Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 5 – Bitcoin uncertainty leading to a lack of buying or selling pressure

The crypto market had a green day, with only a few cryptocurrencies ending up in the red. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,882, which represents a 0.95% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 0.53% on the day, while XRP lost 0.05%.

Energi took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 27.96%. On the other side, Bitcoin SV lost 4.56% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to increase quite a lot over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 63.6%, which represents a 0.98% difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $255.45 billion, which represents an increase of $2.45 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Andrew Bailey, the next governor of Bank of England, expressed his sentiment towards crypto yesterday in London. He argued that anyone putting money into Bitcoin should prepare to lose everything.

Bailey shared his thoughts on Bitcoin to members of the U.K. Parliament at a Treasury Select Committee hearing, which happened on Mar 4. Bailey expressed his dislike towards Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a whole before saying that:

“If you want to buy Bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money… [Bitcoin] has no intrinsic value.”

Honorable mention

Cardano

The legal leader at Big Four’s PwC, Gunther Dobrauz, recently expressed his opinion about Cardano and showed open support to the people responsible for Cardano’s development.

Dobrauz claimed that decentralization is the future, and that the Cardano Foundation and the team surrounding the IOHK CEO and founder Charles Hoskinson are certainly a “huge part of this” future in a tweet on Mar 3. IOHK is the blockchain company behind Cardano as well as Ethereum Classic.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a slow day with quite predictable price movements. Buyers and sellers bound its price between $8,400 and $9,000. Bitcoin has been staying in this range for some time now with no real pressure to go up or down. When compared to the yesterday’s price, Bitcoin did manage to gain some value, breaking the $8,825 line, but quickly stopping at the $8,980 one.


Bitcoin’s volume is slightly below average when compared to this week, while its RSI level is starting to increase slightly. It is currently sitting at a value of 58.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,980                                           1: $8,825

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,650

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,535


Ethereum

Ethereum is in the same position as Bitcoin, as its price has been ranging for some time now, as well. There has been no sign of pressure towards any side. Ethereum is currently trading above the $225.5 line, bound by it to the downside and the $240 resistance to the upside. However, all pressure to the upside seems to fade far before Ethereum’s price reaches $240.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low, while its RSI is near the middle of the value range, sitting at around 52.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP is the only crypto out of the top3 that ended up in the red. Its price is also bound in a range, sitting between $227 and $2454. XRP’s price is not pressured to any side and is trading freely within this range. However, with fading volume, the volatility is fading as well, and the up and down movements seem smaller and smaller. XRP is now trading slightly above the $0.235 support line.


XRP’s volume is currently below average, while its RSI level is near the middle of the value range, sitting at around 53.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 4 – Bitcoin and Altcoins Recover, Look for Further Strength

The crypto market had a pretty quiet but effective day. Most cryptos that were going down yesterday ended that move and gained some value. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,808, which represents a 0.24% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.47% on the day, while XRP gained 0.84%.

Matic Network took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 21.46%. On the other side, Kyber Network lost 9% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to decrease slightly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 62.62%, which represents a 1.12% difference to the downside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed at the pretty much same spot from when we last reported. It is currently valued at $253 billion, which represents a decrease of $1.43 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The tax bureau of Beijing made an official announcement that it will start implementing invoicing via blockchain within the city on March 2. Beijing wants to bring transparency, traceability as well as immutability by using blockchain invoicing.

The Beijing tax bureau will slowly and gradually carry out the promotion of the blockchain invoicing service throughout the city.

Honorable mention

MakerDAO

Major decentralized finance (or DeFi for short) player MakerDAO established a partnership with the payment processor Simplex. This partnership came to life to create a fiat on-ramp for MakerDAO’s Dai decentralized stablecoin.

The partnership allows people to buy Dai with the credit and debit cards that Simplex’s partner firms issued.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a pretty slow day. However, the downtrend price movement that happened yesterday ended and Bitcoin moved up slightly. After the whole day of price going down, BTC bounced off of its $8,650 support and changed direction. Bitcoin is now right below the $8,825 which is did not manage to pass yet.


Bitcoin’s volume is slightly below average when compared to this week, while its RSI level is in the middle of the value range, sitting at around 51.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum had a slow day as well. However, its price movement did not make it to the green side when compared to the price of 24 hours ago. The slight downwards-facing move seems to have ended, and Ethereum stabilized right above the $225.5 support level.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low, while its RSI is in the middle of the value range, sitting at around 49.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP also made a similar move as Bitcoin and Ethereum did. Once the bear pressure was weakened, bulls took over and brought the price above $0.235. XRP is now consolidating in the middle of the range, bound by $0.235 level to the downside and $0.2454 level to the upside.


XRP’s volume is slightly below average, while its RSI level is in the middle of the value range, sitting at around 50.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 3 – Cryptocurrencies back to bear cycle? Argentina suspending its blockchain registering system

The crypto market ended its one-day uptrend and backtracked a bit from the gains it made over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,761, which represents a 1.7% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.02% on the day, while XRP gained 1.7%.

Aragon took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 17.41%. On the other side, Aragon lost 7.56% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to increase slightly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 63.8%, which represents a 0.15% difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed at the same spot from when we last reported. It is currently valued at $251.57 billion, which represents a decrease of $0.36 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The government of Argentina made an announcement that its national blockchain-based mechanism for registering new companies will be suspended for a period of 180 days.

This measure, according to the statements made by the head of General Inspectorate of Justice Ricardo Nissen to La Nación, is made so Argentina could reorder the registration of new companies so that the inspectorate could also participate in the entire process.

Honorable mention

EOS 

Block.one released EOSIO 2.0 in January 2020 as an upgrade to the protocol. Some cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase announced that there was trouble with the performance of the network once the new set of protocol improvements was installed. This implementation slowed down or even stopped deposits and withdrawals.

In the meantime, the EOS community voted to slash the network inflation from 5% down to 1%, which marked this event as the blockchain’s second massive token burn event ever since Q2 of 2019.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin ended its one day long upswing which managed to reach all the way to $8980 before crashing slightly. The biggest cryptocurrency by market cap broke the $8,825 resistance and rushed towards price levels of above $9,000 but failed as bears kicked in. Bitcoin’s price is now dropping, currently trading just around the levels that BTC has when we last reported.


Bitcoin’s volume is quite average when compared to the past and this week, while its RSI level is just below the middle of the value range, sitting at around 48.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum more or less mirrored the actions of Bitcoin in the past couple of days. Its upswing also ended after price not being able to push above $235. ETH is now slowly dropping in price, possibly testing the support level of $225.5. However, so far, the price is safe above this support level.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low, while its RSI is just below the middle of the value range, sitting at around 48.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP also moved in the same direction and played out the same patterns as Bitcoin and Ethereum. After its upswing ended, XRP started to move to the downside. However, the bear presence was strong, and XRP is now testing the $0.235 support. It is still unknown whether the price will end up above or below it as the fight for the level is continuing. However, there is a good probability that XRP will continue its path to the downside in the short term.


XRP’s volume is slightly below average, while its RSI level is just below the middle of the value range, sitting at around 46.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 2 – Cryptos regaining pre-weekend prices; Watch out for crypto-stealing Trojans

The crypto market had a pretty slow weekend, with prices at almost the same place as they were on Friday. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,773, which represents a 2.58% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.07% on the day, while XRP gained 1.99%.

Bytecoin took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 22.74%. On the other side, Kyber Network lost 9.66% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased slightly over the weekend. Its value is now 63.65%, which represents a 0.88% difference to the downside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained some value on the daily chart, while it stayed at almost the same spot from when we last reported. It is currently valued at $251.93 billion, which represents an increase of $2.84 billion when its value is compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

ThreatFabric, an Amsterdam-based firm specializing in cybersecurity and threats to the financial industry, managed to identify “Cerberus” Trojan that is able to steal 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) codes that are generated by the Google Authenticator app.

Coinbase, which is one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world, is one of the cryptocurrency platforms listed in Cerberus’ list of targets.

Honorable mention

IOTA 

Iota began its seed migration on Feb 29, while they will open the network around Mar 10. Although many have criticized the decision to close the Coordinator verifier, it may have saved quite a lot of funds from being stolen from users.

The Iota network got shut down on Feb 12, shortly after their team received multiple reports of breached and drained user wallets. This was all possible thanks to the presence of the Coordinator, which is a centralized transaction verifier that is used to operate the network.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin spent the past 24 hours gaining some value after the yesterday’s drop to $8,400. The biggest cryptocurrency by market cap managed to bounce off this price level and reach the price it had on Friday. Bitcoin bulls also attempted an upswing above $8,825, which failed.


Bitcoin’s volume is average when compared to the past week, while its RSI level is rising above the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum’s also gained some value in the past 24 hours. This price gain made up for the price drop, which happened yesterday, and brought the price to $212. Ethereum reached over $225.5 and regained its pre-weekend levels. It also broke the descending trend line that it formed right before the weekend.


Ethereum’s volume is average when compared to the previous week, with its RSI level right in the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP performed almost exactly the same as Ethereum. Its price dropped to lows of $0.224 but recovered to levels above $0.235 in the past 24 hours. The third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap broke the descending trend line as well, confirming that it will stay above it (at least in the short term).


XRP’s volume is slightly below average while its RSI level is in the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

A Comprehensive Guide To Siacoin 

Blockchain’s first case was Bitcoin – which hoped to solve the problem of double-spending and the centralization of finance. Since then, thousands of cryptos have mushroomed, each with a promise to solve a problem that we may have not even known existed before, but whose solution we truly need.

Not many people know they can rent that extra space in their hard drive and get paid, and not many know they can buy storage space from someone on the other side of the world, and very affordably for that matter.

This is what Sia promises to do – provide a decentralized, peer-to-peer marketplace that people can sell and buy cloud storage services. Simply put, if you have idle hard drive space, you can rent it via Sia, and if you need cloud storage space, you can purchase it at a fraction of the cost that you would have spent via a centralized platform.

This article breaks down everything you need to know about Sia, including what the platform is all about, the creative forces behind it, how it works, and how to grab Siacoins.

The Team behind Sia

Sia is a brainchild of David Vorick and Luke Champine of Nebuolus Inc, a Boston-based startup. Both developers are graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic. The two first presented the idea at HackMIT 2013, where it received positive feedback.

The idea was simple – what if all the idle space in hard drives all over the world could be brought together in an affordable, decentralized cloud storage platform?

The Problem with Centralized Cloud Storage

Before we see why Sia is special, let’s see why the existing cloud storage model is fundamentally flawed:

Giving Over Control of Data

When companies hand over their data to third party companies, they also give over control over that data. Not only are privacy protocols beyond their control, but they may also accidentally share data they never meant to in the first place.

Vulnerability to Hacking

Centralized systems usually have a single point of failure and hence susceptible to hacking. A good illustration of this is the 2017 Equifax hack in which the data of more than 145 million Americans was stolen from the credit report service. Another is the Apple iCloud attack in 2014 that saw private images of famous people posted on sites like 4chan, Imgur and Reddit.

Misuse of User Data

Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal illustrates best how third parties can mismanage their users’ data. Facebook’s design allowed the company to get its hands on more than 87 million users’ data, including public profile, city of residence, page likes, and even news feed, timeline and private messages. They then used this information to create psychographic profiles that were used by politicians to sway elections in several countries.

Bring Your Own Device

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is another problem with third-party cloud storage. This is the case when companies tell employees to bring their own devices for work. Companies do this because either they don’t have the resources to buy IT equipment or employee devices’ specs are more powerful than the companies’.  The problem is, BYOD poses certain security risks. For instance, when these devices get lost, it puts clients’ privacy at risk. And in the case of security breaches, it’s difficult to identify the point of failure amongst all the employee devices.

How Sia’s Storage Procedure Works

The Siacoin storage procedure features its peer-to-peer storage model, ‘file contract’ system, and ‘proof of storage.’

File Contracts

File contracts are Sia’s version of smart contracts. Through these contracts, renters (clients) and hosts (providers) can conduct business within the context of a predetermined and well-defined set of rules.  If two parties wish to work together, they draft a file contract. The file contract contains the term of storage agreement and is meant to ensure each party meets its obligations. As the contract is stored in a public ledger, the terms set therein are immutable (unalterable) and hence verifiable by both parties at any time.

  • The client pays a certain amount (‘allowance’) of Siacoins that will finance the storage and bandwidth for the contract period. A contract’s default length is 13 weeks. 
  • The allowance is set up within the wallet, after which the renter’s software instantly identifies 50 optimal hosts for them, based on their scoring.
  • The host takes up a fraction of s Siacoins and sets it as collateral. The higher the collateral, the higher the score during a host’s selection process.
  • The client plus the identified 50 hosts sign the file contract, upon which it is submitted to the blockchain.
  • 3.9% of the total funds of the contract is paid as commission to Siafund holders.

P2P Storage System

The Sia ecosystem comprises of two main components – the renters (clients) and hosts (providers). Renters pay hosts with Siacoins for storage space. They can also negotiate the storage fee with hosts directly.

Hosts play a huge and important role in the Sia ecosystem, and as such, it’s within their purview to:

  • Advertise and promote their storage resources
  • Reject a client’s request if they deem the data in question to be especially sensitive, ethically wrong, or illegal

And on their part, renters have the freedom to:

  • Protect their files by splitting them up and sharing them between two different providers – for an added layer of protection
  • Pay more than the stated fees to providers to receive special treatment such as faster upload speeds

Proof of Storage

Sia has a ‘proof of storage’ concept that’s meant to protect clients from bad actors. Before a host receives payment, they must present to the network proof within the time set in the file contract. If they fail to provide the proof of storage within that specified time, the payment goes to a ‘missed proof address’ until they present proof. Depending on the circumstances, the host can even be fined for negligence. And when they miss too many proofs of storage mandates, the contract may be terminated for good.

However, when a host successfully presents proof of storage, they are awarded payment, which is sent to a valid proof of address. But they have to meet certain ‘spend’ conditions, e.g., time locks and network signatures before they can access the funds. 

Tokenomics of Sia

As of Feb 25, 2020, Siacoin registered the following values. A price of $0. 002452, while placing at #58 in market rank. It had a market cap of $192, 546, 342, and a 24-hour volume of $4, 606, 191. Its total supply was 41, 817, 047, 634 SC, with an all-time high of $0.111708 on Jan 06, 2018, and an all-time low of 0.000011 on Dec 01, 2015.

Siacoin and Siafund

Sia’s platform operates on a dual-token system: Siacoin (SC) and Siafunds (SF). Siacoin functions as the utility token, while Siafunds are to help the development of the project without relying on external donations. Siacoin’s supply is not capped, and all the tokens must eventually be mined. In the beginning, miners got 300,000 coins Siacoins as block rewards, but this reward will decrease up to 30,000 coins.

On the other hand, there are 10,000 SF in existence, all pre-mined. The company behind Sia holds 8835 of these coins, while the rest have been distributed in a crowdfund to help fund the project.

Sia Coin Mining

Siacoin uses the proof of work consensus mechanism. This means they have miners mining Siacoins using specialized mining computers called ASICS (application-specific integrated circuit). The history of Siacoin mining has a bit of controversy.

In 2017, David Vorick, lead developer for Sia, announced that Nebulous would launch a company called Obelisk to manufacture ASICS specifically for mining Sia. Members of the community supported the ASIC project by pre-ordering and contributing millions of dollars.

At the same time, ASIC manufacturing behemoths Bitmain and Innosilicon were already in the process of developing Sia ASICS. Some in the Sia community did not want a future where miners monopolized Sia mining. As such, they demanded a hard fork to prevent this. But the hard fork proposition was also opposed by a significant chunk of the Sia community. Ultimately, the hard fork faction won as Sia’s core developers implemented a hard fork.

The hard fork was conducted on Oct 31. 2018. The goal was to lock out Bitmain miners and only allow Obelisk miners to support the network. Vorick stated that the hard fork was a result of the community’s distrust towards Bitmain, as well as Innosilicon’s dominance over Siacoin, which controlled up to 37.5% of Sia’s mining hash rate. 

A large section of the community was content with the results, but others, especially those who had invested in Innosilicon, dissented. This is the group that stuck with the old Sia chain, which they called SiaClassic.

Why Sia?

Sia offers several advantages over existing cloud storage services.

Privacy: All data that passes through Sia is encrypted, meaning you’re always in control over your data. This is unlike current cloud services where the host has access to any data that you commit to them.

Security: The encryption of data means it’s insured from the pitfalls of the traditional model, such as vulnerability to hacking. Also, the ability to split your data between multiple providers boosts its security.

Affordability: Sia’s storage services are way more pocket-friendly than the traditional model. As an example, storing one terabyte of data via Sia can cost you just $200, while the same amount will cost $2300 on Amazon’s cloud storage service.

Where to Buy and Store Siacoin

You can acquire SC by trading Bitcoin for it in several exchanges, including Binance, Bittrex, Kraken, Cointree, Coinswitch, Poloniex, Huobi, and so on.

You can also get SC via mining from Luxor or SiaMining.

The Sia team has customized two wallets for SC: Sia Daemon and Sia UI. Sia Daemon is offered on Github and can be used per a user’s preferred Command Line Interface (CLI). This wallet supports Mac, Linux, and Windows. Sia UI is for the less than tech-savvy and comes with more user-friendly features.

Final Thoughts

In a space full of unfulfilled promises, Siacoin stands out as a service that you can actually access today. It’s a win for everyone involved: hosts can earn from the extra space in their hard drive, while renters can buy space in a decentralized, highly-secure environment for very little cost. What’s there not to like?

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 28 – CFTC approaching stablecoin projects; Crypto market preparing for a move

The crypto market pretty much stayed at the same place price-wise in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,758, which represents a 0.41% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.77% on the day, while XRP lost 0.11%.

Swipe took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 19.28%. On the other side, DxChain Token lost 9.85% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased in the past 24 hours as some altcoins dropped in price more than it did. Its value is now 64.53%, which represents a 0.45 difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed in pretty much the same place in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $249.09 billion, which represents a decrease of $0.92 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

One of Switzerland’s biggest stock exchanges, SIX Swiss Exchange, announced a partnership with Omniex, a US-based firm that specializes in developing trading platforms for institutional investors, mainly targeting the cryptocurrency market.

The partnership will provide SIX and its clients with a way to include crypto to their business.

Honorable mention

Stablecoins 

American financial regulators had a sitdown with three major stablecoin projects in an effort for them to better understand the industry.

The CFTC Advisory Committee organized and held a public meeting in hopes of learning more about stablecoins, crypto insurance, custody practices as well as cybersecurity. JPM Coin, MarkerDao and Paxo had their representatives attend the event, discussing different aspects of stablecoins.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin spent the past 24 hours trading at pretty much the same level. However, while there was seemingly not much price movement, Bitcoin made one attempt of breaking $8,825, which it did for a while. However, the price quickly pulled back and Bitcoin is almost exactly where it’s at 24 hours ago.


Bitcoin’s volume dropped to average levels after yesterday’s spike. It’s RSI level is currently on the line the oversold territory and regular value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum’s was also pretty stagnant over the past 24 hours. Its price attempted to reach the $240 mark but did not manage to get to it before bears took over again and put an end to the move. Ethereum fell to its previous prices and even attempted to break $225.5 to the downside. While its price is currently above this support level, it is unknown how long that will hold.


Ethereum’s volume is extremely low at the moment, while its RSI level is in the lower part of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP performed the best out of the three biggest cryptos once again. However, this time, it was not by much. Its price tried to move above the $2454 level but failed to do so. As a result, XRP started dropping in price and pulled back to the $0.235 support. It is currently trading just above this support level.


XRP’s volume is slightly elevated, but nothing compared to yesterday’s volume. Its RSI level is in the lower part of the value spectrum.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 27 – “Craig Wright is a disgrace”; $150 million worth of BTC positions liquidated

The crypto market dropped severely as bear pressure continued throughout the day. Bitcoin is currently trading for $793, which represents a 4.45% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 5.76% on the day, while XRP lost 3.07%.

Aion took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 17.23%. On the other side, Swipe lost 16.79% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance remained in the same place in the past 24 hours. Its value is now 64.08%, which represents a 0.03 difference to the downside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization a lot of its value over the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $250.01 billion, which represents a decrease of $11.61 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao recently tweeted about Craig Wright, the Bitcoin SV (BSV) founder. He made it clear that he did not trust the self-proclaimed Bitcoin (BTC) creator, and called him a fraud.

Zhao said that Wright is not only hurting his own reputation, but rather the reputation of the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. “He claims to be the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, which is a lie. He hurts the credibility of Bitcoin and is a disgrace to our entire industry.”

Honorable mention

Bitcoin 

According to the data provided by the analytics website Skew, over $150 million worth of Bitcoin got liquidated on the trading exchange BitMEX on Feb 26. This is the biggest liquidation in 2020.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin spent the past 24 hours spiraling down below $9,000. The largest cryptocurrency dropped in price fast and decisively as the bear pressure was high and many longs liquidated. However, ever since the bounce off of the $8,650 support, Bitcoin seems to have been going up slightly.


Bitcoin’s volume was increased during the price drop, during its normal or slightly lower than that at the time of writing. It’s RSI level is currently in the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum’s price took a dive, just like Bitcoin’s price did. Its price broke many support levels along the way, but the $217.7 one held up quite strong and managed to bounce ETH’s price back up. Ethereum looks like it’s gaining some value now, as it managed to even pass the next resistance level, which is standing at $225.5.


Ethereum’s volume is elevated, while its RSI level has just recently left the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

When Bitcoin drops in price, it is common that Ethereum falls a bit more in price, while XRP does either better than Bitcoin or worse than almost every other coin in the industry. This time, XRP did better than both Bitcoin and Ethereum price-wise as it did not drop as much over the past 24 hours. The downwards moving trend seems to have stopped at the $0.227 and XRP turned slightly bullish from there as its price started to increase. The move was strong enough to even break the $0.235 resistance, which is where XRP is currently at.


XRP’s volume is elevated, while its RSI level is just above the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 26 – Crypto market continuing the downtrend; BTC to retest $9,000?

The crypto market continued its path down and lost some value as a whole. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,170, which represents a 3.78% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 6.59% on the day, while XRP lost 7.89%.

Dragon Coins took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 22.16%. On the other side, Decentraland lost 16.54% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s gained some dominance in the past 24 hours. Its value is now 64.11%, which represents a 0.73 difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization a lot of its value over the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $261.62 billion, which represents a decrease of $13.63 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Coinbase announced that the company became a principal member of Visa on Feb 19. Coinbase, which is one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world, is now able to issue their own debit cards without involving any third parties.

While Coinbase didn’t share what it would do in the future, its new status grants it the possibility to issue debit cards to other cryptocurrency firms. This development certainly marks an important milestone for the cryptocurrency payments sector.

Honorable mention

Chainlink 

Polkadot is preparing for its upcoming network launch after the reveal that they will be integrating with Chainlink. The integration of Chainlink oracles could be crucial for the development of DeFi (Polkadot decentralized finance) as well as other advanced smart contracts.

Chainlink has completed its initial integration on Kusama, which is a canary network for Polkadot (similar to a testnet).

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin continued to move downwards as a prolonged Feb 24 bearish move. The largest cryptocurrency fell under the $9,255 support, which could not hold the bear pressure for long. The RSI finally entered the oversold area where the bear move stopped (for now) and BTC started consolidating.


Bitcoin’s volume is average for this week. It’s RSI level is currently in the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,255                                           1: $9,120

2: $9,580                                           2: $9,070

3: $9,735                                            3: $8,915


Ethereum

Ethereum’s price took an even bigger hit than Bitcoin’s. The second-largest cryptocurrency continued its move down and dropped under the $251.3 support as well as under the $240 one. However, bulls came to the market and pushed the price slightly above the $240 support, which is where ETH’s price is at right now.


Ethereum’s volume average when compared to volumes from this week, while its RSI level is currently just above the oversold territory on the 4-hour chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $251.3                                             1: $240

2: $259.5                                            2: $225.5  

3: $279                                                3: $217.7


Ripple

XRP performed the worst out of the top3 cryptos in the past 24 hours. After its price fell below the $0.266 major support (now resistance), the outlook quickly became bearish. However, the drop did not end there, as XRP managed to break $0.2454 to the downside as well. Its price is now right under this level.


XRP’s volume quite low, with the exception of one candlestick, which brought its price below $0.2454. Its RSI level is currently sitting in oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 25 – Crypto market continuing its move down; First crypto bank in the US?

The crypto market dropped some value as Bitcoin, and the other cryptos failed to reach new highs. This move is a continuation of the small downtrend that started on Feb 24. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,527, which represents a 2.29% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 4.03% on the day, while XRP lost 3.96%.

DxChain Token took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 5.46%. On the other side, Wayki Chain lost 22.69% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly in the past 24 hours. Its value is now 63.38%, which represents a 0.53 difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly over the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $275.25 billion, which represents a decrease of $7.28 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Former Wall Street executive Caitlin Long is taking advantage of Wyoming legislature to establish the first crypto-native bank in the United States. The bank’s name will be Avanti, meaning “forward” in Italian.

Long announced the news in a series of 29 tweets. She believes that a critical piece of US market infrastructure is missing, with her bank being the solution.

Honorable mention

EOS troubles? 

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase, said that the EOS has degraded its performance, with sends and receives possibly suffering from delays.

The exchange later stated that the EOS network is still suffering from degraded performance. However, EOS Nation responded that the EOS main net is “currently extremely reliable.”

The tweet that EOS Nation posted included a chart that was showing a slight blip on Feb 20, with 192 blocks missing due to the micro-forking issue. However, the chart also indicated a stable mainnet performance for the past two weeks.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin continued to move down as a prolonged Feb 24 move to the downside. The largest cryptocurrency is now under the $9,580 support, and it looks like it will drop some more. With RSI still not reaching oversold and plenty of leeway to the next support, Bitcoin certainly has a big chance of pulling back even further.


Bitcoin’s volume is lower when compared to the past week. It’s RSI level is approaching lower values of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,580                                           1: $9,255

2: $9,735                                           2: $9,120

3: $9,870                                            3: $9,070


Ethereum

Ethereum followed in Bitcoin’s footsteps and lost some value as well. In fact, Ethereum managed to drop more in price than Bitcoin over the past 24 hours. While going down in price, Ethereum broke its $259.5 support.


Ethereum’s volume is on the lower side of the spectrum, while its RSI level is slightly below the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $259.5                                             1: $251.3

2: $279                                               2: $240  

3: $289                                                3: $225.5


Ripple

XRP made pretty much the same move as Ethereum. Its price continued to move down, breaking one of the biggest support levels to the downside. XRP broke $0.266 and is slowly moving below it. However, the 4-hour candle did not close below the support (now resistance) yet.


XRP’s volume is extremely low, while its RSI level is approaching oversold.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.266                                            1: $0.2454

2: $0.285                                            2: $0.235

3: $0.31                                               3: $0.227

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 24 – New Jersey regulating crypto?

The crypto market is currently at the same price level as when we last reported. However, that does not mean that the markets were stagnant over the weekend. Many cryptos attempted to reclaim previous highs but failed and started consolidating or losing a bit of value. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,736, which represents a 1.41% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 1.39% on the day, while XRP lost 3.29%.

WaykiChain took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 62.30%. On the other side, Swipe lost 9.58% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance remained at exactly the same place as before the weekend. It is now at 62.85%, which represents a decrease of 0.03% when compared to the value it had on Friday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly over the weekend. It is currently valued at $282.53 billion, which represents an increase of $1.78 billion when its value is compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The New Jersey state legislature is considering a new bill to regulate cryptocurrency. If passed, every cryptocurrency businesses would have to obtain a proper license in order to operate in their state.

This bill is called the Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act, which was proposed by assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez on Feb 20.

Honorable mention

Monero 

Italy’s crypto-powered debit card supplier Bitsa is continuing with its expansion. Its prepaid card expanded by adding support to the privacy-focused altcoin Monero (XMR).

By enabling support for Monero on its Bitsa Card, this company unclocks the ability to use all Monero-based card transactions in both physical stores and online.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a turbulent weekend, though its current price doesn’t show it (if compared to our last report on Friday). The largers cryptocurrency by market cap attempted to break $10,000 over the weekend on two ocasions. however, the $10,015 resistance held up nicely and the bulls could not reach above. The price fell sharply after the second failed attempt, which brought BTC to the support of $9,580. However, the bulls did not allow it to drop further and BTC is now consolidating just above the $9,735 support level.


Bitcoin’s volume is slightly lower when compared to the past week. It’s RSI level is in the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,870                                           1: $9,735

2: $10,015                                         2: $9,580

3: $10,360                                          3: $9,255


Ethereum

Ethereum had a nice upwards-moving trend that started on Feb 20. However, the most recent failed attempt to break $279 made bears take over and bring the price down to lower levels. Ethereum is now consolidating at $268, which is in the middle of the range between $279 to the upside and $259.5 to the downside.


Ethereum’s is slightly lower when compared to the past week, while its RSI level is slightly above the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                               2: $251.3  

3: $302                                                3: $240


Ripple

XRP was, unlike ETH and BTC, extremely stagnant over the weekend. In fact, its price has been moving within the range bound by $0.285 to the upside and $0.266 to the downside since Feb 19. XRP made one attempt to break this range to the upside over the weekend but failed. Its price is now consolidating in the middle of the range.


XRP’s volume is quite low at the moment, while its RSI level is in the lower part of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                             3: $0.235

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 21 – Morgan Stanley dipping its toes into crypto? Analysts still confused by the price drop

The crypto market seems to have taken the day off, as there were no significant price movements. Meanwhile, analysts are still trying to pinpoint the cause of the fifth-largest single-hour drop since 2017. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,677, which represents a 0.77% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.01% on the day, while XRP lost 0.38%.

Algorand took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 15.96%. On the other side, ABBC Coin lost 11.94% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly as altcoins fell just a bit more than BTC did in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.85%, which represents an increase of 0.11% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $280.75 billion, which represents an increase of $1.85 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Morgan Stanley, one of the biggest investment banks, is buying an online trading firm called E*Trade Financial Group. This $13 billion deal will be Morgan Stanley’s largest takeover since the economic breakdown of 2008. Morgan Stanley will bring E*Trade’s five million clients as well as $360 billion in assets.

E*Trade is planning to offer digital currency trading on its platform. The company is preparing to offer BTC and ETH trading.

Honorable mention

Cardano 

The Cardano network is scheduled to perform a network upgrade on Feb 20. This upgrade will introduce Ouroboros BFT to its users. Ouroboros BFT is an improved consensus mechanism, which will allow for staking.

The upgrade will be executed on Thursday at exactly 9:44 PM UTC, or 4:44 PM EST. The network will undergo a hard fork.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin didn’t move much price-wise in the past 24 hours. Bulls attempted to make a run and take over the $9,735 resistance level, but failed to do so. This put Bitcoin in the same spot as yesterday, bound between the $9,735 resistance and $9,580 support levels.


Bitcoin’s volume fell in the past 24 hours, while its RSI level is just below the middle of the value range. All key levels stayed the same as the largest cryptocurrency did not break any supports or resistances.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,735                                           1: $9,580

2: $9,870                                           2: $9,255

3: $10,015                                          3: $9,120


Ethereum

Ethereum didn’t move much either. In fact, most of the market had quite a low volume, so the volatility was low as well. The second-largest cryptocurrency fell below the $259.5 support level at one point but managed to reach back above it. It is currently hovering at around $260.


Ethereum’s volume dropped slightly, just like Bitcoin’s. It’s RSI level is also at nearly the same level, which is just under the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                               2: $251.3  

3: $302                                                3: $240


Ripple

XRP suffered from the same fate as the top3 cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours. However, its price movement was more alike to Ethereum’s than to Bitcoin’s. The third-largest cryptocurrency attempted to break the $0.266 support line but failed to do so. The price has increased since and XRP is now trading at $0.275, which is almost exactly where it was during our last report.


XRP’s volume is quite low at the moment, while its RSI level is in the lower parts of the value range. No key levels have been broken in the past 24 hours.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                             3: $0.235

Categories
Crypto Guides

Top 4 Ways To Earn Cryptocurrency For Free

Introduction

Cryptocurrencies have been one of the most spoken topics in the last decade. That too, in the last three years, the interest in investing or trading cryptos has been the maximum. We have also been discussing a lot about cryptocurrency lately in our detailed guides. We understood the various properties of cryptos and what makes this currency truly amazing. So, if you are a novice trader or investor or just a reader, we believe that you have at least a little interest in owning some of the top cryptos in the market.

One can buy cryptos easily in different ways, such as purchasing them in an exchange or using services like localbitcoin.com, etc. While these are some of the easiest ways to purchase cryptos, all of them involve investing your own money. But what if we say there are various ways in the market where you can earn cryptos for free? Yes. Many people are already grabbing these opportunities and earning a good amount of cryptos without having to invest their hard-earned money.

We have listed four of the most efficient ways to earn crypto for free. Please note that earning these cryptos does involve some amount of work from your side because nothing on this planet is truly free. However, you are not required to put any of your funds or take a full-time job for a crypto company. So let’s see the different possible ways to earn free cryptos.

💸 Through Airdrops

This is by far the most popular way of earning free cryptos. Airdrops work just like giveaways. Any crypto startup would prefer giving their coins for free in order to spread their name. It’s a marketing strategy where the participants of the airdrop get to avail free cryptos. There is a minimum amount of work involved in this process, like follow the company’s Twitter account, joining their telegram page, etc.

Anyone with an active ERC-20 compatible Ethereum Wallet can participate in these airdrops. Make sure to do your research to find the airdrops offered by some of the most potential crypto companies; because the free cryptos that you have earned in airdrops must increase in value later to make a profit out of them.

As we can see below, the last Stellar’s airdrop involved an offering of close to 375 million Stellar coins.

Picture Taken From – Blockchain.com

💸 Coinbase Earn Programme

Users of one of the very well-known crypto exchange – Coinbase, can earn free cryptocurrencies by completing some of the interesting courses provided by them. These courses include lessons about the basics of how certain cryptocurrencies work. The point here is that this exchange offers free coins of crypto to their users by educating them and creating exposure to that crypto.

Picture Taken From – Coinbase

We can currently earn cryptos worth $186 (as of Feb 2020) by just signing up with Coinbase and completing the courses offered by them. Dai, EOS, Stellar, and Zcash are some of the familiar cryptos that can be earned through this program. You can follow this link to start with the courses.

💸 Participating In the Bounty Programs

Free cryptocurrencies can be earned through participating in various bounty programs offered by the crypto/blockchain companies. There are different types of bounties, such as Bug bounties, Content bounties, Social bounties, and Signature bounties. In bug bounties, cryptos are offered to the people who help the companies in finding bugs in their code. The rest of the bounties involve creating content and exposure for both crypto start-ups and well-established companies in different forums. So these programs are not just for tech-savvy individuals but also for promotors.

Recently, Coinbase has offered about $30,000 worth of cryptos to an ethical hacker who founds potential bugs in their system.

Picture Taken From – Hackerone

💸 Through Affiliate Marketing

Many of the cryptocurrency companies have their own affiliate marketing programs for individuals or companies who are willing to promote and generate sales for them. For instance, companies like Trezor, Ledger, Binance, and LocalBitcoins offer 10% – 40% of commissions to their referrals. Details about each of these affiliate marketing programs can be found in their corresponding websites.

Bottom line

There are many other ways through which free cryptocurrency can be earned, but these seemed to the most effective ones. Not every company that offer free cryptos have the best interest for their customers. So please do thorough research about the authenticity of any program you are willing to take part in. All the best.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 20 – Sudden selloff puts crypto market in the red; Bitcoin under $10,000 yet again

The crypto market fell significantly in the past 24 hours as Bitcoin dropped below $10,000 yet again. Bitcoin is currently trading for $0,590, which represents a 4.63% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 5.84% on the day, while XRP lost 6.09%.

Kyber Network took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 22.18%. On the other side, WAX lost 21.81% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly as altcoins fell just a bit more than BTC did in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.74%, which represents an increase of 0.19% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased significantly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $278.90 billion, which represents a decrease of $14.94 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

South Korean technology giant Samsung unveiled its latest smartphone series recently. The Galaxy S20 was revealed at the Unpacked 2020 event that took place in San Francisco.

While most people looked at the new camera, the official marketing material assured the market that the phone would also improve the integrated blockchain security features that they introduced a year ago with the Galaxy S10.

Honorable mention

Bitcoin Gold 

Bitcoin Gold’s price is being heavily manipulated by a whale controlling almost half of the circulating supply. Independent trader and analyst, who wants to remain anonymous, conducted this research, and came to the conclusion that one whale holds this much BTG.

He published the findings in a blog post, explaining why he believes that an individual or a single group of people accumulated a huge Bitcoin Gold position.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin was moving slightly up or sideways until one big red candle, which brought its price to the $9,300 levels. The largest cryptocurrency experienced a massive sell-off (possibly from a single source) as the price fell from $10,150 to $9,300 during only one 5-minute candle. Bitcoin is now stable and trading above the $9,580 support level.


Bitcoin’s volume in the past 24 hours was average, with the exception of one big candle which occurred during the sudden price drop.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,735                                           1: $9,580

2: $9,870                                           2: $9,255

3: $10,015                                          3: $9,120


Ethereum

Ethereum experienced the same fate as Bitcoin. Its price was solid and stable while moving to the upside or sideways until one big red candle brought ETH’s price to $250. Ethereum recovered and managed to stay above the $259.5 support line.


Ethereum’s volume was average, with the exception of the big red candle. Its RSI level is hovering around the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                               2: $251.3  

3: $302                                                3: $240


Ripple

XRP was no different from the other two of the top3 cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours. The third-largest cryptocurrency experienced a quick and sudden selloff, which brought its price from $0.31 all the way down to $0.27. The price has not moved much from the bottom, so it is currently hovering just around $0.275.


XRP’s volume declined slightly, while the red candle during the selloff was above the daily average candle, but below average big “spike” candle XRP had recently. It’s RSI level is approaching oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                             3: $0.235

Categories
Crypto Guides

What Problems Do Stable (cryptocurrency) Coins Solve?

Introduction

We have learnt a lot about cryptocurrencies and their properties in our previous guides. Even though this financial instrument has gone through a lot of up & down in the last three years of the past decade, many financial experts believe that this asset class can still be considered a potential investment. Some experienced crypto traders believe that Bitcoin, at its peak (~$18,000 in Dec 2017), is still undervalued. This is because of the strong fundaments Bitcoin possesses. Not just Bitcoin, the entire crypto market has enormous investment potential in this decade.

The Need for Stable Coins

But there is one thing that concerns both short-term and long-term crypto investors – which is undoubtfully the volatility. Most of the cryptos currently present in the market possess huge volatility. This is one crucial reason why most of the investors are not confident enough to invest in this space. This volatility is also the reason why cryptos cannot be used as a standard medium of exchange. Hence the need for a Stable Currency or Stable Coin has risen.

A Stable Coin is a currency that has all the critical properties of typical crypto while achieving price stability. This stability in price is achieved by pegging their value to the major fiat currencies like USD & Euro in a 1:1 ratio. One of the very first and famous stable coins is Tether, and its value is pegged to USD. So the value of one Tether (₮) is always equal to one US Dollar ($). The main goal of any stable coin is to achieve maximum decentralization while maintaining price stability. But in the case of Tether, even though it has most of the properties of crypto, it is highly scrutinized ever since it is pegged with the USD.

Significance of Stable Currency

Stable Currency, as the name suggests, provides both short-term & long-term stability for the traders and investors. Short-term stability allows users to make day to day transactions just like fiat currencies. While the long-term stability provides confidence for the investors to include these stable coins in their portfolio. For instance, in the case of extreme bear markets, crypto traders and investors must need some stable storage where they can protect their portfolio from significant losses. The only other way is to convert all these cryptos to desired fiat currencies and convert back to crypto again once the downtrend is over. This sounds redundant. Isn’t it?

But with the help of stable coins in their portfolio, investors can just trade the cryptos that are bleeding for stable coins and hold them without having to worry about the volatility. Apart from the investment point of view, stable coins can also help short-term crypto traders to confidently keep their profits that they have gained within the exchange wallets (in the form of stable coins). But in the absence of stable coins, they will have to continuously worry about them losing their profit value due to the high volatility.

If you are interested in adding stable coins to your portfolio, we have mentioned some of the most promising ones below.

TetherMakerDAOTrue USDCarbon

Many stable currency projects like these have come to existence after Tether, and some of them showed promising results. However, a completely decentralized stable coin that can be used for day-to-day transactions securely is yet to come.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 19 – IRS aiming at Crypto regulation; BTC over $10,000 once again

The crypto market rallied as Bitcoin moved above the $10,000 mark yet again. Bitcoin is currently trading for $10,058, which represents a 2.54% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.97% on the day, while XRP gained 0.04%.

ABBC Coin took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 29.24%. On the other side, MonaCoin lost 7.83% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly as altcoins rose while BTC stood still in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.55%, which represents an increase of 0.44% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $293.84 billion, which represents an increase of $6.87 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

With the 2019 US tax season just around the block, the IRS wants to leave nothing off the table. The IRS has invited crypto companies and advocates to show up for a March 3 summit in Washington DC. One of the aims of the summit is to determine how to “balance taxpayer service with regulatory enforcement.”

Topics that will be discussed at the summit include regulatory guidance as well as compliance, preparing tax returns, crypto exchange issues, and technology updates.

Honorable mention

Ripple (XRP) 

A recent Medium post from Whale Alert (blockchain monitor) showed Jed McCaleb, CTO of Stellar, sold more than 1 billion XRP between 2014 and 2019. Whale Alert, however, noted that compared with the trade volume XRP has on a daily basis, the amount McCaleb sold seems insignificant.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s went above $10,000 yet again. The bull presence increased and the price spiked from the $9,580 support level all the way to $10,290, breezing through the $9,735, $9,870 and $10,015 resistance levels. As the bulls got tired and overextended, bears took over and the price fell a bit. Bitcoin is now consolidating at the $10,100 level.


Bitcoin’s volume quite average when compared to the past week, while its RSI is now near the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,360                                         1: $10,015

2: $10,505                                         2: $9,870

3: $10,855                                          3: $9,735


Ethereum

Ethereum also had a green day, with gains similar to Bitcoin’s. The second-largest cryptocurrency increased in price from $244 all the way up to $286. The move broke the $251.3, $259.5, and $279 resistances with ease. The move, however, ended, and Ethereum’s price fell slightly, dropping under the $279 support (now resistance) level.


Ethereum’s volume is quite average, while its RSI level is just above the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $302                                              2: $251.3  

                                                           3: $240


Ripple

XRP performed worse than Bitcoin and Ethereum on the day. The third-largest cryptocurrency gained a bit of value, but actually stayed at the same level it was at 24 hours ago. It is currently consolidating and preparing for the next move, bound by the $0.31 resistance as well as $0.285 support level.


XRP’s volume is on the same levels it was at during the past week (if we disregard the few large candlesticks during the breakouts), while its RSI just under the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.31                                              1: $0.285

2: $0.324                                            2: $0.266

3: $0.332                                             3: $0.2454

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 18 – Altcoins on the rise yet again; India voting with Blockchain

The crypto market suffered decent losses over the weekend as BTC failed to break the $10,500 mark. The aftermath was BTC falling under $10,000 and altcoins dropping massively in price. However, the past 24 hours passed with altcoins rising (some more and some less) while BTC was stagnating. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,791, which represents a 0.13% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 7.04% on the day, while XRP gained 3.06%.

Golem took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 20.23%. On the other side, WAX lost 7.51% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance dropped slightly as altcoins rose while BTC stood still in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.11%, which represents a decrease of 1.47% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $286.97 billion, which represents an increase of $6.4 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

India’s citizens will be able to vote even while outside their city of registration, all thanks to a blockchain-based system of voting.

India’s Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced that the country, in hopes of increasing voter turnout, will implement a blockchain-based voting solution. Arora added that, in the 2019 elections, over 300 million eligible voters did not manage to cast their vote because they were either not politically engaged or could not make it to their city of registration on that day.

Honorable mention

IOTA updating their Trinity wallet 

As we recently reported, IOTA’s Trinity wallet had a security breach where many users reported their funds as missing. The IOTA Foundation has recently released a safe desktop version of the Trinity wallet, which will hopefully not suffer from the same security issues.

According to a Feb 17 update post, IOTA will update their Trinity application to securely check balances and transactions by using Trinity 1.4.1. Trinity 1.4.1. is a new version of the wallet that is designed to remove the detected vulnerability from the wallets.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price failed to go above $10,500 due to the lack of bull pressure during the weekend, which was a great time for bears to take over. The largest cryptocurrency spent the weekend falling in price, and even touched the $$9,460 level on Feb 17. However, that price point was quickly rejected and its price rose above the $9,580 support line. The price went further up above the $9,735, which is where it is at right now.


Bitcoin’s volume is on a lower level than where it was over the past week. Its RSI is now on the lower side of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,870                                           1: $9,735

2: $10,015                                         2: $9,580

3: $10,360                                          3: $9,375


Ethereum

Ethereum had a worse than Bitcoin, as most of the altcoins dropped significantly in price. Its price fell from its highs of $287 all the way down to $237. However, the price got rejected, and bulls took over yet again. The story has changed in the past 24 hours, as Ethereum exploded to the upside and gained over 7%. Its price is now hovering around the $265 mark.


Ethereum’s volume is quite average, while its RSI level is around the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $302                                              2: $251.3  

3: $240


Ripple

XRP performed better than the stagnating Bitcoin on the day but worse than Ethereum, which increased its price by over 7%. The third-largest cryptocurrency tested the $0.266 support level a few times over the past couple of days. The support held up nicely, and the price now pushed past the $0.285 resistance as the bulls established their presence. XRP is now stable and consolidating at the $0.29 level.


XRP’s volume is on the same levels it was at during the past week (if we disregard the few enormous candlesticks during the breakouts), while its RSI is slowly rising to the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.31                                              1: $0.285

2: $0.324                                            2: $0.266

3: $0.332                                             3: $0.2454

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 17 – Altcoins take a dive as Bitcoin drops under $10,000; Craig Wright suing BTC and BCH?

The crypto market suffered some losses over the weekend as BTC could not break the $10,500 mark. However, BTC held up nicely compared to altcoins, which took a dive. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,796, which represents a 1.53% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 6.65% on the day, while XRP lost 9.6%.

MaidSafeCoin took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 9.29%. On the other side, HyperCash lost 20.93% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly over the weekend as altcoins dropped more than the largest crypto by market cap. It is now at 63.58%, which represents an increase of 1.5% when compared to the value it had on Friday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization lost quite a bit of value over the weekend. It is currently valued at $280.57 billion, which represents a decrease of $19.69 billion when compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Craig Wright, the person claiming to be the creator of Bitcoin better known as Satoshi Nakamoto, sent out a warning to BTC and BCH to stop using the Bitcoin database as they will face lawsuits if they continue to use it. He claims that both these networks might be violating the laws under the terms of Bitcoin’s original EULA as well as MIT License.

Wright, which is also the person behind Bitcoin SV, added that he will take control of his creation in his personal blog.

Honorable mention

NEO 

Major and well-known cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it will launch a new financial product: futures that track the crypto-asset NEO.

They made an announcement on Feb 16, which stated that the NEO/USDT futures will be available starting Feb 17. Traders will be able to select their leverage between 1x-50x. The exchange will pose fees on these trades, namely: 2% base initial margin rate, 0.5% liquidation fee and 1% base maintenance margin rate.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price failed to go above $10,500 due to the lack of bull pressure, which was a great time for bears to take over. The largest cryptocurrency spent the weekend falling price-wise, and even touched the $$9,580 support line. However, that price point was quickly rejected and its price is now consolidating above the $9,735 support line.


Bitcoin’s volume is a tad bit lower than over the past week. Its RSI is now on the lower side of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,870                                           1: $9,735

2: $10,015                                         2: $9,580

3: $10,360                                          3: $9,375


Ethereum

Ethereum had a bad weekend as well, even worse than Bitcoin. Its price fell down from its highs of $287 all the way down to $237. However, the price got rejected, and bulls pushed it up to the $251.3 level. After some time spent deciding whether it will consolidate above or below this level, Ethereum fell below it. Its price is now right under the $251.3 resistance level.


Ethereum’s volume is on the level it was at during the bullish trend, while its RSI is currently hovering around the value of 40.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $251.3                                             1: $240

2: $259.5                                            2: $225.4 

3: $279                                              3: $217.7


Ripple

XRP performed the worst out of the top3 cryptocurrencies over the weekend. Even in the past 24 hours, its price dropped by almost 10%. The $0.345 price got rejected as the bears took over the market, and XRP moved down to $0.27. However, the bulls did not agree with this bottom and took the price back up a bit. XRP is now consolidating around the $0.28 line. It is bound by the $0.285 resistance and the $0.266 support.


XRP’s volume is on the same levels it was at during the past week, while its RSI is around the 35 level.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                             3: $0.235

 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Crypto Guides

Is Crypto Money Laundering A Real Problem?

What is Money Laundering?

Money Laundering is the legitimization of money earned through illegal means. Generally, it is the separation of money obtained through illegal activities and mixed with the money made from legal sources like small businesses that accepts cash as the primary mode of payment. The legitimized money is again funneled to the criminal enterprises to fund illegal activities.

Different Ways of Money laundering

Money laundering is prevailing for many decades in our financial history. Governments have been continuously upgrading the technology to avoid the money laundering cases, especially to reduce the funding of illegal activities. Cash still occupies the first place when it comes to laundering the money. Because it is difficult to trace the money that is transacted in cash. Hence selling/buying drugs, trafficking, and theft are mostly dealt with cash.

Gold is another popular form of laundering money. Other than these, we have large banks that don’t question with the source of the wealth when the cash is deposited in their vaults, casinos, tax havens, etc. But ever since the revolution of Cryptocurrency has begun, this asset is paving new ways for money laundering. Let’s discuss more about this below.

Is Money Laundering Using Cryptos A Real Problem? 

There are significant concerns across most of the governments with regard to money laundering using cryptocurrencies. But most of them are not true when it comes to reality. It is estimated that since 2009 approximately $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoins are laundered, whereas ~ $100-$300 billion dollars are being laundered every year in different ways.

Hence, if we compare the stats, the amount of money laundered using Cryptocurrency is very sparse. Moreover, it is not advisable to launder money using Cryptocurrency as all the crypto networks are permissionless and transparent for literally anyone to check. It is easy to put together the Bitcoin transactions as the transactions are only pseudo-anonymous.

How are cryptocurrencies used to launder money?

These are some of the ways how Cryptocurrency is used for money laundering:

₿ While most of the cryptocurrencies are regulated there are some exchanges that aren’t. This means they don’t perform KYC procedures and none of the details of their customers is collected while they perform crypto transactions. This makes it challenging to match the transactions made by their customers to their id’s. When several such transactions are made using unregulated crypto exchanges, a degree of privacy is added which may eventually result in using that money for illegal activities.

Exchanging the Cryptocurrency with different altcoins, thus making it difficult to know the origins of the actual cryptos. This can also quickly be done by participating in an ICO.

Using Bitcoin ATM’s, we can deposit fiat cash and take Cryptocurrency at any place where a crypto ATM is available.

As the cryptocurrency market is too volatile, it is easy to show that the illicit income is a result of some profitable venture or some other currency appreciation.

With ever-increasing online payments using Cryptocurrency, we can easily create an online company which accepts Bitcoin and convert black money into clean Bitcoin.

How are the governments controlling the crypto money laundering?

Governments are taking various measures by developing multiple tools to link the transactions to the ids of the users using KYC details. Anti-laundering laws are amended to include cryptocurrencies. The US, Canadian, and European governments have made changes to the rules already. Some governments are, in turn, taking measures by legalizing cryptos so that the transactions would be made through regulated exchanges instead of fraudulent ones.

Finally, it can be said that, since the usage of digital cash is going to be inevitable, all measures are being taken to curb the negativities that we see in today’s world with fiat cash. If you have any questions, shoot them in the comments below. Cheers!

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 14 – Cryptos consolidating as BTC fails to break $10,500

The crypto market is slowing down to catch a breath from all the explosive growth it experienced lately. Most of the cryptos are stagnating or moving slightly down. Bitcoin is currently trading for $10,186, which represents a 2.59% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 3.1% on the day, while XRP lost 2.46%.

THETA took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 21.06%. On the other side, Hedera Hashgraph lost 30.44% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.08%, which represents an increase of 0.26% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization lost quite a bit of value in the past 24 hours but managed to stay above the $300 billion mark. It is currently valued at $300.26 billion, which represents a decrease of $7.2 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Coinbase Commerce, a platform that specializes in supporting cryptocurrency payments for internet retailers, added MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin to the list of available supported payment methods this week.

This integration will allow merchants all around the world to accept the DAI stablecoin as payment for goods and services. Coinbase Commerce will not be taking any extra fees.

Honorable mention

IOTA 

The IOTA Foundation warned its user base regarding the IOTA coin wallet Trinity. The reason for the warning is that the Trinity wallet is associated with some stolen funds.

After many IOTA holders reported their coins to be missing, the IOTA Foundation made an announcement stating that they will suspend its network node, called the Coordinator. The suspension will last until the entity explores the situation.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin fell down slightly as its price failed to go above $10,500. The move down was quite sharp and brought Bitcoin all the way down to $10,060. However, the price has recovered and is now consolidating at the $10,180 mark.


Bitcoin’s volume is at almost the same level since the start of the bullish trend. Its RSI dropped from the overbought territory line and is now at around the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,360                                         1: $10,015

2: $10,505                                         2: $9,870

3: $10,855                                          3: $9,735


Ethereum

Ethereum had a great week, as its price kept increasing day by day. The past 24 hours were a bit slower for Ethereum, though. Its price could not gain enough momentum to push for the $279 resistance level, so it started to consolidate at the $263 level. It is currently bound by the closest resistance point at $279 and the closest support sitting at $259.5.


Ethereum’s volume dropped quite a bit after it started consolidating. Its RSI dropped below the overbought territory recently and looks like it’s on its way down.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                              2: $251.3 

3: $302                                              3: $240


Ripple

XRP has spent the last 24 hours testing its support levels. The third-largest cryptocurrency tried and failed to get above $0.324 level, which caused bears to take over and bring the price down a bit. XRP’s price fell to the $0.31 support level, which held up quite nicely. The cryptocurrency is now consolidating in the middle of the range, bound by $0.31 to the downside and $0.324 to the upside.


XRP’s volume fell to the average levels, while its RSI level is just below the overbought territory line.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.324                                            1: $0.31

2: $0.3328                                          2: $0.285

                                                            3: $0.266

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 13 – Altcoin season finally here? BTC right under $10,500

The crypto market is reaching new highs but is slowing down from the explosive growth. Some cryptos, however, are still charging straight ahead to the new highs. Bitcoin is currently trading for $10,461, which represents a 1.03% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained a staggering 10% on the day, while XRP skyrocketed as well, with its 12.91%.

Hedera Hashgraph took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer yet again, with gains of 47.35%. On the other side, Synthetix Network lost 7.5% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance fell by almost a full one percent in the past 24 hours as most of the market moved up more than Bitcoin itself. It is now at 61.82%, which represents a decrease of 0.97% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained a great amount of value on the day and managed to pass the $300 billion mark. It is currently valued at $307.46 billion, which represents an increase of $8.01 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The cryptocurrency market passed the mark of $300 billion market capitalization as of today. Over the past month, this figure slowly and steadily increased from $218.4 billion to $303.1 billion. This represents a total market cap gain of 65.92% from the start of 2020.

Ever since the beginning of the year, the market cap was slowly rising, while Bitcoin’s dominance was slowly falling. Bitcoin’s dominance rate dropped from 68% to 62% as many altcoins managed to score double and even triple-digit percentage gains.

Honorable mention

Tezos 

Tezos (XTZ) is outperforming almost every single cryptocurrency in 2020 and is testing all-time highs. This wave of enthusiasm began in January and continues to this day.

The data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets shows us that Tezos’ XTZ token managed to hit $3.24 on Feb. 12. This represents a 25% increase in the past twenty-four hours alone. Tezos also managed to gain over 54% in the past week alone, while it gained 150% in the year-to-date.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin managed to score yet another day of steady gains. Its price recently rose above $10,000 and stayed above it for a while. Now, Bitcoin is establishing its position above the line and even pushed up slightly to the highs of $10,500. Its price is currently right below this line. This push managed to get Bitcoin above the $10,360 and $10,460 resistances without any problem.


Bitcoin’s volume is at almost the same level ever since the start of the bullish trend. Its RSI is on the edge of the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,855                                         1: $10,460

2: $11,090                                         2: $10,360

                                                           3: $10,010


Ethereum

Ethereum is having a great day, as its price keeps going up. The second-largest cryptocurrency managed to score a two-digit gain in the past 24 hours. Its price moved from $217.5 on Feb 11 to $273 where it is now. The price is now approaching the resistance of $279, which might have trouble passing.


Ethereum’s volume extremely high at the moment, while its RSI level is deep into the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                              2: $251.3 

3: $302                                              3: $240


Ripple

XRP finally joined other top cryptocurrencies in the bull season yesterday. However, it is quickly catching up what it lost over the past few days it was stagnating. XRP managed to score double-digit gains on the day, just like Ethereum. Its price moved up sharply but got stopped at the $0.324 resistance, where the bears rallied. It has tried to break this resistance a couple of times since but has not yet succeeded.


XRP’s volume increased over the past couple of hours, while its RSI level is deep in the overbought area.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.324                                            1: $0.31

2: $0.3328                                          2: $0.285

                                                            3: $0.266

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 12 – Bitcoin pushing to $11,000? Coronavirus affecting Crypto Mining

Cryptocurrency bulls returned to make another push towards new yearly highs. Bitcoin went back above $10,000. It was not the only crypto to gain, as almost every single cryptocurrency in the top100 is green on the day. Bitcoin is currently trading for $10,344, which represents a 5.74% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained an astonishing 12.03% on the day, while XRP gained 7.28%.

Hedera Hashgraph took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 151.1%. On the other side, Kick Token lost 35.99% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser. Kick Token is holding this position for the second day in a row.

Bitcoin’s dominance fell in the past 24 hours as most of the market moved up more than Bitcoin itself. It is now at 62.79%, which represents a decrease of 0.74% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained a great amount of value on the day. It is currently valued at $299.45 billion, which represents an increase of $19.03 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Mainstream financial entities are starting to look at Bitcoin as a non-correlated asset that could be used as a hedge. Morgan Creek Digital Co-founder Anthony Pompliano promoted this concept/viewpoint on Bitcoin for over a year.

If Bitcoin is unlikely to correlate to economic factors, or other traditional equities and fixed income securities, then it (Bitcoin) could serve as a tool for portfolio diversification,” said Bluford Putnam, the chief economist at the CME.

Honorable mention

Bitcoin (And how Coronavirus affects mining) 

The slowdown in the growth of mining difficulty shows that miners had to pause upgrading their equipment as the epidemic prompted Chinese authorities to put certain areas into quarantine. This caused mining equipment makers to delay production as well as shipments.

Mining difficulty is adjusted on Feb. 11 to a level of 0.52% higher than 14 days earlier. While still an increase, this is a significant drop from the growth rates of 4.67% and 7.08%, which were recorded during the 2 adjustments prior to the ones listed.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The first bull wave that took Bitcoin over $10,000 failed after the bulls couldn’t push the price above $10,200. After some time spent in a downwards trend, Bitcoin spiked up yet again. This time, the price broke $10,200 and went all the way to the $10,360 resistance. Bitcoin bulls and bears are currently fighting to push the largest crypto above this resistance level or to keep it under.


Bitcoin’s volume is currently quite high, while its RSI level is dangerously close to the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,360                                         1: $10,010

2: $10,460                                         2: $9,872

3: $10,855                                         3: $9,732


Ethereum

After a short term downside correction, Ethereum (just like Bitcoin) found support near the $217.5 area. Bulls came to the market aggressively and pushed the price above the $240 resistance. It is currently stabilizing between the $240 support and the $251 resistance level.


Ethereum’s volume is on nearly the same level it was at over the whole uptrend that started on Feb 4. Its RSI on the 4-hour time frame has entered the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $251.3                                             1: $240

2: $259.5                                            2: $225.5 

3: $279                                               3: $217.5


Ripple

XRP finally joined other top cryptocurrencies and went into the bull mode, at least for a short while. Its price, after many failed attempts, broke the $0.285 resistance and is now consolidating right above it. The upwards price move was not steep, but rather gradual and strong. It was not accompanied by a big volume increase.


XRP’s volume is average at best, while its RSI level is approaching the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.31                                              1: $0.285

2: $0.324                                            2: $0.266

3: $0.3328                                          3: $0.2454

 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Bitcoin’s Path to $1 Million: A Mere Speculation or Inevitable Reality? 

nEver since Bitcoin hit an all-time high bull run in 2017, there has been speculation about its potential to hit the $1 million mark. 

John McAfee, with all his controversial personality and expertise in the tech world, has been at the front-seat, fuelling the $ 1 million BTC price speculation. In fact, he’s part of the reason why bitcoin reached $20,000 in December 2017, thanks to his bold prediction on Twitter in November of the same year.

Well, he didn’t exactly predict that it would be worth the $20,000 but instead claimed that the coin would be worth as much as $500,000 by the end of 2020. Although he didn’t get into the specifics of how he had arrived at that number, the prediction spiked a mass adoption of BTC in 2017, resulting in the bull run. 

A few months later, McAfee doubled up the prediction to a $1 million price target. Recently, other notable industry players such as PayPal director & CEO, Wences Caseres, threw in their weight on the prediction, saying it’s possible for BTC to hit $1 million in the next to seven to ten years. 

The Critics

Of course, there are a good number of respectable individuals opposed to the idea that bitcoin is a sound investment, leave alone the price prediction. Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha, describes Bitcoin as a store of fear, not a store of value. Others who doubt bitcoins potential include JP Morgan and Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon and Paul Krugman, an esteemed economist and columnist for The New York Times. 

Despite the harsh skepticism facing Bitcoin’s future, it doesn’t mean it is entirely impossible for the cryptocurrency to grow in value, and even surpass the $1 million mark. 

But before that, there are several hurdles the digital currency must overcome to place itself on a path to the highly anticipated price target. 

Scaling Problem

For Bitcoin to experience any massive growth, its market capitalization has to grow first. Case in point, since the first real Bitcoin transaction back in 2010, the infamous Pizza purchase, the crypto’s market cap rose by a whopping 2,300%. This happened after a few weeks of increased adoption/transactions by the general public, who were eager to get a piece of this new digital currency. The increased market cap resulted in an increased BTC price from just $0.0025 to $0.06. 

Unfortunately, Bitcoin’s block size is insufficient to support the high number of transactions required to boost its market cap and eventually achieve the $1 million target. The actual block size is 1 MB, which often causes sluggish transactions even with the current of $178 billion. Keep in mind that the $1 million BTC argument dictates that the market cap must amount to approximately $16 trillion, an equivalent of 13% of global GDP! 

There have been attempts to solve this problem, but its success hasn’t materialized. Two Bitcoin developers created a two-layer solution dubbed the Lightning Network (LN). This off-chain payment tool makes the transfer of BTC funds faster, except that the payment information doesn’t touch the main blockchain unless the transaction link is closed. 

Besides, LN doesn’t completely solve the high bitcoin transaction fee problem, which could jeopardize the network’s adoption among the BTC community. 

Regulation from External Authorities

In line with the idea that there has to be a massive adoption of BTC to propel it to high price points, the current regulatory environment hasn’t been doing any good to the Bitcoin community. As such, more people are finding it hard to fully invest in Bitcoin, considering the negative reviews from government institutions. 

To put into perspective, consider the BitLicense law imposed by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS). According to the law, any start-up centered around bitcoin will have to pay an exorbitant fee of about $5,000 to acquire a business permit/license. The worst bit is that it’s not guaranteed that the NYDFS will approve their license request. 

On top of that, there are states with varying bitcoin taxation laws, some of which are unfair. In such states, BTC is treated as an asset, thus subject to capital gain tax. The idea behind this is due to the unpredictable volatility of BTC, which. in an ideal case, would result in a bitcoin holder’s net worth increasing if the coins price were to increase in the first place. Consequently, this discourages business owners who would like to accept Bitcoin payments for their products or services. 

While the government’s interference is aimed at creating a sound atmosphere in the cryptocurrency space, it doesn’t come out well for people who loved Bitcoin’s decentralized nature. That said, there needs to be a bilateral trust between the Bitcoin community and the government, for the digital currency to reach $1 million in value. 

Banking Support

Probably, the major hurdle standing on the way to 1$ million BTC value is the lack of dependable liquidity. If the currency is to be accepted by the masses, they need a reliable option to change their fiat currency to BTC and vice versa. 

Unfortunately, in many countries, the central bank bars the subsidiary banks from offering liquidity options to BTC users. Some credit card companies even probit their users from purchasing cryptocurrencies. There have also been numerous cases of frozen accounts for those trading cryptocurrencies. 

Such strict laws not only discourage new investors but also causes panic selling among the existing Bitcoin holders, resulting in a bearish run in the crypto market. 

The Rationale Behind $ 1 Million BTC Price Prediction

Regardless of the seemingly impossible hurdles to overcome, Bitcoin still stands a chance to come close if not reach the ambitious price target. 

Let’s objectively look at some underlying factors that make the price target more of a reality than a speculation

Technological Growth

In the theoretical stages of technological growth and adoption, every new tech solution or tool starts out with an innovator as the pioneer and first user. Gradually, the tool/solution grows and becomes adopted by the first group of people known as early adopters. The early adopters aren’t big in numbers, but the subsequent mid and late adopters are often in large numbers, thus giving the tech solution in the mainstream attention and usage. 

Bitcoin by itself is a technological solution which in this case, the majority of the coins are held by the early adopters. These are a small group of people who invested in Bitcoin when it was worth pennies. As such, it’s quite safe to say that Bitcoin hasn’t yet achieved mainstream usage and adoption as spelled out in the developmental stages of technology solutions. 

More so, big corporations and the government have realized the importance of blockchain, the underlying cryptocurrency technology, as evident from the launch of Libra ( a digital currency expected to be launched by Facebook, soon). 

The cryptocurrency industry as a whole will, therefore, gain public acceptance placing BTC on its path to $1 million. 

Cushion Against Financial Crisis

Financial recession often results in loss of wealth among the citizens of the affected country. Bitcoin and another cryptocurrency, therefore, stands as a cushion against unpredicted financial crisis since it lacks a central authority controlling it. 

This idea is even more practical in countries such as Zimbabwe and the Philippines, where the local currency has lost much of its value. Bitcoin and other cryptos are an alternative store of value medium, to citizens in such countries. 

The higher the number of people safeguarding their wealth in cryptos, the more likely bitcoin will grow market cap and finally achieve a $1 million valuation. 

Conclusion

Judging from the past bull run, it’s easy to see why Bitcoin’s future cannot be accurately predicted. There are factors beyond the rational market principles that have and could influence Bitcoin prices, making the coin’s price growth subject to speculations. 

Nonetheless, for a stable growth towards high price points, Bitcoins must overcome the setbacks stated above. Only this way, and in combination with factors favoring its growth, will Bitcoin hit and surpass the $1 million price target with little volatility. 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 11 – Bear Cycle or just a Bump before the Major Bull Run?

Bitcoin turned away from its $10,200 resistance as bears took over the playing field and the crypto market as a whole. As a result, most of the cryptocurrencies ended up in the red over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,757, which represents a 3.22% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 2.6% on the day, while XRP lost 3.72%.

OKB took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 47.04%. On the other side, Kick Token lost 19.27% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance fell down slightly in the past 24 hours. It is now at 63.53%, which represents a decrease of 0.22% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization lost some value as the market turned red. It is currently valued at $280.42 billion, which represents a decrease of $4.62 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Italy might be showing a slight degree of hostility towards the crypto industry, as it’s securities regulator ordered a shutdown of six foreign exchange websites as well as two crypto investing and derivative trading sites.

The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB), which is operating as a securities regulator in Italy, has accused these websites of violating their Mifid2 as well as the Consolidated Law on Finance for providing illegal trading products and services.

Honorable mention

Ethereum – Anonymous? 

A part of the Ethereum network became anonymous on Feb 1. This happened due to the implementation of the Aztec protocol, which was created and launched on the network’s main net by Thomas Walton-Pock and his team.

Aztec protocol is designed to provide a high level of privacy on the ETH network, as well as to, hopefully, significantly reduce transaction costs.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin fell under $10,000 as bears took over the market at the $10,200 mark. The move down was quite sharp, and placed Bitcoin below a few key support levels (now resistance levels). After falling below $10,000, Bitcoin dropped all the way to $9,700. It has then been stopped by the bulls and returned above $9,732 support. However, Bitcoin is testing the support level quite hard, and is currently right below it.



Bitcoin’s volume is currently on average levels, while its RSI dropped from the overbought territory sharply. It is currently in the lower portion of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,872                                           1: $9,732

2: $10,010                                         2: $9,585

3: $10,360                                         3: $9,380


Ethereum

Ethereum also stopped moving upwards after a weekend of great gains. After reaching $230, its price started moving sideways or slightly towards the downside. However, unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum did not have a major test of its support levels and kept above the $217.5 support.


Ethereum’s volume is on the lower side at the moment, while its RSI is hovering around the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $225.5                                             1: $217.5

2: $240                                              2: $198 

3: $251.3                                           3: $193.6


Ripple

While most cryptos exploded to the upside over the weekend, XRP spent the time mostly by being in consolidation mode. However, it made one (unsuccessful) attempt to break the $0.285 resistance level. The price continued to consolidate at the levels between $0.285 resistance and $0.266 support, which is where it’s at now as well. However, XRP might be testing its closest support level as its price is moving towards the downside and forming a small downtrend.


XRP’s volume is average at the time of writing, while its RSI level is in the lower parts of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 10 – Bitcoin fighting to regain $10,000 after a sudden crash occurs

Another green weekend for the crypto industry came as Bitcoin broke the $10,000 mark. Many say that this is only the beginning of a move that can take Bitcoin to $100,000. However, the past couple of hours were quite turbulent. The majority of the cryptocurrency market made gains over the weekend, but they mostly fell down in price in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,963, which represents a 1.7% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 2.86% on the day, while XRP lost 3.65%.

Kick Token took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 53.88%. On the other side, Synthetix Network lost 12.41% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance fell down slightly over the weekend. It is now at 63.75%, which represents a decrease of 0.72% when compared to the value it had on Friday.

 

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained quite a bit over the weekend. It is currently valued at $285.04 billion, which represents an increase of $9.9 billion when compared to Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

American investment data provider Weiss Ratings updated its ranking for Bitcoin (BTC) to “excellent” by assigning it the A- grade. The rating update came due to strong price performance.

Weiss Ratings posted a tweet published on Feb. 7, saying that: “The Weiss Crypto Rating for BTC is now A- (excellent). This is thanks to improving fundamentals as well as positive price action ahead of Bitcoin’s halving.

Before Bitcoin received the A- rating, it was rated lower than XRP and EOS as they were considered cryptocurrencies with the best combination of tech and adoption. However, Bitcoin has a higher grade than both of them now.

Honorable mention

Binance Coin (BNB) 

Binance Coin (BNB) has shown its strength, mostly due to the changes in the fundamentals. Several fundamental core events happened during the last week. These events were perceived as positive by the traders. Binance launched futures trading for Zcash as well as BNB this week.

The exchange also added support for the Russian ruble. This feature allows users to make cryptocurrency purchases via their Visa banking card. On top of that, Binance hired Iskander Malikov, former COO at TradingView, as the new director of fiat in order to boost its fiat-to-crypto gateways.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The uptrend that started on Feb 4 continued over the weekend as well, pushing Bitcoin’s price over 10,000. The price slowly approached $9,900 and then spiked up all the way to $10,200. The move was not accompanied by a significant volume increase, but it was rather a slow grind towards the goal. However, the past few hours brought us a massive drop in price, where Bitcoin fell to $9,725 in a matter of minutes. The price recovered and the largest cryptocurrency by market cap is now trading just under $10,000.


Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,010                                         1: $9,872

2: $10,360                                         2: $9,732

3: $10,470                                         3: $9,585


Ethereum

Ethereum had quite a bit of a run over the weekend as well. The price steadily went up and rose to $230, but consolidated below the $225.5 level. The past couple of hours brought us a sudden price drop, where Ethereum fell down to the $217.5 support level. However, bears did not manage to break this support level, and Ethereum quickly bounced back.


Ethereum’s volume is elevated at the moment, while its RSI left the overbought territory and is currently in the higher part of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $225.5                                             1: $217.5

2: $240                                              2: $198 

3: $251.3                                           3: $193.6


Ripple

XRP spent the weekend mostly by being in the consolidation mode. However, it made one attempt to break the $0.285 resistance level, which failed. The price continued to consolidate at the levels right below $0.285 ever since the failed spike. However, the past couple of hours brought XRP bears to the game as well. A sudden move made XRP go from $0.282 to $0.27. However, the bulls quickly reacted, and the price went back to the previous levels.


XRP’s volume is still a bit elevated, while its RSI level is moving to the lower portions of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

Privacy Coins: Here Is Your Complete Guide

Public blockchain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum utilizes cryptography technology to disguise users’ identity. To an extent, this protects users’ privacy, making the cryptos ideal for pseudonymous transactions.

However, the transparent nature of these cryptocurrencies’ ledger system compromises users’ complete anonymity. As such, it’s easy for malicious third parties to trace all your transactions and exploit this information to jeopardize your privacy. Now, this is where privacy coins come into play. 

What Exactly are Privacy Coins?

Unlike public digital currencies, privacy coins offer robust anonymity that works by obfuscating your transaction history and amount, making it impossible for third parties to piece together your identity. To achieve it, privacy coins leverage various innovative technologies, giving them a competitive advantage, as far as users’ privacy is concerned. 

While there are a good number of privacy coins in the market, we’ll be taking a comprehensive look into the best five coins, based on their technology, adoption, and market capitalization. 

Monero – XMR

Started in 2014, Monero has grown to become one of the most popular privacy coins backed by a stable market cap. The coin gives its users complete control of their data and anonymity, allowing them to keep their transaction information away from privy eyes.

In addition to its default private key cryptography, the Monero employs CryptoNote proof-of-work protocol, to obscure all details related to a transaction, including the source of funds. To further enhance users’  privacy, the protocol is complemented by unique technologies such as Ring Signatures, Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT), and Stealth Address. 

As the name suggests, Ring Signature technology works by bringing a group of signers to sign a single transaction. This forms a ring where only the sender can generate and send a one-time-key, while the actual recipient will be the only one who can detect and spend the funds linked to the key. With the technology in place, it becomes difficult for any transaction to be traced back to any user, which in turn secures users’ privacy. 

To guarantee that the coins have not been fraudulently fabricated in the transaction, RingCT creates a cryptographic proof which verifies that the sum of the input and output amounts is equal. The technology does this without disclosing the actual transaction numbers, thereby masking the amount the two parties transacted. 

Stealth Address, on the other hand, is designed to make all transactions untraceable. Basically, a one-time-key is created for each transaction, giving the sender and recipient the freedom to disconnect themselves from a transaction. What’s even better is that the key isn’t linked to the recipient’s wallet address, making it harder for an outside observer to trace the amount sent. 

Dash – DASH

Dash coin is an open-source peer-peer cryptocurrency that was launched after Bitcoin forked in 2014. In fact, the coin borrows heavily from its parent, BTC, in terms of privacy protection. It utilizes a concept known as PrivateSend, which is an improved version of Bitcoin’s CoinJoin, designed to anonymize transactions.

Essentially, the concept works by allowing multiple parties, usually three users, to pre-mix their coins into a single transaction, and then send these coins to new addresses, randomly. The transactions are further taken through a series of such operations, which makes the amount, the sender and destination unknown to third-parties. 

The instant-send feature of the coin facilitates faster transactions, by channeling inputs and outputs along the second tier of the Dash blockchain. 

Although not related to privacy protection, Dash coin also features a management mechanism that oversees future funding and network development through a self-governing community know as Decentralised Governance by Blockchain (DGBB). 

ZCash – ZEC

Being an iteration of Zerocash, ZCash implements it’s predecessor’s protocol that is based on zero-knowledge cryptography known as ZK-SNARKs. As intricate as it may sound, the technology’s functionality is pretty straightforward.

Basically, ZK-SNARKs encrypts all transactional details that are stored on the network, which include information about the sender, the recipient, and the amount transacted. In the process, the technology also verifies that the data being exchanged is authentic, without necessarily broadcasting the said information, besides the fact that it is true.

Keep in mind that using this privacy feature is optional, and thus users can opt to have their transaction recorded publicly. But it’s believed that users who choose the transparent option end up compromising the security of the entire network. 

PIVX – PIVX

Private Instant Verified Transaction (PIVX), which also goes by the same tickle symbol as its acronym, is an open privacy coin with a growing popularity. It was launched as a Dash coin fork but runs on the Proof-of-Stake algorithm rather than Proof-of-Work used by Dash coin. This means that PIVX doesn’t rely on miners to verify transactions and, as such, rewards the coin holders, who are also responsible for validating transactions.

However, to be among the users who are rewarded with coins as well as approve transactions, you must have a stake of at least 10,000 tokens. After achieving the threshold token, you are allowed to own a master node, which gives you the power to on how the development budget will be used and even submit developmental suggestions. 

PIVX also has a near-instant transaction verification feature and can be trusted in safeguarding users’ privacy. 

Verge – XVG

Much of Verge’s popularity can be attributed to the endorsement it received from John McAfee, a reputable businessman in the cyber-space. Although it is quite unstable, the coin has succeeded in providing a fast and decentralized way of making transactions, while maintaining users’ privacy.

By default, Verge integrates the Tor network into its wallet, encrypting your IP address, such that your online transactions can be linked to you. 

Its most privacy protection arsenal is the Wraith protocol that allows users to switch between public and private ledger systems. 

As with Bitcoin, the public ledger system displays your account balance, wallet address, and that of the recipient, in addition to the actual amount you are sending. Choosing the private ledger option keeps these details under wraps, protecting you from third parties who may be trying to trace your transactions. 

Other noteworthy features include 5 Proof-of-work algorithms, which have a limited target block time, improving protection against attacks. 

Takeaway

With the increasing cybersecurity threats, protecting your online privacy becomes a priority, especially when transacting cryptocurrencies. Sure, there is no problem in displaying your transactions history for all to see, since you don’t have anything to hide in the first place. But the idea that third-parties can use your transactions to trace activities should prompt you to keep your cyber-footprints untraceable. 

As such, you may consider investing in some of the digital currencies mentioned above in an effort to protect your personal privacy. 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 7 – Bitcoin Futures over 10,000; US crypto regulators stalling

Another green day for the crypto industry is on its way, as bullish sentiment rises. Many people are talking about Bitcoin going over $10,000 very soon. The majority of the market made some gains in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9797, which represents a 1.73% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained4.61% on the day, while XRP lost 0.43%.

Kick Token took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 26.17%. On the other side, Molecular Future lost 15.29% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased by quite a lot in the past 24 hours. It is now at 64.23%, which represents an increase of 3.58% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained quite a bit over the past 24 hours as cryptocurrencies gained some more value. It is currently valued at $277.71 billion, which represents an increase of $4.54 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The bullish sentiment continues to rise in the crypto market. Numerous altcoins score double-digit gains on a daily basis, while Bitcoin’s price on crypto exchanges also continues to push higher and higher.

Skew Markets has recently published data showing Bitcoin futures that expire in May 2020 and June 2020 rose above $10,000 at more than one exchange. On top of that, Bitcoin futures at BitMEX recently expanded to a new high of $1.5 billion.

Honorable mention

Ripple 

We are mentioning Ripple yet again today, as the company seems like it’s in quite a spotlight with all the partnerships and deals it made. An advocacy group called the Blockchain Association, which is representing many high-profile cryptocurrency firms, launched a working group with the aim to push for a U.S.-wide regulatory framework earlier this month.

This new working group is led by senior employees of Ripple and Coinbase. Its main aim is, as mentioned above, to advise United States regulators on how to approach crypto-friendly policies. However, the congresspeople are too busy preparing for the upcoming elections, so these policies are put to the side. U.S. crypto firms, in the meantime, have to work by complying with state-by-state regulations or avioding specific states in the near future.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Another day, another swing to the upside with Bitcoin trying to climb its way to 10,000. The price slowly moved above the $9,732 resistance level and is currently safe above it. The move was not accompanied by a significant volume increase. While Bitcoin’s outlook is bullish, its 4-hour time frame RSI level is still in the overbought territory.


One thing to note is that Bitcoin returned its dominance after losing 4% yesterday.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,872                                           1: $9,732

2: $10,010                                         2: $9,585

                                                         3: $9,251


Ethereum

Ethereum gained quite a bit today as well. Its price continued moving upwards after a brief consolidation and just one 4-hour red candle. While the price is currently broken, the resistance of $217.5, it is unknown whether Ethereum will stay above the price line. However, the outlook is still bullish.


Ethereum’s volume increased massively during yesterday’s upswing, but it has reduced by a lot today. However, it is still elevated. Its RSI level is deep in the overbought territory for a couple of days now. The key level of $217.5 will remain on our left side of key levels until Ethereum spends at least a couple more hours above it.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $217.5                                             1: $198

2: $225.5                                            2: $193.6 

                                                          3: $185


Ripple

XRP spent the day attempting to break the $0.285 resistance. However, all of its attempts were unsuccessful. For that reason, XRP is now just below the resistance line and consolidating. XRP had one 4-hour candle where its price suddenly dropped from $0.2848 all the way down to $0.261. However, the move was quite short, and XRP quickly recovered to the previous levels.


XRP’s volume is still a bit elevated, while its RSI level is moving out from the overbought area.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Your Complete Guide to Tether

The idea behind cryptocurrencies was that they would be used side by side, or better, outmatch fiat currency in everything. cryptocurrencies would be quicker, more secure, more efficient, and so on. But as it grew popular, it soon became apparent that cryptocurrencies were extremely volatile. This volatility renders them untenable for use in daily transactions – necessitating the advent of stablecoins. Today, Tether is the poster child of stablecoins, or so to speak.

This guide walks you through everything you need to know about Tether, this thing called stablecoin and the seemingly endless controversy that Tether finds itself embroiled in.

What is Tether?

Tether is a cryptocurrency whose tokens are pegged to an equivalent amount of fiat currencies like the US dollar, the Chinese Yuan, the Euro, and so on. The Tether network’s native tokens are called Tether, and they trade by the name USDT.

Launched in July 2014 and opened for trading in February 2015, Tether was first called RealCoin, later rebranded as Tether by Tether LTD,  the company behind the project.

Tether belongs to an emerging type of cryptocurrency called ‘stablecoins.’ Stablecoins operate under the premise that cryptocurrency valuations do not have to be as unpredictable as the traditional cryptocurrency.  As such, stablecoins are backed by a reserve of fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies that rely on external market economics (e.g., MakerDao) to create stable coins.

More on Stablecoins

In today’s crypto scene, the vast majority of cryptocurrencies are used purely as speculative trade instruments without much ‘’real-world” use. But this is not what cryptocurrency was invented for. The idea behind stablecoins is to provide stability for cryptocurrencies, which would make them suitable for use as mediums of exchange and stores of value.

Since cryptocurrencies are characterized by wild price swings, stablecoins attempt to provide price stability and offer fast processing power (for massive use ) and, at the same time, the privacy and security of cryptocurrencies. Also, investors can bet on stablecoins because they won’t experience the same volatility associated with cryptocurrencies.

In short, the original cryptocurrency vision was for it to compete with fiat currencies in purchasing power, be deflationary, and suitable for payments — Stablecoins attempt to model this ideal behavior.

How Does Tether Work?

Tether is based on different blockchain platforms. One version uses the Bitcoin blockchain-based Omni platform, with the other utilizing Ethereum’s blockchain.

The Bitcoin blockchain’s version inherits the stability and security of the world’s first blockchain.

Tether coins are collateralized by one US dollar, meaning a Tether coin is backed by and can be redeemed at any time for a US dollar.

Previously, Tether supported only the US dollar as a redeemable currency but has since added the Euro and the Chinese Yuan to its repertoire. 

What’s the Point of Tether? 

As we previously stated, cryptocurrencies are known for their incredibly wild volatilities. Yet that is partly why they are so popular – because traders and investors can purchase a cryptocurrency and sell it when prices shoot up – making significant profits.

Tether, being predicated on a stable, fixed price offers no thrill sufficient enough for crypto investors.  The cacophony associated with the crypto market – the pumps, dumps, bubbles is absent when it comes to Tether. Owning the crypto is similar to having a bank account that gives you zero returns.

So what’s the point of Tether?

Let’s explore the reason why Tether is useful, after all:

Transaction times. Money deposits and withdrawals on foreign exchanges are notoriously time-consuming processes that can even take up to a week to complete. Also, banks are closed after 5 pm, during the weekends and holidays. Thus, the traditional way is no guarantee for fast, quick, and reliable transactions. On the other hand, Tether transactions take just minutes. Traders can take advantage of this to quickly shift funds and grab arbitrage opportunities in the crypto market.

Transaction fees. The traditional money transfer system is characterized by expensive costs. On top of that, if you’re using another currency not supported by a particular exchange, you’ll be charged an extra conversion fee. By contrast, Tether charges very minimal to zero fees for transactions within its wallets.

Price Stability.  While cryptocurrencies’ volatility is a good thing for trading, the reality is not as rosy when you’re at risk of losing money. Countless people have invested in crypto waiting for it to spike – with no avail. Trading cryptos, while exhilarating and potentially lucrative, comes with a great deal of risk. That’s where a stablecoin like Tether comes in useful.

For example, imagine you’re trading Bitcoin for Litecoin. You convert BTC to buy LTC. Litecoin rises by 20%. You wish to make a profit and sell your LTC for BTC. While your trade is undergoing, Bitcoin suddenly falls by 30%. While you were right about LTC’s direction, you suffer a loss as a result of BTC taking a dip. 

Tokenomics of Tether

As of 3rd January 2020, Tether ranks at an impressive #6 position in terms of market capitalization, with the number standing at $4, 639, 755, 545. Its 24-hour volume is $39, 402, 491, 795, with a circulating supply of 4, 642, 367, 414. Tether’s total supply is 4, 776, 930, 644 USDT. Its all-time high was $1.21 in May 217, 2017.

Where to Buy and Store Tether

The most common way to acquire Tether is to exchange another cryptocurrency for it. There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies that are paired with the crypto.

You’ll find Tether at some of the most popular exchanges, including Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken, Bittrex, Coinut, Poloniex, Exmo, and so on.

The ERC20 version of Tether can be stored in any Ethereum-compatible wallet, including MyEtherWallet, Trust Wallet, MetaMask, Atomic Wallet, Mist, and so on.

It is also highly recommended you store your coins in hardware wallets – which are immune from online vulnerabilities such as hacking, phishing, etc. Some reputable options include Ledger Nano, Trezor, Coinomi, Exodus, etc.

There’s also the option of storing your crypto on the dedicated Tether wallet web interface. However, you might rethink this option not only because it supports just Tether, but because its security history is less than satisfactory.

The Myriad Controversies of Tether

This guide would be remiss if we didn’t mention the litany of controversies that have beset Tether since its launch. 

Let’s look at some of the controversies below:

In May 2016, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists leaked documents that pointed to Tether Ltd and Bitfinex as having the same CFO, CEO, and CSO. In what is called the Paradise Papers, it was revealed that both companies are operated by the same group of people and were not separate entities as the cryptoverse had been led to believe.

  • In April of 2017, Wells Fargo withdrew as the correspondent bank between US customers and Tether/Bitfinex. The two companies filed a lawsuit against the bank, only to withdraw it later.
  • Tether inexplicably terminated its relationship with a third-party audit firm that was to conduct an independent audit on its reserves. The audit was meant to establish if indeed Tether tokens in circulation were collateralized by real reserves.  Since then, no audit has ever been conducted to this day. 
  • In November 2017, a hacker made away with $31 million worth of USDT. The company quietly created a temporary hard fork to blacklist the address that had the funds – drawing criticism for that move.
  • In December 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a subpoena to Tether and Bitfinex on the grounds of lack of audit and what seemed to be its manipulation of Bitcoin’s price.
  • In June 2018, Bloomberg published a report titled “Crypto Coin Tether Defies Logic on Kraken’s Market, Raising Red Flags.” The report was published in response to what seemed as an unchanging price of Tether regardless of changes in the volume of buy and sell orders.
  • In April 2019, the New York Attorney General’s office accused Tether and Bitfinex of engaging in a collaborative cover-up of the loss of $850 million of co-mingled client and investor funds. The sum was previously held by a Panamian entity called Crypto Capital Corp. Per the court filings, authorities seized the money in various countries. Bitfinex had allegedly received $700 million from Tether’s reserves to hide the loss.

What’s the Future for Tether?

To date, Tether is yet to release any evidence that all Tether coins in circulation are backed by real reserves, but it insists so. In June 2019, the law firm Freeh, Sporkin, and Sullivan composed “The Tether Transparency” report – which indicated that Tether had real reserves backing the token. However, crypto experts were not satisfied with the report, which they insisted was no audit, but mere data obtained from Tether’s bank accounts.

As well, many of the controversies surrounding Tether have been debunked as FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) that’s so rife in cryptoverse.

Tether appears to be going steady despite all the storms. This can be attributed to the crypto community’s support for it as the most popular stablecoin, and the crypto project’s fighting back, sometimes with proof, against all allegations.

Summing it all, any external threats that would bring Tether down result mostly to naught, as it remains a favorite within the community.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 6 – Is this the Start of the Altcoin Season?

Taking a look at the market, and it has never looked more green. Almost every single cryptocurrency made some gains in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently trading for $9611, which represents a 3.98% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained a staggering 9.36% on the day, while XRP went parabolic and gained 0.94%.

NEM took today’s most prominent daily gainer title with gains of 27.94%. On the other side, MaidSafeCoin lost 4.84% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased significantly in the past 24 hours. It is now at 60.65%, which represents a decrease of 4% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained quite a bit over the past 24 hours as cryptocurrencies gained momentum upward. It is currently valued at $273.17 billion, which represents an increase of $12.04 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Lightning Labs, the developer Bitcoin’s high-speed transaction protocol “Lightning Network,” secured $10 million in their Series A funding round. Lightning Labs CEO and co-founder, Elizabeth Start, told the news via a public announcement in a blog post.

The company plans to use the raised funds to continue with the development of the Lightning payments technology as well as scaling of its developer ecosystem.

Honorable mention

Ripple 

Ripple, the company behind the third-largest cryptocurrency XRP, has made a new partnership. Apparently, Ripple will use its technology to bolster cross-border payments between the US and Mexico.

The company has, for this to happen, partnered with International Money Express, which is a money remittance services company mostly focused on the Latin and Caribbean corridor. International Money Express (also known as Intermex), Ripple’s new financial partner, is listed on the Nasdaq stock market with the stock ticker IMXI.

Ripple made announcement of the new partnership on Feb 5.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin made another swing up, trying to climb its way to 10,000. The price moved from the support level of $9,120 upwards, all the way up to $9,732 where the momentum faded. The move was accompanied by a slight (but not as substantial as some thought) volume increase. Bitcoin is now safely consolidating between the resistance of $9,732 and support of $9,585. Bitcoin’s RSI is just below the overbought territory while its volume is slightly above average.


One thing to note is that Bitcoin got outperformed by many cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours, and even lost 4% of its dominance.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,732                                           1: $9,585

2: $9,872                                           2: $9,251

3: $10,010                                         3: $9,120


Ethereum

Ethereum went parabolic today, as its price rose from $185 all the way to $212. The momentum faded down, and Ethereum is (at least for now) trying to consolidate at the highs. The second-largest cryptocurrency breezed through its $193.6 and $198 resistances as the volume skyrocketed.


Ethereum’s volume increased massively during the upswing, while its RSI level is deep in the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $217.5                                             1: $198

2: $225.5                                            2: $193.6 

                                                          3: $185


Ripple

XRP is, after it skyrocketed yesterday, mostly consolidating at its highs. Because of that, the third-largest cryptocurrency gained less than 1% on the day. Its move did not break any resistances and kept withing the bounds of its current ones. XRP is currently trading in between the $0.266 support and $0.285 resistance, which is quite a large range.


XRP’s volume descended from the highs it had during yesterday’s move, but it is still elevated. Its RSI level on the 4-hour chart is still deep into overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 4 – Mastercard explaining Libra situation; Waves launching in 6 European countries

The crypto market went into a consolidation phase, which it is still in. Cryptocurrencies are divided between slightly red and slightly green on the day. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently trading for $9267, which represents a 1.09% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 1.18% on the day, while XRP went up 0.68%.

Hedera Hashgraph took today’s most prominent daily gainer title with gains of 34.17%. On the other side, MonaCoin lost 10.66% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased significantly over the weekend. It is now at 64.82%, which represents a decrease of 0.48% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed at pretty much the same level as yesterday. It is currently valued at $259.66 billion, which represents an increase of $1.68 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga explained why this company dropped its support for Libra in an interview with the Financial Times on Feb 3. He boldly stated Libra’s lack of transparency and argued that national payment systems are “really stupid.”

Mastercard, at the start of the project, was one of the founding members of the Libra association. Mastercard was not the only one, but one among many. Companies such as Visa, PayPal, and Stripe were also supporting Libra. All four dropped their support in Oct 2019 without any proper explanation. However, many suspected fear of regulation to be the main contributor to how things unveiled.

Honorable mention

Waves 

Open-source blockchain platform Waves founded a non-profit organization that goes by the name Waves Association. The organization is located in Frankfurt, Germany. It aims to provide governance for its ecosystem, Web3, as well as to foster the development of DLTs, which would include both public and private blockchain protocols.

The Waves Association will not be represented only in Germany. It will be supported and represented by ten community members located in six different countries: Germany, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Russia.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price entered a slight stagnation period as the bulls dropped pressure by the end of January. Its price is now trading in a tight range between $9,251 (majoy support) and $9,373 (minor resistance) or $9,585 (major resistance). Its price dropped slightly on the day, but no significant breaks happened.


Bitcoin’s RSI is slowly descending while its volume is average or slightly below average.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,585                                           1: $9,251

2: $9,732                                           2: $9,120

3: $10,000                                         3: $8,905


Ethereum

Ethereum also entered a consolidation phase, just like Bitcoin. However, its consolidation phase started a bit later, as ETH kept making moves even when BTC stopped. Ethereum could not break its $193.6 resistance level and decided to consolidate below it. Its price is now bound by this resistance, as well as the $185 support level.


Ethereum’s volume is on the lower side of the spectrum, while its RSI is still above the middle of the value range. However, it is slowly descending.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $193.6                                            1: $185

2: $198                                              2: $178.5

                                                         3: $167.8


Ripple

XRP seems to be sharing fate with Ethereum for the past couple of days. It too began consolidating a bit after Bitcoin, but at approximately the same time as Ethereum. Once its price went above the $0.2454 resistance (now support) level, the bulls lost the strength that was required to push the price even further. Because of that, XRP is now in the middle of a wide price range between $0.2454 and $0.266.


XRP’s volume is tilting towards average when compared to the past week. Its RSI level is slowly descending from the higher values.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.266                                            1: $0.2454

2: $0.285                                            2: $0.235

3: $0.31                                              3: $0.227

 

Categories
Crypto Guides

What Should You Know About A Cryptocurrency Exchange?

Introduction

The cryptocurrency exchange is a place that allows trading cryptocurrencies through a trading platform. These are platforms where people can exchange one cryptocurrency for another one, and even for fiat currencies, for that matter. Their operation is very similar to a traditional financial exchange. The cryptocurrency exchange’s primary operation is to allow the buying and selling of digital assets as well as other assets (fiat currencies). Note that digital cryptocurrency (DCE) is another reference to a cryptocurrency exchange. These exchanges can be like a stock exchange or a currency exchange.

Cryptocurrency Exchange Explained

As mentioned, these exchanges are similar to traditional financial exchanges. To clearly understand this, we may bring out the differences between the crypto exchanges and the conventional exchanges. I a cryptocurrency exchange, buyers, and sellers trade based on the current market price of the cryptocurrencies. Here, exchanges play the role of the middleman. Just like on the stock market, there is some fee charged on each transaction.

Some exchanges deal only with cryptocurrencies, while others that deals with the exchange of both cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. For example, in these exchanges, you can trade the US dollar for Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrencies are typically unstable in terms of value and sourcing. For instance, cryptos like Bitcoin have been under major dispute events where the value of Bitcoin changed dramatically in a very short time, or incidents where the major exchanges went down due to thefts and frauds.

Talking about the most popular and reliable exchanges, Coinbase’s GDAX (AKA Coinbase Pro) is an example of that. Also, there are exchanges run by third parties where there is a middleman, and  decentralized exchanges that mimic traditional exchanges like IDEX. In decentralized systems, trading is based on smart contracts and is not powered by a centralized third party system for the most of it. Trading with centralized exchanges will require a lot of information to be produced. However, they do allow the trading of fiat currencies. DEX exchanges, one the other hand, require lesser information but they do not allow exchanging of fiat currencies.

Classification of Cryptocurrency exchanges

Based on the exchange’s organizational hierarchy and overall controlling bodies, we can classify them as Centralized Exchanges and Decentralized Exchanges.

The Working Of A Centralized Cryptocurrency Exchange

Since these exchanges are centralized, they are run by a third-party or other organizations. More like a bank for exchanging fiat currencies. Here, the middleman takes control over whatever the assets are being traded on the network.

The Working Of A Decentralized Cryptocurrency Exchange

A decentralized exchange (DAX) is a cryptocurrency exchange which operates without the existence of a third party, or a central authority. In simple terms, decentralized exchanges allow peer-to-peer trading of cryptocurrencies. However, there have been signs that these exchanges have been suffering from low trading volumes and market volatility. And to solve this issue, protocols like 0X, Stellar, and Bitshares are being implemented.

Top Cryptocurrency Exchanges

There are several crypto exchanges to from, but not all have the features and technicalities. Below are the exchanges we have listed out by considering factors like user-friendliness, accessibility, security, and fees.

  • Coinbase
  • Kraken
  • Poloniex
  • Bitstamp
  • Coinmama
  • Bitsquare
  • Binance
  • Bitbuy.ca

These exchanges and many more are discussed in other articles, and you may find them here. So watch out this space for more great crypto content.

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Jan 06 – Qatar against crypto, Ripple skyrocketing

The cryptocurrency market had another good weekend, as the price seems to recover from the downturn it was in before 2020. The price of most cryptos increased when compared to when we last reported. If we talk about daily changes, Bitcoin’s price went up 1.62%. It is currently trading for $7,565. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.97%, while XRP gained an astounding 7.04% on the day.

Dash gained 15.43% on the day, making it the most prominent daily gainer. On the other side, Bytecoin lost 12.74% of its value when compared to yesterday, making it the biggest daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased by over half a percent over the weekend. Its dominance is now at 67.69, which represents a decrease of 0.62% from Friday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by over $10 billion over the weekend. It is currently valued at $202.68 billion. This value represents an increase of $10.98 billion when compared to the value it had when we last reported.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (or QFCRA for short) announced a flat-out ban on cryptocurrency businesses. They forbid any form of conducting virtual asset services in or from the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).

The regulator announced this news in a tweet, where it stated that authorized firms are not allowed to provide or facilitate the provision or exchange of cryptocurrencies as well as any related services until further notice.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin bulls gathered over the weekend and brought its price from $7,000 all the way to $7,570. Its price moved explosively to the upside and gained a couple of hundred dollars before consolidating. Successful consolidation at the top of the move led to another spike which brought the price to its current levels. During the price increase, Bitcoin broke the $7,260, 7,415 and 7,525 resistances. It is now consolidating right above 7,525 and testing its strength.


Bitcoin’s RSI is very close to the overbought territory, while its volume is above average.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $7,780                                           1: $7,525

2: $7,990                                           2: $7,415

3: $7,165                                           3: $7,260


Ethereum

Ethereum also moved up along with Bitcoin. It quickly broke the descending trend line and spiked to the upside. Its price went from $126 all the way to $141, where it is currently. Ethereum is currently right below the $141.15 resistance line, which it is attempting to break. However, RSI, which already reached overbought, as well as descending volume, are not promising indicators when it comes to price rises.


Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $141.15                                           1: $130

2: $148.5                                            2: $128.1

3: $154.2                                            3: 122.15


Ripple

XRP’s move to the upside reminds us of the 2017 spike. Its price skyrocketed and went from $0.185 to $0.21. However, the $0.211 resistance line stopped the move. XRP is now trying to recover from hitting a resistance it can’t pass. It is still unknown at which price XRP will consolidate.


XRP’s RSI is deep in overbought territory, while its volume is extremely high.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.211                                            1: $0.205

2: $0.221                                            2: $0.1978

3: $0.227                                            3: 0.19

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What is the ZRX Token?

Cryptocurrencies have stirred the financial space in a way that more and more people want to jump on this economic bandwagon. As the newest asset class, cryptos are overtaking other securities in an unprecedented fashion. But this is where we have a problem. For people to join the crypto revolution, they have to go through centralized exchanges. These exchanges, however, come with their own set of issues.

Enter decentralized exchanges (DEXs). DEXs, in which traders transact directly with each other, are fast becoming popular. 0x is one of the most high-profile of these types of exchanges, and it allows users to trade ERC 20 tokens via its native token, ZRX. In this guide, we’ll dive deeper into the 0x project, how it works, and the ZRX token and how to get your hands on it.

What is 0x?

0x is an open protocol designed to facilitate the peer-to-peer exchange of Ethereum tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. 0x was formed by industry experts Will Warren and Amir Bandeali in 2016.

The two envisioned a future where all kinds of securities, including stocks, precious metals, etc. could be traded as tokens publicly on the blockchain. 0x is created to be different from both centralized and decentralized exchanges and thereby provide the best combination of both their features.

It also seeks to solve problems that arise from both types of exchanges. Let’s begin with the issues facing centralized exchanges.

☑️ Susceptibility to Hacks

Centralized exchanges will always be prone to hacking attacks. Mt. Gox, Bitfinex and Binance are only some of the examples of centralized exchanges that have been hacked for Bitcoins worth millions of dollars. 

☑️ Subject to Mismanagement

Centralized exchanges are regulated by people who are fallible and prone to human error. The example of Mt.Gox is an exchange whose fate was caused by mismanagement.

☑️ Volume problems

Centralized exchanges often have trouble dealing with a sudden increase in demand. For instance, a sudden surge in demand for Bitcoin in November 2017 caused some exchanges to temporarily halt processing transactions while others experienced downtimes.

☑️ Subject to Regulatory Whims

Centralized crypto exchanges are registered in countries. This means they must play by the rules that the government of that country wishes to enact.

0x’s Technology and How It solves these, plus DEXes’ Problems

Decentralized exchanges rely on smart contracts for trading of ERC tokens. However, the sheer proliferation of tokens on Ethereum’s blockchain presents the problem of confusion and scalability. At the time of writing, there are more than 200,000 token contracts on the blockchain.

0x’s whitepaper notes: “End users are exposed to smart contracts of varying quality and security with unique configuration processes and learning curves, all of which implement the same functionality.”

This has caused several problems for the network, including increasing transaction costs for the network. This means for crypto exchanges, transactions would be charged a specified amount of ether. Also, as the volume of orders increases, the costs of operating it increases as well.

Second, the numerous exchanges have led to a fragmented user base and with it, fragmented liquidity for the DEXs crypto market. 

0x’s technology attempts to solve this by combining two technologies – State channels and Automated Market Maker. State channels take transactions off the blockchain, therefore reducing transaction fees. Automated Market Maker (AMMs) are algorithms that conduct trades between two parties, while also acting as the opposite party in transactions.

0x relies on “relayers” to host the off-chain order book and connect buyers and sellers.

Having seen how the platform aims to improve the DEX model, let’s look at how it addresses the main issues faced by centralized exchanges:

  • It provides a more secure platform as there is no single point of failure, thanks to the Ethereum blockchain which is open-source, pubic and distributed 
  • It eliminates the possibility of a rogue or malicious exchange running away with people’s crypto funds
  • It eliminates the whims of governments or regulators  
  • It makes crypto trading an affordable endeavor for all types of traders
  • It makes it effortless to swap tokens on the blockchain by removing the high transaction fees associated with centralized as well as smart contract decentralized exchanges. It intends to do this by taking transactions outside of the blockchain

What is ZRX?

0x has its own Ethereum token, known as ZRX. The token is used to pay relayers for their services. However, 0x’s main intention for the token is to facilitate decentralized governance over the 0x protocol upgrade system. This means anyone who owns ZRX gets to have input – proportional to their holdings, into any upgrades the protocol may get over time.

How to Buy ZRX

The ZRX token is available on the majority of crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, Bittrex, Shapeshift, Poloniex, Changelly, KuCoin, Huobi, Coinswitch, Bitit, and Idex.

Being an Ethereum token, ZRX can be stored in an Ethereum wallet. Other options include MyEtherWallet, Exodus, Eidoo, and Ledger wallet.

There is a fixed supply of one billion ZRX. During its launch, 50% of the tokens were released to the public, with the 0x project retaining 15%, 15% going to the developer fund, 10% to the founding team, and 10% to the project’s advisors and early supporters.

The Problems With 0x’s Approach

0X is an ambitious project and one that could be the solution to both centralized exchanges and DEXes problems. However, some crypto experts assert that the ZRX token has no clearly defined purpose.

Also, the staking approach – in which the more ZRX you hold the more you can contribute to the project’s development, means that it can be hijacked by investors with large holdings – which does not keep up with the spirit of decentralization. 

Also, some experts contend that the business model is not sustainable. By having its platform open and free, the project might be foregoing revenue from trades and setting itself up for failure in the future.

Conclusion

The 0x project has its flaws, but the protocol is a promising proposition. It solves the challenges presented by centralized exchanges while improving the decentralized exchange model. Its flexibility, versatility and its free availability may very well catapult it to be the future of cryptocurrency exchanges. It’s going to be interesting to see how this project pans out in the future.

 

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Crypto Guides

Beginners Guide to Cryptocurrency Mining

Introduction

There is a significant difference in how cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies are generated and issued to the ecosystem. Fiat currencies are created and printed by the government bodies in response to orders by the state authority. At the same time, cryptocurrencies are issued to the public by going through the blockchain network according to a preset algorithm. There are different schemes assigned for mining, such as the Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, Proof of Authority, etc. These are referred to as consensus algorithms. The in-depth working of these processes is complicated. So, we shall stick on the basic working of it.

Definition

Cryptocurrency mining is the procedure to bring up new coins into the current flowing supply, by verifying the coins through a system. The ones that mine these coins are called miners.

Procedure to Mine Cryptocurrency

  • When a transaction is performed over the blockchain network, i.e., when a user sends coins to another address, the transaction information is recorded and put onto a block.
  • This block must be encrypted and made secure. This is where the miners come in.
  • To encrypt a blockchain, miners solve a complicated cryptographic puzzle to find the appropriate cryptographic hash for the code. For this, miners typically make use of large rigs of application-specific hardware to increase their chances of being the first one to verify and secure the block.
  • Once the block is successfully secured, it is then added to the blockchain, where other nodes on the blockchain network verify it. This verification process is known as consensus.
  • When the block successfully clears through the nodes in the network, the block is officially said to be verified and secured. And for securing a block, the miner is rewarded new-created coins. Hence, the complete above procedure of work is called Proof of Work.

Reward system in Cryptocurrency mining

Mining is a complicated process. Each day, miners commit a thousand watts of electricity towards mining cryptocurrencies. People mine coins though it is an expensive process because they receive a good number of Bitcoins for it, which has value in various markets.

As mentioned above, the reward is released to the miners when they successfully solve a block in the blockchain. The compensation received is pretty decent; in fact, it compensates a thousand watts of electricity. Having that said, the reward cannot be very high, as it could cause an oversupply in the market and depreciate the value of the currency.

Supply and Demand of a Cryptocurrency

Buying and selling cryptocurrencies is different from buying and selling of stocks, bonds, etc. Also, unlike investing in traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies are not issued by the central banks. Therefore, the monetary policy, inflation rates, and other economic factors do not apply to the cryptocurrencies. They are influenced majorly by factors such as the supply of the coins and the demand for it, the number of competing coins, and also the exchanges it trades on.

The supply of cryptocurrencies is impacted by the cryptocurrency protocol, which permits the creation of a new coin (same type) at a fixed rate. A number of coins are introduced into the market when miners verify the blocks of transactions. And the rate at which these new coins are introduced is designed such that it slows down over time. This is done to create a scenario in which the demand for coins increases faster than the supply, which hence causes the prices to shoot up.

Hence we can say that mining & miners have a crucial role in maintaining the supply & demand of any cryptocurrency!

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Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Dec 18 – Bears hitting the Crypto Market yet Again

Bears seem to have taken over the crypto market yet again this week. Cryptocurrencies keep falling further and further down each day. Bitcoin held up better than most of them, while the majority of the market lost over 5% on the day. Bitcoin fell by 3.49% in the past 24 hours, and it is trading for $6.652 at the time of writing. Meanwhile, Ethereum dropped by 7.26%, while XRP fell 6.92%.

Silverway, on the other hand, was the crypto that gained some value today. Its price increased by 21.96%, making it the biggest daily gainer. Out of the cryptos that ended up in the red, the biggest loser was Kyber Network, which lost 18.61% of its value on the day.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased yet again in the past 24 hours, as cryptocurrencies lost far more value than it did. This time, however, the increase was marginal. Its dominance in percentage is currently 67.58%, which represents an increase of 0.35% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization lost quite a bit of value yet again. Its total market value is currently $180 billion. This value represents a decrease of $6.45 when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Cryptocurrency regulation is coming to Europe as well. The Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (or 5AMLD for short) is a piece of legislation that intends to bring regulation to fiat-to-crypto exchanges as well as custodial wallets that operate in the European Union. All exchanges must comply with the legislative rules by January 10, 2020.

David Carlisle, the former US Treasury Anti-Money Laundering (AML) specialist, acknowledged that regulation might hurt crypto companies in the short term. However, he thinks that, in the medium and long term, regulation will enable and improve adoption and success for the companies who choose to embrace it.

On the other hand, Russian legislators are still struggling to define the legal status of cryptocurrencies. That has been the case since at least 2017, which is when the first bill was getting drafted. There has been no regulatory action announced by the Russian government so far.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Another red day for Bitcoin , another broken support level . Bears have taken over the market for now and the price has definitely shown that. Bitcoin broke the $6,640 key support level which put it in a very vulnerable spot. Its price is now hovering right below this level, trying to return and stabilize above it.


Bitcoin’s volume is incredibly high when compared to its average last week’s daily volume. Its RSI is in the oversold territory for quite some time now, but it seems like it will manage to reach non-oversold values soon.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $6,640                                           1: $6,505

2: $7,000                                           2: $5,940

3: $7,314


Ethereum

Ethereum is repeating the price pattern it had yesterday, almost to a tee. Its price dropped severely and, then, tried to consolidate just above its lows for the day. Similar to yesterday, Ethereum lost close to 8% of its value.  The current price of ETH/USD is currently $123, which is quite problematic as the cryptocurrency broke all of its current support levels. It will have to find some significant support as soon as possible, or its price will dwindle down.


Ethereum’s volume extremely high at the moment, while its RSI value is deep in the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $128.1                                             1: $120.35

2: $130                                              2: $117

3: $133.5


Ripple

XRP did not lose as much price-wise as yesterday, but it is still lost quite a bit (over 6%). Its price drop continues as it broke all of the known key support levels. It is still unknown where XRP might find its support levels, as the $0.19 level was broken as well.


XRP’s volume skyrocketed in the past 24 hours as bears “played” with its price. As with Bitcoin and Ethereum, its RSI values are deep in the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.19                                              1: $0.1785

2: $0.2025                                          2: $0.1634

3: $0.207

Categories
Crypto Videos

Calculate Crypto mining profitability – Is Mining Still Worth It?

 

Crypto mining profitability guide

If anyone is serious about cryptocurrency mining, they’ll have to learn how to maximize their equipment and their invested resources. Not knowing which equipment is profitable and how to optimize its use may end up with you having a negative balance. On top of that, not knowing the mining profitability of your rig might make you spend a lot more money without a cause or overestimate your earnings. This guide will try to show how to calculate the profitability of your mining setup as well as which tools to use to increase your profits.


Factors affecting mining profits

Many factors influence the outcome of a person’s mining profitability. The most significant factor are undoubtedly the cryptocurrency’s price, mining algorithm, the hardware that a person utilizes to mine crypto as well as the total hash rate of the network.

Choosing a cryptocurrency to mine

Mining cryptocurrencies involves solving complex mathematical algorithms by utilizing computational power. There are many consensus algorithms out there, but we will list the most popular ones.

SHA-256 consensus algorithm

The SHA-256 algorithm uses brute computational power to process the cryptographic equations. Bitcoin was easily mined with the CPUs and GPU cards that are used in regular PCs before it was popular. However, as the years progressed, and the market matured, mining hardware ended up evolving to keep up with the increasing mining difficulty. At the moment, Bitcoin is mined purely by using ASIC miners.


Scrypt consensus algorithm

The scrypt consensus algorithm uses a substantial amount of RAM as well as parallel processing to generate cryptocurrencies. This means that you can use GPUs to mine them instead of CPU, which is required for the SHA-256. Scrypt-based ASICs are quite unpopular at the moment, which brings the mining difficulty at a lower level than what it currently is with Bitcoin.

Mining profitability calculators

Many websites can be used to calculate the mining profitability for a specific coin. They take into account the mining equipment you use, power consumption, electricity cost as well as and other details. More straightforward calculators with fewer factors are available for free, but so are much more advanced ones, with features such as:

Hash rate,
Power consumption,
Power cost,
Mining difficulty,
Block reward,
Cryptocurrency price in USD.

Mining profitability can be calculated for various time-frames: hourly, daily, monthly as well as yearly.

Conclusion

Mining is a great way to earn cryptocurrencies passively. On the other hand, you need to take various factors that can affect mining profitability into consideration. Having an accurate prediction about all of the factors can be quite tricky, especially when some factors are out of your control. Be careful and do all of the calculations before investing in cryptocurrency mining gear.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Cryptocurrency Market Volatility Part 2 – Liquidity & manipulation

Crypto market volatility – part 2

 

Last time we talked about what volatility is and how it is maturing in the crypto markets. We also talked about bad press and fraudulent activity that envelops the industry. Now, we will continue talking about what affects volatility and go more in-depth.

Market size VS. volatility 

The cryptocurrency market has received a great deal of attention from both profit-seeking traders and technology supporters. However, the market as a whole is still quite young and not as big as it can be. If we take a further look at its size, it cannot even be compared to traditional markets. It is a fact that the market size does affect volatility significantly.
Small markets allow smaller investors to influence the price both ways in a greater way. Broader markets, on the other hand, handle bigger market orders with ease and without much of a price impact. However, the overall size of the crypto market on top of overleveraging greatly affected its volatility.


Liquidity is directly tied to the market size as well as market order size. Liquidity can be defined as the ease or difficulty of buying or selling an asset on a specific market at a certain price. Liquidity is often directly tied to the market volume, as more market makers provide bigger liquidity. If more people traded cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrencies would be more stable price-wise. However, the crypto market in its current state is not as liquid as it should be to support large market orders or possible market manipulations that occur. If we take a look at the altcoins market individually, we can come to the conclusion that they are tiny when compared to the Bitcoin’s market, let alone the individual fiat currency markets. Low liquidity markets often suffer from sudden and aggressive fluctuations in prices.

Market manipulation VS. volatility

When talking about liquidity problems of the crypto market, one has to mention the market manipulation that occurs. There is a way to influence the price and sway it in the desired direction by controlling the market sentiment. Traders with large enough capital can utilize such a strategy to influence the cryptocurrency market. This is colloquially called “spoofing.”
Spoofing is basically listing a big buy or sell order with no intention of it going through. Its sole purpose is to show up on the market order panel as a “wall” of buyers or sellers. This alone will affect the market sentiment in the short term, which is just enough time for the profits to be made. This way, the whales can guide the price whichever way they want. When the market participants acknowledge the large-sized position, the price moves the opposite way. As soon as the move in the other direction starts, the order is taken down.

Speculation VS. volatility

As the crypto market is still immature, and investors have no real price to anchor to, the market is mostly driven by speculation. Typically, we can determine the value of an asset by its utility and adoption (and various other factors), but crypto markets are currently not operating that way. Speculation is the main thing that extends the trend up or down. Therefore, the only way to invest in any cryptocurrency is to speculatively bet on its future use cases, adoption, and traction.
Markets guided by speculation are, in every single case, recorded so far, volatile by nature.

Lack of institutional investors VS. volatility

A survey done by Fidelity Investments shows that 22% of surveyed institutional investors already purchased cryptocurrency in some quantity. If this survey can be translated to the institutional interest as a whole, crypto markets can be proud to show a remarkable increase from near-zero institutional investment in 2016 to the current numbers. However, the funds invested by the institutional investors are negligible compared to how much they invest in traditional markets.
Even though institutions are increasingly more interested in crypto, lack of proper guidelines, and transaction mediums such as ETF’s made it harder for them to get ahold of a large amount of cryptocurrencies. As time passes, institutions will undoubtedly dip their toes in cryptocurrency markets on a larger scale.
As the market lacks institutional investors, price stability is lacking, as well. Institutions are often using trading algorithms to perform trades for them, which in turn increase the liquidity as well as the stability of the markets.


Misconceptions on volatility catalysts

Many little things influence the crypto market volatility. No one can calculate the impact of any single factor. However, we often see some misconceptions when talking about which factors do have an effect on the market. Some factors are portrayed as much more significant just because they are eye-catching.
One such factor is the lack of regulation and how it affects the volatility of the markets.

Lack of regulation VS. volatility

The crypto market is not regulated by any government or institution. However, this lack of regulation does not affect the volatility of the market itself. People often connect high volatility with the lack of regulation, which is not correct. Cryptocurrency markets are self-regulated by the consensus. They require no government regulation to operate efficiently. However, they could use the government’s approval, which will probably never happen as crypto can be considered a direct competitor to fiat currencies.
Is market volatility even that good?
After understanding which factors affect the volatility of the cryptocurrency markets, people are mostly unsure whether increased volatility is a good thing after all. Volatility represents different things to different kinds of investors. We can look at it from two major standpoints:

The trader’s perspective.
The investor’s perspective.

The trader’s standpoint says that the volatility is quite good as long as the markets are liquid enough. The level of volatility considered useful varies depending on the person’s risk tolerance. A risk-averse individual would avoid high-volatility trades as they value stable investments more. However, cryptocurrency traders are considered to be risk-takers in most cases.

An investor, however, might consider volatility as a bad thing when it reaches a certain threshold, which is extremely low when compared to one of the retail traders. An investor wants to preserve their wealth rather than turning a quick profit. Also, investors are mostly here in the long run because they support the underlying technology.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrencies are a fairly young asset class, and its concepts are already revolutionizing the world we are living in. However, until full adoption happens, the cryptocurrency markets remain volatile.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Dec 5 – France and Virgin Islands developing digital currencies, cryptos in the green

We can see a mix of green and red in the crypto market in the past 24 hours. Bulls rallied and attempted a price surge with Bitcoin, which most cryptocurrencies followed. However, bears prevailed, and cryptos stayed in the same place they were a day ago. If we take a look at the past 24 hours, Bitcoin went up 1.83% and is now trading at the price of $7,334. Ethereum managed to gain 0.03% of its value on the day. XRP gained 1.06%.

Of the top100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, the biggest gainer is Enjin Coin, which managed to gain 30.79% on the day. The biggest loser of the day was MINDOL, which lost 33.29% of its value.

Bitcoin’s dominance has increased slightly, as its price increase was that occurred in the market was bigger for Bitcoin. On top of that, Bitcoin kept more of the move than the other cryptos did. Its dominance is currently 66.74%, which represents an increase of 0.31% from yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market managed to increase in total market capitalization due to the overall slight price increase. Its market cap is sitting at $197.92 billion at the moment of writing. This value represents an increase of around $2.9 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

More and more countries are getting officially interested in cryptocurrency and the concept of digitalization. Even though most of them are talking about digital currencies rather than cryptocurrencies (and the distinction should be made), this is a good sign of crypto acceptance.

A blockchain startup called LIFELabs, along with the British Virgin Islands, is developing a cryptocurrency that will act as a digital currency that will be sovereignly used on the island territory. This digital currency will be a stablecoin that is pegged to the value of the US dollar on a 1:1 ratio.

On top of that, The central bank of France will pilot a central bank digital currency for its financial institutions. This digital Euro pilot would happen in 2020. This news was announced by the governor of the Bank of France.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin had bulls rallying and attempting to break its immediate resistance whole day. At one point, its price moved past the $7,415 resistance and reached $7,780. However, that move did not last long as the bull pressure wasn’t as strong. Bitcoin’s price remains under the key resistance level for the time being. There were a couple of other attempts of breaking the line, but they were far weaker and far less significant.


Bitcoin’s volume increased significantly during the big spike, which brought Bitcoin to $7,780. However, even though we can say that the volume is elevated when compared with yesterday’s volume, it is still on the decline when we look at it in the past 24 hours.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $7,415                                           1: $7,240

2: $8,000                                           2: $7,120

3: $8,425                                           3: $6,620


Ethereum

Ethereum suffers the same fate as Bitcoin does. It managed to fall below its $147 zone, but this bull rally wanted to put the price above it. The price shot to $155 at one point, but could not hold up. This move ended quickly, and Ethereum moved back below the key resistance. Its price is now at the very $147 line, and bulls seem to be quite strong, so we might see another solid attempt of moving upward.


Ethereum’s price is currently in limbo, and its short-term support lines are unknown, but this information might not be as important as the bulls are currently in play.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $167.8                                             1: $144.5

2: $178.6                                            2: $127

3: $185


Ripple

XRP spent the day rallying its bulls, which resulted in a major attempt to the upside. XRP’s price reached $0.227 but, as with most cryptocurrencies today, fell as the bull pressure wasn’t as strong as it needed to be. Some of the value was preserved, and XRP is currently trading in a range between the 50% and 61.8% Fib retracement green line.


XRP’s volume is elevated when compared to the previous days. Its RSI is slowly gaining momentum to the upside.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2185                                          1: $0.214

2: $0.222                                            2: 0.209

3: $0.2267                                          3: $0.202

Categories
Crypto Videos

Will Cryptocurrency Replace Fiat? – Which Crypto Will Be Dominant?

 

Can any cryptocurrency replace fiat?

The cryptocurrency community tried to predict how digital currencies will someday take over the world and stand on the spot of fiat currencies. However, there are several problems that the industry has to tackle before becoming mainstream. Some economists view cryptocurrencies with quite a bit of disdain. Even though some traditional financial institutions pointed out the importance of the concept of blockchain technology and even announced working on developing or adopting something similar, only a few have made any suggestion that they will adopt cryptocurrencies at the expense of fiat money.


Even though cryptocurrencies have a long way to go before being considered mainstream, some obvious signs show various cryptocurrencies are making it in the traditional business space.
When talking about any cryptocurrency taking over fiat, we have to think about which one would be the best replacement for the traditional financial system.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the one cryptocurrency that remains most likely to become mainstream and get adopted by the world on a large scale. While there is no single authoritative list of companies that accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Coin Telegraph suggests that over 54 major companies currently accept one or more cryptocurrencies. Out of the 54 companies, just two don’t accept Bitcoin.
Looking at this statistic, Bitcoin easily outpaces all other cryptocurrencies at the moment.


Altcoins

Altcoins are cryptocurrencies that are alternative to Bitcoin. They tend to see lower levels of acceptance among major companies, as fewer companies want to take such a risk. Coin Telegraph suggests that, when compared with the 52 major companies that accept Bitcoin at the moment, only 25 accept Litecoin, 13 accept Ethereum, 14 accept Bitcoin cash, 15 accept Dogecoin and 12 accept Monero.
However, these 52 companies reported by Coin Telegraph are not the only ones that accept cryptocurrencies. UseBitcoin is a directory that lists over 5,000 businesses and retailers, with nearly all of them accepting Bitcoin. On the other hand, the large majority of these companies don’t accept other cryptocurrencies.
More and more businesses are accepting cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin or are even developing their own ones. Cryptocurrencies are witnessing wider acceptance as the years go by. Places that have accepted only Bitcoin in the past started accepting Litecoin, Ethereum, or some other cryptocurrency. On top of that, there are even ATMs that offer cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. That being said, Bitcoin is still dominant in the cryptocurrency space.
In the end, it’s difficult to guess if cryptocurrencies will get mainstream and if they will, which will able to break into it most decisively. Bitcoin has the advantage of the biggest name and largest market cap cryptocurrencies, as well as being the first one to break into the market. However, altcoins continue to grow in popularity against Bitcoin, even when we take into consideration the bear market.
At the moment, no cryptocurrency has effectively become mainstream and overtaken fiat in any aspect in any part of the world.

Conclusion

There is a possibility that cryptocurrencies may one day take over the role of money from fiat currencies. However, the obstacles they face at the moment, such as widespread adoption, regulation, and such, are extending the horizon enough for the analysts to be unable to predict the future outcome.
One thing is certain, and that is that cryptocurrencies are a groundbreaking technology.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 27 – Crypto markets consolidating as adoption rises

After an explosive gain cryptocurrency industry had yesterday, the past 24 hours have been quite stagnant in price. Many cryptocurrencies just tried to consolidate and form respect towards support/resistance lines. If we take a look at today’s prices, Bitcoin went down2.15%, and it is now trading at $7,107. Ethereum lost 1.5%, while XRP went down 1..51%.

Of the top100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, the biggest gainer is LINA, with 67.55% daily gain. The biggest loser of the day was Digitex Futures, which lost 8.10% of its value.

Bitcoin’s dominance has stayed on virtually the same spot when compared to its value from the past 24 hours. Its dominance now sits at 65.94%.

Note: At the moment of this publication, Bitcoin drops below $6,900 on the news of a $50 million hack of Ethereum in the Korean exchange Upbit. All cryptos are currently losing their close supports.

The cryptocurrency market as a whole now has a market capitalization of $1195.19 billion, which represents a significant increase (around $9 billion) when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Even though the price doesn’t show it, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are slowly getting more and more adoption. A cryptocurrency-friendly travel booking platform has partnered with the online travel agency giant Booking.com therefor making cryptocurrencies available to people using Booking.com. This deal will allow Travala users to book their accommodation listed on Booking.com with cryptocurrencies.

While this is a great thing, there are no changes to Booking.com as a platform, so this info will impact just the Travala platform users.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

After yesterday, when Bitcoin bulls rallied and managed to pull the price back above the $7,000 threshold, Bitcoin started consolidating. Once the price even pushed to break its key level of $7,415 but failed to do so, Bitcoin has been on a slight decline, but contained within two key levels.


Bitcoin’s volume started to drop after the failed attempt to break $7,415. Its RSI level broke the oversold territory once the movement up started.

 

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1:  $7,415                                        1: $6,620

2: $8,000

3: $8,425                                


Ethereum

Ethereum had a terrible weekend as well as its price plummeted almost $50. After the big drop, it rallied back up along with most cryptocurrencies. However, unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum did not manage to stay contained within its “safe zone.” It is now trading at around $145, which is just below the support zone, which now turned resistance.


Ethereum’s RSI is now above the oversold territory, while its volume has decreased heavily when compared to the past couple of days.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $167.8                                            1: $127

2: $178.6

3: $185


XRP

XRP has not yet decided on what price to anchor to, meaning its s support levels are still unclear. Its price seems to be consolidating as well, which means that support and resistance lines will be revealed soon. XRP did not break any resistance levels and stayed in the price limbo that it was at after the bear move. Its price is now somewhere around $0.219.


XRP’s RSI barely moved above the oversold territory, while its volume is still on very high levels.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $0.235                                           1:  still unclear

2: $0.245

3: $0.266

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

9 Best Cryptocurrency Wallets in 2019

Unlike fiat money, cryptocurrencies do not have a central authority or a designated place where you can safely keep them. But just like with real money, you need to store your crypto funds somewhere safe and secure.

Cryptocurrency wallets are the answer to the “how do I interact with my crypto coins safely?” question. A cryptocurrency wallet lets you trade, store, buy, sell, and swap cryptocurrencies in a safe way.

It can be difficult identifying the crypto wallet that suits your personality and needs. Whether you’re the laid back guy or girl that likes to check into cryptoverse once a week, the savvy trader who’s always on top of the market, or the HODLer, we have compiled a list of the top cryptocurrency wallets that are reputable, secure, and convenient to help you navigate the crypto world as safely and rewardingly as possible.

We based our criteria on supported cryptos, security, recovery options, and more. Read on for the top 9 cryptocurrency wallets in the market today.

Top Cryptocurrency Wallets

Ledger Nano X

Ledger Nano X is the latest hardware wallet offered by crypto solutions company, Ledger. The wallet won the “Consumers Innovation Honoree Award” during its launch – stirring the attention of crypto enthusiasts. 

The wallet’s screen is designed to display all the details of your transactions at once. It has two buttons, which will control the entire operation of the hardware wallet. The Nano X is also Bluetooth enabled, enabling you to pair it with your iPhone or Android and check your balance, send and receive crypto, and add accounts – all with a few taps on your phone. 

Ledger Nano X has an in-built rechargeable battery, so you don’t have to worry about tagging along the USB cable everywhere with you. It will also allow you to store up to 22 coins and ERC-20 tokens with its live version and is compatible with other crypto wallets ranging from MyCrypto, MyEtherWallet, Magnum Wallet, Yoroi Wallet, AdaLite, Trinity, Galleon, OWallet, LisKish and more. 

As of November 2019, Nano X supports a cool 1338 crypto assets, from the most popular ones like Bitcoin, Tether, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum Classic, Cardano, to other less known ones like Pundi, Quant, Aeternity, RHOC, CA, and so on.

The device is equipped with a state-of-the-art security chip – the CC EAL5+ – making it nearly impossible for your cryptos to be stolen. 

Ledger Nano X allows users to connect it via two ways: USB and Bluetooth. Currently, it’s compatible with 64-bit computers (Windows+, macOS, and Linux), as well as iOS 9+ and Android 7+. 

Also, Nano X allows you to recover your crypto account even if you lose your device. Its 24-word recovery phrase, a.k.a seed phrase, is a list of words that stores all the info you need to recover your wallet.

Ledger Nano S

Listing two wallets from the same company might seem an overkill, but Ledger’s products deserve space on this list simply because they both go toe to toe with the best in the market.

Ledger Nano S is the older sibling to Nano X but has qualities that help it maintain its revered place in the wallet market.

Nano S’ screen lets you see everything at a go, with two buttons that let you control it. Your wallet is protected with a secure chip always locked by a pin code. That and its offline status secures your private key from prying eyes and internet vulnerabilities.

Customers can choose from either matte black, saffron yellow, lagoon blue, transparent, and jade green colors. Nano S can support 1100+ cryptocurrencies and tokens, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Bitcoin Gold, Litecoin, Waves, Ark, Stealth, Horizen, and more.

Just like Nano X, Nano S is compatible with other crypto wallets such as Yoroi, MyCrypto, MyEtherWallet, Fairy Wallet, Beryllium, VeForge Vault, OWallwt, Neo Wallet, Kin Laboratory, and more.

You can connect Ledger Nano S to the computer via a USB 2.0 port, and the system is compatible with 64-bits computers (Windows 8+, Mac 10.8+) and Linux. It’s also compatible with Android 7+ smartphones.

The wallet doesn’t need to be charged – it uses your PC’s power when you plug it in.

KeepKey

Launched in 2015, KeepKey is one of the most recognizable crypto wallets. The wallet uses advanced security technology to protect your funds from theft and hacks. Even if someone gets hold of your wallet and installed it in a modified software that’s not designed by KeepKey, the device wouldn’t let them proceed.

Part of the reason KeepKey is popular is that it’s embedded with a cryptocurrency exchange – ShapeShift – making it possible to trade crypto coins and tokens right on the device. 

KeepKey supports 12, 18, and 24 recovery phrases to enable you to recover your cryptos in case the device is spoiled, stolen, or lost.

KeepKey wallet supports eight cryptocurrencies – namely Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin gold, DASH, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Digibyte. It can also host 46 ERC-20 tokens, including Decentraland, Edgeless, FisrtBlood, Gnosis, District0X, Dai, CyberMiles, and more. Also, users can interact with 1000 more cryptos via KeepKey and MyEtherWallet integration.

KeepKey is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux, and you will find the KeepKey Client app on either of the platforms via Google Chrome. iPhone and Android users can access KeepKey by installing the MyCelium app available on Google Play and Apple’s App Store. If you want to use a phone to operate KeepKey, you have to connect to your phone using an OTG adapter cable.

Exodus

Exodus wallet is a desktop and mobile wallet that gives users the whole crypto experience – from sending to loved ones to paying for things to HODLing to trading right within the software. It has a simple design that even beginner traders will find it extremely easy to navigate. Its versatile design with real-time display of digital assets; and a customizable portfolio that allows you to change themes, background color, and other features has endeared it to the crypto community.

As of November 2010, the wallet supports 102+ crypto coins and tokens, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, plus other little known ones like Genesis Vision, Salt, Otum, Leopring, Aragon, Storj, Decred, TrueUSD and more.

Exodus is a perfect option for users who trade regularly or want to trade on the go. It’s also very convenient to log in to your account and pay for things. And if you lose access to your assets, it provides the option of a seed phrase that will generate your wallet address and private keys.

The wallet doesn’t store any of your information online – including your passcodes and private keys. This is a good thing because it keeps your crypto safe from hackers, but it also means it’s your sole responsibility to protect your account.

Being a software wallet, you don’t need extra hardware like OTG or USB cables to access your wallet. All you need to do is install it on Windows, Linux, or Mac and get to interact with crypto in no time.

CoolWalletS

CoolWalletS is a hardware mobile cold storage introduced in 2016 by the Taiwanese company CoolBitX. With the mobile wallet, you can store, swap, send, and receive crypto at the single touch of a button. The wallet is integrated with Binance DEX and Changelly crypto exchanges, so you never miss any trading opportunity. 

If you’re looking for a discreet (which is a no-brainer when it comes to your private keys), portable, lightweight, and sleekly designed wallet, the CoolWalletS is your go-to option. The wallet is ‘cool’ enough to look exactly like a credit card – so no one will be the wiser to the fact that you’re transacting with a crypto wallet. 

CoolWallet utilizes a high-end security solution – Secure Element (SE) to store your private keys – making it virtually impossible for your coins to be stolen. The secure element is also capable of verifying if your device has been tampered with- by verifying its integrity. CoolWallwet also uses passcodes, a touch ID, and a 2+1 factor authentication (with facial recognition) – which in our opinion sums up to pretty foolproof security. 

On top of that, CoolWalletS is waterproof, shockproof, and temperature resistant – meaning you can get away with quite a lot with your wallet still intact.

The wallet provides support for Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Horizen, ICX, stable coins, and ERC20 tokens, with BitDegree, Formosa Financial, Metal, Cortex, USD Dollar, JoyToken and others. 

CoolWallet utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to facilitate connection to your smartphone or tablet. Currently, it supports iOS 9.1+, and Android 5.0+, with at least the BLE version of 4.0. 

Indacoin

Indacoin is a mobile-based crypto wallet offered provided by UK-based Indacoin Limited, the company that runs the Indacoin crypto exchange. Launched in 2013, the wallet allows users to instantly buy crypto with the use of their credit or debit card. As well, you can exchange and manage cryptocurrency from right within the wallet with the use of a single app. However, the wallet does not support selling crypto as of now.

Russia and Turkey users can use Indacoin to withdraw crypto to a debit or credit card. Users from other countries only have the option of crypto-based withdrawals.

The wallet features an intuitive and easy to use interface that makes it stress-free to buy, receive, swap, or trade crypto on the go. The wallet provides support for 100+ cryptocurrencies, including big hitters like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, Litecoin, Binance as well as other less dominant ones like IOTA, Bumbacoin, Chesscoin, CondenSate and so on. 

To ensure users’ safety, Indacoin only accepts 3D-secured cards like MasterCard and SecureCode and Visa Verified. Indacoin also does not store your card details – a move that protects your personal data. Purchases are also verified via a verification code sent via SMS to your phone. 

Indacoin is available for Android 4.1+ and iOS 9.0 and later versions. 

Trezor 

Trezor is almost an instantly recognizable name in nearly every crypto setting. That’s because it was the first-ever wallet to store crypto offline, and it has so far maintained the reputation of being one the most secure hardware wallet out there. Trezor is available in two models: Trezor One and Trezor Model T. The difference between the two models is Model T lets you control it via a touchscreen while One uses two physical buttons.

Both models let you view the status of your transactions on the display. You don’t need a battery to power them since they will be powered by your PC when you plug them in.

Trezor supports 1000+ coins, with big-timers like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Stellar, EOS, DASH, ZCash, Monero and also others you probably haven’t heard of, like Seele, Revain, FunFair, GNY, Unobtanium, Fusin, Tael, Ruff, Numerai, Insolar, Polis, DADI and so on.

The wallet is also compatible with other crypto wallets, including Exodus, Magnum, Bloks.io, AdaLite, and Yoroi.

Trezor provides the option of creating a seed phrase that protects your private key in the event of theft, loss, and destruction. It supports BIP39 phrases – which it doesn’t store nor remember. This way, even if someone gets their hands on your wallet, your account remains safe. As a further protective measure, Trezor’s hardware case is ultrasonically welded in such a way that it cannot be restored after breakage. 

The device is compatible with both computers and smartphones. If you have Windows 7 and later versions, macOS 10.11+, Linux, and Android, you can get Trezor and try it out.

Guarda

Guarda is a non-custodial web, desktop, mobile, and Chrome Extension wallet that allows you to buy, sell, receive, send, and store crypto. Introduced in 2017, the wallet is one of the few that allows so many functionalities for crypto in ‘one roof.’

The web and desktop wallets can be used on any device running on Windows, Linux, or macOS, while the mobile-based wallet allows Android and iOS users anywhere, anytime. Its inbuilt crypto purchase function lets you buy crypto using both crypto and fiat currencies. Besides, it features an exchange that lets you effortlessly swap coins from one currency to the other.

All Guarda’s wallets are non-custodial – meaning you are entirely in charge of your addresses and private keys. Also, your personal information is not out there in the hands of a third party, and you won’t be subjected to intrusive Know Your Customer procedures.

Guarda requires you to save a backup file each time you create or import a wallet. You get logged out of the account if there’s no activity for a particular period. All backups are secured through the cutting edge Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), so your sensitive data is always safe and secure. What’s more, you can configure the mobile version wallet to require Touch ID/Face ID unlock.

You can even import private keys From Guarda’s own wallets or other exchange, desktop, or web-based wallets. There’s also a dedicated menu that lets you connect to Ledger Nano S and view your transactions on the Nano S wallet on Guarda. 

You can create your own ERC20 tokens via the wallet’s Guarda Token Generator – another exciting functionality of this wallet.

Guarda supports over 40 major blockchains and 10,000+ tokens. Household names like Bitcoin, Ethereum, DASH, Litecoin make the list. So do other little known ones like Groestlcoin, ReddCoin, Maker, Gulden, Expanse, Gemini dollar, and so on.

Coinbase

Coinbase wallet is an app wallet provided by the crypto exchange Coinbase that offers your state of the art security for your crypto. With Coinbase, you can store tokens bought from other exchanges or Initial Coin Offering events. Users can also interact with Ethereum-based decentralized applications (DApps) on its DApp browser.

Cooinbase is a separate product from the exchange – meaning you don’t have to have an account on the exchange to access and use the wallet. Anyone from anywhere with any IOS or Android device can download and install it.

It’s important to distinguish between the Coinbase wallet and the exchange wallet on Coinbase.com. The exchange wallet will store your private keys on Coinbase’s servers, while the wallet app lets you store your private keys on your device. Also, with the app, you can easily move cryptocurrency from its existing wallet apps like Metamask, MyEtherWallet, and others.

With Coinbase Wallet, your private keys are secured with Secure Enclave – a high-end security feature that enables your wallet to remain intact even if it were hacked. On top of that, the wallet employs biometric technology to prevent unauthorized success.

Another remarkable feature by the wallet is always keeping you up to speed with the current price of cryptos in your local currency. Over 100 fiat currencies are supported – including EUR, GBP, USD, AUD, and CAD.

Currently, the Coinbase wallet lets you manage Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and all ERC-20 tokens. You can also store cats, monsters, art, and even ERC721 digital collectibles all in one beautiful gallery.

The wallet lets you back up your private keys on Google Drive and iCloud. Some people are skeptical about how safe those options are, but with a strong, unique password and multiple-factor authentication, we think they can be considered safe.

You can operate the wallet on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch as long as the device supports version 11.0 or later versions. For Android devices, you need to have at least the 6.0 version or later versions. The Coinbase wallet app is available for download on Google Play and iOS App Store. 

Conclusion

If you’re serious about crypto, you need to get a safe, secure, and robust crypto wallet. Each of these options provides one of the best experiences possible of interacting with crypto. Of course, you should get the wallet that best suits your needs, your personality, and how regularly you interact with crypto. Also, ensure to buy your wallet directly from the company’s website, just to stay safe. 

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Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 22 – Crypto market crashes as China allegedly shuts down Binance Shanghai office in a crackdown

The cryptocurrency market had a major crash today. Most cryptocurrencies ended up being in the significant red. If we take a look at the past 24 hours, Bitcoin went down 0.6.51%, and it is now trading at $7,577. Ethereum lost 8.01%, while XRP went down 3.62%.

Of the top100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, the biggest gainer is MMO Coin, with 104.8% daily gain. The biggest loser of the day was DxChain Token, which lost 40.09% of its value.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased by around 0.4% when compared to yesterday’s value. Its dominance now sits at 65.58%.

The cryptocurrency market as a whole now has a market capitalization of $208.21 billion, which represents a significant decrease when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Chinese authorities have reportedly shut down Binance’s Shanghai offices. Binance is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.

Citing unnamed local sources, The Block announced that the local police raided Binance’s Shanghai offices and shut them down. Binance has around 50-100 employees working in Shanghai.

Binance has not yet responded to any requests for comment at the moment.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a significant crash today. Its price managed to break down under $8,000 and even test the big $7,415 key support level. As that level managed to hold the bears off for now, Bitcoin is now trading just above it.


Bitcoin’s volume increased as the move down progressed. Its RSI level is extremely low and is sitting in the oversold territory for some time now. It currently has a value of 13.6.

The key level of $8,000 passed to the upside, while the major key level to the downside is not $7,415.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $8,000                                           1: $7,415

2: $8,425

3: $8,640                                   


Ethereum

Ethereum also broke its immediate resistance in the past 24 hours. After spending the day trading just below its immediate resistance of 178.6, Ethereum’s price slipped down and made its way towards below the $163.5 line. The price managed to stabilize above the green support area and is now trading close to $160.


The only major change in key levels is that the key level of $167.9 moved to the upside.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: 178.6                                             1: $167.8

2: $185

3: $193.5


XRP

XRP’s ranging movements stopped today, as the price crashed down. Its price fell below its key support level of $0.245, which made XRP unstable as bears took over the market. Even though it fell all the way down to $0,236, XRP managed to recover slightly and is now trading just under its $0,245 support level. If, however, bulls do not manage to cross over it, XRP may attempt to break down the $0.235 support key level.


The key levels of $0.245 moved to the upside, while the key level of $0.235 is added to the downside levels.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $0.245                                           1:  $0.235

2: $0.266

3: $0.285

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

A Simple Guide to Cold and Hot Wallets

Cryptocurrency wallets are software or devices that allow users to send, receive, and store cryptocurrency.  Most cryptocurrencies have designed their own wallets, e.g., Bitcoin has the Bitcoin wallet, Ethereum has the Ethereum Wallet, and Litecoin has Litecoin-QT. However, there are some companies that design third-party wallets that allow you to store more than one type of cryptocurrency. If you want to interact with any cryptocurrency, i.e., sending, storing, and spending, a cryptocurrency wallet is necessary.

There are two broad categories of wallets: hot and cold wallets. In this explainer, we delve into what makes a wallet hot or cold, the pros and cons of each, and how to stay safe when handling crypto – whether you’re using a hot or cold wallet.

What Are Hot and Cold Storage Wallets?

The terms hot and cold wallets are used to describe the medium that is storing a cryptocurrency. Hot wallets are purely online-based, while cold wallets are offline-based. In other words, hot wallets are connected to the internet, while cold wallets are not.

A hot wallet is hosted online through platforms that offer these storage services. A user entrusts their public and private keys to the platform, which then secures and manages it for them.  Many hot wallets are free – all you need to do is sign up and start using the service. It’s advisable not to store huge amounts of cryptocurrencies in a hot wallet – they are vulnerable to hacking. Also, you should research intensively before committing to one type of hot wallet. This is due to the following reasons:

☑️ Some hot wallet providers are not providers at all – they are scam projects looking to rip off oblivious users

☑️ Different hot wallet providers provide different user interface experience

☑️ Some hot wallets are designed to work in tandem with other apps or to support only certain cryptocurrencies

☑️ Different hot wallet providers have varying levels of expertise, commitment to safety and security, and different end goals

☑️ Some hot wallet providers are willing to continuously upgrade their model to keep up with changing hacking tricks, while others are not

Cold wallets are considered the safest crypt wallets because they are immune to cyber-attacks and other on line hazards.

Just like with hot wallets, you should consider the following factors before committing to any cold wallet:

☑️ The wallet shouldn’t be too hard to use – choose a wallet that doesn’t need a lot of practice before you can get it right

☑️ The wallet should be convenient – while all cold wallets are more suitable for long term storage and HODLing, some provide more convenience in terms of size, being discreet, etc.

Types of Hot Wallets

Hot wallets fall mainly into two categories: cloud-based wallets and multi-signature wallets. What sets these categories apart is the number of keys that control the crypto account.

Cloud wallets store cryptocurrencies using any device that has an internet connection, including a smartphone or computer.

Multi-signature wallets, also known as multi-sig wallets, are wallets that require more than one key in order for the transaction to proceed. This makes it difficult for hackers to access the information or execute a brute force attack on the wallet (which is guessing multiple private keys until you find the right one.)

A multi-sig wallet may, for example, issue three private keys: one held by the host, the other by the user, and the other one by a third trusted party.

Types of Cold Wallets

There are two types of cold wallets, and these are hardware and paper wallets.

Hardware wallets are physical devices that keep your private keys on a hardware device with the look and functionality of a USB device. Some developers provide hardware devices that are compatible with several web interfaces, but not interacting with the internet at all. In the same way, hardware devices let you conduct online transactions without having your private key interact with the internet whatsoever.

Paper wallets, on the other hand, are generated by printing out your private key and storing it offline. A software program creates them offline and is then deleted afterward to erase any trace of the key.

Cold or Hot Wallets?

New crypto users often ask themselves this question: Which is better, cold, or hot wallets? Well, that depends on your needs.

If you’re going to be interacting with your crypto often, e.g., by active trading or paying for things regularly, then it’s best to operate an easy-to-access hot wallet. However, it’s highly recommended that you don’t keep large sums of crypto in a hot wallet since if it gets hacked, you will lose all your cryptos. In other words, store small sum, for-daily-use cryptos online, and keep the rest in cold storage.

In terms of security, cold wallets win hands down. They are safe from viruses, hacking, and other types of malware. Some developers even design them in such a manner that even if you plug them in a computer that has malware, it remains unscathed. However, cold wallets are susceptible to getting lost, a fire, water, or theft. The lesson here is to keep your cold wallet in a secure, private place safe from prying eyes, fire, water, and wear and tear.

As we’ve so far mentioned in this article, hot wallets are susceptible to internet hazards like hacking, phishing, scamming, and so on. Online wallet providers may put in place the most stringent security measures, but even that has been known to fail. The most foolproof measure to secure your online-based cryptos may be insurance. Some sites like Coinbase and Binance have insured their clients’ crypto assets in case of loss or theft, which is reassuring.

Based on this information, the decision to use hot or cold storage is entirely yours. However, you should first know the advantages and disadvantages of each type of wallet before deciding upon either. Here are the perks of hot and cold wallets together with their cons.

Pros and cons of hot and cold wallets

Pros of Hot Wallets

Most of them are free

They offer quick access to your cryptocurrency

They are easy to use

Cons of Hot Wallets

They are susceptible to cyber fraud and cannot guarantee full safety

Your funds can be permanently lost in the hands of your wallet provider.

Pros of Cold Wallets

They are secure and robust methods of storing crypto assets long-term

They are immune from cyber fraud

You don’t entrust them to a third party – you are in full control of your funds

Cons of Cold Wallets

They can be expensive, depending on the model

They are not ideal for day-to-day use or for making micropayments

They are susceptible to loss, theft or external damage

They are not convenient for trading purposes

Best Practices for Keeping Your Wallet Secure 

Whether you settle on a hot or cold wallet, you can save yourself a lot of heartache by taking some safety precautions:

  • Keep as little cryptocurrency as possible in the wallet that you use frequently
  • Use applications such as Google Authenticator to enhance security for your online wallet
  • Disable any automatic updates for your hot wallet
  • Don’t access your hot wallet via public Wi-Fi
  • Enable multiple-factor authentication for your wallet
  • Backup your wallet and keep the backups in several safe locations
  • Update your software regularly

Conclusion

If you’re looking to invest, trade, or make transactions using cryptocurrency, a crypto wallet is essential. A good wallet can be the difference between safely keeping your coins and losing them. The most important thing to remember is that hot or cold; your wallet’s safety largely depends on you. Also, remember to take your time and go over the available options before deciding to settle on any particular wallet.

Categories
Crypto Guides

A Simple Guide To Cryptocurrency Wallet & Its Different Types

What is a crypto wallet?

Crypto wallets are software programs that store a user’s public and private keys. These wallets interact with different blockchain networks to send and receive cryptocurrencies. Many have a misconception that crypto wallets literally store digital currencies, but that is not the case. Cryptocurrencies always reside in the native blockchain network, and their ownership is just signed off to others based on their public keys to the address of the crypto wallet. If the owner of the crypto wants to spend the money, they spend the currency using their private key in the wallet. So when we say, the cryptos are stored in the crypto wallet, essentially, we are storing the corresponding public and private keys in them.

Types of crypto wallets

There are different types of crypto wallets, and they are differentiated based on how they can be accessed. The fundamental classification is online and offline wallets. Online wallets are those wallets that can be accessed by connecting them to the internet. Contrarily, offline wallets are those that can never be connected to the internet. Let’s understand each of the types below.

Online Wallets   

Desktop Wallets 

These wallets are installable software packs for operating systems like Windows, MAC, and Linux. Any crypto company which is serious about their outreach would start a desktop wallet on day one of their ICO. Since these are accessible only from the installed device, they are considered to be secure, but there is always a risk of virus attacks on a user’s device. Hence it is advisable to always keep up with the security patches of the device to safeguard cryptos. These wallets stand in third place in terms of security.

Exodus, Bitcoin Core, Electrum are few examples of desktop wallets.

Mobile Wallets

Mobile wallets for different cryptos are the most used digital wallets because of the ease and agility they provide. Most of the mobile wallets available in the market support both Android and IOS. The least famous ones at least support the Android version. One needs to seriously consider the security provided by the application while choosing a mobile wallet. These wallets occupy fourth place when it comes to safety.

Mycelium, Coinomi are examples of mobile wallets.

Web Wallets

These wallets run on the cloud and are accessible through any device which has browser access. These are very convenient but also prone to theft, thus needs multiple layers of security. There are hosted and non-hosted wallets when it comes to online wallets, and it is always recommended to use non-hosted wallets. These wallets occupy fifth, which is the last place in the wallet types available, thus making them the least secure.

MyEther Wallet and Coinbase are examples of online wallets.

Offline Wallets

Hardware Wallets

As the name suggests, these wallets are hardware devices that store public addresses and private keys. It is a USB kind of equipment that can be connected to any computing device, and they come with their native apps. These are the most secure as these are not connected to the internet all the time, making them resistant to hacking. Most hardware wallets allow us to store more than 22 cryptocurrencies.

Ledger Nano S, Ledger Nano X, and Trezor are some of the best examples of hardware wallets available in the market.

Paper Wallets

In paper wallets, one must print the public address and private keys of the user on a paper and store them securely. Not all the cryptos offer paper wallets, but most of the famous cryptos do. These are the second safest option after hardware wallets as these are offline as well.

Security is not the only thing one must consider while choosing a wallet. Because convenience also plays a critical role. It is often advisable to select hardware wallets if a crypto trader wants to store huge quantities of crypto for a long term use. Online or mobile wallets can be used to store smaller amounts of cryptos for short term usage.

Categories
Crypto Guides

Understanding Public Keys & Private Keys and Their Working

Introduction

Blockchains use public and private key cryptography to perform transactions in a cryptocurrency network. Public keys are generally widely known and used for identification of the person while private keys are secret keys, which is known only to the person who owns it. Private keys must be kept as secret as they are used for authentication of a transaction.

The Difference

Both public and private keys are a part of the asymmetric encryption of cryptography. The fundamental difference between these two is that the former is used for data encryption and the latter for decryption. Simply said, the Public key converts the message to an unreadable format whereas the Private key decrypts that message and converts it back to the original message. Hence, once the message is encrypted, it can never be decrypted without the help of the private key.

Both private and public keys are large integer numbers represented with a combination of numbers and alphabets. Since we understood the concept of public and private keys now, let us see how they are used in the crypto networks.

How does Public and Private key Cryptography work?

We know that digital wallets are used for sending and receiving cryptocurrencies. Digital wallets are not traditional wallets that store money in a digital format, but they store only public and private keys of the owner of the wallet. Private keys are used to sign the transaction through which the cryptos are transferred digitally. This digital signature is used to confirm the transaction was indeed send by the user who claims to have done the transaction, and no one can alter the same once the transaction is issued.

If someone were to have your private key, they could easily send the money from your wallet to their wallet by verifying the private key. Hence private keys are to be kept a secret from others. This is why it is said if the private key is lost, you lose all your money unless you have a technique to regenerate the private key and transfer it to a replica of your wallet or a new one.

The public key is generated using the private key and some additional information using cryptographic algorithms. This public key is widely known to all the people so that the transactions can be done. One may question if the public key is generated from a private key, can’t we reverse engineer and generate the private key from the public key? The answer is NO. The generation of keys is only one way, but the reverse is not possible since we are using asymmetric cryptographic encryption techniques designed by the National Security Agency of the USA.

Thus, using a combination of public and private keys, one can send and receive the money in digital wallets. Using a public key, one can easily decrypt the digital signature of the user signed using the private key.

Bottom Line

This is how transferring of digital currencies generally works. To end it with a simple example, if Nick wants to send some money say in Bitcoins/Ethereum/Litecoin etc. using his hardware wallet ‘Ledger Nano S’ or any online wallet like Coinbase, what should he actually do? He accesses his private key from the wallet and digitally sign the transaction, and this transaction is sent to the blockchain network. This transaction is verified using the public key to validate if the transaction is indeed being done by the wallet that it is being said, and thus the transaction is successful.

We hope you got a clear idea of what Public and Private keys are. In the upcoming articles, let’s discuss what crypto wallets are and their types. Cheers!

Categories
Crypto Guides

Consensus & Its Importance In Any Existing Cryptocurrency

Introduction

In most of our previous articles, we have discussed a lot of topics regarding cryptocurrencies. We now know the properties of cryptos, advantages, and their fundamental purpose. In this article, let’s discuss the concept of consensus and why it is essential for the existence of any cryptocurrency.

The consensus algorithm plays a vital role in validating the transactions of any crypto network. One of the crucial reasons for the success of cryptos is its ability to handle the problem of double-spending adequately. And this also an important reason for the failure of digital currencies before Bitcoin; they weren’t able to solve the problem of double-spending. So let’s see what this problem is about.

Double Spending

Double spending is a fraud where the same money is promised for two different transactions but is spent on making only one transaction in real. This is a significant problem for digital currencies because the entire system is decentralized, and there is no entity confirming the authenticity of the transactions. The cryptos after Bitcoin alleviate this problem by waiting for the confirmation of the payments. During this wait time (which is very minimal in general), the transactions are validated by the users present in the blockchain network using the ‘consensus’ algorithms.

The consensus here is nothing but a mutual agreement within all the partiers that are present in a cryptocurrency network. The majority of the validators must approve the transactions, and this is made possible by the consensus algorithm. Also, because of this protocol, a crypto network cannot be controlled by a single person or a group of people. Now, let’s look at two of the most important and equally reliable consensus mechanisms – Proof of Work & Proof of Stake.

Proof of Work (POW)

Proof of Work is used by Bitcoin blockchain. This consensus algorithm proposes a mathematical problem for the miners in the network. To solve this challenge, high power computing devices are used, and thereby a lot of electricity is consumed. The first one to solve the problem gets to validate the transactions and communicate the same to all the other miners in the network through gossip protocol. Then all the other miners verify the transactions and seal them in a block.

The crux here is this. To solve this challenge, the miner uses a considerable amount of power and hardware, which is a costly process. Hence, one would be honest enough to not validate faulty transactions as a lot of stake from the user side is already expended. This is how POW makes the miners be reliable and run the blockchain efficiently. They are rewarded with the in-house cryptos for doing this work. Though the POW consensus algorithm is the most efficient one out there, it is the costliest of all the consensus algorithms and not eco-friendly, which is the need of the hour.

Proof of Stake (POS)

In this consensus protocol, the participants who want to be the validators must stake some of the native cryptocurrency in a virtual safe for a specified period. The network randomly picks the validators based on certain methods. The two most used methods are ‘Randomized Block Selection’ and ‘Coin Age Selection.’ In Randomized block selection, the validator is chosen based on the highest stake and lowest hash value. While in the Coin Age Selection, the validators are picked based on the duration of the native currency staked in the virtual safe. Dash and Peer coin are examples of cryptos that use POS.

Why is POS more reliable than POW? 

POS algorithm uses considerably less energy compared to POW. Hence, the process is less expensive, and most importantly, it is eco-friendly. Also, the POS protocol fulfills the fundamental property of blockchain as it serves the purpose of complete decentralization. This is not the case in POW because currently, there are large mining pools who mine cryptos (Bitcoins, for example) and get the maximum reward. But that’s not possible in POS, making them truly decentralized.

Conclusion

Apart from these two, there are other major consensuses like Delegated Proof of Stake (DPOS), Proof of Burn (PoB), Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET), and Proof of Activity (PoA). These protocols are gaining momentum because of their efficiency and eco-friendly nature. However, a lot of research is still happening to develop more efficient and cost-effective consensuses. We hope you find this article worthful. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 18 – Wyoming banking with cryptocurrency, Venezuela paying Christmas bonus in Petro

The cryptocurrency market had an interesting weekend. Most cryptocurrencies had a price spike at the start of the weekend, followed by a sharp decline after it. If we take a look at the past 24 hours, Bitcoin went down 0.47%, and it is now trading at $8,440. Ethereum gained 0.67%, while XRP went down 0.39%.

Of the top100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, the biggest gainer is Dx Chain Token, with 18.17% daily gain. The biggest loser of the day was Aurora, which lost 8.91% of its value.

Bitcoin’s dominance remained at the same place from the last time we checked the markets. Its dominance now sits at 65.72%.

The cryptocurrency market as a whole now has a market capitalization of $233.84 billion, which represents a slight decrease when compared to the value it had before the weekend.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Wyoming passed legislation that authorized charters for Special Purpose Depository Institutions (or SPDI banks), the first-of-their-kind commercial-grade bank that allows companies dealing in cryptocurrencies to conduct its business in the same manner as any other non-cryptocurrency company would.

In other news, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro announced that the retirees and pensioners will receive their Christmas bonus in the form of the newly-created national cryptocurrency Petro.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a turbulent weekend. As the weekend started, its price tried to overcome the $8,820 level but failed. It passed $8,640 to the downside as a response to the lack of bull power. This move paints a very unclear picture of the future Bitcoin movements as there are no clear-set support lines that the price can anchor to.


Bitcoin’s volume is even lower than before the weekend, with RSI heading towards the oversold territory. Key levels have not changed, as there have been no significant price movements.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $8,640                                           1: $8,425

2: $8,820

3: $9,120                                         


Ethereum

Ethereum broke the range it was trading at before the weekend started. As the price fell below the $185 line, it found new support at $178.6. The price tested the newfound support at one point during the weekend, but the bulls quickly reacted and brought Ethereum above it. Ethereum is currently retesting the resistance level of $185.


Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $185                                              1: $178.6

2: $193.5                                           2: $167.8

3: $198


XRP

XRP is, similar to Bitcoin, stuck in a price limbo. As it fell below its major support of $0.266, it had no clear support lines to anchor to. With the first major key support level being $0.245, XRP is now roaming freely between this level and the $0.266 level, which now became resistance. At one point during the weekend, XRP attempted to break the resistance level to the upside, but failed and tumbled down from 0.266 to the current $0.26.


The key levels remain the same as they were before the weekend as XRP didn’t pass any key levels up or down.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $0.266                                           1: $0.245

2: $0.285

3: $0.31

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Why Crypto Spells the Death of Government Fiat Money

For most of human history, money has been used not only as a measure and exchange of value but also a tool for elites and governments to oppress and control those who had less of it. The phrase ‘money is evil’ has been coined in every language largely because the precious currency that revolutionized humanity has also been at the center of world wars, enormous government indebtedness, inflation, depression, and even the rise of tyrannical states all over the world.

Blockchain, the first distributed ledger technology that gave birth to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, promised the end of elite and government-controlled money. The mysterious inventor of blockchain Satoshi Nakamoto buried an Easter egg in the genesis block of Bitcoin that reads:

Chancellor on Brink of Second Bailout for Banks.’

The notation, which was the cover story of The Times on January 3, 2009, is believed to have been instilled in the Genesis Block of blockchain possibly to timestamp the beginning of a new financial system out of the control of the banks, corporations, wealthy families, and governments among others.

Crypto getting more love than ever before

In its whitepaper published on bitcoin.org, Bitcoin claims to be “the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment” system that “has no central authority or middlemen” because it “is powered by its users.” This is what makes this currency very powerful.

In the beginning, governments were the most afraid of cryptocurrency largely because they could not control it. However, as more cryptocurrencies were created, bought, and sold and used to store and exchange value, everyone’s perception gradually leaned towards appreciating it as money.

Since the age of cowrie shells, man’s relationship with money has changed very little. Its value has always depended on how everyone who uses it sees it, and not what the issuer wants it to be valued.

However, since the 16th century, when the gold standard of money was introduced, and banks arose to monopolize its issuance and control, perception of money has changed a lot. This explains why banks and governments were the first to dismiss cryptocurrency and why they have been the slowest to embrace it.

There is a simple reason why cryptocurrencies will be the future of money: they are already in use, and everyone sees their potential now. Just the other day, the price of Bitcoin spiked after China, which had banned bitcoin and heavily regulated cryptocurrencies and blockchain had a dramatic shift in perception after it called Bitcoin “a success” and urged its banks to step up their development of blockchain applications to “embrace digital finance.” This is a clear sign that cryptocurrency adoption has reached a critical point, and no power can roll it back.

Exploitation: the old currency strategy

Throughout history, man has relied on exploitative and collaborative strategies to scale socially as societies grew beyond tribes, kingdoms, empires, cities, and countries.

The exploitative strategy often rewarded the most violent individuals with sociopathic tendencies in society. However, such societies rarely ever thrive for a long time.

The collaborative strategy rewarded individuals who are empathetic and generous. Societies that valued such individuals often prospered, proving that this is the optimal strategy to grow a group of people and to scale a society.

However, considering that every growing society has to eventually grapple with the scarcity of resources, and will need more labor to support itself, even societies that initially arose due to their empathetic and generous nature in most cases fell to the exploitative vices.

The problem here is that the ‘leaders,’ ‘rulers,’ and other central entities tasked with equal distribution of such resources (money in the present-day case) will eventually monopolize and abuse it. This is the case with government-issued money everywhere in the world today.

Government-issued money is also referred to as fiat money. The monetary system used in the world today is a faded shadow of the gold standard monetary system where the value of a country’s currency was directly linked to the value of the gold they held in reserve.

Since most countries already depleted their gold reserves in wars and whatnot, most paper money in circulation is minted by those in charge of governments, and ‘value is created out of thin air.’

Money is no longer primarily a measure or exchange of value but a tool to impose regulatory control. Everywhere in the world, governments of the day have been observed to change inflation rates for personal interests, use government money to finance surveillance on its people, and exploit its people through hefty unavoidable taxes, interest rates manipulation, price and wage restrictions, and capital controls.

Collaboration: the new currency strategy

There is a good reason why banks and governments are on top of the list of cryptocurrency deniers: a new kind of money that promises to distribute wealth and cannot be controlled by a central authority would mean the death of the old exploitative financial strategy. Money that is ‘owned’ by everyone is naturally a threat to entities that thrived in the legal monopoly of money creation.

Cryptocurrency is decentralized in nature, meaning that the creation of value is done transparently on a blockchain or similar platform in such a way that everyone can trust the system. Cryptographic tools that make digital money a reality empower ordinary people to verify and carry out transactions on the platform without the need for a third-party ‘middlemen’ such as banks.

With the new decentralized digital money, the rules of incentivizing everyone are clearly spelled out: collaborators are rewarded, and exploiters are punished. The consensus rules of blockchain platforms are designed to eliminate the chances of monopoly and centralization and to enable free-market competition that nurtures creativity and collaboration.

As proof of this free market and creativity nurtured by blockchain, there have been thousands of cryptocurrency tokens developed and distributed since Satoshi Nakamoto first introduced Bitcoin to the public in 2009. In the global market, government-issued and distributed currencies are competing openly to win over users, and this has spurred all kinds of innovations as each currency does its best to improve its features and make itself the most formidable money of all.

The dark side of cryptocurrency

One of the reasons that governments give for attempting to control and even ban cryptocurrency is that it can and has been used in criminal and illicit transactions. While they often conveniently fail to point out that cash is also used in these transactions, it is true to say that digital money has had its fair share of headline-grabbing bad publicity.

The anonymity that cryptocurrencies accord its users in transactions is one of their core strengths. Unfortunately, this has also turned out to be one of its greatest pitfalls. This is because the privacy of transactions without a middle-man has enabled criminals to commit crimes and evade identification by law enforcement. As cryptocurrencies become more popular and stronger, proponents of fiat money argue that it will become even more difficult for authorities to fight crime.

Price manipulation and financial fraud are serious problems that often plagued fiat financial assets. Unfortunately, cryptocurrencies are not immune to them. The new markets are also at risk of shrewd traders and hackers known to work together to manipulate financial instruments to their advantage at the expense of everyone else. It is a consolation, however, that fraud and price manipulation is much more difficult in the cryptocurrency markets.

The future of money

Governments still have full control of fiat currencies.  A decade after Bitcoin became public, some governments have attempted to regulate cryptocurrencies in an effort to maintain their control but have eventually given up and even attempted to introduce some form of fiat cryptocurrencies that they can still control.

When Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrencies become widely accepted globally, there is a good chance that the entire banking system, as we know it, will be rendered irrelevant. Presently, banks and financial institutions are on the race to become blockchain-compliant to the extent of issuing their own fiat currencies, but it is unclear how far their efforts will go.

The future of money is a subject of debate and speculation. The concept of a global financial system without banks as middlemen sounds wonderful, but no one can predict how it will work. How will savings earn interest? Who will be responsible for distributing your wealth to your dependents when you pass on? How will an asset transfer failure due to a technical glitch be resolved? Who will be called to the rescue if one genius psychopath takes control of an entire cryptocurrency network?

There is no way to shut down cryptocurrencies. As more people understand how these currencies work and appreciate the benefits they bring to the masses, the value of existing currencies will rise, and individuals and businesses will embrace its use. Ultimately, all monies in use in the world will be digital money, and we can only hope that by then, humanity will have devised new forms of government free from exploitation that works well with decentralized forms of currency.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Trading Stocks & Forex vs Trading Cryptocurrencies – what Is Best For The Every Day Trader

 

Trading stocks and FOREX vs. trading cryptocurrencies

Many people are wondering if trading cryptocurrencies can match trading stocks or FOREX in terms of profit potential. Many factors affect traders’ choice on which market to trade. Whether it is the liquidity of the market, volatility, or simply the ease of access to the profit-making trade, everything, and anything can influence that decision. We can certainly point out a few factors that differentiate stocks or FOREX to cryptocurrency trading.

Ease of access

When it comes to trading, the ability to start the process fast and without any issues should be a priority. When it comes to stocks and FOREX trading, trading software is expensive and requires a lot of paperwork and time. It is also demanding in terms of computer performance. On the other hand, cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms offer a quick and painless registration process as well as the ability to trade from any device in most cases.


Stockbrokers also have a day-trading rule, which requires accounts to have more than $25,000 balance in order to day trade. This rule is called “pattern day trading rule” and is created by FINRA (Financial industry regulatory authority) to stop people from day trading stocks with no intention of supporting the companies or investing into their stocks for the longer term. This makes the barrier to enter the “playing field” when it comes to trading stocks much higher.

Volatility

Volatility is the single most important indicator when deciding whether something is tradable or not. It signifies the price oscillation of the tradable asset. The more volatile the asset is, the more profit potential it has. It is safe to say that cryptocurrencies are far more volatile than stocks or FOREX, and still have enough volume for traders to avoid any form of slippage. Markets like FOREX or the big stock indexes are safer, but also much slower.
We can compare the NYSE FANG+ index, which consists of the biggest tech companies: Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Alibaba, Baidu, Nvidia, Tesla, and Twitter. This stock index has returned a total of 21.65% annualized total return, starting from September 19, 2014, until October 31, 2019. It has outperformed the NASDAQ-100 index and S&P500 index by a large margin. Still, when compared to the return Bitcoin has made from September of 2014, it is not even close.


Market liquidity and market depth

Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market have a decent market size, but not close to anything like FOREX. FOREX is by far the biggest tradable market in the world. It trades 5.3 trillion dollars each day. However, even though the cryptocurrency market is a lot smaller, it has no liquidity issues. Both markets are liquid, and the market depth is good enough, so the traders do not have to worry about their orders not being filled, or any form of slippage. As far as liquidity goes, any market liquidity that does not allow for slippage and sudden non-fluid jumps in price are good enough for trading.

Institutional involvement

Institutions are trading every form of asset and commodity they can earn money on. However, the cryptocurrency market is still young and fairly free of institutional manipulation. There is no denying that institutions manipulate the order books and use the latest software and the best technology to create a trading “edge.” This makes trading traditional assets extremely hard. FOREX is especially filled with algorithmic robot-trading and market manipulation (to a degree), which destroys all profit potential traders should have. According to data gathered by Morton Glantz and Robert Kissell, the percentage of algorithmic trading in FOREX is ranging from 85% to 90%. On the other hand, algorithmic trading in cryptocurrencies is minuscule compared to the numbers FOREX shows. Competing with machines that are analyzing as well as entering/exiting positions faster than any human can be extremely hard.


Regulation

When compared to FOREX and stock trading, cryptocurrency markets are less regulated. This gives many platforms a chance to rise and try to offer the best options for the traders, as it is much easier to create a cryptocurrency trading platform than a FOREX brokerage firm. However, quantity does not mean quality. Only a few exchanges are offering innovative and good options to their customers. Most trading platforms offer crypto traders 100x leverage on their traders, among other options, making it much easier to start with less money and profit more from small movements in price.

Uptime

Quite simply, cryptocurrency trading is available every minute, hour, and every day. There is no downtime, not even for holidays. FOREX markets, on the other hand, are not tradable on weekends, while stock markets have trading hours each day. Why should a trader lose two trading days a week in case of FOREX, or even more when it comes to stocks? Most retail traders are trading only part-time, and this gives them the option to be more involved in trading, as the markets are available and tradable at all times.

Conclusion

Every trader needs to decide how much risk he or she can handle. Trading cryptocurrencies is a bit riskier but brings massive profit potential. On the other hand, investing in stock indexes or FOREX can bring constant minute profits over a longer period.

Categories
Ichimoku

The Three Principles – Wave Principle

A man named Hidenobu Sasaki brought Hosada’s Ichimoku system and the three principles to contemporary times. He worked for Citigroup in Japan when he published his 1996 book, Ichimoku Studies.

These three principles have shared characteristics of many various styles and theories in Western technical analysis. A couple of examples of those would be Elliot Wave Theory and Tom DeMark’s Sequential. I would encourage all readers to pick up Nicole Elliots 2nd edition of Ichimoku Charts – An introduction to Ichimoku Kinko Clouds. It is my opinion that her work is the most in-depth on these three principles – even though she reports she does not use them. I also do not use any of these three principles. Nonetheless, they are a component of the entire Ichimoku system.

Principle One – The Wave Principle

The Wave Principle is an enigma. It is both singular in its nature when compared to Western analysis but also very complimentary. Ichimoku is a very dynamic form of analysis with broad interpretation and flexibility available for the analyst/trader. Elliot Wave Theory is a very static form of analysis with strict rules that must be adhered too.

Much of these patterns are going to be very much the same patterns that new traders and analysts first discover when learning Western-style technical analysis. One of the more interesting elements of the Wave Principle is the naming of each pattern. I am not sure if it was Sasaki or Hosada who used English letters to identify the shapes of these patterns. Many of these patterns are self-explanatory and familiar.

One Wave – ‘I’ Wave

Wave One - 'I' Wave
Wave One – ‘I’ Wave

Called the ‘I’ Wave, it is a simple (probably overly simple) single wave. I would call it a trendline more than a wave, but that is what Hosada calls it.

Two Wave – ‘V’ Wave

Two Wave - 'V' Wave
Two Wave – ‘V’ Wave

The ‘V’ wave is one of the most common patterns in technical analysis, it’s one of the first patterns we learn, but it’s not a specific pattern that we learn by itself. The ‘V’ wave is part of the M or W structure that makes up the majority pattern theory in technical analysis.

Three Wave – ‘N’ Wave

Three Wave - 'N' Wave
Three Wave – ‘N’ Wave

Again, this is a common pattern that most of you are already familiar with. The ‘N’ wave pattern in Nicole Elliot’s book shows symmetrical waves – which is important because the ‘N’ wave is essentially an AB=CD pattern, one of the building blocks of Harmonic Patterns. It is also a perfect description of what an A-B-C corrective wave in Elliot Wave Theory looks like.

Five Wave – ‘P’ Wave and ‘Y’ Wave

Five Wave - 'P' Wave
Five Wave – ‘P’ Wave

The ‘P’ wave is essentially another name for a popular and powerful continuation pattern known as a pennant. ‘P’ waves can also represent ascending or descending triangles. You will also see them in Ending Diagonals in Elliot Wave Theory. The pattern should also be called a ‘b’ pattern because the inverse of the ‘P’ pattern, a bullish pennant, is a ‘b’ shaped pattern – a bearish pennant.

Five Wave - 'Y' Wave
Five Wave – ‘Y’ Wave

The ‘Y’ wave is probably more commonly referred to as a megaphone pattern, broadening top or broadening bottom.

Combined Patterns

Combined Waves
Combined Waves

Although it may not need to be said, charts will show multiple patterns at any given time. And due to the fractalized nature of technical analysis, patterns within patterns are normal.

Wave Counts

Wave Counts
Wave Counts

So this part is the one where it will either make little sense or no sense. If you are new to technical analysis and/or never learned Elliot Wave Theory, the wave count component of the wave principle will make little sense. If you know the Elliot Wave Theory, then the wave count component will make no sense. Waves in Ichimoku are measured by time – a very Gann based approach. Trends are either Long-term or Short-term with no delineation between whether it is a bull market or bear market. There is no limit to the number of waves that can exist in a Long-term trend, but Short-term trends must be in single, double, or triple waves. The Ichimoku wave count is similar and very different from how we measure wave counts in the Elliot Wave Theory. In Elliot Wave Theory, moves occur in either three (corrective) or five (impulse) waves.

 

Sources: Péloille, Karen. (2017). Trading with Ichimoku: a practical guide to low-risk Ichimoku strategies. Petersfield, Hampshire: Harriman House Ltd.

Patel, M. (2010). Trading with Ichimoku clouds: the essential guide to Ichimoku Kinko Hyo technical analysis. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Linton, D. (2010). Cloud charts: trading success with the Ichimoku Technique. London: Updata.

Elliot, N. (2012). Ichimoku charts: an introduction to Ichimoku Kinko Clouds. Petersfield, Hampshire: Harriman House Ltd.

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Nov 14 – Markets slightly down, NEO still gaining in value

The cryptocurrency market was in a slight red, though many cryptocurrencies gained some value. While most of the cryptos are losing value in the 1%-2% range, quite a lot of gainers increased in price 5%-6%. If we take a look at the past 24 hours, Bitcoin went down 0.69%, and it is now trading at $8,688. Ethereum gained 0.28%, while XRP went down 1.59%.

Of the top100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, the biggest gainer is Noah Coin, with 328.96% daily gain. The biggest loser of the day was Aurora, which lost 30.53% of its value.

Bitcoin’s dominance remained at the same place from the last time we checked the markets. Its dominance now sits at 65.9%, which is a decrease of 0.02% from yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market as a whole now has a market capitalization of $239.7 billion, which represents a decrease of $0.5 billion from yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

There was no big fundamental news that could spark up any moves to the upside or downside in the past 24 hours. As a result of that, the markets kept consolidating, and the price of most cryptocurrencies didn’t move.

However, a more bearish outlook on the cryptocurrency market resulted in most cryptocurrencies being in the red. That being said, bullish news coming from the east are still strong and cryptocurrencies like NEO are having no problem defying the markets.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

When compared to yesterday’s values, Bitcoin’s price is slightly lower. It is now right above the $8,640 support line, which actually got tested a couple of times. Each time it got tested, the bulls rallied and managed to keep the price above it. There were no attempts at breaking 8,820 yet.


Bitcoin’s volume is lower than yesterday, with RSI approaching oversold territory. The key levels remained the same.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $8,820                                           1: $8,640

2: $9,120

3: $9,250                                            


Ethereum

Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum was in a slight green if we compare the price to the one from the past 24 hours. Its price is still contained within a range between the resistance line of $193.5 and a support line of $185. Ethereum had a great day for the majority of the day, having one green candle after another. However, the price suddenly dropped to the support line, which is when the bulls rallied.


The key levels remain the same as Ethereum is back in the same position as it was yesterday.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $193.5                                          1: $185

2: $198                                             2: $178.6

3: $163.5                                          3: $167.8


XRP

XRP did not have a good day. Even though its price is contained between the support level of $0.266 and resistance standing at $0.285, it managed to drop in value quite a bit. As the range between its key support and key resistance levels is bigger than with Bitcoin’s current support-resistance distance, the price’s ability to move is somewhat bigger. Still, there was almost no movement in the past 24 hours. The $0.266 line did not get tested, but we can see that bulls are already standing still near that price line.


XRP’s volume is still slightly elevated, while its RSI value is approaching oversold levels.

Key levels to the upside                   Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                           1: $0.266 (major support)

2: $0.31                                             2: $0.245

3: $0.325