% at press time as its price retreated to its lowest total since 31st May.

Overall, the market shed roughly $6bn in a span of hours, declining from a combined total of $106bn to a press time total of $99.3bn, according to data from Coinmarketcap.

Taking an even broader look, more than 80 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies had seen more than double-digit declines, with some seeing declines of more than 30%.

Among those most impacted was IOTA, which began listing on exchanges this week and debuted at a $1bn market cap, only to fall more than 40% today. Lesser-known assets including I/O Coin, E-Currency Coin and Vericoin saw over 30% declines.

It wasn't just tokens on so-called infrastructure blockchains, running on their own unique networks, that were affected either.

Digital tokens sold as part of initial coin offerings (ICOs)and running on top of the ethereum blockchain saw big declines, with the tokens powering decentralized prediction market Gnosis and web browser Brave dropping by over 20% at press time.

Both debuted to market enthusiasm, raising $12.5m and $35m in token sales in recent months.

All in all, the development comes hours after traders reported preparing for a correction as the market's recent upward momentum slowed, and weeks after many had begun sounding the alarm that the market had become wildly divorced from fundamentals.

As such, speculation is high that this correction might only be the beginning of more declines.

Disclosure:CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Brave.

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The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].

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Sea of Red: Top 10 Cryptocurrencies See Steep Declines as Market Turns - CoinDesk

The market correction that a number of analysts have predicted has hit, with leading cryptocurrencies losing in double digits in the last 24 hours. Market leaders bitcoin and Ethereum were not among the biggest losers, dropping 12.81% and 16.04% in the last 24 hours, respectively, but their market cap losses were in the billions, falling to $37.4 billion and $28.9 billion, respectively.

Ripple, a distant number three in market capitalization at just under $10 billion, lost over 12%. NEM, number four, lost over 17%, while Ethereum Classic, number five, lost 13.77%. Litecoin, number 6, suffered the least among thbillion-dollarar players, losing just over%. Eighth placed IOTA was the biggest loser among the cryptocurrencies with more than $1 billion in market capitalization, falling 36.5% when its price fell to $0.38.

All top 100 cryptocurrencies tumbled in the last 24 hours, according to marketcap.com, except for four: Quantum Resistant Ledger, the number 41 cryptocurrency with $81.4 million market capitalization, jumped 19.43%; LBRY Credits, number 57, posted an 18.24% gain; Xarum, number 62, gained 10,4%, and ZCoin, number 69, gained 9.58%.

The correction that began Monday continued after a breather yesterday, as bitcoin failed to launch a new rally towards all-time highs and rolled over after the bounce. Correlations are high once again, as is usual for a correction, and its likely that bitcoin and Ethereum will dictate the trend of the coming days, with small cap coinsfollowing the majors lower.

Bitcoin continues to trade near its lows from Monday, and it will likely head for a test of the $2375 level, as it clears its overbought momentum readings. The rising long-term trendline is found near $2200, providing further strong support. The long-term picture remains bullish, but there is room for further correction after the strong rally since the end of March.

A 30%-50% correction, that has been the normal for bitcoin in the past, is a huge psychological burden that makes a panic sale likely, usually just before the bottom. Because of this, buyers are advised to wait for the correction and oversold readings, even for those planning to buy it at a higher price later on.

Analyst Nicola Duke of Forex Analytix predicted hefty price corrections for both bitcoin and Ethereum in late May. Duke said bitcoin could experience a 46.5% price correction at $2,800 afterwitnessing arecord $2,791.70 high in late May. After reaching $2,800, Duke predicted it would fall and reach as low as $1,470, marking a 46.5% drop from the late May price.

Duke expects the correction to be temporary, with the price recovering, and continue its upward movement through 2018. An analysis called the Fibonacci retracement examines the peaks through different periods of up and down movements to determine future asset prices.

In wave two, in the fall of 2013, bitcoin bottomed out in January 2015 before rebounding for several months and then declining again. It rebounded again in January of 2015. Duke said bitcoin is now in a third wave.

Duke expects the fourth wave will see bitcoin stay at 61.8% of the time the second wave lasted. This means the rally following the correction will begin in January.

Short-term traders are advised to wait until the correction runs its course and the short-term trend turns higher again, while long-term investors should prepare to add to their holdings heading towards the targets of the move, and buying opportunities emerge. This holds true for long-term investors who plan on holding on to the coins and adding to their core holdings on the dips. Short-term traders should still wait for the short-term trend to turn higher before buying.

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Terror Thursday: It's a Cryptocurrency Bloodbath - CryptoCoinsNews

There are now four times as many cryptocurrencies in circulation as fiat currencies.

That's amazing. And encouraging.

According to the Swiss Association for Standardization, which maintains the International Standards Organization database, there are 177national currencies currently in use. That list generously includes four precious-metals and four bond-market units (codes XBA to XBD, for the curious).

Number of digital currencies

753

TheCoinMarketCapwebsite lists 753 cryptocurrencies, all the way from Bitcoin and Ethereum down to StrongHands and Paccoin (current value: $0.00000014).

With a retired basketball star promoting one such incarnation -- tied to marijuana -- on a recent trip to a repressive Asian nation lying to the north of South Korea, I'm tempted to call Peak Crypto.

But let's not kid ourselves: The madness is far from over. Bitcoin skeptics have been eating their words ever since the leading digital currency reached $1,000. January seems like such a long time ago now that Bitcoin is trading above $2,700.

Bruised Bears

Betting against Bitcoin when it reached $1,000 would have been a costly mistake

Source: Bloomberg

Although Bitcoin has climbed 300 percent in the past 12 months,giving its "coins" in circulation a value of $45 billion, Satoshi Nakamoto's brainchild is actually declining in relative importance. From more than 95 percent in late 2013, Bitcoin now accounts for 39 percent of the value of all cryptocurrency in circulation. Ethereum has caught up fast, from 3.9 percent at the start of the year to 31 percent of the total now, according to CoinMarketCap. Ripple is inthird place at around 8.8 percent after briefly overtaking Ethereum last month.

Virtual Value

Bitcoins in circulation are now worth more than $45 billion with Ethereum close behind

Source: CoinMarketCap

The other 20 percent of cryptocurrency value is unevenly distributed among the 750 wannabes alonga very long tail. It's possible some will rise to a level of legitimacy that will make them viable in the long term. Many are betting not on mass uptakebut on niche acceptance -- one pitches itself as thepayments platform for online games;another limits the amount of coinsto the number of kilometers between Earth and its moon; one seeks to be the official currency of a fictitious nation.

Market Force

Bitcoin remains the world's biggest cryptocurrency, but its dominance has waned

Source: CoinMarketCap

Yet Bitcoin itself remains so nichethat the WannaCry hackers reaped a minuscule harvestafter infecting more than 200,000 computers, because they insisted on being paid in the cryptocurrency.

Just because the boom is ridiculous doesn't mean it lacksmomentum -- it just tells you that consolidation also is inevitable. Not in the traditional M&A sense, but in the way that messenger apps like AIM,ICQ, Yahoo and MSN quietly gave way to WhatsApp and WeChat, which then led to the ubiquity of instant-messagingtechnology.

Morgan Stanley posited last week that government acceptance will be key to Bitcoin's continued rise, with the flipside being some kind of regulation of the currency. That's probably right, and if proponents of cryptocurrencies think they'll achieve widespread uptake without a nod from the authorities, they're probably smoking something.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe at psillitoe@bloomberg.net

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Getting High on Cryptocurrencies - Bloomberg Gadfly - Bloomberg

The financial regulatory arm of the state of Illinois has clarified its rules fordigital currency companies operating in the state.

Announced yesterday by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), the completed regulatory guidance clarified that digital currency is not captured under the definition of money used in the state's Transmitters of Money Act (TOMA).The final announcement was published after nearly six months after the agency'sinitial request for comments.

The guidance also clarified activities that are generally regarded as 'money transmission', including the exchange of digital currency for money through a third-party exchanger or an automated machine. Digital currency businesses whose practices meet these definitions will now need to secure a TOMA license.

Other activities such as miners receiving digital currency for verifying transactions, exchanging only between digital currencies and exchanging digital currency for money between two parties are excluded from this category.

Perhaps most notably, however, the IDFPR went on to state that industry startups can use cryptocurrencies as permissible investments, arguing that capital requirements in traditional currencies imposed "added burdens" on smaller operations.

The report reads:

"The [IDFPR]understands dollar-denominated capital reserve requirements impose added burdens on digital currency companies and therefore will consider digital currency reserves as a form of permissible investment."

Elsewhere, the IDFPR said it will allow applicants to consider digital currency they own or hold as part of their net worth, though such a recognition does not include any digital currency held on behalf of others.

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The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].

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Illinois Eases Burden for Cryptocurrency Startups with New Guidance - CoinDesk