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Crypto Videos

Crypto User Recovers Lost Private Keys to Over $4M in Bitcoin! $$$

https://youtu.be/kcSr1XoonW8

https://youtu.be/kcSr1XoonW8


Crypto User Recovers Lost Private Keys to Over $4M in Bitcoin

A student has claimed to have found their long-lost private keys that accidentally HODLed Bitcoin starting as early as 2011. By finding the keys, he will be able to unlock more than $4 million in Bitcoin.

According to a Reddit throwaway account from BitcoinHolderThankU, they were able to cash out roughly $4.2 million in Bitcoin after finding the lost keys to 127 BTC on Dec 22, 2020. At that time, the price of the crypto asset was in the $23,000s. The user stated that they later liquidated the coins somewhere in the bull run.

“I spent the next week just trying to figure out how to safely and securely liquidate such a large Bitcoin position for the lowest price possible,” stated the Redditor. “I went back and forth between different OTC principal desks and ultimately ended up selling every single one of my 127 Bitcoin for a price of $33,439.02 per coin. The net was roughly $4.24 million.”

They claim to have earned the aforementioned Bitcoin in 2011 or 2012 through various “surveys, watching videos, as well as completing random tasks” to ultimately use the Bitcoin for purchasing in-game currency for the online game DarkOrbit. The lost private keys were reportedly never really missing, but rather forgotten on an older model Dell computer.

Unfortunately, if the Redditor’s story is true, they missed out on $1 million in additional profit by not just holding for a few more weeks. Since December 2020, the price of Bitcoin has experienced a lot of volatility and even hit $42,000 to reach new all-time highs. BitcoinHolderThankU stated that they “would not have sold all 127 Bitcoin” if the same situation presented again.

“To give myself credit, I did hold it for 8-9 years, which is more than the vast majority of cryptocurrency users,” they said. “I definitely would’ve done things a bit differently if I were given a second chance.”

Despite their sudden fortune, they said that they would avoid “expensive luxuries,” as well as that they intend to put the bulk of the funds into the S&P 500 index, adding:

“I don’t want to end up like one of those people who happen to win the lottery and then blow it all in a matter of months or years. I’m going to continue living my life the same way I was living it on Dec 21 and every day before that.”

Categories
Crypto Videos

Morgan Stanley Bought 10% Stake in Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy!

https://youtu.be/rVWnfNJnCRY

https://youtu.be/rVWnfNJnCRY


Morgan Stanley Bought 10% Stake in Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy has been in the crypto news for months now – this time regarding a major player joining in on their venture to become a major Bitcoin HODLer. Per a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission released on Jan 8, an investment bank mogul Morgan Stanley had acquired 792,627 shares in the business intelligence firm MicroStrategy. This massive investment represents a 10.9% stake in the company that has recently made astonishing investments in Bitcoin. 

While the purchase itself mostly likely happened on Dec 31, the news was released to the public nine days after that. The Morgan Stanley investment into MicroStrategy came after Michael Saylor’s company performing incredibly and its shares moving from $289 on Dec 8 to a whopping $545 as of Jan 8.

In August 2020, MicroStrategy took some very bold steps by investing crypto, making Bitcoin its primary reserve asset. At the time of investing, CEO Michael Saylor talked about why his company decided to invest so much into Bitcoin:

“This is not a speculation, nor just a hedge. It is a deliberate strategy to adopt the Bitcoin Standard.”

Just a couple of weeks ago, MicroStrategy announced a whopping $400 million securities offering, stating that the purpose of raising funds is to buy even more Bitcoin. As of Dec 21, 2020, the firm had managed to stockpile 70,470 Bitcoin. 

At current prices, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings came up to a worth of over $2.8 billion. 


Institutional investors such as Morgan Stanley have warmed up to cryptocurrencies considerably over the past year. Many analysts have attributed Bitcoin’s recent bull market to this institutional uptick, compared to the FOMO coming almost strictly from the retail market that was so critical to Bitcoin’s 2017 highs, which subsequently fell apart. 

 

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Forex Fundamental Analysis

GBP/JPY Global Macro Analysis – Part 3

GBP/JPY Exogenous Analysis The United Kingdom and Japan Current Account Differential The current account data is the most comprehensive measure of a country’s participation in international trade. It is the sum of net exports, net factor income, and net transfer payments. Remember that in the forex market, the value of a country’s fluctuates depending on […]

GBP/JPY Exogenous Analysis The United Kingdom and Japan Current Account Differential The current account data is the most comprehensive measure of a country’s participation in international trade. It is the sum of net exports, net factor income, and net transfer payments. Remember that in the forex market, the value of a country’s fluctuates depending on […]

GBP/JPY Exogenous Analysis

  • The United Kingdom and Japan Current Account Differential

The current account data is the most comprehensive measure of a country’s participation in international trade. It is the sum of net exports, net factor income, and net transfer payments. Remember that in the forex market, the value of a country’s fluctuates depending on its demand. Therefore, when a country has a current surplus account, it means that the demand for its currency is higher, and vice versa.

In this case, the current account differential is the difference between the UK and Japan’s current account balance. If the current account differential is positive, it means that the GBP will appreciate more than JPY hence a bullish GBP/JPY. Conversely, if the current account differential is negative, JPY will appreciate faster than the GBP hence a bearish trend for GBP/JPY.

In Q3 2020, Japan had a current account surplus of $15.4 billion while the UK had a $20.97 billion deficit. Thus, the current account differential between GBP and JPY is – $36.37 billion. Thus, the UK and Japan current account differential have a score of -3.

In the forex market, the interest rate is one of the most closely monitored economic indicators. Suffice to say, traders and investors monitor every other domestic economic indicator to predict the interest rate policy changes. The interest rate differential for the GBP/JPY pair is the difference between the UK’s interest rate and that in Japan.

If the differential is positive, traders and investors can receive better returns by selling the JPY and buying the GBP, hence, bullish GBP/JPY. Conversely, if the interest rate differential is negative, currency traders would prefer to sell the GBP and buy JPY hence, the bearish GBP/JPY pair.

In 2020, the BOE cut interest rates from 0.75% to 0.1%, while the BOJ has maintained an interest rate of -0.1%. Therefore, the GBP/JPY interest rate differential is 0.2%. It has a score of 4.

  • The differential in GDP growth rate between the UK and Japan

The GDP growth rate differential measures the difference between the UK and Japan’s average annual growth rate. This is an effective way of comparing two economies since all economies vary in size and composition.

When the GDP growth rate differential is positive, it means that the UK economy has expanded more than Japan. Hence, the GBP/JPY will be bullish. Conversely, if the differential is negative, Japan’s economy has expanded faster than the UK’s. Hence, the GBP/JPY pair will be bearish.

In the first three quarters of 2020, the UK economy has contracted by 5.8% while Japan contracted by 3.5%. The GDP growth rate differential is -2.3%. Thus, we assign a score of -3.

Conclusion

Indicator Score Total State Comment
The UK and Japan Current Account Differential -3 10 A differential of – $36.37 The UK has a current account deficit of $20.97 billion, while Japan has a surplus of $15.4 billion. This is expected to continue to widen as both economies recover from the pandemic
The interest rate differential between the UK and Japan 4 10 0.20% Both the BOJ and the BOE have no plans to change their monetary policies in the foreseeable future. This means the differential will remain at 0.2% in the short-term
The differential in GDP growth rate between the UK and Japan -3 10 -2.30% The UK economy contracted more than the Japanese economy. As economic recovery progresses, this differential could change
TOTAL SCORE -2

The cumulative score for the exogenous factors is -2. That means that the GBP/JPY pair is set on a bearish trend in the short-term.

Technical analysis of the pair shows the weekly chart attempting to break below the middle Bollinger band.

Categories
Forex Daily Topic Forex System Design

Building a Trading System: Elements of a Trading Plan

Now that we know the importance of having a plan, let’s discuss the necessary components of a trading plan.

Now that we know the importance of having a plan, let’s discuss the necessary components of a trading plan.

Now that we know the importance of having a plan, let’s discuss the necessary components of a trading plan.

A trading plan should consist of at least these elements:

  1. A basket of instruments
  2. A trading system consisting of timeframes, permissioning filter, entry rules, trade management: stop-loss, take profits.
  3. A position sizing methodology
  4. A trading record
  5. Trade-forensics analysis.

In this article, we will provide an overview of these elements.

A basket of Instruments

Every asset has its characteristics, and its market movement differs from others on volatility, liquidity, and ranges. Therefore, professional traders track a limited basket of instruments to trade. A few, even, specialize and trade just one instrument.

 

The best criteria to decide which are best are:

  • Liquidity: It means how much trading volume it moves. Illiquid assets are easy to manipulate, spreads (the difference between the bid and ask prices) are wider, and the trading rules fail more often.
  • Price Action: The instrument should have enough swings in the trading timeframe to merit trading it. Instruments that do not move or move too erratically are prone to failed trades. A security that trends are the best.
  • Familiarity: As said, your trading results improve if you’re familiar with how an asset moves, its usual support and resistance levels, the typical length of swings, and so on.
  • Economic Data: Economic news releases affect the security and trading signals fail at the time of the release. Therefore, it is advisable not to trade it in the vicinity of a news release.

The Trading System

As said in our previous video, financial markets are unbounded territories where each trader needs to set his own rules; otherwise, they will be influenced by his emotions and fail. A trading system is their set of rules that enable them a long-term success.

 

Timeframes

The chosen timeframe should match the availability to trade. A trader with a day job would need to select a daily or a 12-hour timeframe, whereas a full-time trader could use shorter frames, such as 15-min, one, two, or four-hour timeframes.

Similarly to asset selection, the trader must familiarize himself with how his assets move in these timeframes and evaluate the liquidity and range at different times and weekdays to choose the best periods to trade.

Permisioning filter

A permisioning filter is a way to avoid trading under determined circumstances. It can be a filter that allows only trading in the direction of the primary trend or an overbought/oversold sign that should be on for a determined candlestick or pattern formation to be valid.

The key idea of the permisioning filter is to screen the trades and pick the ones with the best odds of success.

Entry rules

Entry rules can be technical or fundamental rules to time the market, although we will focus on technical rules.

 

There are two philosophies regarding entries.

  • Enter on the trend’s weakness

This methodology aims to profit from pullbacks of a primary trend to optimize the price entry. Different indicators and patterns may help time the entry: MA crossovers, Oscillators, or reversal candlestick patterns such as the engulfing pattern or morning star and evening star.

  • Enter on the trend’s strength.

Enter on strength aims to profit from an increasing momentum of the price. We acknowledge the trend’s strength is increasing and recognize the trend will continue for a while. Technical indicators such as the Momentum, RSI, and MACD may help time the entry. Price action patterns, such as range breakouts, are quite useful too.

Trade Management

Trade management is a vital element of any trading system. It is responsible for getting out of unprofitable positions, trails the stops to break-even, and above to optimize profits or close the trade when the target is hit or when a technical signal warns of a trend reversal.

Many top traders value more trade management than entries. The money is won on exits, they say.

Money management should be consistent with the concept of cutting losses short and letting profits run. A sound trading system should present an average reward/risk ratio at least over 1.5, and ideally above 2.

Position sizing

Position sizing is the part of your plan that tells you how much risk you should take on a trade. We have had a complete video section on this subject, which we encourage you to study. To summarize it here, position sizing is the tool to help you reach the trading objectives and put drawdown under the levels that fit you. Finally, proper position sizing enables you to minimize the risk of ruin while optimizing your trading account’s growth.

The trading record / Trade-forensics

The path to improvement is an analysis of past results. Nobody is perfect, and, also, markets aren’t immutable but changing. A trading record is necessary to evaluate your system’s performance, detect and correct weaknesses, such as stops or target placements, errors in timing – too late or too early on a trade, and evaluate how permisioning filters work. Finally, the trading record will help traders know their system’s key parameters: the average profit and its standard deviation, percent winners, and average reward/risk.

Key Elements of the trading record:

The main data you should record on the spreadsheet record are:

  • Entry date/time
  • entry price
  • trade size
  • entry level
  • stop-loss level
  •  $risk of the trade
  • planned take-profit level
  • Exit price
  • Exit date/ time

Other desirable parameters that would help optimize stops and take-profit targets are:

maximum adverse price of the trade if there were no stops.

maximum favorable price of the trade if not considering the take-profit

The first one would help you find better places for the stops, and the second one will show you the best place for the take-profit placement.

Main Parameters:

With the suggested trading record entries, you will be able to measure the key parameters of your system:

Average profit: Total profits/ number of trades

Standard deviation of profits: Use Excel’s Standard Deviation formula

Percent winners: Nr of Winners/ total trades x 100.

Average Reward/ risk:  Sum of Profits / sum of $risk

You may find an example of a trading record in this forex.academy article. Furthermore, since we consider it an essential element to your trading success, we offer you to download our freely available trading log. You are free to adapt it to your taste and needs.

Forensics

After the closure of a trade, you should analyze its quality, regarding execution and goals. A losing trade does not have to be of low quality if executed according to your system’s rules. But it is necessary to determine if you’re acting according to the rules and assess how much of the available profit did you take.

Points to consider

  • Percent of the available profit ( if any)
  • percent of the loss you’ve taken ( if any)
  • Timing: has it been right, too early, or too late?
  • Exit timing: right, too early, or too late?
  • Stop-loss: Can stop-loss settings be improved?
  • Take profit: Can they be improved?
  • Average Reward/risk: is it according to your settings?

Also, after  a determined number of trades/weeks, you should assess:

  • Is the system improving or worsening over time?
  • Losing streaks: are normal for the system you’re using or due to bad stop-loss settings?
  • How many trades could be on profit if you’ve loosened your stops?
  • How much profit could you pocket if your take-profit levels were moved here/there, based on the maximum favorable price data?

 

This ends our overview of the main elements of the trading plan.

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

GBP/JPY Global Macro Analysis – Part 2

JPY Endogenous Analysis Summary An overall score of -13 implies that this currency (JPY) has depreciated since the beginning of this year. Indicator Score Total State Comment Japan Employment Rate -4 10 60.4% in October 2020 The Japanese labor market has shed about 820,000 jobs between January and October 2020 Japan Core Consumer Prices -1 […]

JPY Endogenous Analysis Summary An overall score of -13 implies that this currency (JPY) has depreciated since the beginning of this year. Indicator Score Total State Comment Japan Employment Rate -4 10 60.4% in October 2020 The Japanese labor market has shed about 820,000 jobs between January and October 2020 Japan Core Consumer Prices -1 […]

JPY Endogenous Analysis

Summary

An overall score of -13 implies that this currency (JPY) has depreciated since the beginning of this year.

Indicator Score Total State Comment
Japan Employment Rate -4 10 60.4% in October 2020 The Japanese labor market has shed about 820,000 jobs between January and October 2020
Japan Core Consumer Prices -1 10 101.2 points in November 2020 The index has dropped marginally by 0.8 points in the first 11 months
Japan Manufacturing Production 2 10 3.1% drop in October The decrease in YoY manufacturing production is slowing down
Japan  Business Confidence -2 10 Q4 reading was -10 Businesses are growing increasingly optimistic
Japan Consumer Spending -2 10 Was ¥280.8 trillion in Q3 2020 The increase in Q3 expenditure by households shows that the economy is steadily recovering
Japan Construction Industry Activity -2 10 YoY drop of 6.9% in July 2020 The July drop was the second-worst recorded in over ten years
Japan Government Budget Value -4 10 the budget deficit of ¥308414 in Q2 2020 This is the worst deficit in 20 years. It’s expected to improve as the economy goes back to normal
TOTAL SCORE -13
  • Japan Employment Rate

This indicator shows the number of Japanese nationals employed as a percentage of the entire Japanese working-age population. With this indicator, we can track the Japanese economy’s performance since employment corresponds to the expansion and contraction of the economy.

In October 2020, the Japan employment rate rose to 60.4% from 60.3% in September. Although Japan’s employment rate is higher than in January, the labor market has lost about 820,000 jobs since January. We assign a score of -4.

  • Japan Core Consumer Prices

Core consumer prices measure the inflation rate in Japan based on a select basket of goods. The core consumer prices do not include goods and services with volatile prices. Typically, when inflation rises, it implies that the economy is expanding and the labor market is growing. Conversely, when the index drops, it means that the labor market is shrinking.

In November 2020, Japan Core Consumer Prices dropped to 101.2 points from 101.3 in October. Since January, the index has shed 0.8 points. Thus, it scores a -1.

  • Japan Manufacturing Production

This indicator measures the percentage change in the value of the output in the manufacturing sector. Since the Japanese economy is highly reliant on the manufacturing sector, changes in this indicator can be considered a leading indicator of economic growth.

In October 2020, the YoY manufacturing production in Japan decreased by 3.1% compared to the 9% decrease recorded in September. The October decrease is the slowest since February.  We assign a score of 2.

  • Japan Business Confidence

In Japan, the business confidence index results from a survey of about 1100 large manufacturers with a capital of at least ¥1 billion. The survey evaluates the current industry trends, business conditions within the company and the industry, and expectations for the next quarter and year. The sentiment in Japanese businesses is ranked with an index of a scale from -100 to +100. The negative index shows pessimism, while a positive index shows optimism.

In Q4 of 2020, the Bank of Japan’s Tankan business sentiment index increased to -10 from -27 in Q3. This improvement shows that the economy is potentially recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is still lower than the -8 registered in Q1. Thus, we assign a score of -2.

  • Japan Consumer Spending

It tracks the quarterly value of expenditure by households. In Japan, the consumption expenditure accounts for both the supply-side and demand-side. The supply-side from the survey of family income, while the demand-side is from the expenditure survey. The weighted average of both these estimates represents the final consumption expenditure.

In Q3 2020, the consumer spending in Japan rose to ¥280.8 trillion from ¥268.2 trillion in Q2. However, it is still lower than the consumer spending recorded in Q1. Japan consumer spending scores -4.

  • Japan Construction Industry Activity

This index tracks the YoY changes in the construction industry in Japan. It shows the changes in companies’ monetary value of construction work and billed to the clients. Note that in Japan, the construction industry accounts for about 6% of the total industrial activity. Thus, the construction output index can be a leading indicator of the entire industrial activity. More so, since it is a tertiary industry, it can signal longer-term changes in the GDP.

In July 2020, Japan’s YoY construction output dropped by 6.9%. This drop is the second-worst in over ten years. The worst was recorded in June at -7.9%. The Japan construction industry activity scores -2.

  • Japan Government Budget Value

In Japan, the government budget value evaluates the difference between government revenues and expenditure. This is meant to determine whether there is a government budget surplus or deficit. A budget surplus arises when revenues exceed the expenditure, while a deficit occurs when government expenditure is more than revenues.

In Q2 of 2020, Japan has a government budget deficit of ¥308414. This is the worst deficit recorded in over two decades. Thus, the Japan Government Budget Value has a score of -4.

In the upcoming article, you can find the Exogenous analysis of the GBP/JPY currency pair where we have forecasted its price movements. All the best.

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

GBP/JPY Global Macro Analysis – Part 1

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

The GBP/JPY pair’s global macro analysis interrogates the endogenous factors that drive the GDP growth in the UK and Japan. The analysis will also cover exogenous factors that affect the exchange rate between the GBP and the JPY.

Ranking Scale

The analysis will use a sliding scale from -10 to +10 to rank the endogenous and exogenous factors’ impact. Endogenous factors impact the value of the domestic currency. Thus, when it is negative, it means that the domestic currency has depreciated. When positive, it means that the domestic currency has increased in value during the period under review. The ranking of the endogenous factors is based on correlation analysis with the domestic GDP.

On the other hand, a positive ranking for the exogenous factors means that the GBP/JPY pair’s price will increase. Conversely, when negative, it means that the price of the pair will drop. This ranking is derived from correlation analysis between the exogenous factors and the GBP/JPY exchange rate fluctuation.

GBP Endogenous Analysis – Summary

A score of -15 implies that GBP has depreciated since the beginning of this year.

Indicator Score Total State Comment
UK Employment Rate -5 10 75.2% in September 2020 Dropped by 1.4% from January to September. The labor market has shed around 551,000 jobs
UK Core Consumer Prices 2 10 109.82 points in November 2020 The UK core consumer prices have increased by 1.82 points since January. Shows that the demand in the domestic economy has not been depressed
UK Factory Orders 3 10 Was -25 in November The CBI trends orders are improving. The -25 recorded in November was the highest since February
UK Business Confidence -2 10 Neutral in Q4 of 2020 UK businesses are still pessimistic about the future operating environment.
UK Consumer Spending -5 10 Was £304.5 billion in Q3 2020 Q3 household expenditure shows domestic demand is recovering from the lows of Q2. Consumer spending is still below the pre-pandemic Q1 levels
UK Construction Output -2 10 YoY drop of 7.5% in October 2020 The construction output is improving, which implies that the UK economy is steadily recovering from the economic disruptions of the pandemic
UK Government Budget Value -6 10 UK public sector net borrowing deficit was £22.3 billion The growing budget deficit is a result of increased government expenditure in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Also worsened by reduced revenues due to business disruption
TOTAL SCORE -15
  • United Kingdom Employment Rate

The employment rate shows the percentage of the UK labor market that is actively and gainfully employed. It is a comprehensive representation of the growth in the labor market. Note that the changes in the employment rate measure the changes in the economic activities of a country.

In September 2020, the UK employment rate dropped to 75.2% from 75.3% in August. From January to September 2020, the employment rate has dropped by 1.4%, equivalent to about 551,000 job loss. The UK employment rate scores -5.

  • United Kingdom Core Consumer Prices

This index measures the change in the rate of inflation in the UK by tracking price changes of specific consumer products. The index calculation excludes items whose prices tend to be highly volatile, such as fuel and energy.

In November 2020, the core consumer prices in the UK dropped to 109.82 from 109.9 in October. The index has increased by 1.82 points since January. The UK core consumer prices score 2.

  • United Kingdom Factory Orders

In the UK, the CBI Industrial Trends Orders tracks orders from about 500 companies in 38 sectors of the manufacturing industry. The survey’s components include domestic goods orders, exports, inventory, output prices, and expectations of future investments and output levels. The surveyed manufacturers respond whether the current conditions are normal, above, or below normal. This is used as a leading indicator of industrial production.

In December 2020, the UK CBI trends orders were -25, 15 points up from -40 in November. This is the highest level since February 2020 but still lower than -18 in January. We assign a score of 3.

  • United Kingdom Business Confidence

This index gauges the optimism of businesses operating in the UK. A survey is conducted on 400 small, medium, and large companies to determine their optimism. The survey covers exports, output levels and prices, capacity, order books, inventory, competitiveness in the domestic market,  innovation, and training. The business sentiment is then ranked from -100 to +100, with 0 showing neutrality.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the UK business confidence was neutral at 0, a slight change from -1 in Q3. It is, however, still below the 23 recorded in Q1. We assign a score of -2.

  • United Kingdom Consumer Spending

Expenditure by households contributes to a significant proportion of the domestic GDP. In the UK, this index tracks quarterly changes in the amount of money spent by households and Non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH). Note that when the economy is performing well, consumer spending is high. Conversely, a poorly performing economy corresponds to low consumer spending.

In Q3 2020, consumer spending in the UK rose to £304.5 billion from £258.3 billion in Q2. However, the Q3 expenditure is still lower than Q1. The UK consumer spending scores -5.

  • United Kingdom Construction Output

This economic indicator tracks the yearly change in the value of work done in the construction sector. The amount of money charged by construction companies in the UK is based on a sample of 8000 companies that employ over 100 employees. Note that in the UK, the construction sector contributes about 6.4% of the GDP.

In October 2020, the UK’s YoY construction output dropped by 7.5%, up for the 10% drop recorded in September. This marks the smallest decrease in the UK’s construction output since the pre-pandemic period. We assign a score of -2.

  • United Kingdom Government Budget Value

This indicator tracks the changes between the government’s revenues and expenditure. When the revenue exceeds the expenditure, it is a surplus and indicates that the economy is expanding. When the deficit is increasing, it means that the government is spending much more than it receives. This poses a threat of overburdening the economy with future debt repayment obligations.

In October 2020, the UK public sector net borrowing deficit was £22.3 billion. This is an improvement from the deficit of £28.6 billion in September. In January 2020, the UK had a surplus of £9.6 billion. Thus, we assign a score of -6.

In the next article, we have discussed the endogenous analysis of JPY currency to see how it has performed in the year’s due course. Make sure to check that out. Cheers.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

The Major Risks of Investing in DeFi and How to Mitigate Them

For a crypto enthusiast, there could never be a better time to be alive. First, there’s their growing acceptance as a store of value. Additionally, developers keep churning out exciting products promising to revolutionize our financial lives. One such product is Defi, and 2020 has seen its popularity grow in leaps and bounds.

For a crypto enthusiast, there could never be a better time to be alive. First, there’s their growing acceptance as a store of value. Additionally, developers keep churning out exciting products promising to revolutionize our financial lives. One such product is Defi, and 2020 has seen its popularity grow in leaps and bounds.

For a crypto enthusiast, there could never be a better time to be alive. First, there’s their growing acceptance as a store of value. Additionally, developers keep churning out exciting products promising to revolutionize our financial lives. One such product is Defi, and 2020 has seen its popularity grow in leaps and bounds.

To the Defi proponents, it is the magic pill that will cure the shortfalls of conventional finance. Often Defi Investments are portrayed as a sure way to wealth. Though, a keen look at the sector reveals the presence of pitfalls amidst the opportunities always touted. Making headway in this space, therefore, demands prudence.

What then are the risks accompanying Defi Investments? What are the ways of mitigating them? Stay with me as we unearth the risks to expect when you invest in the sector and the measures to protect your investments from them.                

Which are the Major Risks in Defi Investments?

We can categorize the risks in the Defi sector into three, namely, technical risk, financial risks, and procedural risks. We shall now embark on explaining each of these briefly.

Technical Risks

Technical risks arise from malfunctions in the protocols, hardware, and software of a Defi platform. They are critical since they compromise the platform’s functions. They include:

Smart Contract Risks

Smart contracts are the lifeline of Defi. They are central to the execution of most functions. Therefore any error in their operation will impact the Defi they run on and imperil users’ funds.

Smart contracts are human-made and, therefore, prone to bugs and other vulnerabilities. Unscrupulous individuals will exploit these to gain unauthorized control over the protocol’s functions. Recently, there have been reports of incidences of smart contract exploits that led to the loss of funds.

Hardware risks 

Hardware is the foundation on which Defi services run. Compromised hardware impacts the proper functioning of a Defi platform. Common hardware risks affecting DeFi systems include:

  • The power issues may cause unreliability of the service or application, diminished service life and performance.
  • Sensitivity risks result from degradation, humidity, dust, or other similar issues.
  •  Incompatibility risks can limit the speed of the system and other issues.

Software Risks

The entire Defi ecosystem runs on software. A corrupted software impedes the proper functioning of the Defi platform. These risks present in different ways:

  • Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks disrupt the normal functioning of an app or service.
  • Injection risks introduce malicious code into the DeFi software, for instance, SQL injection into web apps.
  • Uncontrolled format strings execute malicious code in a web app.
  • Overflow risks cause the software to skip certain functions or implement them in error.

Financial Risks Related to DeFi

Most information on Defi only speaks of the profit-making part. Whereas it is true that with wise investments, one can make a ton, there’s also the possibility of incurring losses. Financial risks are those that put you in danger of losing your funds. These include:

Impermanent loss

Impermanent loss occurs when you fund a liquidity pool, and the price of your deposited assets falls compared to when you deposited them. In an ironic twist, you discover that you’d have been better off hodling them.

Currency Fluctuations

The whole crypto space is very volatile. Cryptocurrencies experience upturns and downturns spectacularly. If you invest funds in a particular crypto asset, then its price falls, you experience a loss. The same obtains for staked assets. Should the supporting asset decline in value, it will take the supported down with it.  

Scams

The Defi Sector is crawling with persons and entities of dubious intentions. These fashion different kinds of scams to the detriment of unsuspecting investors. Some of the means they employ include:

Exit Scams

Unscrupulous promoters dupe investors by setting up a project with a seemingly attractive concept. They collect funds through an ICO and melt away with the loot. A case in point is YFDEX. Finance’s heist.

Pump and Dump Schemes

Whales create an artificial demand for a coin/token, thereby drawing in investors. Later they withdraw their funds at a profit. Consequently, the market plummets, leaving the rest counting losses.

Fake Airdrops and Rewards

Scammers create fake Airdrops and giveaways to access private keys and personal info. They then use these to defraud you of your funds.

Defi Rug Pulls

Defi rug-pulls scams involve minting new tokens, marketing, and listing them on Uniswap. The masterminds inject liquidity, convincing trusting investors to swap their ETH for the token. After that, the cons withdraw the funds leaving holders high and dry.

Procedural Risks in DeFi

These are the risks arising from one’s usage of the Defi platforms and attendant infrastructure. They include:

Phishing Attacks 

Here a malicious player duplicates a website or service, duping the unsuspecting into sharing sensitive information. Alternatively, they could send emails that install malicious code on their devices. Then they use the victim’s sensitive information siphoning their funds.

Pretexting 

A hacker poses as a representative of a DeFi service and convinces users to share sensitive information.

Exposure of Login Credentials

At times a user may knowingly or unknowingly expose their login details. Anyone with ill motives will use these to access their accounts.

Loss Of Login Details

Users may forget their login credentials. They, therefore, cannot access their accounts, leading to a loss of investments.

How Do You Mitigate Risks Associated With Defi Investments?

The Defi space can be unforgiving to anyone who navigates it without caution. One needs to guard their investments jealously. Here’re a few pointers on how to protect yourself from the risks outlined above:

Deal with Authentic Products and Services Only

Use products and services whose authenticity you’re sure about. Before settling on a product/service, DYOR! Look at reviews and recommendations about them. From there, you’ll get a good feel of what you’re getting into. Negative reviews are your cue to take off.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication

Secure your logins with several verification instruments. Examples include email confirmations, two-factor authentication, and multi-sig authentication.

Keep it Private

Treat your Defi investments like any other sensitive and personal information: private! Doing so helps ward off hackers’ attention.

Secure Your Digital Assets

The security of your investment is a wallet away. Hot wallets are ideal for actively accessing DeFi services. Cold wallets, on the other hand, are suitable for offline storage. Invest in a dependable wallet

Make Updates and Backups Your Friends

You must keep a backup of your sensitive information, including login credentials. Besides improving user experiences, upgrades, and patches of Defi solutions resolve vulnerabilities.

Takeaways

Don’t be fooled! Defi is not always about sunshine and rainbows. Behind the much-publicized good lurks danger. The Defi space is full of risks that can wipe out our investments if we don’t exercise caution. These risks present themselves in three broad categories: that is technical, financial, and procedural. Each of these broad categories has its specific shape of risks as has been elucidated. That said, any investor should take comfort that there are mitigation measures that they can take to protect themselves. Their judicious utilization will shield them from funds loss.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Biden’s $3T Stimulus Bill Could Make Bitcoin Explode!

https://youtu.be/DhlbBAIT50Y

https://youtu.be/DhlbBAIT50Y

 

Biden’s $3T Stimulus Could Create Another Bitcoin Skyrocket Scenario


The incoming Biden administration’s plan to print almost an infinite amount of money into the US economy and supply it with trillions of dollars could likely ignite the next leg of the Bitcoin bull market, as more investors seek refuge from the United States dollar.
Aan Arlington-based news outlet Axios reported that Joe Biden had asked Congress to provide Americans with a stimulus check of $2,000 to help offset the economic devastation caused by Covid-19. The incoming president has also proposed a tax and infrastructure package as part of his “Build Back Better” program. The package would be worth $3 trillion.

Biden also doubled down on his call for more direct relief to American citizens after Jan 8 disappointing jobs report showing a loss of over 140,000 positions in the last month of 2020.
He stated: “Economic research confirms that, with the current conditions such as the crisis today, especially with such low-interest rates, taking action immediately– even with deficit financing – is certainly going to help the economy overall.”
If 2020 is anything to go by, the new wave of stimulus could be another catalyst for Bitcoin’s rise as more money floods the market and makes prices into assets.

Even the current president Donald Trump, a Republican, has played a role in vast government outlays. Under his leadership, the US passed a historic $2 trillion stimulus package bill in March. Trump also signed a relief package worth $900 billion in December. This document would then pave the way for $600 stimulus checks coming to every American citizen.
The federal government’s inflation-increasing policies have coincided with interventionism coming from the Federal Reserve, which deployed trillions of dollars in 2020 to combat a liquidity crisis and keep overnight rates somewhat under control.

Although the aforementioned policies provided a strong backstop for risk-on assets – a category that has previously included Bitcoin – the emerging narrative surrounding Bitcoin is that it’s a hedge against inflation.
Institutions are currently buying Bitcoin with a clear purpose and are hoping to one day become the industry’s whales.


Bitcoin’s digital gold narrative has recently been one of the biggest catalysts for Bitcoin’s price increase, as well as the institutional shift towards it. This narrative helped fuel BTC’s 300% rally in the previous year, as well as it more than doubling in price in this year alone. This trend could increase in intensity in 2021 as the purchasing power of the US dollar continues to erode.
Even a giant such as JPMorgan Chase publicly acknowledged that Bitcoin is taking market share from gold.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Experts State Investors Are Dumping Gold For BITCOIN!

https://youtu.be/JQYoU1hgp-o

https://youtu.be/JQYoU1hgp-o


Experts State – Gold outflows “ALL Going into Bitcoin”

According to multiple experts in the crypto sector, one possible reason for Bitcoin’s incredible recent price rise is massive investor outflows coming from another popular hedge from inflation: gold. 

Spot gold dipped heavily over the past week, losing 4.62% of its value, bringing it to $1,857. The asset has previously been surging in unison with Bitcoin, which managed to increase its price by 40% from $28,000 lows.

In a Tweet that came out on Friday, Jan 8, Charlie Morris, founder and CIO at ByteTree Asset Management, stated that the pullback in gold might be attributable to investors moving from it and into Bitcoin:

Likewise, earlier that week, CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer stated that the massive outflows coming from gold ETFs are “all going to crypto.” If we track inflows and outflows from Grayscale’s Bitcoin investment trust and gold ETFs back this assertion, as Grayscale has eclipsed gold: 

The moves could possibly be a sign of Bitcoin’s status as a legitimate asset class is on the rise. Gold and Bitcoin have been linked for a long time as both are seen as a way to hedge against inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty. However, if the price movements in the previous period are any indication, Bitcoin may be winning the narrative race due to its unprecedented gains. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, chief revenue officer at Coinshares, Frank Spiteri, said that the narrative surrounding Bitcoin being an inflation hedge is quickly gaining legs “in the face of an environment with highly unconventional monetary policies.”

“It seems like we are in the middle of an awakening among institutions to Bitcoin as a fairly uncorrelated store of value,” he said.

The observations from experts come after a very unique flippening that happened a while ago: as of Friday, Jan 8, a single Bitcoin is worth more than a 20-ounce gold bar.

With that being said, for all the bearish price action and Bitcoin’s skyrocketing, certain high-profile gold bugs still refuse to budge on their positions. In a tweet coming from a longtime Bitcoin skeptic and gold investor Peter Schiff, he claimed that once investors “understand” the risk of inflation, they’ll return to bullion.

Categories
Forex Daily Topic Forex System Design

Building a Trading System: Why do you need a trading plan?

The necessity of a trading system has been discussed many times. Still,  new traders don’t consider it important when, in fact, it is a crucial element.  Could you conceive building a bridge without a project, playing tennis, or chess, with no strategy?

The necessity of a trading system has been discussed many times. Still,  new traders don’t consider it important when, in fact, it is a crucial element.  Could you conceive building a bridge without a project, playing tennis, or chess, with no strategy?

The necessity of a trading system has been discussed many times. Still,  new traders don’t consider it important when, in fact, it is a crucial element.  Could you conceive building a bridge without a project, playing tennis, or chess, with no strategy?

 

 

 

 

 

The trading profession is alike. If you take this business seriously, you’ll need to have a plan. Else, you’ll be in the loser team, in which are 90 percent of traders.

Reasons for a trading plan

1.- The financial markets are not deterministic

A market is a strange place where you cannot predict an outcome. An engineer can design a bridge, knowing that he can predict the bridge’s strength and behavior under heavy loads with proper calculations.  In the financial markets, you don’t have the benefit of an analytical formula to success. All you can expect is a small edge. Not following your plan is comparable to random trading; thus, losing the edge.

2.- Not following a plan weakens you psychologically

When you buy a lottery ticket or play roulette, you’re entering a bounded game. You know the cost of your ticket, the reward associated with a successful bet, and you don’t need to make any other decision. All parameters of the play, including the exit time, are fixed.

The financial markets are different. Everything there is unrestricted. The trader decides when, how much, exit time, stops, and target levels.  With so many parameters, a trader needs to define his rules and stick to them. Otherwise, he will be shattered by his emotions and lose money.

3.- The need to measure

Traders need to record and analyze their trades for many reasons.  The first is the need to analyze their performance and see if it has improved or not. Also, if the system performs as expected or lags its past performance. The most important reason is that traders need to know the strategy’s main parameters: percentage of winners, reward/risk ratio, the average profit and its standard deviation.

A trading plan that fits you

New traders don’t know much about statistics, and trading is about odds and their properties. One of them is streaks. There are winning streaks and losing streaks. The point is, streaks are mathematically linked to the ods of the system.

Let’s think of a system as a loaded coin, in which the odds of a winner can be different from 50 percent. Let’s say the odds of a system is 60 percent instead.  That means there is a 60 percent chance the next trade is a winner, and, consequently, a 40 percent chance it is a loser.

But what are the odds of a loser after a previous losing trade (a two-losing streak)? For the second trade to be a loser, the first one should also be a loser.  So the odds of two consecutive losing trades in a row is 0.4 x 0.4 = 16%. The odds of three successive losers would be 0.4×0.4×0.4 =6.4%, and so on.

The general formula for the probability of a losing streak is

n-losing-Streak = prob_lossn

which is the probability of one loss to the power of n, the size of the losing streak.

What we have shown here is that streaks are inherent to trading. In fact, inherent to any event with uncertainty. Golf pros, football players, and spot teams are subject to streaks, which are entirely expected. Trading systems are no different.

So, what’s the problem?

There are a variety of trading systems. Some, such as the well-established Turtles Trading System, which is trend-following, have less than 38 percent winners, although with average reward/risk ratios over 5. Other systems show over 70 percent success but reward/risk ratios of less than 1.

The odds of a 10-losing streak on the Turtles system, assuming 38% winners or 62% losers, is about 0.84%. That means we can expect ten losers in a row every 120 trades.

On a 70% winner system, the odds for ten losers in a row are one every 200 thousand trades.

The rationale behind the turtle is to lose small and profit big. When a Turtle trader sees they are right, they add to their position, and on and on, following the trend.

People who use the later system are scalpers that jump for the small profit and get our fast before the movement fades.

Nobody is wrong. They trade what best fits their psychology. You need to know your limits, as well. Many wannabe traders move from system to system after only a five-losing streak, discarding a sound strategy when its first perfectly normal streak occurs. Also, most traders use sizes inconsistent with the expected streaks and lose their entire account.

By now, you should have learned the importance of having a plan that fits your psychology and trading tastes.

In the coming article, we will discuss the components of a trading strategy or system. Stay tuned!

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

The Best  Crypto Trading Bots Going into 2021

The increased acceptance of Cryptocurrencies is a boon for the financial sector. It promises to improve the inefficiencies of the mainstream financial systems. Again, their adoption expands access to services. Furthermore, it creates a unique investment opportunity. 

The increased acceptance of Cryptocurrencies is a boon for the financial sector. It promises to improve the inefficiencies of the mainstream financial systems. Again, their adoption expands access to services. Furthermore, it creates a unique investment opportunity. 

The increased acceptance of Cryptocurrencies is a boon for the financial sector. It promises to improve the inefficiencies of the mainstream financial systems. Again, their adoption expands access to services. Furthermore, it creates a unique investment opportunity. 

Their proliferation, however, is a nightmare to any would-be investor. According to CoinMarketCap, the total number of cryptos stood at 6,955 as of September 2020. Coupled with the fact that the crypto market never sleeps, this makes investments in the space daunting. We need solutions to deal with these challenges better. Here’s where trading bots come in.

Crypto trading bots are software apps that automate trade in cryptos. They scour the market for the optimal buy and sell values aiming to earn the user a profit. The volatility characterizing the cryptos market makes them all the more important. In this article, we look at them, factors to consider when selecting one, and finally, the outstanding bots going into 2021.

The case for Crypto Trading Bots

Crypto bots are essential in organizing one’s trades. Currently, the market is experiencing increased usage. Several factors explain this shift, and here we present the key ones.

i) Bots Eliminate the Human Element in Transactions

Left unchecked, emotions cloud the trader’s judgment. High-risk investments like cryptos require objectivity. Bots make transaction decisions based on rational analysis and interpretation of the market. This way, they eliminate impulsive and speculative trading that could imperil one’s investments

ii) Theirs is A Round The Clock Operation

The cryptocurrency space never sleeps. Again it is volatile. A momentary lapse and one could miss out on opportunities. Alternatively, they could incur losses. Here’s where trading bots come in handy. Their actions are automated. As such, they capture every shift in the market as it happens. This way, they save the trader the need to stay awake to track the market physically. Once configured, they automate transactions even when the trade is unavailable.

iii) They are Better at Multitasking

The crypto market is a maze. There are millions of transactions taking place in any instance. Physically tracking these is demanding even to the seasoned trader. Not so for the bots. They simultaneously track changes across multiple cryptos and exchanges. Thus they’re better at picking the best trades than us humans.

iv) Bots Streamline Transactions

For one to trade profitably, speed is essential. The market could quickly gain as it could fall. Unlike us, Bots execute transactions in a flash. Thus they enable timely settlements. Their use could make the difference between profit and loss.

Which Factors do You Consider When Selecting a Trading Bot?

Bots flood the crypto market. Each of these claims to be the real deal. Separating the quality product from the rest could be challenging. The following pointers will help you ease that decision:

  • Reliability- quality bots guarantee round the clock function.
  • Security- a good bot is robust and able to withstand attacks.
  • User experience- it should be easy to understand and use.
  • Affordability- a good bot offers efficiency at a fair rate.
  • Profitability- Quality bots enable users to achieve consistent profits.

Which are The Best Crypto Trading Bots Going into 2021?

Each crypto trading bot is unique. Moreover, no single bot is perfect. Selecting one boils down to individual preferences and how they fit into one’s trading strategy. Here are our best five picks moving forward. It is a random list, not an indicator of some particular ranking.

1. CryptoHopper

It is easy to use a semi-automated bot seeking to simplify crypto trading. It fashions itself as a tool that makes crypto traders maximize profits while reducing losses. Its key features include:

Social Trading

Through telegram trading, experienced analysts ( signalers) share insight on rising coins with other traders. Users may subscribe directly to these signalers. Moreover, they may automatically respond with a buy or sell order when it comes in.

It’s Cloud-Based

The service is entirely cloud-based. Therefore one can trade 24/7. One can log in anytime from any device.

Enables Exchange and Market Arbitrage

The arbitrage tool enables the user to benefit from the price differences between exchanges or crypto pairs. On enabling the bot, it searches for arbitrage opportunities. Besides, you don’t need to withdraw your funds from one exchange for another.

Market-Making

Through the market making bot, one can easily make markets and trade on the spread.

Strategy Designer

The strategy designer helps a user to develop a strategy enabling them to get the best trading signals. One can harness many indicators and candle patterns, including RSI, EMA, Parabolic Sar, CCI, Hammer, Hanged Man, and many more. Your Hopper will scan the markets 24/7 searching for opportunities for you. 

  • Backtesting/Paper Trading
  • Mirror Trading
  • Trailing Stop Tool

2. 3Commas

Incepted in 2017, 3commas is a popular crypto trading platform offering bot development functions. Its easy usage makes it ideal for users of all levels of technical ability. Its key features include:

SmartTrade

This feature allows trading across several exchanges from a single window. Smart trade allows you the following functionalities:

  • Trailing order- enables you to adjust Take Profit and Stop Loss parameters automatically
  • Smart Cover- allows one to sell and buy back their coins
  • Short orders

Wide Exchange Integration

3commas supports up to 13 different exchanges. This makes it convenient to trade over multiple platforms.

Portfolio Management

Through this feature, one tracks their investment. The user may:

  • Create their coin portfolio(s)
  • View portfolios of other 3commas users
  • Adopt other users’ portfolios to their needs
  • Balance their coin ratios

TradingView Signals

The TradingView signal finder allows instant tracking of the market. The signal finder issues four order types, namely:

  • Buy
  • Strong buy
  • Sell
  • Strong sell

Backtest

Users can simulate trading before executing actual trades. This way, they get to test their trading strategies and get a feel of the platform’s features.

3. Shrimpy

Shrimpy describes itself as the social trading platform for cryptocurrencies. It takes pride in simplifying portfolio management. Among its key features are:

Portfolio Management

Shrimpy enables you to connect all of your crypto exchanges and automate transactions. It helps you build a portfolio strategy. Also, through it, one can monitor the market. Its management tools automate portfolio allocations and rebalancing.

Social Trading

The platform has bet big on its community. Users have a forum for exchanging ideas and strategies. Again they get to educate each other on matters crypto. As a result, they increase their mastery of the sector.

Copy Trading

Shrimpy allows one to follow other investors on the platform. This way, they can model their investments on the leaders’. Copying the strategies of successful traders helps improve one’s profitability.

Robust Security

The platform boasts of robust security features. Each uses FIPS 140-2 security modules to encrypt all the API keys. Additionally, the platform only reads data for trading purposes. Therefore it’s unable to withdraw one’s funds. It also supports two-factor authentication.

Social Leader Reward

Through the social trading platform, Shrimpy creates leaderboards. Users earn $4 for every new follower they gain every month.

Shrimpy Universal Exchange API

Shrimpy offers its users an industry-leading API that facilitates crypto transactions, the instantaneous collection of data, and the management of exchanges.

4. Gunbot

Gunbot is an advanced bot allowing easy transaction of cryptos. After the user identifies a trading strategy, the bot automates it. Its popularity draws from the following features:

Multi-Platform Support

The software is compatible with different platforms. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and ARM devices.

Multi Exchange Support

Gunbot supports the most popular exchanges. Additionally, the platform continues to support new exchanges. Further, it supports lesser-known spot exchanges through the CCXT library.

Strategy Presets for Beginners

For the uninitiated, trading can prove arduous. Gunbot eases things for the newbies. Its strategy presets allow them to trade easily as they learn the ropes. 

Wide Variety Of Trading Options

Gunbot users can buy and sell in 14 different ways. You can use all these methods within a customized strategy. Also, one may employ a set of confirming indicators to specify the trading conditions they want to allow. Including a stop-limit reduces one’s risk exposure.

Dollar-Cost Averaging(DCA)

Gunbot uses the double up method to average down assets automatically. The morbid allows one to reach a lower average price per unit as prices decline. Thus it enables exit at the lowest profitable price. Through DCA, one can set up the following options:

  • Trigger for DCA orders
  • The minimum price difference between buy orders while in DCA
  • Frequency of placing DCA orders
  • The ratio of volume purchased via DCA orders to the amount of quote units already owned.

Reversal Trading

Gunbot can automatically accumulate quote currency when prices go down. It does so without investing more than the initial buy order. This way, it helps bring down the break-even point.

Telegram Integration

Through telegram, one gets to interact with their bot. This feature enables:

  • Profit tracking- get profit/loss statistics for every trading pair.
  • Modify settings- change settings on the go, such as enabling or disabling pairs.
  • Get notifications on trades.
  • Monitor trades.

Final Thoughts

The crypto space is disruptive. Our continuing acceptance of cryptos is reshaping the financial landscape. Thanks to them, there’s the possibility of increasing financial access. Additionally, we can look forward to enhanced efficiencies and the opening up of investment opportunities. 

 As crypto markets are volatile and complex to navigate, we require better analyzing and strategizing tools. Crypto trading bots make this possible. They take the chore out of transactions while seeking profit for the investor. 

 In a market bursting with them, one should exercise caution in their choice. This article outlines the key factors to consider when picking one over the other(s). It goes on to identify the best bots going into 2021. Though not exhaustive, this guide is a good starting point in your crypto bot choosing journey.

Categories
Forex Course

206. The Correlation Between The Stock and Forex Markets

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

The stock market encompasses individual stocks that create an index or a sector. An active under trader must define an approach to the equity as it differs depending on what she or he trades. When purchasing individual shares of an enterprise, some factors such as voting rights, dividend date, earnings per share, earnings releases, etc., play an important role.

The Relationship Between Forex and Stocks

The primary principles theory behind this is when there is an increase in the equity market rise. The demand for that particular currency also rises, resulting in more fund inflow from international investors. Additionally, it generates higher demand for the specific currency, leading it to rally instead of other foreign currencies.

On the other hand, when a local stock market does not perform well, this confidence lowers, resulting in investors to take their funds and put them somewhere safer and more lucrative.

Currency Correlation

Correlation is referred to as the measurement of the degree to which prices of two things have moved in a similar direction at the same time. For instance, if A and B prices always move up and down in sync, they have a correlation coefficient of 1, which implies an ideal positive correlation.

Contrarily if the value of these things moves simultaneously in the opposite direction, then their correlation coefficient is -1, which signifies a negative correlation.

Example – Correlation between Stock & Forex Markets

If the USA stock market performs well, international investors will sell their local currency to purchase USD-denominated stocks. When the demand for the dollar rises, it experiences an increase in value. In the Foreign exchange market, USD pairs will move in favor of the dollar ( i.e., The EURUSD falling, the USDCAD rising); hence a strong US stock market will favor the value of the US Dollar.

On the other hand, if the USA’s stock market is not performing well, investors will sell their USD-denominated shares and buy stocks or ETFs in places where they can generate more yield. This shows that the economy in the USA is performing badly. Since the demand for the dollar is less, it adversely affects the value of the US dollar.

Possibility Of Negative Correlation

There is also a possibility that the currency market will rise in answer to a volatile stock market. This may happen due to tons of other factors that contribute to currency performance. We will discuss more related to this topic in the upcoming course lessons.

Don’t forget to take the quiz below before you go. Cheers.

[wp_quiz id=”100352″]
Categories
Forex Basics Forex Brokers

Tell-Tale Signs You Need to Get a New Forex Broker

Are you here because your forex broker hasn’t been meeting your expectations lately? If so, then you don’t have to settle. New brokers open their doors every single day and hundreds of options have probably popped up since you first signed up for that old trading account. Finding a new broker can offer multiple benefits, from reduced fees to a wider selection of trading instruments, the chance to make extra money through bonuses, and more. If you’re seriously considering switching, then take a look at our list of tell-tale signs that you need to find a new forex broker.

Are you here because your forex broker hasn’t been meeting your expectations lately? If so, then you don’t have to settle. New brokers open their doors every single day and hundreds of options have probably popped up since you first signed up for that old trading account. Finding a new broker can offer multiple benefits, from reduced fees to a wider selection of trading instruments, the chance to make extra money through bonuses, and more. If you’re seriously considering switching, then take a look at our list of tell-tale signs that you need to find a new forex broker.

Are you here because your forex broker hasn’t been meeting your expectations lately? If so, then you don’t have to settle. New brokers open their doors every single day and hundreds of options have probably popped up since you first signed up for that old trading account. Finding a new broker can offer multiple benefits, from reduced fees to a wider selection of trading instruments, the chance to make extra money through bonuses, and more. If you’re seriously considering switching, then take a look at our list of tell-tale signs that you need to find a new forex broker.

Sign #1: You’re Paying Too Much in Fees

You’re likely paying commissions, spreads, and possibly withdrawal fees for trading through your broker. In some cases, you might not be paying commissions but you’re dealing with a higher spread to make up for it. If you’ve been trading with the same company for some time, you may not have been paying much attention to these fees, but have you compared them to any other brokers lately? If your broker is charging you a spread that is above 1.5 pips on EURUSD, we can almost guarantee that their other prices are too high, which means that you could be walking away with more of your own money in your pocket at the end of the day if you simply switch to a broker with cheaper fees. There’s also a good chance you could find a broker with no withdrawal fees for debit cards versus the 7% fees we’ve seen listed through several brokerages. 

Another thing to watch out for are extra charges, like inactivity fees or account maintenance charges. Some brokers do charge small inactivity fees to clear out balances that are left behind forever, but others charge high fees after about a month of zero trading activity. Account maintenance charges are basically like made-up charges that your cell phone provider would come up with to make a few extra dollars. Now is a good time to check your broker’s terms & conditions to see if any of these fees apply. If so, you might want to switch, especially if you’ve been hit with inactivity fees before. 

Sign #2:LacklusterCustomer Service

When it comes to customer service, a good broker offers flexible hours, quick and convenient contact methods, and polite service representatives. Sadly, you won’t find this available with every broker and you’d have an easier time pulling teeth than getting in touch with an agent through some shadier brokerages. Imagine having an issue where you never received a withdrawal you desperately needed, but you couldn’t get in touch with anyone to find out what happened. Or perhaps you simply get locked out of your account and can’t reset your password, so you’re stuck missing out on trading opportunities for days while you wait for an agent to respond to you. If you haven’t been there before, there’s always a chance that this will affect you in the future. Rudeness is another thing that you shouldn’t have to tolerate and is a sure sign that you’ll do better with another company. 

Sign #3: Limited Trading Opportunities

If you’re a trader that is only interested in currency pairs, then this one might not matter to you as much, as long as your broker offers a good selection of majors, minors, and exotics. However, many traders do look to diversify their trading portfolio over time, even if they started out focusing only on currency pairs. If this is the case for you, then you’ve probably outgrown your forex broker if they don’t offer much in the way of commodities, stocks, or cryptocurrencies. If you’re in this situation, you might want to switch to gain access to a wider diversity of investment options – or you could open a secondary account through another broker and continue to trade currencies on your current account if your broker offers competitive prices. 

Sign #4: An Unsatisfactory Trading Platform

Some brokers offer access to award-winning platforms like MetaTrader 4 and/or 5, or they have their own trading platform for users to trade on. If you’re dealing with a broker that lets you trade on MT4 or MT5, then you already have access to one of the best platforms out there, but don’t hesitate to switch if you don’t personally like those options. If your broker offers their own platform, you’ll need to think about how satisfied you are with the features and tools within it. Does it seem basic? If your trading platform is missing out on all the tech you’re looking for, consider switching. Also, know that more popular brokers are more likely to offer outstanding platforms, while smaller shadier brokers are likely offering up more basic trading platforms. 

Sign #5: Your Broker Is Too Basic

Some brokers have a lot to offer in the way of extra perks, like bonuses and promotional opportunities, a wide selection of assets to choose from, a wide array of educational resources, trading tools like calculators, amazing trading platforms, and etc. Others only offer a basic trading platform with zero resources or extra perks on their site. Obviously, the latter is rather boring when there are so many companies offering so much more out there. If your broker only offers the bare minimum, we highly recommend looking at other options so that you can benefit more from the trading experience.

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

EUR/CHF Global Macro Analysis – Part 3

EUR/CHF Exogenous Analysis The EU and Switzerland Current Account to GDP differential The ratio of the current account to GDP helps us determine the level of a country’s participation in the international market. When a country has net exports, it means that it will have a current account surplus; and, the larger the surplus, the […]

EUR/CHF Exogenous Analysis The EU and Switzerland Current Account to GDP differential The ratio of the current account to GDP helps us determine the level of a country’s participation in the international market. When a country has net exports, it means that it will have a current account surplus; and, the larger the surplus, the […]

EUR/CHF Exogenous Analysis

  • The EU and Switzerland Current Account to GDP differential

The ratio of the current account to GDP helps us determine the level of a country’s participation in the international market. When a country has net exports, it means that it will have a current account surplus; and, the larger the surplus, the higher the current account to GDP ratio. Conversely, a country with higher imports than exports; it means it has a current account deficit, and its current account to GDP ratio will be lower.

The domestic currency will be in higher demand in the forex market when a country is a net exporter.

In 2020, the Swiss Current Account to GDP is projected to reach 7.5% and that of the EU 3.4%. Thus, the current account to GDP differential between the EU and Switzerland is -4.1%. That means we should expect that the CHF will be in higher demand than the EUR. Thus, we assign a score of -5.

The interest rate differential for the EUR/CHF pair determines which of these currencies is preferable to investors and carry traders in the forex market. When the interest rate differential is positive, it means that investors will earn more by buying the EUR. Similarly, carry traders will be bullish on the EUR/CHF pair, thus driving the exchange rate higher. A negative interest rate differential implies that the Swiss Franc will be preferable to investors, while carry traders will be bearish on the pair.

The Swiss National Bank has maintained the interest rate at -0.75% throughout 2020, and the ECB interest rate has been at 0%. The interest rate differential for the EUR/CHF pair is 0.75%. We assign a score of 2.

  • The EU and Switzerland GDP Growth Rate differential

The GDP growth differential is the difference between the rate at which the EU and the Swiss economy are growing. This will help us identify which economy is growing faster. A positive GDP growth differential between the EU and Switzerland will result in a higher exchange rate for the EUR/CHF pair. A negative one will lead to a drop in the exchange rate for the pair.

In the first three quarters of 2020, the EU economy has contracted by 2.9% while the Swiss economy contracted by 1.5%. The GDP growth rate differential is -1.4%. We assign a score of -3.

Conclusion

The exogenous factors between the EUR/CHF pair have a score of -6; which implies that the pair can be expected to be on a downtrend in the short term.

As you can see above, the Technical analysis shows that the weekly chart for the EUR/CHF pair has failed to breach the upper Bollinger band successfully and has bounced off of it supporting our fundamental analysis. All the best.

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

EUR/CHF Global Macro Analysis – Part 1 & 2

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

In conducting the global macro analysis of the EUR/CHF pair, we’ll focus on endogenous economic factors that contribute to the growth of GDP in the EU and Switzerland. Exogenous factors that influence the exchange rate of the EUR/CHF in the forex market will also be analysed.

Ranking Scale

A sliding scale of -10 to +10 will be used to rank the impact of endogenous and exogenous factors.

The ranking of the endogenous factors will be based on their correlation analysis with the GDP growth rate. A negative score implies that they resulted in the contraction of the economy hence depreciating the domestic currency. A positive score implies that they led in economic expansion hence appreciation of the domestic currency.

The exogenous factors are ranked based on their correlation with the EUR/CHF exchange rate. A positive score means that the pair lead to an increase in the exchange rate, while a negative ranking means that the exchange rate has decreased.

EUR Endogenous Analysis – Summary

The EUR’s endogenous analysis has a score of -3. This implies that the Euro had marginally depreciated in 2020.

CHF Endogenous Analysis – Summary

The change in the level of employment covers the quarterly developments in the labour market in Switzerland. The statistic includes the changes in both fulltime and parttime employment. Typically, changes in employment is a result of changes in business activities.

In Q3 of 2020, 5.08 million people were employed in Switzerland compared to 5.02 million in Q2. The employment level is still below the 5.11 million registered in Q1. We assign a score of -4.

  • Switzerland GDP Deflator

Switzerland GDP deflator is used to calculate the change in real GDP in terms of prices of all goods and services produced within the country. This is a comprehensive measure of inflation compared to measures like CPI and PPI, which only focus on a small portion of the economy.

In Q3 2020, Switzerland GDP deflator rose to 98.8 from 98 in Q2.  Up to Q3, the GDP deflator has increased by 0.8 points. The increase in inflation can be taken as an indicator that the economy is bouncing back from the economic shocks of the coronavirus pandemic. We assign a score of 3.

  • Switzerland Industrial Production

This indicator shows the changes in output for firms operating in the manufacturing, mining, quarrying, and electricity production. Although Switzerland is not heavily dependent on industrial production, it is still an integral part of the economy.

In Q3 2020, the industrial production in Switzerland increased by 5% from a drop of 9% in Q2. The YoY industrial production for Q3 was down 5.1%. For the first three quarters of 2020, the industrial production is down 3.8%. We assign a score of -3.

  • Switzerland Manufacturing PMI

This is an indicator of the economic health of the Swiss manufacturing sector. The purchasing managers are surveyed based in a questionnaire which covers the output in the sector, suppliers’ deliveries, inventories, new orders, prices, and employment. A PMI of above 50 shows that the Swiss manufacturing sector is expanding, while below 50 shows that the sector is contracting.

In November 2020, Switzerland manufacturing PMI rose to 55.2 from 52.3 in October. This is the highest reading since December 2018 and the fourth consecutive month of expansion since July. We assign a score of 7.

  • Switzerland Retail Sales

The retail sales measure the consumption of final goods and services by households in Switzerland. The expenditure by households drives the aggregate demand in the economy, which results in the changes in GDP.

In October 2020, Switzerland retail sales increased by 3.2% from a drop of 3.2% in September. YoY retail sales increased by 3.1% in October from 0.4% in September. Up to October 2020, the average retail sales has increased by 0.84%. We assign a score of 1.

  • Switzerland Consumer Confidence

About 1000 Swiss households are surveyed in January, April, July and October. They are evaluated based on their opinions about the economy, job security, financial status, inflation, and purchases. Consumer confidence tends to be higher when the economy is expanding and low during recessions.

In Q4 2020, the Swiss consumer confidence dropped to -12.8 from 12 in Q3. Although it is higher than it was in Q2 at the height of the pandemic, it is still lower than in Q1. The expectations on households’ financial situation also dropped to -6.6 from -4.2 in Q2. Households were increasingly pessimistic about the labour market and their job security. this can be attributed to the uncertainties that surround the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. We assign a score of -2.

  • Switzerland Government Gross Debt to GDP

This is the total amount that the Swiss government owes to both domestic and international lenders is expressed as a percentage of the GDP. It helps us to understand and evaluate the size of the debt relative to the size of the economy. At below 60%, the government is seen as being able to service its debt obligations and have room to acquire more debt without straining the economy.

In 2019, the Switzerland government gross debt to GDP was 41% same as in 2018. In 2020, it is expected to range between 49% and 51% due to aggressive expenditure to alleviate the shocks of coronavirus pandemic. We assign a score of -1.

In the very next article, you can find the exogenous analysis of the EUR/CHF Forex pair. Please check that and let us know if you have any questions below. Cheers.

Categories
Forex Basics Forex Daily Topic

The Trading Log: Key Component for a Pro Trader

At forex.academy, we understand that a trading record is a decisive component to be successful in Forex. That’s why we took the time to create a free trading log on an Excel Spreadsheet. It was designed to present all the needed information at a glance. Here we present its guide.

At forex.academy, we understand that a trading record is a decisive component to be successful in Forex. That’s why we took the time to create a free trading log on an Excel Spreadsheet. It was designed to present all the needed information at a glance. Here we present its guide.

At forex.academy, we understand that a trading record is a decisive component to be successful in Forex. That’s why we took the time to create a free trading log on an Excel Spreadsheet. It was designed to present all the needed information at a glance. Here we present its guide.

The Stats Section

The top of the spreadsheet shows the Main statistics of your trading record. 

Total net P/L: The net profits after the trading costs. You can set an average cost in the bottom right cell named “LOT Costs”. If you enter the lot cost, the sheet will compute every trade cost by multiplying it by the actual lots of the trade. Of course, you can set it manually on every trade with the exact costs your broker charged.

Gross P/L: The total profit without costs.

Total R won. R is the measure of your risk. The “R multiple” column converts the net profit into a ratio Net Profit/$Risk. R is a measure of the profit/loss for every dollar risked.  This helps you plan your objectives and calculate the risk needed to achieve them. For example, if you find that you are making 20R per month and plan to earn 3000$ monthly, you will need to risk $3000/20 = $150 on every trade.

% Winners: The winner percent figure.

% Losers: The percent of losers

AVG P/L per Trade: The average dollar won/lost. It is the Total net won/lost divided by the number of trades.

Avg % loss on losers: The average percent capital lost on losing trades.

Avg % profit on winners: The average percent capital won on winning trades.

Expectancy: A measure of what you can expect to gain in the next trade for every dollar risked. The example shown is 0.79, which means you can expect to earn $79 every time you trade if your risk is $100.

Expectancy’s Standard Dev: A statistical measure of the variability of the expectancy figure. You can expect that 95% of  Expectancy’s values are plus and minus two stdev from 0.79.

#winners: The number of winners.

#losers: the number of losers.

Hours Spent: this is a manual input of your time spent in trading.

P/L per hour: It will compute your profit per hour spent in trading.

Net Profits: These are the net profits on winning trades.

Net Losses: The losses on losing trades.

% Gains on account: The total sum of the percent gained on winning trades.

% Losses: The sum of the percent lost on losing trades.

Reward:risk: The average reward/risk of your trades.

LOT Costs: This is a manual entry for the average costs per lot your broker charges you.

Running Balance: The initial capital ( Cell B17) plus the total net P/L amount (on closed trades).  Please note that this balance does not take into account open trades.

Total costs: The sum of the cost of spreads and commissions of your trades. This parameter will help you understand how much of your money goes to your broker. It could be handy if you want to negotiate rebates or shift your business to another cheaper broker.

The trades

The cells in columns with a yellow heading are for you to enter manually. The rest were filled with the needed formulas to get the stats figures, so there is no need to touch them when trading.

The exception is The Trade Cost column. This column is also filled with the formula to approximate your costs if you supply the average cost per lot in the B12 cell. But you can also manually enter your true cost.

Entering a Trade

We have designed the sheet so that you have total control over your risk on every trade. Therefore, we should begin to enter the desired percent risk for the coming trade. Let’s say 1%.  With this figure, the sheet computes the dollar-risk based on your current account balance.

After entering the entry price and stop-loss level, it will also compute the recommended trade size in lots. You should then input the real lot number in the following column, “Real lots.” It was designed that way because we must take into account several open trades at the same time.

How the sheet computes the risk of the next trade?

When allowing several simultaneous trades, the model chosen to compute risk is to subtract the risk of the previous open trades to the available capital. That way, you risk a percent of the money not currently at risk.  But when you close a trade and record it, the sheet recalculates all cells. Thus, the sheet needs the “Real Lots” column, so the record does not get modified every time an open trade is closed.

After the trader decides the percent of his account to risk on a trade, the real lot size, and the entry and stop-loss point are set, the sheet also shows the leverage of that trade. That way, all the risk information is displayed. Please, beware that a risk of 3 percent corresponds with a leverage of 10, and that leverages over 10:1 should be avoided, especially when several trades are open on major currency pairs.

JPY pairs

The column JPY? was added for the right calculation of JPY pairs’ values, as these pairs’ pip value is in the second decimal place instead of in the fourth decimal. You should input Y on these pairs to get the right trade size, profit, and leverage. Please, note that pip values on non-USD quote currencies are approximate.

Entry and exit date and time

These are optional entries, but it is advisable to register these values to get observations about the average time on a trade and the average time for a trade to hit stop-loss and take-profit levels.

Trading results

Once the Exit price has been entered, the sheet displays the profit/loss (P/L), Net P/L, %P/L and R multiple of the trade. This will help assess essential parameters, such as the average Trade profit, the usual percent obtained, and the real reward/risk values (R), which is also the profit on a one-dollar risk.

Trade quality

Alexander Elder recommends traders value the quality of the trade based on one objective parameter: The percentage of the available profit you could obtain from the trade.

One possible scale is 0: less than 10%, 1: from 10 to 25%, 2: from 25, to 50%, 3: from 50 to 75% 4: from 75 to 90%  5: over 90%. This will help you see if, over time, you’re improving, maintain, or decrease the quality of your trades. It will reveal the best times of the session to trade.

MAE/MFE

These are to annotate the Maximum adverse excursion and Maximum Favorable excursion. These two parameters are important clues to improve stop-loss and take-profit levels. It will help you also analyze if your entries are too early or too late and take measures to correct them. For more on this subject, please read an MAE/MFE explanation here.

Summarizing

We hope this spreadsheet will help you be a better trader. Please modify and complete it at will for your purposes.  This trading log is not perfect, but it is a starting point.

Categories
Forex Course

205. How Global Equity Markets Affect The Forex Market?

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

The equity market is also referred to as the stock or share markets. This is an extensive marketplace where traders and investors purchase and sell shares of the publicly listed organizations. The company’s share, stock, or equity is an important financial instrument that denotes the company’s ownership. Contrary to the market, when you buy a share in the stock market, you own a percentage of the company’s overall shares.

Global equity markets have a direct impact on the Forex market. A stable equity market reflects a good currency. Generally, when the country’s equity market is performing well, it attracts higher foreign investors. Therefore, it increases the demand for the local currency, resulting in a boost in a positive trade balance as well as currency appreciation.

Contrarily, when the equity market is not performing well, the investors begin to pull out their money and invest in safer securities. This results in a decrease in the demand for a particular currency.

Impact Of Global Equity Markets On The Forex Market

Forex and equity markets trades center on the currency exchanges of various countries. In case there is a rise in the equity market, more international investors will want to put their money in that particular stock.

However, to do the same, they need to transfer their local currency to the currency of a particular country. This increases the currency demand for the nation. So when there is a huge demand for the currency, its value naturally increases in the market.

Example Of How The Equity Markets Impact Forex Market

If you are looking to invest in the UK’s stock market and your local currency is US dollars. So you need first to change the USD to GBP. This way, you are selling the US dollar while purchasing the GBP.

When more people sell the USD to buy GBP, it increases the demand for pounds, thereby boosting the value of the GBP. Additionally, it also contributes to a positive trade balance. On the other hand, since more US dollars are being sold, it increases the supply of USD, which results in a fall in the value of the dollar.

So when the demand for the currency rises, its value appreciates. This makes the forex market more bullish. Similarly, if the currency demand falls, its value will also fall. It will make the forex market more bearish.

We hope you got the gist of what we are talking about. In the upcoming course lessons, we will be learning more about various equity markets and how their movement can be used to predict the Forex price charts. Cheers.

[wp_quiz id=”101514″]
Categories
Blockchain and DLT Crypto Daily Topic

5 Portals That Rate And Rank DeFi 

There’s never a dull moment in the Defi sector. Continuous innovation in the space affords us products and solutions that ease our transactions. Additionally, the thriving Defi sector provides alternative investment avenues. Further, the investments attract better returns compared to those from conventional finance. It isn’t a wonder that investors in their droves keep boarding the Defi juggernaut.

There’s never a dull moment in the Defi sector. Continuous innovation in the space affords us products and solutions that ease our transactions. Additionally, the thriving Defi sector provides alternative investment avenues. Further, the investments attract better returns compared to those from conventional finance. It isn’t a wonder that investors in their droves keep boarding the Defi juggernaut.

There’s never a dull moment in the Defi sector. Continuous innovation in the space affords us products and solutions that ease our transactions. Additionally, the thriving Defi sector provides alternative investment avenues. Further, the investments attract better returns compared to those from conventional finance. It isn’t a wonder that investors in their droves keep boarding the Defi juggernaut.

In a sense, the ballooning of Defi is both a blessing and curse, A blessing in that it expands our choices and gives us greater say over our funds. On the other hand, many competing products could cause us headaches in product choices. The fact that genuine and fake projects dot Defi’s landscape further exacerbates this dilemma.

Luckily though, we’ve portals whose mission is to take the difficulty out of Defi investments. These scour the Defi sector, analyzing projects and trends for our consumption. In them, we have crucial allies for navigating the Defi maze. This article examines five portals that rate and rank Defi to our gain. We shall proceed to explore the features that make them a must-have tool in our investment journey.

1. DeFi Pulse

DeFi Pulse site enables you to find analysis and rankings of Defi protocols. Its salient features include:

Total Value Locked

This metric shows the amount of funds locked up in various DeFi contracts. A high TVL is indicative of a thriving economy. Defi Pulse uses a graph to capture the daily TVL progression.

Market dominance

This standard ranks projects according to their liquidity levels. Projects with higher liquidity are a stable and attractive investment option.

The Market Leader Share Metric

The Market leader share metric gives you a glimpse of the Defi categories available on Defi Pulse’s site. Major types include Lending, DEX’s, Derivatives, Payments, and Assets.

DeFi Pulse Farmer

The DeFi Pulse Farmer is the site’s newsletter. It covers the latest news and opportunities in the Defi space.

DeFi Lending

The Defi lending feature shows the interest that these protocols generate per year. Through this ranking, you can determine the most profitable investments. The platform also has a calculator that shows you how much interest you’d draw per month by locking a given amount of an asset.

DeFi Pulse Token List

The Token list is a directory of the legitimate tokens trading on Ethereum.  It serves to reassure users that they are dealing with a genuine project.

2. CoinMarketCap DeFi page

CoinMarketCap (CMC) has distinguished itself to be a trustworthy platform. Its Defi page lists tokens simply and conveniently, allowing for faster searches. Its other standout features are:

Cryptoasset Ranking

Here you find all the assets that CMC lists. You get to see the asset’s market cap, price changes within a day or week, its volume, and circulating supply.

Coin Details Pages

These provide in-depth information regarding a coin. The “market pairs” tab features prominently on these pages. Market pairs have unique confidence indicators that aid you in picking an exchange to trade. This confidence score mirrors the exchange’s liquidity.

Exchanges

Here you get to compare how the different exchanges fare. The exchanges fall into different categories, including spot exchanges, derivatives exchanges, and decentralized exchanges.

CMC’s Watchlist

The watchlist feature allows you to mark your favorite cryptos. In this way, you can easily track their performance.

Headlines

Keep abreast of the happenings in the crypto and blockchain space with this tool. The embedded Signals feature sends you news directly from a project or a given crypto protocol.

3. Etherscan

Etherscan is an Ethereum based platform providing analyses of the Defi sector. It debuted in 2015 and one of the longest-running independent projects built on the network. Its mission is to provide fair access to blockchain data. Some of its key features are:

DeFi Leaderboard

Through Etherscan’s leaderboard feature, you get to find up to date analytics and rankings of DeFi protocols. The rankings take into account the total value locked into the smart contracts. From the leaderboard, one can skim the following information:

  • The project’s rank
  • The project’s name
  • Its category
  • TVL in USD
  • Price changes in a day
  • Price changes over a week
  • The project’s market capitalization
  • The market cap to TVL ratio

Token Tracker

Etherscan tracks and ranks two kinds of tokens. First is the ERC 20 token, and secondly, the ERC 721 token, also known as the Non-Fungible Token.

ERC 20 token Tracker

In ranking the ERC 20 token, Etherscan identifies the project by name, states its trading price, and changes in 24 hours. Additionally, it indicates the token volume within a day, the token’s market cap, and its total number of holders.

Non-fungible Tokens Tracker

This tracker ranks the top ERC 721 tokens. It identifies the project and its volume first within a day and finally in a week.

Yield Farms Tracker

Yield farming is an essential component of Defi. Accordingly, Etherscan has provided a rank for the top yield farming ventures. You’ll find the project’s name, its start date, addresses, trading prices, and market cap in this ranking.

4. Loanscan

Loanscan is your go-to platform in matters of Defi lending. It gives you access to financial information and analysis for credit issued on the Ethereum blockchain. The platform supports loans from Compound, dYdX, Dharma, and Maker DAO protocols. However, it plans to introduce additional protocols and blockchains in the future. Minimalist in nature, it has two significant features:

Earn Yield

Here you get to know the amount of interest you’ll earn investing in a given platform. Besides showing the earning in terms of USD, Loanscan also compares the yield across cryptos. 

Borrow

This feature enables you to determine the cheapest platforms to seek credit. Again it lists the platforms and their lending rates for different cryptos. 

5. DeFiprime

DefiPrime is a feature-rich portal offering comprehensive information on different Defi projects. On this site, you’ll find news and blog articles relating to Defi. Additionally, you can conveniently search for projects under several categories. Some of the main categories include  Alternative savings, Daos, Payments, and Staking. The site eases the process of finding projects as it arranges them in niches. Thus, it saves you time.

Final Thoughts

The growth of Defi has placed us in a quandary. On the one hand, we celebrate the convenience of transactions, expansion of financial options, and notably, the financial freedom Defi affords us. That said, their proliferation introduces challenges in determining which products to choose. As the sector has its fair share of legit and fraudulent projects, this difficulty gains in significance. All is not lost, though. Some portals undertake analysis of the Defi market to keep us in the know. Using these portals takes the guesswork out of investing, guaranteeing us fruitful experiences in the space. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Forex Daily Topic Forex Videos

Forex Trading Algorithms Part 7 Elements Of Computer Languages For EA Design!

https://youtu.be/xXkgQAvWnnI

https://youtu.be/xXkgQAvWnnI


Trading Algorithms VII – Liberal sequences and exact sequences

Translating ideas into a trading algorithm is not always easy. When examining a particular trade idea, we could find two cases: 

  • the signal can be described precisely in a consecutive sequence of trading facts, or 
  • Several conditions with variable steps among each condition need to be spotted.

The first class is easier to program. To this class belong any kind of crossovers: 

  • price to MA: 

  • MA to MA :

Similar conditions can be created with indicator crossovers and level breakouts.

 

Trading Signals Using Pivots

But what if the idea is more complex?. Let’s consider we want to catch pivot points in the direction of the trend. Let’s say we want to open a buy trade in the second pivot reversal. Let’s follow Pruitt’s example:

Buy on the second pivot pullback if

1.- The second pivot high is higher than the first pivot

2.- The pullback is larger than 2%

3.- The sequence takes less than 30 bars

 

The Flag Model

Since these conditions happen with variable price-action sequences programming, this kind of entry is much more difficult if we employ just If-then-else statements. The employment of flags to signal that a specific condition was met helps in the logic but is not the best solution.


As we see, the flag model is awkward and not too flexible. Also, this method is prone to errors.

 

The Finite State Machine

The second method to this kind of problem is the Finite State Machine (FSM). Basically, we want to detect certain states following others, defining a state when the needed condition is met. An FSM is a machine with finite states. The machine moves from state zero or START through several states until a final one, which defines the ACCEPT state. 

We can imagine a state machine as a combination lock. We need to supply the lock with a combination of numbers until its final digit, which triggers its opening.

The first step is to create the states needed. Next, we create the conditions for the change from one state to other states. Once satisfied with the diagram, we can easily write the pseudo-code, or, even, the actual code directly.

As we can see here, the code is precisely subdivided into states, each state with the precise instructions to move to the next state or back to the start state. We can see also that this algorithm is executed from top to bottom on each new bar. We hope that this example will help you better understand how an entry algorithm can be created.

Stay tuned for more interesting videos on trading algos!

Categories
Forex Videos

Forex Trading Algorithms Part 6 Elements Of Computer Languages For EA Design!

https://youtu.be/jCqvYMaG3dU

https://youtu.be/jCqvYMaG3dU


Trading Algorithms VI –  The Stages of a trading algorithm

In this video, we will discover the different parts needed for a complete trading system. 

One of the most common systems involves the crossover of two moving averages, a short- and a long-term SMA. Let’s do a system based on this idea.

Creating a trading algorithm involves at least two stages: the entry logic and the trade management logic, and the position sizing logic. 

The Entry Logic

The entry logic sets the rules for entries. The logic can be subdivided into two sections: the entry signal and the Filter or Trade setup. 

The entry signal  

An entry signal is a moment in time when something happens in the asset. Entries can be MA crossovers, level breakouts, bullish or bearish candlestick formations, and so forth.

The Filter

A filter is a condition imposed for the entry signal to be valid. For instance, you can allow a MA crossover to the long side only if the main trend is up. Then, you can programmatically define the primary trend, and this is the filter. For instance, we could describe an upward direction when the price is higher than the +1 SD line of a Bollinger Band ( in which we set the bands to 1 SD instead of the standard 2SD). We could also say that the upward trend is the price above its 200-period MA, or when there are higher highs and higher lows. A down-trend can be defined using the opposite logic.

On mean-reverting assets, an interesting filter might be overbought/oversold indicators such as RSI, Percent R, or Stochastics curving against the current move, allowing then use of candlestick reversal signals.

We can also add a filter that excludes trades whose projected reward/risk ratio is below one.

As a caveat, the higher the number of conditions, the higher the probability of over-optimizing it. The best designs are those with a few parameters. Also, the higher the number of filters, the less the system will trade. Thus, not always a filter improves a raw signal.

When building your trading system, a sound methodology starts with raw entry signals and a time stop at a determined number of bars. If the entry has an edge, it will be proved by higher than 50% profitable signals after 5-10 bars.

The trade management Logic

Trade management logic takes care of open trades. It is constituted of at least a stop-loss logic and a take-profit logic.  It may include other decision steps, such as break-even logic and trail stops.

The Stop-loss 

We have already published several articles on stop-losses. There are several ways to set a stop-loss level. We can do it using a multiple of the Average True Range of the asset, using the last swing low (or high in the case of a short-trade), or by statistically optimizing the distance using John Sweeney’s Maximum Adverse Excursion (MAE) concept.

Trail stops are also a recurrent idea in trading, although the developer should test them and assess if they really improve the results.  The same is valid for the break-even logic. Both concepts seem logical and mind relieving, but I have yet to find their utility to improve a trading system.

In some trading systems, a time stop can be handy. A time stop closes if the trade is not profitable after a certain period or a specific number of bars.

The Take-profit.

Take profit logic can also be varied, from dollar-based stops to stops based on key levels, supports, and resistances or pivots. A take-profit condition may be set, too, when a signal opposite to the current trade happens, such as an MA crossover against the trade, the price below the -1SD Bollinger line on longs or over +1SD line on short positions.

Take profit code can be added for scaling out the trade, letting a percent of the original position open to ride the wave and improve profits when your trade is right.

Position Sizing logic

The position size logic is a final step that involves setting up the right trade size for the trader’s objectives. This step should be used only in real-time trading, not during the definition, optimization, and evaluation of a new trading system.

During the definition step, a trading system must be used with one trade unit, and its results normalized to its risk, so instead of dollar profits, it should produce a stream of multiples of R, a standard one-dollar risk.

Position sizing logic is key to maximizing the returns of a system and limiting the max drawdown to the levels desired by the trader.

We will further develop these concepts in the coming videos, with specific algorithms demonstrating how to create them properly.

Categories
Crypto Videos

IRS Will Start Enforcing Crypto Trading Laws Starting Now!

https://youtu.be/4xRQ988a2Zk

https://youtu.be/4xRQ988a2Zk


IRS Will Start Enforcing Crypto Trading Laws – Says Former Division Chief

A former top investigator has sent out a warning, claiming that “a high-stakes game of chicken” that’s currently happening between the Internal Revenue Service and cryptocurrency holders who fail to properly report their earnings will soon be entering a new phase. The warning stated that 2021 would be the year when the tax collection agency will begin to focus on pursuing “civil and, even criminal penalties.”

In an article co-authored by Don Fort, the former chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation division said that while the agency was focusing its resources on informing the public of proper reporting guidelines until now, it will now be turning to more stringent “enforcement.”

As he stated, “The IRS has been not-so-quietly positioning itself for a transition from education to enforcement in 2021.”

The article notes that the IRS will certainly enforce the law, starting with Coinbase. Coinbase answered a “John Doe” summons back in 2018 and handed over account information on close to 13,000 users, which could soon lead to crackdowns. 

The focus on crypto holders is partly due to a widening “tax gap,” meaning that the rift between the total income the Treasury gets from crypto taxes versus what the Treasury actually receives is larger and larger.

Ultimately, the article concludes that major trends, such as the addition of a question regarding cryptocurrency holdings now being prominently placed at the top of form 1040, only indicate that the IRS is slowly but surely gearing up for widespread efforts to root out tax underpayment.

“Even though the IRS has not yet made an announcement regarding mainstream tax evasion or money laundering cases involving digital currency, that trend should change in 2021.”

He ended the report by saying that “History has shown that underestimating the government is a fool’s game.”

Categories
Crypto Videos

Dash Is Selling Out It’s Privacy Focus In The Hope It Won’t get Culled!

https://youtu.be/4fG-Hqc4snM

https://youtu.be/4fG-Hqc4snM


Is Dash a Privacy Coin?

A recent tweet coming from Dash’s official Twitter account has invited much criticism. The outlash from Dash’s supporters is directed towards the fact that the cryptocurrency, which was once advertised as a privacy coin, is now wilting in the face of possible regulatory scrutiny and trying to pivot to non-privacy-focused crypto waters. 

On Jan 1, the US-based exchange Bittrex announced in a tweet that it would be delisting top privacy coins, including Monero, Zcash, and Dash.

The delistings of the top private coins follow a similar Dec 29, 2020 announcement that Bittrex would be delisting XRP as a result of an SEC lawsuit against Ripple, prompting further speculation that the exchange preemptively delisted the aforementioned privacy coins in anticipation of a wider regulatory crackdown. 

In response to the delisting, Dash announced in a tweet that they had immediately “reached out to Bittrex Exchange to request a meeting,” and that referring to the DASH cryptocurrency as a “privacy coin” is not exactly right. They added:


Taking a look back at 2017, on the other hand, archived screenshots from the Dash Foundation website show that the company advertised DASH as “the world’s first privacy-centric cryptocurrency.” The current Dash Foundation website has changed since and now says that Dash is “the leading payments cryptocurrency,” and doesn’t mention its privacy functionality anywhere.

In a recent tweet regarding the delisting CEO of DashPay, Ryan Taylor also minimized the cryptocurrency’s privacy features:

While the whole situation regarding Dash’s stance has prompted criticism on Twitter, proponents have noted that the cryptocurrency has released guidance on its privacy features in August. Official Dash website blog post shows that Taylor wrote that “regulators are concerned with exchanges possibly being unable to comply with KYC/AML regulations when transacting coins that offer privacy features,” because Dash is “often found on lists of cryptocurrencies with privacy enhancements.”

However, Taylor also wrote that Dash has been very successful in convincing exchanges as well as regulators that Dash is not a privacy coin.

The clarifications about Dash’s core focus come as a follow-up to an announced upgrade to Dash entering the testnet phase. This upgrade will include DashPay, a “social crypto-payments wallet.” 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

5 Ways Investors Lost Cryptos in 2020

Without a doubt, 2020 is the year that the crypto community experienced significant growth. Cryptocurrencies regained much of their lost value and reached new heights, thanks to their growing adoption. 

Without a doubt, 2020 is the year that the crypto community experienced significant growth. Cryptocurrencies regained much of their lost value and reached new heights, thanks to their growing adoption. 

Without a doubt, 2020 is the year that the crypto community experienced significant growth. Cryptocurrencies regained much of their lost value and reached new heights, thanks to their growing adoption. 

The crypto industry continues to grow, and investors are laughing all the way to the bank. Along with all this good, there were a host of crypto scams that left investors with a bad taste in their mouths. But how did these crypto scams occur? 

Cryptocurrency losses due to hacks on the DeFi platforms, theft, and fraud amounted to $1.8 billion within the first ten months of 2020, up from $4.52 billion in the entire previous year. The 2019 DeFi volume figure was negligible, but it now appears the DeFi platforms are lucrative for bitcoin thieves. With up to $98 million in losses, DeFi hacks made up 21% of the total crypto fraud in 2020, which is quite significant. But why so many crypto scams?

The USD value in DeFi cryptos and other cryptocurrencies has grown exponentially, attracting the attention of scammers, money launderers, and DeFi protocol hackers. Everyone, including those that don’t want to put in the hard work, wants a piece of the Bitcoin profits.

Scammers use different methods to get a piece of the crypto cake, but according to a report by CipherTrace, Ponzi schemes and investment scams are two of the main ways that investors lost cryptos in 2020. 

Let’s have a detailed look at how crypto investors made losses in 2020, shall we?

1. Ponzi Schemes 

Ponzi schemes have emerged as one of the favorite vehicles for crypto frauds, and it seems they are not going anywhere. Usually, the schemes promise investors quick significant returns with little or no risk. 

The first few returns are made from recruits’ funds, serving as bait for more investment into the scheme. Most of the time, there is little or no business development in the background to support the pyramid of promised returns. Eventually, the schemes come tumbling down, and founders vanish into thin air with the investors’ money. 

The classic crypto giveaway scam moved to YouTube from Twitter in 2020. In one instance, a hacker hijacked tens of YouTube accounts to broadcast a crypto giveaway falsely promising to double your earnings within a short period. The Ponzi scheme was broadcast live on YouTube, posing as a message from Bill Gates, the Microsoft CEO. 

2. Exchange Hacks 

Centralized exchanges provide a platform for the buying and selling of cryptocurrency. They act as middlemen, with various currencies for trading in a partially regulated environment, and are a favorite of newcomers in the bitcoin industry.

Unfortunately, centralized bitcoin exchanges come with a variety of risks. For starters, the funds deposited are entirely on the platform owners’ hands, which is somewhat risky.

In September 2020, hackers made away with a large haul of cryptocurrency worth $275 million from KuCoin, a popular platform, becoming one of the largest hacks. The cybercriminals used various methods such as diversifying into multiple currencies and mixers to avoid leaving a trail. 

But the decentralized exchanges were not spared either.

Another high-profile bitcoin theft in 2020 involved the Cryptocurrency exchange Bisq where virtual currency worth $250,000 was lost. The hackers used a vulnerability introduced after a recent update to the network, allowing them to manipulate fallback addresses and send the funds to the wallets they controlled. 

Earlier in the year, IOTA Foundation had to temporarily suspend operations following a cyberattack targeting the IOTA wallet app. The organization took steps to freeze the entire system within 25 minutes of reports that cryptos were being stolen from users’ wallets. 

3. Social Media Crypto Scams

The #cryptocurrency tag on Twitter hosts who-is-who in the crypto industry, including tech engineers, investors, and programmers. But the social media platform is one of the several ways that crypto thieves used to scam people out of their hard-earned cash. 

Hackers took control of the social media giant back-end referred to as the “God Mode” by hacking Twitter employees to access high-value accounts. 

On July 15th, the verified accounts of famous personalities such as former President Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Kanye West were hacked and used in a fake crypto giveaway. The hackers promised $2000 worth of cryptocurrency for just $1000, hauling over $121k of stolen bitcoins in the process. 

4. Sim Swapping 

SIM swapping is a relatively new crypto scamming method which is also gaining a foothold. Scammers convince the mobile service provider to move a number to a new SIM card in a device they control to perpetrate crypto scams. 

The method has become too familiar, especially in the cryptocurrency and Bitcoin industry. Usually, the hackers hope to access the victims’ cryptocurrency wallet through SMS sent to their phone for two-factor authentication. 

If successful, scammers access your phone, cryptocurrency exchanges, bank accounts, and other sensitive personal information to wipe your crypto wallet dry. Recently, Harvard University Ph.D. students and professors highlighted the increased risk of SIM swaps in 2020 in a research paper. Incidentally, one of the authors fell victim to a SIM swap.

In one unfortunate incident, a man lost $24 million through SIM swapping as a part of the coordinated attack. It has emerged that the 2020 twitter hacker was part of the SIM swap syndicate. 

5. Trickery by the Phishing Websites and ICOs

2020 has had more than its fair share of phishing scams, and especially in the crypto industry. The main route is often through email, where the scammers guide people to particular websites to steal their credentials, which they use to access their wallets.

Just recently, scammers successfully tricked an astounding number of people into visiting a replicated version of the popular cryptocurrency Ripple (XRP) ledger to steal more than $280k. 

Meanwhile, fake ICOs or the initial coin offering occur frequently and are a significant risk for bitcoin investors. Like an initial public offering, the initial coin offering’s main objective is to raise funds for the startup. But how do fake ICOs work?

Usually, fraudsters hype the project with fake ICO details to convince the investors. They use their website to promise heaven and earth to the users and then instruct them to make deposits in provided wallets. Sometime after the deposit, it becomes more apparent to the Investor that they were scammed. 

One good example is Big Coin, which used a variety of masked campaigns. They hyped their fake cryptocurrency’s capabilities and technical progression to convince investors and steal $6 million. 

Conclusion 

With cryptocurrency, due diligence is of utmost importance before dipping headfirst into the industry. Bitcoin tends to attract attention, especially when transitioning into the bull market. Everybody wants a piece of it, and less experienced investors fail to spot the red flags, losing money in the process.

It is still a crypto jungle out there, with scammers and thieves using old tricks in the book such as Ponzi schemes, hacking, and phishing, as well as inventing new ways to shake you off of your hard-earned money. But if there’s anything that 2020 has taught us is that the internet space can be very profitable, but at the same time, very risky. Analysts are in consensus that only education can help reduce the risks of crypto scams. Take extra care when investing and accessing your cryptocurrency wallets, and the whole experience will be worth it. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

What is IDO? Is it the End of ICO and IEOs?

Cryptocurrency and blockchain aim to reduce dependence on regulated financial models and centralized platforms. Unfortunately, the majority of the exchanges are still running as centralized and in fully controlled models. 

Cryptocurrency and blockchain aim to reduce dependence on regulated financial models and centralized platforms. Unfortunately, the majority of the exchanges are still running as centralized and in fully controlled models. 

Cryptocurrency and blockchain aim to reduce dependence on regulated financial models and centralized platforms. Unfortunately, the majority of the exchanges are still running as centralized and in fully controlled models. 

IDO or the Initial DEX Offering has emerged as a solution to ensure independence and autonomy. The interest in the decentralized token listing is growing, indicating a desire to move towards a no-restriction and higher efficiency model, and that is where IDO comes in.

Initial DEX Offering is only a few months old, and it has already become a preferred method to raise capital in DeFi and distribute tokens. Admittedly, the IDO community is inexperienced, but still, it is making great strides.

Shortcomings of the Initial Coin Offering

2017 was nothing short of a fantastic year for ICO, and anyone with some white paper on digital currency could raise funds. But as it turned out, most of them were scams, and billions of dollars were lost, highlighting ICOs as scammy. 

ICO has its place in the history books as it represents the first method that investors raised funds in the crypto realm, but its weaknesses are quite glaring, and therefore the need to move past it. 

Essentially, investors in crypto startups did not have the necessary knowledge background to assess the project’s viability. Some of them invested in rumblings on white papers, and others in ICOs with staggering high valuations. But that is not all.

Initial coin offering had a loophole, and most scammers exploited it gleefully. After ICO fundraising, the project teams were free to collect the funds in one lump sum. Even if the project teams were truly committed to the project, receiving such a sum in one fell swoop was distracting, and the motivation to continue with the project would diminish significantly. 

The other shortcoming was the absence of a decent governance mechanism to safeguard the investors’ funds. People who put up their money were left stressing about their investments’ fate, continually sifting through everywhere for news, and there was also the issue of gas wars.

The most common way to contribute or participate in ICOs was through sending money from personal wallets. This created a “gas limit,” which is the maximum amount of funds you are willing to part with as transaction fees to move up the transaction validation system’s queue. 

Gas wars occurred when particular investors put up transaction fees too high to push rivals down the queue. Over time, the initially overjoyed investors for winning the gas war would then begin to sulk as regulators and other bodies started to examine some of the fundraisings’ legitimacy. For example, the SEC is beginning the process of filing cases against some of the concluded ICOs. 

Considering all these factors, legitimate projects can fail to get sufficient funding through ICOs. This is mostly because of the diminishing reputation and the need for a better alternative. 

What is IDO?

The IDO fundraising method has striking similarities to ICO and IEO. However, it is decentralized and based on DeFi, a robust, innovative, and scalable open finance technology.

An excellent example of Initial DEX Offerings is the Raven Protocol-built IDO, the first of its kind, hosted on Binance DEX. The others in operation include UMA (a Synthetic asset) and BZX, a margin trading and lending protocol. Many other platforms already have IDO dashboards and are looking to throw their hat into the ring.

Not too long ago, UMA, BZRX, and COMP used Uniswap, popular for its fair and smooth way to deliver tokens to the market. This method of distribution has become standard and is open to public access. IDO empowers users from different countries to participate in the trade. That means people from all over the globe can purchase tokens from Raven Protocol and other token vendors. 

The Difference between IDO, IEO, and ICO

The main difference between IDO and IEO is the fundraising platform hosting them. On the part of the ICO, the operations and transactions are managed on an inner platform. 

On the other hand, the centralized exchange IEO (initial exchange offerings) hosts “ICO” in-house and is, therefore, the ICO’s mutated version. Unlike ICO, IEOs offer an additional layer of intermediation, only allowing legitimate projects. Unfortunately, a large number of IEO’s are selling similar tokens to ICO, which may complicate the whole issue.

No doubt, the regulatory landscape governing crypto exchanges such as EIO is complicated, but that does not shield it in any way. The U.S. regulator has made it clear that ICO token sales are the same as securities issuances, posing a significant risk to IEO issuers and contributors. It is not an exciting prospect to invest in a promising project only to enter the SEC’s bad books. 

Typically, IDO (Initial Dex Offering) is IEO and ICO rolled into one decentralized platform. IDOs emerged with the DeFi rally as a new form of raising capital on a decentralized platform. In the case of IDOs, it is the active community members that vet and approve projects and tokens. This mechanism is somewhat favorable as it incorporates diverse opinions. 

Also, DEXes and IDOs are part of the push to decentralization as regulators begin to shift their attention to cryptos. Furthermore, the synergy between DeFi and DEXes reinforces their value in the crypto world.

The exchange fee for IEO is spiraling out of control as the market develops, and together with increased scrutiny by the regulators put it at a disadvantage. The advantage of IDO over IEO is in its decentralized nature and scalability. You don’t need permission from any authority to trade in the exchanges.

Is IDO Replacing IEO and ICO?

The birth of new technology is most often similar to a human child that goes through various stages before it matures. IDO is still in its infancy and is quickly moving to puberty, with various noticeable characteristics such as instability. The concept of IDO is no doubt exciting and may replace IEO and ICO sometime in the future. However, it has to mature first before it can take over from IEO and ICO. 

UMA, the synthetic assets platform which placed $500k into a liquidity pool, best illustrates the above point. The total supply put up was 2% under a starting price of $0.26, similar to what the seed investors paid a couple of years ago. Investors scrambled to purchase the tokens, and the bonding curve effect occurred, raising the price in the process.

Competing traders set up higher gas costs, resulting in a higher $2 price of UMA within minutes. Some buyers were dissatisfied as they purchased the tokens at a higher price than the initial investors. 

This is the same problem that BZX’s buyers face on Uniswap, with BZRX token prices rising to 12 times within a minute. There is still no IDO model that balances fairness and the need to maximize the capital. In the future, this goal may become a reality, but there’s some distance to cover. 

Conclusion 

No doubt IDO is the next big thing in DeFi and blockchain finance. However, it is still in the development stage, with instability and slight uncertainties, and it may be some time before it becomes mainstream and replaces IEO and ICO. In the meantime, IDO is in a wait-and-see situation.

But that does not mean you should stay away from IDO, at least for the time being. It means that you should be prepared to deal with the price instability until the platform matures and stabilizes in a not so distant future.

Categories
Forex Videos

Brexit Is Done – How To Profit Trading Forex GBPUSD

https://youtu.be/pCKGcR8hXmY

https://youtu.be/pCKGcR8hXmY


Brexit done – where now for Cable?

Thank you for joining this forex academy educational video.  in this section, we will be looking at the aftermath of the Brexit future trade deal agreement negotiations, which have finally concluded.  And what this might mean for the GBPUSD pair.

After 4 years of wrangling over a future trading arrangement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, which left EU membership back in June 2016, by way of a national referendum, a free trade deal has been agreed between the UK and EU on Christmas Eve 2020. 

The markets will be grateful for a breather in the now finalised divorce, which has finally been settled after years of; will they, or won’t they get a future treading deal completed in time before the UK was forced to end the transition period on wt20 trading regulations, which was seen as potentially very bad for the British economy.  As many had predicted, the negotiations went down to the wire, and an agreement was set in place with hardly any time to spare.

The referendum, which took place on the 23rd of June 2016, and where the British people voted to leave the EU, caused the pound against the dollar to crash from 1.47 to a low of 1.21 during the following year, as the markets tried to decipher how this may play out for the British economy.

The pear rallied up to 1.42 in April 2018 as hopes were raised of a negotiated trade free trade deal, which was dashed. 

And we had the crash to 1.16 in march 2020 as the pandemic gripped the United Kingdom.

The pair has been rallying up to its current position at 1.36 – at the time of writing – based on the market anticipation that a free trade agreement would be reached.  This extremely bumpy road has been smoothed by the free trade agreement, but what now for the British economy and the pound, as it finally goes its own way as an independent nation?

There is no doubt that the bulls are in control of the pair at the moment, and some institutional traders will be looking for the previous highs, as shown here on the chart of 1.42 and 1.47.

However, things to consider are that the free trade agreement only takes up 20% of the British economy, with the remaining 80% of the gross domestic product being attributed to financial services, which does not form part of the agreement, and which still has to be negotiated between the EU and UK.  It is unlikely that issues in this sector will cause a major upset; however, there is potential for a spanner in the works should the two sides diverge from current alignments in trading standards.

The other critical component, which will affect the pound, is the United States dollar currency index, or DXY, which measures the dollar against the most commonly traded currencies known as the majors and which includes the British pound and Euro.

The dollar index has fallen from a high of 103.00 in march 2020 to its current level at just under 90.00 at the time of writing, as the federal reserve and United States’ government implement stimulus measures by pumping more and more dollars into the system to shore up the failing US economy, which is still in the grips of the pandemic.

While traders wonder if Cable has run out of steam at 1.36, traders will also be wondering if there is further room for a continued slide in the dollar index, perhaps down to 88.00 in the short term, as the market opens to a new year and a first new quarter, with institutions and investors adjusting their portfolios for the new financial year ahead.

On a market sentiment basis, a fundamental basis, and on a technical analysis basis, it would appear that there is scope for a push higher in Cable to reach some of the previous levels mentioned at 1.42 and 1.47, especially while the US dollar index is generally under pressure.

 

Categories
Crypto Videos

Another Boom For BTC As Retail Interest Is Bitcoin on the Rise!

https://youtu.be/wNo1zEC5cHw

https://youtu.be/wNo1zEC5cHw


Retail Interest for Bitcoin on the Rise as the Cryptocurrency Reaches New All-Time Highs

Twitter analytics data indicates an increase in interest in Bitcoin. Social media interest in the largest digital currency by market cap sets new records across numerous key metrics as Bitcoin continues to post new all-time highs well into the $30,000s.

In a tweet that came out on Jan 2, the official handle for The TIE, a cryptocurrency data analytics firm, showed that the number of unique Twitter handles tweeting about Bitcoin has hit a new all-time high. The previous number was set during the peak of the 2017 bull run and counted around 64,000 daily tweets at that time. However, the current number eclipsed that.

Joshua Frank, CEO of The TIE, posted additional information indicating that the interest is just starting to grow. It is not limited to Bitcoin but rather extends to most cryptocurrencies.

According to Frank, since The TIE’s post on Twitter that showed the number of unique handles posting about Bitcoin rising above 70,000 in one day for the first time ever, the new total monthly tweet volume has eclipsed the December 2017 tweet count high of 135,000 and reached 140,000. In addition to this, the overall number of tweets about crypto has also hit a new high of nearly 250,000 in a 24-hour period.


The increased volume isn’t limited only to Twitter, however. Google search volume for the term “Bitcoin” is slowly climbing in stride with the cryptocurrency’s price. On top of that, phrases such as “how to buy bitcoin” are soaring as well.

On the other hand, searches for “how to buy Ethereum” remain rather low, despite a 24-hour gain of 20% to as high as $950.

Many have speculated that the increase in interest is due to “FOMO” coming from institutions, which, alongside with a large supply shortage, further pushed the price up. 

 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Dash Is Known for Privacy, But Should You Invest In It?

Dash was developed with privacy in mind and to overcome the shortfalls that Bitcoin was facing. Originally introduced as Xcoin in 2014, the crypto has rebranded twice – first as Darkcoin then as Dash. Speculation that Xcoin was a pump-and-dump scheme were rife and likely contributed to the name change. As the altcoin was being renamed to Darkcoin, it received press, which pushed its adoption among darknet markets. Ever since, Dash has had a somewhat controversial reputation to the effect that even some governments pushed for their delisting. 

Dash was developed with privacy in mind and to overcome the shortfalls that Bitcoin was facing. Originally introduced as Xcoin in 2014, the crypto has rebranded twice – first as Darkcoin then as Dash. Speculation that Xcoin was a pump-and-dump scheme were rife and likely contributed to the name change. As the altcoin was being renamed to Darkcoin, it received press, which pushed its adoption among darknet markets. Ever since, Dash has had a somewhat controversial reputation to the effect that even some governments pushed for their delisting. 

Dash was developed with privacy in mind and to overcome the shortfalls that Bitcoin was facing. Originally introduced as Xcoin in 2014, the crypto has rebranded twice – first as Darkcoin then as Dash. Speculation that Xcoin was a pump-and-dump scheme were rife and likely contributed to the name change. As the altcoin was being renamed to Darkcoin, it received press, which pushed its adoption among darknet markets. Ever since, Dash has had a somewhat controversial reputation to the effect that even some governments pushed for their delisting. 

Arguably, Dash offers the best privacy guarantee in the entire cryptoverse – and this can be proven by how authorities get all fidgety at the mention of the crypto. Just recently, the US Internal Revenue Service announced a mega reward for anyone who can help them break Dash’s privacy and find the origin of transactions.

Despite Dash appearing like privacy is all it offers, it’s hard to deny that the altcoin is a worthy competitor to the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, which are darlings to many investors. The crypto features prominently among the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market cap. It has significant daily trading volumes and can be exchanged with most major currencies – both fiat and crypto.

But wait, considering the reputational and potential availability challenges the cryptocurrency is facing, should you invest in it? Well, read on to find out what makes Dash a worthy investment.

Performance in 2020 

When choosing a good crypto investment, financial performance is among the key metrics to look out for. Throughout 2020, dash has shown rather erratic performance – call it volatility. Opening the year at around $20, Dash quickly rallied to peak $140 within weeks. Those who took advantage of this bull run undoubtedly tripled their investment. 

But it wasn’t long before the bears came calling and sent the crypto back to $40 at the beginning of April. In the subsequent months until June, Dash traded at between $60 and $80. This was the least volatile period for the crypto in the year. Still, these fluctuations were significantly high by crypto market standards.

After a brief rally in August followed by a correction in October, Dash seemed to stabilize in December, trading at roughly between $90 and $100. 

As to whether the crypto has enough volatility to challenge investors, the answer is an unwavering yes.

24-hour trading volumes have consistently declined over the year, which could imply two things: either, investors are HODLing their coins or just not buying as much. Usually, declining trading volumes are associated with falling prices. As for Dash, this has not been the case, not at least in 2020. One conclusion we can draw from this observation is that Dash has a rare element of resilience, and we can expect it to remain afloat in both good and bad times. 

Does Dash Have a Future?

Dash’s performance in 2020 leaves little doubt about its potential for short-term profitability, particularly with reference to its volatility. Volatility in crypto trading, just like in forex, allows investors to take advantage of price changes to make their cuts. In 2020, Dash showed price changes of up to 500%, which implies massive trading potential.

Trading Dash seems lucrative in the short run, but if you choose to invest in it for the long-term, are returns promised? Well, the indicators below give more insights on the direction the crypto is likely to take in the future.

#1 Dash development is funded 

Worth noting is that Dash is a next-generation crypto and a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The DAO is a collection of privileged nodes (masternodes) that invest back 10% of gains earned from mining. Well, this is not their primary function, but the dedication of a tithe to the network’s development promises sustainability, for instance, by building integrations fast and reliably. Unlike other cryptos, the continuous development of Dash does not entirely rely on a vibrant user community.

#2 The crypto responds to bull runs

In 2017 when a majority of crypto joined the historic bull run, Dash gained over 8,000%. Launched only 3 years before and trading at $0.12, the crypto had rallied to trade at $1,494 by the end of 2017. Dash entered 2018 with pride, flying as high as $1,000 – at a time when other cryptocurrencies were also flourishing. The entry into 2019 was not as flamboyant given the bubble had long burst, and most cryptos were heading for a correction. Even so, Dash maintained an impressive $100-$170 exchange rate. During past bull runs, the crypto’s behavior gives hopes that it will keep rising as other cryptocurrencies gain adoption.

#3 Crypto users are demanding more privacy

The demand for privacy across the globe is just increasing, and if there were a merchant trading this commodity, this would be the best time for them to cash in. From anonymous donations to buying what the government doesn’t want you to, privacy is increasingly becoming a selling point, and Dash takes care of this demand. To no one’s surprise, Alternative 36, Inc., an American e-commerce company, started accepting Dash payments for legal cannabis trade in the US.

#4 Dash offers superior performance 

Compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum, Dash payments are fast. As cryptocurrencies continue to gain adoption in the retail industry, Dash might become a more favorable option for payments than its mightier siblings.

#6 Dash’s ‘InstantSend’ and ‘PrivateSend’ 

Dash offers some transaction versatility. You can choose to send money instantly or wait for miners to work at their pace. Similarly, you can decide to send money anonymously or leave traces. This versatility makes Dash suitable for use in a wider range of applications, and hence, increases its utility. To guarantee the future of a cryptocurrency, the utility is everything. 

Regulators Have Their Eyes Fixed on Dash. Will That Affect You?

Regulators are clearly unhappy with the level of anonymity that Dash provides. In Japan, they pushed exchanges such as Coincheck to delist Dash and other anonymity-focused cryptocurrencies. The US Department of Internal Revenue also made clear its intention to crack Dash’s privacy and other anonymity cryptos. You probably have fears that you may become a victim of such heightened surveillance. While such an event is possible, it is worth noting that the crypto is used for many legitimate trades, and there’s no earthly reason why you would be victimized solely for investing in Dash. 

Final Thoughts

Dash is one of the best-known anonymity altcoins, and this reputation might have blinded investors from seeing the crypto’s investment potential. For short-term ventures, we have seen that Dash offers unmatched volatility, where investors can walk in and walk out with huge profits within months. In the long term, Dash is equally promising – based on past performance, support for network development, increasing demand for privacy, and its utility, which is likely to increase. While there might be concerns about the surveillance authorities have on Dash, overall, its prospects for profitability overshadow these concerns. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

5 Best Websites to Buy Bitcoins Directly from Your Device, Anonymously

Blockchains are secure and imitable, but these publicly-circulated ledgers aren’t anonymous. In contrast, crypto assets are designed for transparency. If you make crypto investments, analysts can dedicate sufficient resources to track down your identity.

Blockchains are secure and imitable, but these publicly-circulated ledgers aren’t anonymous. In contrast, crypto assets are designed for transparency. If you make crypto investments, analysts can dedicate sufficient resources to track down your identity.

Blockchains are secure and imitable, but these publicly-circulated ledgers aren’t anonymous. In contrast, crypto assets are designed for transparency. If you make crypto investments, analysts can dedicate sufficient resources to track down your identity.

The Bitcoin blockchain and other crypto networks qualify as financial services, and the law requires them to know the customers they serve. The Anti-Money Laundering legislation requires them to collect your ID at some point while serving you.

Most folks took an interest in these digital assets because they thought transactions would be untraceable. While cryptocurrency networks don’t offer anonymity by default, there are ways through which you can buy bitcoins anonymously.

The convenience of buying cryptos directly from your device is unbeatable, and if you can remain anonymous while at it, even better! 

In this article, we highlight some of the websites that make it easier for you to achieve this. These websites charge a bit extra than what bitcoins usually cost, but the kind of privacy you’re after does not come for free.

So, let’s dive into five of the best websites that are absolutely worth your time. 

1. LocalBitcoins

LocalBitcoins facilitates peer-to-peer crypto exchanges. It works pretty much like eBay, and it’s fueled by willing-buyer, willing-seller consensus. You can find numerous sellers offering their bitcoins for cash. P2P Bitcoin exchanges enable sellers to bypass costly taxation, and LocalBitcoins will empower you to buy bitcoins without any ID.

Through LocalBitcoins, you can directly communicate and make deals with potential sellers. The platform makes money from these exchanges by levying escrow services. These services are powered by Smart Contracts, making it hard for scammers to dupe diligent bitcoin buyers.

This website is reliable because it rates sellers by keeping reviews of their transaction history. Therefore, you can tell apart genuine sellers from scammers by just scrolling.

You’d be surprised by just how many sellers are out there. The great thing is that LocalBitcoins is available anywhere there are sellers, and you could buy bitcoins anonymously at your local coffee shop.

2. BitQuick

This website lets buyers purchase bitcoins via cash deposits. It empowers you to buy bitcoins fast and anonymously, but the cryptocurrencies cost a bit more.

BitQuick was launched in 2013 and is registered in Ohio, United States. This website only serves Americans, and it only accepts cash deposits. You can buy bitcoins anonymously from sellers by depositing cash to their bank accounts.

You can head over to the website and find suitable sellers. After agreeing on the pricing, the seller locks currencies into the BitQuick escrow, and the bitcoins are transferred to your crypto wallet when you deposit the agreed cash amount.

For verification, you must meet up with the seller, who should take a picture of the deposit receipt and upload it to the system. This service only charges 2% for buying bitcoins.

BitQuick only sells bitcoins. You can buy as little as bitcoins worth $10 and as much as $10,000 worth of bitcoins at a go.

3. Wall of Coins

Wall of Coins is yet another peer-to-peer marketplace for trading cryptocurrencies. This service is registered under Genitrust Inc., and it generates daily traffic of 25,000 unique visits.

Wall of Coins is famous because users can buy bitcoins anonymously via cash. It helps buyers and sellers to come together, serving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Enjoy anonymity, buying bitcoins without an ID because Wall of Coins is unregulated. You can buy and sell various cryptocurrencies on this website, which accepts three methods of payment, including:

  • Bank of America’s Teller Assist.
  • MoneyGram Deposit.
  • Cash deposits at banks.

This website does not impose transaction limits. It is also a great option because it offers a live chat, allowing you to communicate with sellers directly. You can also access customer support via phone calls.

Wall of Coins holds sellers’ bitcoins in escrow, and it releases them to you when you complete the payment instructions.

4. Bisq (Formerly Bitsquare)

Bisq offers fully decentralized exchanges, and it does not require any personal information or ID verification. Therefore, this service does not hold users’ funds.

It is a peer-to-peer network, and users exploit it for anonymity. They visit it via secure browsers such as Tor. Users trust the platform because of its open-source structure.

Bitsquare launched in 2016, and it allows bitcoin sellers to create offers by locking agreed amounts in escrow. Both sellers and buyers make holding fees of 0.001BTC, and they also pay transaction fees for the service.

Since Bisq does not hold any money, crypto or fiat, it uses arbitrators as escrows. Bisq arbitrators are frequent users of the platform who perform escrow services on third-party terms.

Arbitrators deposit huge security fees to Bisq to finance trust. If arbitrators make away with seller’s bitcoins or buyer’s fiat money, their deposits can make up for the losses. They perform this role in the pursuit of earnings from the transaction fees.

5. LocalCryptos

This website serves over 100,000 users in over 100 nations. It is a non-custodial platform offering peer-to-peer, decentralized crypto trade.

LocalCryptos empowers you to buy bitcoins anonymously, most transactions only taking ten minutes. No third parties are involved, and your messages with the seller are encrypted. This website is secure and trustworthy thanks to its blockchain integrity. It offers escrow services for you to buy bitcoins online without the fear of loss.

This Australian crypto exchange lets you track ads of people selling various cryptocurrencies. It does not impose national restrictions, and it is welcoming to foreign investors. 

The ease of use is phenomenal. You have over 40 payment options available, and you can use non-custodial wallets to enhance control over your financial assets.

LocalCryptos will charge you 0.75% in trading fees when you buy on its platform.

Parting Shot

Bitcoins are pseudo-anonymous, but most supporting services such as emails, banks, and custodial wallets require ID verification. Analysts just need to pick up your number or email address to reveal your identity.

Your best shot of buying bitcoins anonymously is through peer-to-peer exchanges. Sellers on these platforms are probably just as motivated as you are in seeking anonymity. 

No matter how anonymous websites selling bitcoins get, it beats the point if you use custodial wallets. Non-custodial bitcoin wallets don’t require your ID verification, but custodial wallets report to financial regulators.

Don’t get anonymous money and take it straight to the scrutiny of third-parties. Use non-custodial digital wallets with the best websites to buy bitcoins directly from your device, anonymously.

Do you know of other ways to buy bitcoins anonymously? Be kind enough to share your proven tricks with us in the comments section. Also, feel free to share this piece with loved ones who want to buy bitcoins anonymously.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Miners Can’t Produce Enough BTC – The Reason BTC is Skyrocketing!

https://youtu.be/_5GMbTl3vns

https://youtu.be/_5GMbTl3vns


Miners Can’t Produce Enough BTC – The Reason BTC is Skyrocketing

Institutional crypto investment company Grayscale now has $20 billion under its control as its consistent Bitcoin buys heavily outstrip production. The ratio of Grayscale Bitcoin buys to BTC production is has now increased to almost three to one.

 

As noted by data analytics firm Coin98, Grayscale bought close to three times more Bitcoin than the amount miners added to the market in December 2020.

Miners can’t produce enough Bitcoin

In Dec, Grayscale added a total of 72,950 BTC to its assets under management (AUM). Over the same period, miners generated just 28,112 BTC, being only 38.5% of Grayscale’s buy-in.

These figures underscore what many currently describe as an ongoing liquidity squeeze in Bitcoin, where large, mostly institutional buyers, suck up any available supply and completely remove it from circulation, sending it to cold storage for long-term holding. This then creates a lack of supply while the retail demand remains constant of increases, causing the price of Bitcoin to rise exponentially, just like it did on Jan 3, where Bitcoin’s price skyrocketed and reached past $33,000.

The phenomenon of institutional investors sweeping the available supply was already visible in Nov 2020, but Dec 2020 saw a clear increase in demand from both Grayscale and other institutional entities.

Grayscale controls over $20 billion in crypto

Grayscale CEO Barry Silbert celebrated the end of 2020 by bringing the company’s total assets under management across its various crypto funds to over $20 billion. Looking back just one year ago, the figure stood at, compared to now, a mere $2 billion.


The company remains the single largest institutional player on the Bitcoin scene, far outstripping any other market participant. Its BTC holdings were coming out to $17.475 billion on the first day of 2021, with this number growing to an even higher dollar value as Bitcoin pumped to over $34,000. Newcomer MicroStrategy, while not an investment-focused company, now controls 70,470 BTC.

Going forward, analysts predict that the increasing demand for the fixed supply of newly mined Bitcoin will only create a bidding war and push the price further up. 

 

Categories
Crypto Videos

Privacy Is Dead – Bittrex to Remove the US Privacy Coin Markets! Withdraw Your Tokens Or Lose Them!

https://youtu.be/rwGDStC_HTE

https://youtu.be/rwGDStC_HTE


Bittrex to Remove the US Privacy Coin Markets – No More Monero, Zcash, and Dash Trading

Bittrex announced on Dec 29 that its exchange will soon be removing the US markets for the three of the largest privacy coins by market cap. The privacy coin market removal will happen on Jan 15.

In the announcement, Bittrex stated it is giving its users up to 30 days to withdraw their holdings:

“After the markets are removed, Bittrex would seek to provide its users with up to 30 days to withdraw any delisted tokens. However, in certain instances, the withdrawal period may be shortened. Users are advised to withdraw any tokens before the aforementioned withdrawal deadline.”

While a specific reason for the delisting wasn’t announced in the post, The Block’s Director of Research Larry Cermak speculated that the delisting is coming as a response to the latest FATF (Financial Action Task Force) pressure talk regarding AML regulations recommendations.

According to Bloomberg, all “virtual/digital asset service providers” (VASPs) will be obligated to collect information about their customers as well as the recipients of funds, and then send that data to the receiver’s service provider with each transaction.

As FATF recognizes cryptocurrency exchanges as virtual asset service providers, they will essentially be held to the same standards that banks and other financial service providers are held to. The new standards, published on Friday, Jun 21, 2020, are the officialization of FATF’s proposal made earlier in February 2020.

The controversial rule caused turmoil and was not well received by the crypto industry, as many crypto exchanges and wallet providers simply aren’t equipped to collect and send the data that would be required by FATF.

In response to the announcement that Bittrex shared on its official Twitter account, the prices of top privacy coins such as Monero, Zcash, and Dash all dropped in the range of 7 to 15 percent.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

 9 Best Blockchain Project Ideas for 2021

The blockchain market is estimated to exceed $39.7 billion by 2025, thanks to a growing need for smooth supplier management and simplified business operations. Blockchain promises secure data and easier recording of the transaction value. 

The blockchain market is estimated to exceed $39.7 billion by 2025, thanks to a growing need for smooth supplier management and simplified business operations. Blockchain promises secure data and easier recording of the transaction value. 

The blockchain market is estimated to exceed $39.7 billion by 2025, thanks to a growing need for smooth supplier management and simplified business operations. Blockchain promises secure data and easier recording of the transaction value. 

Since its introduction in 2009, blockchain has been a revelation for businesses looking to use technology to transform their current business model for more reliability, security, and transparency. Similar to 2020, blockchain technology is transitioning from the experimental stage to real business-ready solutions.

The adoption rate across different markets is expected to rise, and this presents a business opportunity. If you are looking to make your mark through blockchain technologies, then the following ideas will come in handy. 

Blockchain Digital Identity

Contemporary businesses often collect a lot of personal information, creating new business risks. Investments in powerful data vaults are not viable in the long run, as the tight-lipped systems can affect the drive for true customer understanding and product development. 

By 2025, the number of interconnected devices is estimated to rise to 22 billion. The majority of IoT technologies do not incorporate critical access and identity controls. There are already some major IT vendors providing IoT management systems to bridge the gap, but they often fall short.

The mismatching standards and hundreds of traditional servers make it complicated to implement management capabilities across devices. Blockchain promises practical solutions for interconnected devices.

The Distributed Ledger technology based on blockchain will ensure secure data storage in a tamper-proof, unified, and interoperable infrastructure. The benefit is a smooth and straightforward identification for employees and clients in some of the most sensitive industries. 

Blockchain digital identity is expected to improve manageability and control of personally identifiable information. So far, IBM and Accenture are some of the companies throwing their hat into the ring and already making significant progress with the blockchain digital identity project. 

Healthcare Medical Records Management

There are claims that blockchain technology can save billions in support function costs, staff costs, data breach, and IT-related costs in the healthcare industry.

A decentralized and secure blockchain-powered platform can support the storage and exchange of personal medical data. Hospital staff can then easily use the technology to update medical records.

One of the industry pioneers is Medicalchain, and they are already making significant progress, having signed a cooperation agreement with Mayo clinic. But still, the healthcare industry is largely uncharted territory, especially in the management of medical records, and therefore a great blockchain project idea for 2021. 

Stock Market Application 

The stock market has transformed many people’s lives and is an essential foundation for a country’s economy. It has its shortcomings, and the application of blockchain technology can significantly enhance its efficiency.

One area that blockchain can transform tremendously is the settlement process that every trade has to go through, which takes several days. The delays come from exchanges, clearinghouses, and regulatory processes. 

A blockchain system can potentially reduce the settlement process time to only a few minutes. The system is more efficient, and stock market trading will become more efficient with the advantage of decreasing errors.

A blockchain-based stock market application has the following advantages:

  • Easy to use
  • Enhanced transparency and fairness
  • Improved interoperability to increase trust
  • The clearing and settlement process becomes quick and easy
  • Risk containment mechanism

Logistics and Transport

Most of the logistics and supply chain systems are ineffective and outdated. Getting rid of intermediaries and improving transparency and efficiency in logistics can save companies millions of dollars.

Typically, a decentralized supply chain system that leverages blockchain technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) can improve transactions’ reliability and automate product traceability. Authentication for the transactions can be through blockchain to minimize errors and replace ineffective manual practices. The blockchain-enabled controls will reduce the chances of introducing counterfeit products into the supply chain, thereby ensuring integrity.

In transport, the blockchain technologies are scalable, immediate, easy to authenticate and track. With the blockchain’s help, businesses can easily track their truck components on a digital ledger for efficiency and reduced costs. The decentralized public ledger will record all adjustments in real-time and reduce clerical errors. 

The following factors are some of the things that make this an exciting blockchain project idea for 2021: 

  • Reduced transport costs
  • Easy documentation and coordination
  • Improved security and authentication
  • Quick and easy approval and clearance

Although companies such as Chronicled have already started the project in 2020, there is still much to do in logistics and supply chain management for 2021.

Decentralized Apps

Basing a business on Bitcoin (BTC) is not the wisest decision, as the system is vulnerable to high fees and instability. Currently, the BTC developers do not have a clear roadmap, which can sometimes affect the business model in the future. 

Decentralized applications (dApps) are based on blockchain and outside the control of a single entity. A standard web application such as Facebook runs on a computer system, where a single organization controls its backend. 

Building Dapps on Tezos and other smart contract platforms is a sensible thing to do to ensure business continuity. Beyond the control of a single entity, the decentralized environment is more transparent, secure, stable, and easier to use. The built-in medium of exchange in Dapps will potentially boost the adoption of cryptocurrencies.

As a result, many observers predict that Dapps will have an extensive global impact. 

Dapps are a viable project idea that you can sell to the numerous organizations and startups using bitcoin core and who seek stability for the future. 

Blockchain Consultancy

No doubt, the blockchain market is growing exponentially, and the need for a consultant increases by the day. In the following few years, more and more businesses will be lining up to leverage blockchain technology to stay relevant in the market. 

What makes it an excellent project idea for 2021 is the increasing number of businesses and individuals willing to listen to your blockchain project proposals. Unlike in the past, decision-makers in the business sector already know the benefits of blockchain and will be ready to hear how to make blockchain work for them.

There are various areas to specialize in as a blockchain consultant. For example, you can help strategize and develop a cryptocurrency community, airdrops, and logistics. Even though the industry is in its infancy, many businesses and people need help to leverage technology and ensure sustainability on-the-market. 

Voting Apps

The voting process, especially in developing countries, is usually a source of conflict that mostly erodes some of the gains made between the voting periods. The problem is generally tampering with the voting process and privacy.

Blockchain-based voting applications can streamline the voting process, protect critical data, reduce fraud, and enhance accountability. It can eliminate weaknesses that some proponents bank on to delegitimize the entire process while also maintaining the security of government and citizen’s data. 

Some of the benefits of a voting app blockchain project include:

  • Improved security and safety
  • Streamlined processes
  • Reduced redundancies
  • Improved integrity of the data
  • Cost reduction
  • Efficient process

Cryptocurrency Oracle

First conceived in the 1990s by researcher Nick Szabo, smart contracts have taken off with the advent of blockchain technology. The use of software and protocols to enforce an agreement’s performance or negotiation eliminates the need for laws or third parties. However, smart contracts are not sufficient on their own. Smart contracts need translator software to understand the terms, and that is where a cryptocurrency oracle comes in.

An oracle is a translator that provides critical data to trigger smart contracts after the original terms are met. The demand for the middleware software models is growing as businesses and governments implement blockchain platforms.

Apart from smart contracts, the other blockchain areas where oracle can prove useful include financial derivatives and betting. However, this is a very demanding project where you need to be a blockchain programming guru. 

Personal Finance Management

More than ever, people are focused on their finances and are taking action to ensure financial stability. A personal finance application has the potential to give businesses a fair amount of traction in an increasingly competitive market.

A blockchain-based app can easily categorize income and expenses in real-time and help manage finances. Such a system can easily connect with financial institutions to automatically update data and activate notifications.

What makes it a viable project idea for 2021 is its potential to help individuals take charge of their finances. Transparency, decreased error, traceability, and reconciliation are always welcome features in such a finance app. The added advantage of security and safety will significantly improve its standing. 

Final Thoughts

Like any other nascent technology, the early years of blockchain were characterized by growth spurts and evolving personality, much like a child that entered puberty. Blockchain , which just turned 11 a few weeks ago, is already exceeding expectations, which is more than you can expect from a technology still in its youth. The technology is now mature, and enterprise-ready solutions are hitting the market.

For the technically savvy, blockchain presents a golden opportunity for such projects as blockchain consultancy, stock market application, and decentralized apps. You can be part of the blockchain pioneers that create solutions with the capability to disrupt entire industries in 2021.

Categories
Forex Basic Strategies

Two Ways To Trade The ‘Descending Top’ Chart Pattern Like A Pro

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

The Descending Top is a technical chart pattern that frequently appears on the Forex price charts. Each peak of the price in this pattern is lower than its previous peak. The descending top chart pattern’s appearance indicates a downtrend in the market, and we must only look for sell trades at that point.

This pattern can be recognized when the first peak is lower than the second peak and the second peak is lower than the third peak. For instance, if the first peak is at 88.00, and the price drops down to 83.00, then the second peak at 85.00, and drop to 80.00, and if the next peak is below 85.00, we can see the descending top pattern forming on the chart, and we should then looks out for selling trade in an underlying asset.

If the next peak is higher than the previous peak, instead of being lower, the pattern gets invalidated, and the market goes up, or it will consolidate. We will often witness the descending top pattern on lower timeframes, and we should not be expecting this pattern to form on the higher timeframes. The reason is that in a higher timeframe, the pullback is very less, and even the trend soon comes to an end.

To identify the pattern, we must spot two tops on the price chart, which are descending, and then we must draw a line to connect these tops.

Descending Tops – Trading Strategies

Now that we know what a descending top pattern is, we will see how to combine it with other technical tools to trade this pattern.

Channel Trading

The first step is to identify the descending top pattern on the price chart. After that, identify the bottom between the two tops and draw a horizontal support line. Then wait for the break below the support line to enter a trade. Place the stop loss below the second top of the pattern and ride the trade. As we know, we cannot stay in a trade forever. We have to close our trade at some point. To close the trade, wait for the price to break the channel.

Example 1

As you can see in the image below, we have identified the descending top pattern in the EUR/USD 5 minute chart.

As you can see, when price action printed the pattern, we started preparing to take sell trades, and when the price broke below the most recent support area, it was a sure sign for us to go short. As we took the sell trade, the price immediately came back to retest the support area. Here, we choose to scale our trade at the support line and go for the brand new lower low.

Initially, our trade goes to a 1.1255 area, and we were looking for more profit in the trade. The trade failed to print the lower low furthermore, and it broke above the channel at around 1.274. Here, we choose to close our trade as that was a sign of the trend getting reversed. The Forex market is all about probabilities. We cannot expect the price to do what we want it to do. Instead, follow the rules of the game. When the market gives less profit, accept it, and don’t try to break the rules.

Descending Top Breakout Trading Strategy

As we know, the descending top is a pattern that gives the selling trades. But in this strategy, we will show you how to use it to take the buy trades. To enter a buying trade, we should wait for the price action to break above the descending top trend line. Your stop-loss order must be placed below the last bottom of the chart. Stay in the trade as long as price action prints the brand new higher high and exit your whole position when the prices break below the upper trend line.

The image below represents the descending top pattern on the price chart, and also it represents our entry, exit, and stop-loss in this pair. As you can see, when the price action prints the descending top pattern, it immediately goes down, and it prints the lower low.

In this one, we were looking for the breakout above the descending top chart pattern, and when the breakout happened, we were all set to take the buy trade. After our buy entry, price action prints a brand new higher high aggressively. When it gave the reversal signal, we choose to close our whole position, and the stops below the entry should be good enough.

Strategy Roundup

The descending top is a chart pattern that gave us potential selling trades. Trading this pattern is quite reliable, and when it gives the trading opportunity, we must trust it and go big. To identify this pattern, we must spot a price top, followed by a lower top. Take an entry below the most recent higher low and go for the brand new lower low and place the stop loss just above the entry. If you desire a safe trade, choose to place the stop loss above the first top.

We hope you find this educational article informative.  Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below. Cheers!

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

Bye Bye Libra, Hello Diem!

If you think Bitcoin had a controversial entry into the cryptocurrency scene, think Libra. Diem, previously Libra, hasn’t even entered the market, and it is already getting unpopular nicknames like Global coin and Facebook Coin. 

If you think Bitcoin had a controversial entry into the cryptocurrency scene, think Libra. Diem, previously Libra, hasn’t even entered the market, and it is already getting unpopular nicknames like Global coin and Facebook Coin. 

If you think Bitcoin had a controversial entry into the cryptocurrency scene, think Libra. Diem, previously Libra, hasn’t even entered the market, and it is already getting unpopular nicknames like Global coin and Facebook Coin. 

Names stick, and Diem is already in a sticky mess. This permission-based blockchain deservedly suffers an identity crisis because it packages centralized financial services as decentralized exchanges.

Initially, Libra was a blockchain-based payment system conceptualized for anonymity and decentralization. However, lawmakers in various developed nations like the UK, France, and the United States spoke against it. Some did so immediately after Facebook unveiled the Libra whitepaper.

Libra’s release was meant for 2020, but an aggressive push back from regulators in 2019 obscured the plans. Different entities fielded varying concerns addressing the Libra whitepaper, and the pressure pushed Facebook and its partners into drastic actions. Some partners left, leaving Libra with a looming identity crisis.

In this article, we discuss the rise and fall of the Libra Association. We are also looking into what Diem has to offer and how it’s evolved since conception. Stick around to learn the original Libra concept and why it rebranded to Diem to reduce Facebook stigma.

The Original Libra Concept

Facebook initiated and championed the formation of the Libra Association, and it always had a crypto tech in the works. The plan was to launch a stablecoin, which would be backed by a basket of national fiat currencies and securities.

The Libra stablecoin was designed to be more stable than any national currency, and Facebook would integrate it within its extensive social media coverage. Therefore, the cryptocurrency would be stabler than Bitcoin and enjoy undisputed, global utility. However, the grand scheme fell under siege the same day it was unveiled.

The Libra Association was to create new currency units on demand and retire units redeemed for fiat currency. It was also planning to reserve transactional data on the ledger for Libra Association members only.

Therefore, the blockchain technology wouldn’t be pure but a hybrid, centralized blockchain. The Libra Association reserved the distributed ledger’s reconciliation only to its service partners to prevent random data analysts from scrutinizing transactions.

Basically, Libra proposed a system where traditional blockchain transparency was obscured and reserved for its partners only. The pretext for shrouding the transparency was protecting customers’ privacy, but Mark Zuckerberg unsuccessfully tried convincing the Senate that Libra would honor users’ privacy.

Libra Couldn’t Address Trust and Privacy Issues

The Libra Association failed because of trying to appease both legislators and crypto purists. Revolutionary bitcoin users prefer permissionless cryptocurrencies, which transfer value in a decentralized fashion. Decentralized currencies can bypass regulatory enforcement.

Since Libra was not decentralized, it was to rely on trust, qualifying it as a ‘de facto central bank.’ The Libra Association and its network would be run by powerful corporations working in collaboration, and sovereign governments were concerned the Libra currency would cause widespread economic instability.  

Unlike Libra, Bitcoin is apolitical, and it doesn’t need the backing of fiat currency. Bitcoin is designed to withstand the regulatory scrutiny that seems to be putting down Libra, and the pure blockchain network is trusted worldwide for its anonymity.

Remember, nobody really knows who created Bitcoin.

Libra is not censorship-resistant, and Facebook is infamous for infringing on users’ privacy. This social media platform was subject to Senate and Judiciary inquiries, and it was scandalized for abusing the privacy rights of billions of users.

International Regulatory Resistance: Why Are Governments Fighting Libra?

The French Finance Minister was the first to raise concerns over Libra, just minutes after the whitepaper became public. France strongly opposed Libra becoming a sovereign currency, and the ministry cited privacy issues and consumer protectionism.

The English central Bank was a bit more accommodating, but it called for regulation of the proposed permission-based cryptocurrency. German lawmakers took a more cautious approach, distrusting the motives of the currency.

The European Union didn’t want Libra outcompeting European currencies, mainly because Facebook has a firm marketing grip globally.

American politicians were also quick to thwart efforts of rolling out the proposed Libra Network. The United States House Committee on Financial Services directed Facebook and its partners to stop developing Libra.

The Federal Reserve, the President, Congress, and the Senate had severe concerns regarding money laundering, economic stability, national security, and privacy & consumer protection. 

In response to the sharp criticisms and widespread distrust, Facebook promised to halt Libra until regulators felt comfortable. C.E.O Zuckerberg also promised Libra wouldn’t bypass US regulators by launching in other nations.

Facebook’s lousy rapport with regulators over privacy and consumer protection took a toll on Libra. US regulators petitioned Libra partners to explain how the currency would safeguard national security, and the following partners consequently abandoned Libra:

  • PayPal
  • Visa
  • MasterCard
  • Mercado Pago
  • Booking Holdings
  • eBay
  • Stripe

Libra received overwhelming lousy press, and it acquired negative connotations such as:

  • Facebook coin: Libra partners were afraid they’d be considered complacent in privacy violations.
  • Global coin: Governments were afraid Libra would overtake national currencies with FB’s robust marketing capacity, undermining national security.

Libra Rebranding to Diem: the Fundamental Changes

Facebook had to address structural and branding issues with Libra. The designers of this digital currency made critical changes to attract regulatory approval. The most fundamental of all changes was liberating the cryptocurrency from Facebook.

Facebook and the Libra Association announced Libra would rebrand to Diem, and the currency would not compete with fiat currencies. Instead, Diem would only complement the dollar, and it would also abandon the strategy of stabilizing behind a basket of various national currencies.

Facebook first renamed its blockchain subsidiary to Novi from Calibra. Novi is Greek for ‘new way.’

Diem was also meant to give this digital currency the connotation of transparency. Diem is Greek for the word ‘day,’ and the network promises the transparency of daylight. If only it can earn the trust of governments and safeguard the privacy of users.

Apart from repairing brand image, the Libra Association had to rebrand because of trademark disputes with other international firms. Finco sued the Libra Association in a New York court for using its registered logo trademark, and the company claimed monetary damages from the Libra Association.

Four European companies also petitioned against the Libra trademark, arguing Libra was a current form of their verbal brands.

Parting Shot

This hybrid cryptocurrency is controversial because of its hybrid nature, but mainly due to Facebook’s robust marketing reach. Diem will likely revolutionize crypto assets significantly because of its permission-based blockchain. That’s why you should understand this proposed fintech.

Diem will only be backed by the dollar. It will offer widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies. This currency will combine the transparency and security of blockchains, and users can make secure global transactions.

This proposed digital has significant potential, and you should share your thoughts in the comments section. Do you have any concerns that the Diem Association needs to address? Let’s discuss.

Categories
Forex Course

204. The Impact Of ‘Fixed Income Securities’ On The Forex Price Charts

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Fixed income securities are investments that offer returns in terms of fixed periodic interest payments and the return of principal at the end of the security period. Contrary to variable income securities, in which the payments vary depending on the underlying measure, the payment obtained in fixed income securities are recognized in advance.

What are the Types of Fixed Income Securities?

Following are the types of fixed income securities:

Bonds: They are among the common forms of fixed income securities issued by organizations to fund the daily operations to make sure smoother and efficient production. Granted that fixed-income bonds act as a liability for the missing company, it must be redeemed as soon as the company makes sufficient revenue.

Debt Mutual Funds: These funds leverage the collected corpus for investments in different variations of fixed income securities like commercial papers, government bonds, corporate bonds, money market instruments, etc. The main benefit of these investments is that you get higher returns in comparison to the convention.

Exchange-Traded Funds: Exchange-traded funds primarily function by investing in different types of debt securities present in the market. This produces regular as well as fixed returns. This way, they offer assured stability as returns are offered periodically at a particular rate of interest. These are popular among risk-averse investors who look for stability over market advantage.

Money Markets Instruments: Certain types of money market instruments like treasury bills, commercial papers, certificates of deposits, etc., are provided as investment opportunities at a fixed interest rate and therefore are categories under the fixed income securities. Moreover, these instruments are provided for a short duration where the maturity period stands less than a year.

The Effect of Fixed Income Securities on the Movement of Currency

Understanding the relationship between fixed-income securities and currency movement is quite straightforward. Economies that provide higher rates of returns on fixed income securities are likely to attract more investments.

This makes the currency more attractive than economies that provide lower returns on the fixed income market. To determine the yields derived by the securities, you can check the official government website of a specific country.

[wp_quiz id=”97508″]
Categories
Forex Videos

Forex In The New Year: How To Trade The EURUSD!

https://youtu.be/7SLVYtJT1wM

https://youtu.be/7SLVYtJT1wM

 


New year, where next for EURUSD pair?

Thank you for joining this oryx academy educational video.  

In this session, we will be looking at where next for the euro US dollar pair as the new year unfolds.

The pair’s bull run in February and March 2020 lifted it to 1.1400 and was driven by the pandemic beginning to take hold in the United States and weakening the dollar. However, as conditions worsened in Europe, the pair swung back in the other direction, to a low of 1.0700 in the market mayhem and volatility, which ensued as traders tried to decipher which economy was faring better than the other. 

 But as the US dollar index, a weighted indicator of the strength of the dollar against the so-called major currency pairs, including the euro, began to sink……

The Euro, which by volume is the largest traded major currency, moved higher to its current level of 1.22 at the time of writing. 

The reasons are largely twofold; firstly, the European Central Bank took measures to shore up the economies within the eurozone, which were seen to be sensible under the circumstances, and where are the pandemic seemed to be taking a breather in the eurozone area while still growing exponentially within the United States, causing harm to the American economy, and where it was perceived that perhaps the United States government were not being as cautious and sensible as the Europeans with regard to instigating lockdown measures including the wearing of masks and social distancing, and where their policies of stimulus, needed to shore up the US economy against the pandemic caused more dollars to be pumped into the system and thus affecting its value negatively.

 

Traders will be eyeing the 2018 high at 1.2469, as their next target, with the New year opening and traders looking to adopt longer view trading positions for the first quarter of 2021.

Potential for the continued upside momentum will be buoyed by the fact that the European Union will be rolling out vaccines to the population and where a free trade deal between the EU and UK was agreed on the 24th of December 2020, which will help give a lift to the euro because the worry of a negative economic impact of the UK leaving on WTO trading rules will have now abated.

Traders will also factor in that the relentless slide of the US dollar index below the key 90.00 level could cause further downside potential to 88.00 and even lower, again causing markets to buy Euros against the dollar.

 

Categories
Forex Videos

This Is Whats Going To Kill The Dow Jones – Upcoming US Political Event!

https://youtu.be/PLuVpfaRmVY

https://youtu.be/PLuVpfaRmVY


Upcoming US political event could spell trouble for the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index

Thank you for joining this forex academy educational video.

On January the 5th, the Georgia runoff elections for the United States Senate could prove to be a turbulent affair for US stocks and, in particular, the Dow Jones industrial 30 average.

The Dow Jones industrial average index has had quite an incredible year from it’s high, shown here, of 29,500 in February to its crash of 18,500 during the initial wave of the pandemic to hit the USA in March, and on to a record-breaking high of 30,600 at the time of writing.  Most of the move higher can be attributed to the amount of stimulus which has been put into the US economy and where those dollars are finding their way into the stock market, and where investors are looking beyond the pandemic, where vaccines will help get the US economy back pre-pandemic levels of growth. This is also somewhat buoyed by the federal reserve’s stance on lower interest rates for longer, which also serves to inflate stock markets because corporations can access low-interest rate loans.

The Georgia runoffs are essentially on a knife-edge because they hold the potential to swing the balance of power in the 100 member US senate between the radical difference democrats and republicans. The November election left the republicans holding 50 senate seats and the democrats controlling 48. Only the two remaining seats in Georgia are undecided, and if Joe Biden’s party wins these seats, the balance of power will tilt towards the democrats.

While the US stock markets have largely ignored political events since the pandemic began, the upcoming Georgia elections cannot be ignored for the following reason:  Joe Biden has promised to reverse corporate tax cuts, which were introduced by the Trump administration in 2017.  This puts company earnings at risk.  And while the old style of earnings to share price ratio has largely been ignored by stock market investors during what can only be described as a shift in fundamental analysis concerning how the markets perceive corporate valuations, should Joe Biden win control of both chambers of Congress, he would be in a position to reverse these tax cuts and send a shudder through wall Street.

Investors will be looking to reposition their portfolios in January, as the new year and first quarter got underway, and there are lots of new data to take into consideration, including the ISM manufacturing and services for December, and weekly jobless benefit claims, to consider, plus the November trade deficit and of course the unemployment report for December, which all come out in the first week of January, with the possibility of causing turbulence in US stock markets.

With this political uncertainty and the fact that the Dow Jones is at an all-time historic high, it lends itself nicely for a pullback, at least until the above are all factored into the market. 

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

EUR/JPY Global Macro Analysis – Part 3

EUR/JPY Exogenous Analysis

EUR/JPY Exogenous Analysis

EUR/JPY Exogenous Analysis

  • The EU and Japan Current Account to GDP differential

The current accounts have three basic components: net exports, the difference in incomes that countries pay each other, and transfer payments that countries make to each other. A country that has a surplus in international trade has a higher current account to GDP ratio. Since its domestic currency is in higher demand, it tends to appreciate. Conversely, a country with current account deficits will need to buy more foreign currencies to finance its imports – which weakens the domestic currency in the forex market.

In 2020, the Japanese currency account to GDP ratio was expected to drop to 3.5% while that of the EU 3.4%. This means that the 2020 current account to GDP differential between the EU and Japan is -0.1%. In this case, we expect a bullish JPY; hence, we assign a score of -2.

The interest rate differential between the EUR/JPY pair is used to determine whether traders are bullish or bearish. If the interest rate differential is positive, it means that traders can receive higher returns by selling the JPY and buying the EUR since the EUR offers higher returns. Thus, they are bullish on the pair. Conversely, if the interest rate differential is negative, it means that traders can receive higher returns by selling the EUR and buying the JPY, which means they will be bearish on the EUR/JPY pair.

In 2020, the Bank of Japan maintained the interest rates at -0.1% while the ECB maintained at 0%. Therefore, the interest rate differential for the EUR/JPY pair is 0.1%. We assign a score of 2.

  • The EU and Japan GDP Growth Rate differential

The rate at which an economy is growing impacts the strength of the domestic currency in the forex market. Since it is impractical to compare countries’ economic performance using absolute GDP numbers, we will use their growth rate. In this case, if the GDP growth rate differential is positive, it means that the EU economy has been growing at a faster pace than that of Japan hence a bullish outlook for the EUR/JPY pair. Conversely, when negative, it implies a bearish outlook for the pair.

The Japanese economy contracted by 3.5% in the first three quarters of 2020, while the EU economy contracted by 2.9. Thus, the GDP growth rate differential is 0.6%. Thus, we assign a score of 2.

Conclusion

The exogenous factors have a cumulative score of 2. That means we can expect a short-lived bullish trend for the EUR/JPY pair. The weekly EUR/JPY chart shows that the pair has crossed the 200-period MA for the first time since August and attempting a breach of the upper Bollinger band.

We hope you find this article informative. In case of any questions, please let us know in the comments below. Cheers.

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

EUR/JPY Global Macro Analysis – Part 1 & 2

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

The global macro analysis of the EUR/JPY forex pair will involve the analysis of endogenous and exogenous economic factors. The endogenous analysis will cover indicators that drive economic growth in the EU and Japan. Exogenous factors will cover the analysis of factors that impact the exchange rate between the Euro and the Japanese Yen.

Ranking Scale

We will use a scale of -10 to +10 to rank the impact of these factors. When the endogenous factors are negative, it implies that they resulted in the depreciation of the local currency. a positive ranking implies that they led to an increase in the value of the domestic currency. The ranking of the endogenous factors is determined by their correlation with the domestic GDP growth.

When the exogenous factors get a negative score, it means they have a bearish impact on the EUR/JPY pair. A positive score implies they’ve had a bullish impact. The ranking of the exogenous factors is determined by their correlation to the exchange rate of the EUR/JPY pair.

EUR Endogenous Analysis – Summary

The endogenous analysis of the EUR has an overall score of -3. Based on the factors we have analyzed, we can expect that the Euro had marginally depreciated in 2020.

JPY Endogenous Analysis – Summary 

A score of -12 implies a strong deflationary effect on the JPY currency pair, and we can conclude that this currency has depreciated this year.

  • Japan Employed Persons

This indicator measures the changes in the number of workers over a particular period. It only tracks the section of the labor force that has attained the minimum working age. Changes in the labor market are seen as leading indicators of economic development.

In October 2020, the number of employed persons in Japan increased to 66.58 million from 66.55 million in September. The number of employed persons in Japan is still lower than the 67.4 million recorded in January. We assign a score of -5.

  • Japan GDP Deflator

The GDP deflator is used to measure the comprehensive changes in the overall inflation of the Japanese economy. Since it measures the price changes of the entire economic output, it is used as a key predictor of future monetary and fiscal policies. An increase in GDP deflator means that the economy is expanding, which may lead to the appreciation of the JPY.

In Q3 of 2020, the Japan GDP deflator dropped to 100.4 from 103.5 in Q2. Up to Q3, the Japan GDP deflator has marginally increased by 0.2 points. We assign a score of 1.

  • Japan Industrial Production

This indicator covers the changes in the output value of mining, manufacturing, and utility sectors. The Japanese economy is highly industrialized. The industrial sector contributes approximately 33% of the GDP. That means the GDP growth rate in Japan is sensitive to the changes in industrial production.

The MoM industrial production in Japan increased by 3.8% in October 2020 while the YoY dropped by 3.2% – the slowest since February 2020. On average, the MoM industrial production in Japan is -0.15%. We assign a score of -5.

  • Japan Manufacturing PMI

About 400 large manufacturers are surveyed monthly by The Jibun Bank. These manufacturers are classified according to the sector of operations, their workforce size, and contribution to GDP. The overall manufacturing PMI is an aggregate of employment, new orders, inventory, output, and suppliers’ deliveries. The Japanese manufacturing sector is seen to be expanding when the PMI is above 50 and contracting when below 50.

In November 2020, the Japan Manufacturing PMI was 49 compared to 48.7 in October. The November reading is almost at par with the January levels. We assign a score of 1.

  • Japan Retail Sales

The retail sales measure the change in the monthly purchase of goods and services by Japanese households. Since it is a leading indicator of consumer demand and expenditure, it is best suited to gauge possible economic contractions and expansions.

In October 2020, Japan retail sales rose by 0.4% from 0.1% recorded in September. YoY retail sales increased by 6.4%, which marks the first month of increase since February 2020. The growth of retail sales is mainly attributed to an increase in motor vehicle sales, machinery and equipment, and medicine & toiletry. On average, the first ten months of 2020 have had a 0.4% increase in MoM retail sales. Thus, we assign a score of 2.

  • Japan Consumer Confidence

This is a monthly survey of about 4700 Japanese households with more than two people. The survey covers the households’ opinion on the overall economic growth, personal income, employment, and purchase of durable goods. An index of above 50 shows that the households are optimistic, while below 50 shows that they are pessimistic.

In November 2020, Japan’s consumer confidence was 33.7 – the highest recorded since March. It is, however, still lower than the pre-pandemic levels of 39.1. We assign a score of -3.

  • Japan General Government Gross Debt to GDP

Prospective domestic and international lenders use the government debt to GDP ratio to determine the ability of an economy to sustain more debt. Among the developed nations, Japan has the highest government debt to GDP ratio. However, it has minimal risk of default since most of the debt is domestic and denominated in Japanese Yen, which poses a low risk of inflating the domestic currency in the international market.

In 2019, the general government gross debt to GDP in Japan was 238%, up from 236.6% in 2018. In 2020, it was projected to hit a maximum of 250%. We assign a score of -3.

In our upcoming article, we have performed an Exogenous analysis of the EUR/JPY Forex pair and gave our optimal forecast. Make sure to check that out. Cheers.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

5 Best Staking Coins in 2020: Checking Out Number 4

Investors stake their cryptocurrencies by locking their assets for the reward incentives. Staking is similar to saving in banks because users lock their money in preferred financial services, but crypto staking earns higher ROI than fiat savings in banks. 

Investors stake their cryptocurrencies by locking their assets for the reward incentives. Staking is similar to saving in banks because users lock their money in preferred financial services, but crypto staking earns higher ROI than fiat savings in banks. 

Investors stake their cryptocurrencies by locking their assets for the reward incentives. Staking is similar to saving in banks because users lock their money in preferred financial services, but crypto staking earns higher ROI than fiat savings in banks. 

Staking is an innovation that allows users to reap maximum gains from their digital investments. Users can earn passively when their nodes validate and add blocks to blockchain networks.

Staking coins utilize a special, more user-friendly blockchain consensus for mining cryptocurrencies called Proof of Stake. In this article, we take a look at five of the best staking coins in 2020 you need to check out. But first, let’s get into the nitty-gritty details of the mining consensus. 

Proof of Stake vs. Proof of Work

Traditional Proof of Work (PoW) validates blocks of transaction information via complex cryptographic computing that generates consensus. In contrast, Proof of Stake (PoS) relies on democratic, open-source electioneering to select validating nodes for every block.

PoW rewards miners for solving mathematical problems with newly created crypto tokens, while PoS rewards validators with transaction fees. PoS systems select random users in the blockchains, making the networks impressively secure.

Proof of Stake systems start by selling a stock of pre-mined coins, and others switch from PoW systems. The switching process is called forging, and it includes locking coins in stakes. The size of each stake determines if it’s viable for validating the next block. Robust stakes have a more competitive advantage.

Nodes forge blocks by first authenticating transactions to match details on previous information blocks. Designers had to address the concern that wealthier nodes could get all the staking bids. Therefore, crypto startups implement:

  • Coinage selection: this strategy considers how long users lock their coins in stake. Coinage is determined by the number of coins multiplied by the period of stake. Coinage is reset to zero after forging, and networks stipulate minimum coinages for staking. This way, nodes with large stakes don’t get dominant control over the network.
  • Randomized block selection: this strategy is predictable, but it provides sufficient protection from corruption. The system selects validating nodes transparently via stake sizes and hash values.

Now, without further ado, let’s review the best staking coins in 2020 worth your time and fiscal investment. 

Best Five Staking Coins in 2020

NOW Token

This digital asset is native to ChangeNOW, a robust crypto exchange platform. The staking coin empowers users to buy numerous products within the NOW infrastructure.

The staking rewards are annual, and staking longer rewards more. You can lock as little as 10 NOW tokens and manage these digital assets via:

  • Token Freezer.
  • Guarda Wallets staking tools.
  • BEPTools.

The tool you use to freeze your tokens will automatically predict your rewards every week. Users stand to gain significantly by staking NOW tokens, yielding high interests, weekly rewards, and demanding little principal investments.

Decred (DCR)

This staking coin was announced in 2016, and it forked from Bitcoin. The designers, miners, and validators disagreed with internal Bitcoin governance. Therefore, they created this hybrid coin, which is powered by both PoW and PoS mechanisms.

The Decred platform makes DCR tokens attractive via:

  • Smart contracts.
  • Public proposal platform.
  • Cross-platform wallets.
  • Cross-chain atomic swaps.

Decred PoW/PoS mechanisms require miners to build new blocks by validating transactions. The miners earn 60 percent of block rewards, and DCR holders can obtain voting tickets for all open network proposals.

You can stake DCR in two ways:

  • As a solo voter.
  • Through voting service providers.

When voting solo, you need to use the native command line and connect your wallet to Decred’s blockchain. Voting service providers charge about five percent of rewards for staking on behalf of users.

It supports user democracy, empowering network members to vote for consensus. However, much like Bitcoin, Decred can’t scale easily, and it falls behind in transaction speeds.

Tezos (XTZ)

This cryptocurrency is novel compared to others since it was launched in June 2020. It serves multi-purposes and is reliable for executing smart contracts. It is the native coin of a self-correchttps://tezos.com/ting platform.

The Tezos blockchain utilizes a unique codebase, using the OCaml computer language. Its PoS consensus implements delegated Liquid Proof of Stake.

XTZ is popular because it offers high staking to third-parties, who claim up to 25 percent of staking rewards. The 2020 ROI for staking Tezos is 5-6%. It is stabilized by its codebase, which allows self-correcting and built-in governance. Thus, it minimizes the risk of hard forks like the case of Bitcoin’s blockchain.

Tezos are created via ‘baking,’ which is just another name for staking. Validators allowing fraudulent transactions are to lose all their staked Tezos immediately the incorruptible blockchain flags incorrect validating. This is significant because bakers must have 8,000 Tezos to stake.

Algorand (ALGO)

ALGO is permissionless and decentralized. It transcends bordered economies and bypasses the need for financial regulators and other third-parties. ALGOs are great staking coins because of the low transaction costs involved.

This coin is native to the Algorand network, which utilizes Pure Proof of Stake to validate transactions. It does not facilitate users to delegate staking responsibilities to other nodes.

This blockchain reduces the risk of dominant users taking over. It decentralizes the network and disallows staking delegations. Thus, it reserves the voting power for the majority’s interests. Staking ALHGOs is relatively easy, and you only need a non-custodial wallet to hold ALGO tokens.

Just one ALGO is enough for staking. Users can earn ten percent annual interest, 5.46% staking on StakingRewards.com, or eight percent on Binance. Algorand facilitates 1,000 transactions per second, attracting them because of easy user experiences. Staking rewards are paid out every 20 minutes.

Loom Network (LOOM)

The Loom Network is a Platform as a Service meant for dApp developers. It supports Solidarity dApps running on side chains of the crypto network. This platform allows different application developers to personalize their consensus-building mechanisms.

Validating Loom transactions is easy, and users can rely on Delegated Proof of Stake. Scaling becomes easier, but users still enjoy Ethereum’s blockchain security.

These staking coins come into the market in 2018, but users started staking LOOM tokens a year later. By 2020, the Loom Basechain bridged different chains via impeccably high performance.

Cross-chain functionality makes LOOMs attractive stake coins. Developers use this Platform as a Service network to pay for hosting, and staking users can enjoy the rewards of creating new blocks.

All you need is one of the following wallets that are compatible with Loom’s blockchain:

  • Trezor.
  • Metamask.
  • Ledger.

Users must meet gas costs on the Ethereum network by depositing some ETH. Afterward, they need to connect their wallets to the LOOM Basechain Wallet for staking.

This network is popular because you can delegate staking to validators, who will claim 25% of your stake rewards. You can expect an annual ROI of 17% from LOOM stakes.

Parting Shot

Let’s agree that these coins are all pretty attractive investment options. Their main benefits include:

  1. Fast delivery.
  2. Lucrative ROI.
  3. Transparent, immutable accounting.
  4. Daily and annual payouts.

Validators are much quicker than bitcoin miners, which makes staking coins appealing to novice users. 

Staking crypto coins is a great investment option for crypto users. It makes it easier to earn high-interest rates on your savings, and you can conveniently, securely convert fiat currency into digital currencies. 

Embrace staking coins as crypto asset institutionalization edges closer to reality. The next time your friends ask for a great investment idea, share this article with them. 

You can also check out these coins for yourself and start earning passively. Please share your best staking coins in the comments section. 

Categories
Forex Course

203. Bond Spreads Between Two Economies and Their Exchange Rate

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Bond spreads play a vital role in the movement of currencies. The difference between the bond yield of two countries is called interest rate differential. It is more impactful on the currency direction as opposed to the actual bond spreads. The difference between the interest rate between the bond yield of two countries typically moves together with the corresponding currency pair.

Understanding The Impact

The prices of different currencies can influence the monetary policy decision by the central banks across the globe. However, monetary policy decisions, as well as interest rates, can also contribute to the price movement of the currencies. For example, a stronger currency will help control the inflation rate, whereas the weaker currency will contribute to inflation.

Additionally, the central banks harness this relationship as a means to manage the monetary policies in the respective countries. By comprehending as well as assessing these relationships and the patterns, people get a window into the currency market, thereby getting a means to forecast and capitalize on the currency movements.

An Example of This Relationship

In 2000, post the tech bubble burst, traders who were earlier looking for the highest returns shifted their focus on capital preservation. However, the U.S. was provided with below 2% interest rate, a lot of hedge funds, and those who had access to the international market moved abroad looking for higher yields.

Moreover, Australia has similar risk factors as the U.S. extended interest rate of 5%. Consequentially, this attracted a lot of investment money within the country, creating asset domination. This significant difference in interest rate resulted in the growth of the carry trade. In this, the investors bought currency from low yielding countries and invested in high yielding countries, and benefited from the difference in the interest rate.

Bond Spreads and Movement Of Currency

Bong spreads differential typically move together with currency pairs. This notion emerges as the capital flows move towards high yielding currencies. When there is an increase in one currency rate with respect to another currency, the investors move towards the higher-yielding currency.

Furthermore, the cost of acquiring lower-yielding currencies rises as the bond spread differential moves in favor of selling currency.

[wp_quiz id=”97499″]
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Forex Course

202. The Effects Of Bond Yields On The Forex Asset Classes

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Bonds are referred to as loans provided to big organizations, including national governments, corporations, and cities. Each bond includes a substantial amount of loan. This is because the massive operational scale of the units requires them to take money from multiple sources. Bonds are a form of fixed-income investments.

Bond Yields

Bond yield is defined as the measure of profit that you will make by investing in a bog. The less you pay for the particular bond, the more will be your profit, and the higher your yield will be. Similarly, the more money you invest in a bond, the lesser will be the profit, and subsequently, the lower will be your yield.

Bonds are traded within the foreign exchange market known as the currency pairs. It is defined as the relative rate between the currency of one country and the currency of another one. When a currency pair is traded, the traders are also acquiring one currency and selling the other.

A majority of the currency exchange transacted in the spot market. In this currency market, each participant is required to deliver their respective currency within two business days. Moreover, currency trade that involves the delivery of a currency over two days is executed on the forward market.

This market includes the costs of owning a currency relative to owing the other. And the costs are displayed in the forward’s points that are added or subtracted to the spot rate in order to produce the forward rate. Furthermore, the forward points are measured by subtracting one bond yield from the other.

How Bond Yield Impacts The Currency Movement?

Experienced foreign exchange traders will be able to identify the relationship between the value of the currency, stock prices, and bond yield. The movement in the currency value reflects the actions of foreign investors between stocks and bonds.

Additionally, the relationship between bond yields makes government bond yield serve as a valuable indicator for assessing the opinion on the effectiveness of the U.S. Federal Reserve in inflation control.

Considering that inflation is an imperative aspect that determines currency values, the data extended by the treasury is very important. Granted, the bond yield centres on inflation, as it is associated with growth.

[wp_quiz id=”97495″]
Categories
Crypto Videos

MoneyGram Distances Itself from Ripple!

https://youtu.be/LwPWHgzb680

https://youtu.be/LwPWHgzb680


MoneyGram Distances Itself from Ripple

 

Global money transfer service MoneyGram has updated its stance on its relationship with Ripple by clarifying the nature of their collaboration. The changed stance came as a response to Ripple’s recent lawsuit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

MoneyGram issued a press statement on Dec 23, revealing that it has never utilized Ripple’s counterparty services, more specifically its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) and RippleNet, for forex transactions. They stated: 

“As a reminder, MoneyGram doesn’t utilize the ODL platform or RippleNet for any form of direct transfers of consumer funds – digital or other. Furthermore, MoneyGram is not a party to the Securities and Exchange Commission action.”

The company also added: 

“We have continued to use other traditional trading counterparties even throughout the term of the agreement with Ripple, and isn’t dependent on the Ripple platform to accomplish any of its FX trading needs.”

Looking back in June 2019, MoneyGram and Ripple entered into a strategic partnership that planned to tackle MoneyGram’s cross-border payments. As part of this collaboration, Ripple was obliged to invest up to $50 million in exchange for the MoneyGram stock.

In February 2020, MoneyGram also revealed an additional $11.3 million investment from Ripple on top of the agreed $50 million. However, Ripple has now sold about $15 million of its stake in MoneyGram.

MoneyGram’s current statement of not being dependent on Ripple’s services corresponds to the narrative that previous events have set. Earlier in the year, the company debuted a real-time remittance service based on Visa rather than its blockchain partner.

Another Ripple partner Intermex also revealed back in March of this year that it wasn’t using the Ripple’s platform for remittance in its “core market.”

MoneyGram’s press release is just the latest in a series of actions taken by companies regarding either Ripple or XRP, with all of them backing out from the company due to the SEC lawsuit. On Dec 23, investment fund Bitwise Asset Management liquidated its position in XRP, while several cryptocurrency exchanges have also started to delist the XRP token. The fallout that came from the SEC lawsuit has also exerted strong negative pressure on the XRP price action, where the cryptocurrency dipped over 30% on Dec 23.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Binance Enables SegWit Support for BTC Deposits as Adoption Skyrockets!

https://youtu.be/FeqnIgIeYgk

https://youtu.be/FeqnIgIeYgk

Binance Enables SegWit Support for BTC Deposits as Adoption Skyrockets

Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume in the world, has incorporated Segregated Witness, better-known as SegWit, support for Bitcoin deposits. 

The SegWit support was finally enabled for incoming deposits on Christmas Eve, Binance said in an official statement. Until this announcement, the protocol upgrade was enabled only for withdrawals. Effective immediately after the announcement, Binance users got the option to transfer funds to a SegWit address by selecting the BTC (SegWit) network. Binance further explained in the statement:

“Please note that SegWit should help reduce fees; however, if you incorrectly send incompatible assets to the desired address, your funds will not be recoverable, and therefore will result in permanent loss.”

SegWit

Implemented back in 2017, SegWit is a Bitcoin protocol upgrade designed to help with network scaling. Besides that, SegWit was implemented to help with fixing several associated bugs. This upgrade is known for the way it updates data on the blockchain, namely, by segregating signatures from transaction data. SegWit upgrade allows more transactions to be stored in a single block, thus doubling Bitcoin’s transaction capacity.

Data from transactionfee.info show that somewhere in the ballpark of two-thirds of Bitcoin payments currently use SegWit. However, even with SegWit implemented, Bitcoin continues to face scalability limitations, which many argue has impeded adoption for everyday use. Exactly those scalability limitations have transformed Bitcoin from a possible means of payment to a store of value. However, developers have not given up on BTC becoming a viable payment protocol.

Light Network

The Lightning Network has been proposed as a viable second-layer scaling solution for Bitcoin as a payment protocol. Unlike SegWit, which got implemented via a soft fork to the Bitcoin protocol, the Lightning Network is a layer that goes on top of Bitcoin, and that could enable instant and almost cost-free transactions.

Despite current limited transaction capacity, Bitcoin remains the uncontested leader of the digital currency market, with its dominance over other crypto assets recently hitting one-year highs and approaching dangerously close to 70% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. 

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

Platforms You Should Join to Avoid Falling for Defi Scams

Scammers couldn’t have found a better place to thrive. What with decentralization, the anonymity of transactions, and a lack of regulation characterizing the space? 

Scammers couldn’t have found a better place to thrive. What with decentralization, the anonymity of transactions, and a lack of regulation characterizing the space? 

Scammers couldn’t have found a better place to thrive. What with decentralization, the anonymity of transactions, and a lack of regulation characterizing the space? 

Despite its positives, the Defi sector is a jungle that readily swallows the unknowing. Navigating it requires heart, but more than that, tact. Identifying the snares and how to avoid them is the key to profitable investments in the sector.

2020 has witnessed a burgeoning of Defi projects offering their services and products. A good number of these are dubious, itching for an opportunity to rob you of your funds. 

How then are these fraudulent schemes perpetrated? Is there a way of identifying them? What measures can one take to protect themselves from falling victim to them? Are there platforms to guide investors in determining the genuine from fake projects? 

This article hopes to build your capacity to make informed decisions within the space by answering these questions.

How Do Scammers Carry out their Activities on Defi platforms?

Scams are as varied as there are scammers. Here are a few of their favored methods of execution.

  • Exit Scams

An exit scam is a scheme hatched by unscrupulous crypto promoters to defraud the public of their funds. They dupe investors by setting up a project with an attractive concept. After collecting funds from the ICO, the perpetrators evaporate with the funds leaving the investors in limbo. In 2020, for instance, YFDEX.Finance conned investors of $20 million in just two days of operating.

  • Pump and Dump

Pump and dump schemes involve artificially pushing the demand for a given token. A small group of whales identifies and purchases a token with low value. Their action causes the token’s prices to appreciate. This price hike draws other investors to acquire the token hoping for gain. On the price reaching a certain level, the whales dispose of their holdings at a profit. Thus, the prices plunge, leaving investors with hefty losses.

  • Admin Imitator

Using a social media platform, for instance, Twitter, Telegram, or Discord, a scammer impersonates a Defi Platform’s support team member. The scammer used credentials similar to the platform’s admin. They then ask either for private keys to resolve specific issues. Alternatively, they may require members to send ETH to a given address to complete their scam.

  • Fake Airdrops and Rewards

Airdrops and giveaways help. Defi platforms raise awareness about their platforms. Also, they increase community participation. At times scammers may provide fake Airdrops and reward to access private keys and personal info. They then use these to defraud you of your funds.

  • Defi Rug Pulls

Defi rug-pulls are con games that involve minting new tokens and publicizing them, primarily via social media. After that, the project lists on Uniswap, and owners inject liquidity. The unsuspecting investors will swap their ETH for the new token. The instigators then drain the liquidity pool. This way, they make away with the funds leaving holders with worthless coins.

  • Hardware Wallet Theft

Another scam involves selling users compromised hardware wallets. Their setup creates backdoors allowing hackers to drain one’s funds.  

How do you Identify Scam on Defi?

As the Defi sector is replete with scams, knowing how to identify them becomes an essential skill. Here are a few pointers:

  • Their Offering- Genuine projects have unique products tailored towards specific pain points, doubtful projects, on the contrary, piggyback on successful projects’ products.
  • Development- Are the developers continuously updating the code? If not, it could be a scam.
  • The founders- Are they known? What’s their reputation within the crypto space? Shady projects will have shady frontmen too.
  • Tokenomics- How is the token distributed? Scams typically inflate the token price while holding a majority of the token.
  • Language Use- If they use complex Defi jargon, it’s possibly a scam; legit projects use simple language.
  • Promised Returns- If the deal is too good to be true, think twice before committing.

5 Best Platforms to Sign Up For to Avoid DeFi Scams

The security of your funds could be a sign up away. The rise of Defi Scams has resulted in the emergence of platforms to protect users in the ecosystem. These platforms take it upon themselves to detect scams so that you don’t have to. Here’s your must sign up to platforms to avoid Defi scams

LID Protocol’s LIFTOFF

LIFTOFF is a platform that uses LID Protocol’s Certified Presales service to protect investors and projects. The service facilitates projects to raise funds. When they meet their targets, a smart contract locks the raised funds and tokens on Uniswap or other lending protocols. 

Once the presale concludes, it mints the liquidity pool tokens and burns them. Thus, it permanently locks the liquidity on the lending protocol preventing the occurrence of rug-pull scams. 

SlowMist

This China-based company is a market leader in blockchain security. Besides serving over 70 DEXs, 110 wallet providers, and 40 blockchain firms, it supports more than 800 tokens. It audits these projects’ security systems and smart contracts. 

SlowMist made headlines when it raised the alarm over an impending $2.5 million DeFi exit scam by Emerald Mine (EMD). The platform had transferred to a private account a vast chunk of tokens that users had staked.

PeckShield

PeckShield is another Chinese blockchain security company that strives to enhance blockchain security and usability. It produces cutting edge products targeting large scale systems. It reports on hidden vulnerabilities within networks. 

Additionally, it creates products and services to counter these vulnerabilities. PeckShield also flagged the Emerald Mine exit scam.

Blockchain Audit

This New York-based firm does more than build secure decentralized systems. It also audits Blockchains and reports on different projects’ states of security. Blockchain helps identify counterfeits, bullwhip effects, and fake reviews, among others. 

Again, it is a good source of information on upcoming projects and their security.

KryptoGO

KryptoGO develops advanced blockchain solutions and offers consultancy services through linking projects with experts on various issues. It also undertakes audits besides reporting on different projects. 

Hence, it’s a valuable source of information for anyone researching a project of interest.

What to do to Protect Yourself from Scams?

To protect yourself against being scammed:

  • Do your research on the project before investing
  • Seek expert opinion on the project
  • Avoid sharing your private keys and personal information
  • Only get your hard wallets from legit outlets
  • Sign up to a platform that analyses Defi projects and trends

Final Thoughts

The Defi sector crawls with nefarious schemes. Consequently, it behooves every investor to be awake to this reality. Scammers have devised different ways of actualizing their goals. As such, knowing how to identify scam projects from the rest is critical. 

Simple actions like digging into the founder’s background, examining the project’s development history and its token structure can avert huge losses. Additionally, signing up to platforms like the ones identified here will guarantee you a safe investing experience.

Categories
Forex Course

201. The Relationship Between The US Dollar & Crude Oil

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

There is a strong and rather undiscovered string that brings together currencies and crude oil. Price actions in one area, it forces opposing or sympathetic reactions in the other. Such a correlation persists for different reasons that include the balance of trade, resource distribution, market psychology, etc.

Additionally, crude oil makes a considerable contribution to deflationary and inflationary pressures that reinforces the inter-relationships amidst the trending periods, to downside and upside.

The Relationship Between The U.S. Dollar and Oil

Oil is quoted in U.S. dollars; therefore, each downtick, as well as an uptick in the currency or in the communities price, create a direct realignment between the numerous forex crosses and greenbacks. Such movements are not that correlated in countries without major crude oil reserve.

The Changing Scenario Of Oil Correlations

Many countries harnessed the crude oil reserved amidst the historical rise of the energy market between the 1990s and 2000s. Borrowings were made excessively to develop infrastructure, execute social programs, and expand military operations.

Post the economic collapse of 2008; the bills came to sue wherein some nations delivered whereas the others decided to double down by borrowing more against the reserved in order to rebuild the trust among their impacted economies.

The substantial burden of debt assisted in keeping high growth rates until the price of the global crude oil collapses in the year 2014. This also threw commodity-sensitive countries in a recession zone. Brazil, Canada, Russian, etc. experienced a struggling period for a couple of years while they adjusted to the plummeting values of their currencies. However, they did make a comeback between 2016 and 2017.

The pressure to sell more has spread across different groups of commodities, increasing concerns related to global deflation. Subsequently, it strengthened the correlation between commodities that were affected that include economic centres without major commodity reserves and crude oil.

Moreover, currencies in countries that have major mining reserves but inadequate energy reserves witness reduced currency value in comparison to oil-rich countries.

The U.S dollar has benefited from the decline of crude oil because the U.S economic growth is for some odd reasons compared to the trading partners, maintaining the right balance.

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Categories
Crypto Videos

Turkey Are Already Pilot Testing There CBDC In Mid 2021!

https://youtu.be/efxPyjMcX8o

https://youtu.be/efxPyjMcX8o


Turkey Announces CBDC Pilot Tests Planned for Mid-2021

Turkey’s Parliament central bank governor Naci Agbal updated the public on the development of its central bank digital currency (CBDC for short), revealing that the “conceptual” research had been completed and that the public can expect practical tests for such a currency in the latter half of 2021. This announcement came at a time where Turkey struggles with soaring consumer prices and an inflation rate currently in the double digits.

“There is a research & development project initiated on digital money,” said Agbal, according to two local news outlets. “Currently, the conceptual phase of the project has been completed. We aim to start the pilot tests in the second half of the next year.”


While this announcement came as a surprise to those that didn’t follow Turkey’s stance on CBDC’s in the past, the country was actually researching the possibility of implementing some form of a digital currency since mid-2019. In addition to that, a 2021 rollout of a digital Lira is not a new concept but rather an already expected but delayed scenario. Turkish president Recep Erdoğan announced in Nov 2019 that tests for a digital Lira would be complete by the end of 2020. The reason for the delays was most likely tied to Turkey changing its central bank head in Nov 2020.

The progress regarding digital Lira comes as the country’s central bank grapples with inflation being as high as 14%. In an official statement to reporters last week, Agbal – who got appointed as the central bank’s governor just last month — that the central bank is “determined” to reduce inflation and meet its year-end target of 9.4%. 


As we have stated before, Turkey is not new in the cryptocurrency sector. In fact, it is considered one of the most active countries in the world for cryptocurrency and digital transformation industry as a whole, with over 20% of its population holding some form of digital money. 

Categories
Forex Videos

What Can Slow Down Forex Momentum & What Are The Best Times To Trade?

https://youtu.be/m0bgkHZGmwI

https://youtu.be/m0bgkHZGmwI

 


What can slow down forex trading momentum?

Thank you for joining this forex academy educational video.

 

In this session, we will be looking at the question of what can slow down forex trading momentum.

The forex market reportedly turns over more than 5 trillion dollars every trading day.  It is the most liquid business on the planet.  And it keeps growing, with the retail side of the business maintaining steady growth, with extra brokerages opening up, and more and more ordinary people trading online from home. The growth of the educational side of the market is also helping to attract would-be traders with promises of unknown secrets being opened up to them and quick riches to be made trading Forex.

While these topics are great material for another video, today we need to get back to the point of forex trading momentum, where one moment the market is absolutely flying about with lots of liquidity and volatility, with huge swings on price action, and exchange rates moving over 100 to 200 pips in a session and then suddenly stopping almost in its tracks and flattening out during periods of consolidation.  So, what causes this?

There are several reasons.  But first of all, let’s take a look at the biggest reason.  Here is a timetable of the trading centres where Forex trading goes on 24-hours a day, 5 days a week.

The time zones are based on Greenwich mean time in this example, and we can see that London, including Frankfurt, begins its trading day around 7 AM in the morning, New York follows from 12 noon, Sydney joins the markets shortly after 9 p.m., with Tokyo joining the market at about 11 PM. 

As with many other businesses, typically, you will find a surge of activity when people begin their day’s work. The forex market is no different. Traders start work at the desks and need to make money as quickly as possible because that’s what they get paid to do and because they will have orders from paying clients that need entering into the market for varying reasons, including hedging, closing out winning trades from overnight or longer time frames, closing out losing trades from overnight or longer timeframes or simply fresh speculative orders to be executed.  They also need to manage or correct positions where they may have gone home in the evening, and the later session pushed particular trades in an unexpected trend. Plus, they will need to try and make money with their own bank’s trades. 

And just like most people, energy levels tend to fade off after a couple of hours from starting work, and people need a break.  And that is why shortly after the beginning of the London and European session and the Sydney and Tokyo sessions, we begin to see lulls in the market after a couple of hours of trading. This also happens during the latter stages of the US session. 

However, this does not include the morning of the New York session, and the key reason is there will likely be economic data releases from the United States during their morning, where the US dollar, being the most widely traded currency, has a greater propensity to affect market direction after the release of economic data than any other release.

And so, another reason for lulls in market activity can be attributed to traders waiting for key market economic data to be released, and where the higher the likely impact of the data, the more likelihood of caution before the data release, which can cause flattening in exchange rates, while traders anticipate the release.

Another major reason for quiet times is the ending of the New York session and the beginning of the Asian session and where it is not unusual for the five areas to have varying views about where are forex exchange rates should be, which adds to the ebb and flow of the foreign exchange market and where typically as well as the slow down which is reflected on charts by periods of consolidation, we can often see price reversals and trend changes in trend direction at the end of one session and a beginning of another.

Categories
Forex Videos

Forex – How To Sell At The Top & Buy At The Bottom!

https://youtu.be/5HF6pL6h3Xs

https://youtu.be/5HF6pL6h3Xs


How to sell at the top and buy at the bottom

Thank you for joining this Forex Academy educational video.

In this session, we will be looking at one of the oldest adages in trading: sell at the top and buy at the bottom.  And how can this be implemented in your trading for maximum results?

20 years ago, financial markets, including foreign exchange, were driven by fundamental analysis over technical analysis.  That is to say that professional traders and analysts would base their trading around fundamental economic data, including policy-making decisions, interest rates, GDP, inflation, and political events, including wars. Technical analysis was in its infancy.  In these times, it was much easier to predict where the bottoms and tops of assets were likely to be based on fundamental reasons alone. 

Today, things have completely flipped to the opposite side. Technical analysis is heavily dependent upon where chart patterns dominate price movement and where fundamental reasons for trading often lag behind technical and sometimes seem to defy logic.

You only have to take a look at the Dow Jones 30 industrial average index, which is at an all-time record-breaking high of over 30,000 while the US economy is still struggling because the pandemic still has it in its grips.  Fundamental analysis has gone out of the window on the basis that technical analysis is fuelling the US stock market to the upside, where hopes of a vaccine roll-out outweigh the fact that hospitals are currently at extremely high levels for covid patients, and where a new bleak record was passed this week of over 3000 deaths in a single day in the United States. Similar circumstances, albeit non-pandemic related, perhaps more to do with an overpriced stock market fuelled by the success of the 1920s where share trading on margin was rife probably caused the famous 1929 US stock market crash, which took years to recover from.  

Currently, the US market is also buoyed by hopes of extra stimulus by the federal governments and where this money is finding its way into the stock market. Even so, the market is overbought, does not comply with earnings per share, and yet is still relentlessly bid.

Even so, where is the top? It is difficult to say in this hyped market, which is pulling back from every attempt to short it.

If the market reaction is so extreme and fundamental analysis is second to technical analysis, traders have to be on their guard and look for several signs that the market is topping or bottoming out to find a good entry point to trade in either direction.

In this daily chart of the GBPUSD pair, we can see a huge push lower at position A during the middle of March 2020, where Britain began to fall into the grip of the coronavirus, which plunged the exchange rate to 1.1400.  Buyers were looking for an opportunity to go long because this was seen as the bottom of the bear move.

We have a high in September at position B, where there is a spike outside of the Bollinger band, where the candlestick is an upturned bearish hammer, and where the subsequent candlesticks are bearish, providing the trader with the knowledge that this is potentially a top at 1.3485. A subsequent high at position C, with a bearish hammer spiking out of the bands, provides chartists with a potential top at 1.3535.

Incorporating these simple chart lines at positions, A B, and C helps us visualize trend reversals.  Once we have one or two candlesticks on the daily chart confirming that there is indeed a trend reversal in progress, we can drill down into lower time frames, as intraday traders, to look for opportunities to go short or long.  We must never ignore fundamental reasons for taking a trade on. However, based on what has been set out today, we must conclude that fundamental analysis often lags behind technical analysis and therefore, by looking at swings in price action forming tops and bottoms outside of periods of consolidation,  traders give themselves a better edge while stacking the odds in their favor and trading in line with institutional size traders who typically trade in this manner.

In conclusion, we are in an age where fundamental analysis often has no bearing on an asset price and where technical analysis and fundamental analysis are often out of kilter,  but where eventually with two will catch up with each other.

Traders best opportunities of bagging more pips must be centered around reversals in price action based on longer time-frames such as daily charts, before drilling down into lower time frames such as an hourly chart and trade in the direction of the daily chart trend, to stack the odds in their favor of a successful trades, while never forgetting the importance of the fundamental reasons why a currency pair exchange rate might potentially be changing direction.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Miami To Become The First Crypto-Centric City? Winklevoss Twins Backing The Mayor!

https://youtu.be/w5Lx2O69oVo

https://youtu.be/w5Lx2O69oVo


Will Miami Become the First Crypto-Centric City in the US?

Miami mayor Francis Suarez has joined the Bitcoin advocates “club” as he offered more evidence that mainstream adoption is accepting the largest cryptocurrency.  

In a tweet that came out on Dec 24, Suarez stated that Bitcoin is a “stable investment during an incredibly unstable year,” then adding that he has just started learning about the best-known digital asset through figures like the Winklevoss brothers and Anthony Pompliano.

Cameron Winklevoss, left, and his twin brother Tyler leave a federal appeals court in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Facebook Inc.’s settlement of claims that its founder Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for what became the world’s largest social-networking website should be undone, former college classmates of Zuckerberg told an appeals court. Photographer: Noah Berger/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Tyler Winklevoss and Pompliano responded to Suarez’s tweet, with Tyler saying he and his brother Cameron will bring the mayor of Miami a “signed copy of Bitcoin Billionaires,” a book written about the aforementioned twins, while Pompliano called Miami a future Bitcoin city.

Suarez also indicated that his administration is currently exploring the idea of Miami truly becoming the first crypto-centric government in the US. However, he provided no further details on the topic.

Francis Suarez was elected the mayor of Miami in Nov 2017 after running his campaign as a nonpartisan candidate. Before entering politics, he founded a real estate title company, but also worked as an attorney.

Miami has often been described as one of the US cities with the biggest potential of becoming crypto-centric by some news outlets, mostly due to its lax state oversight and a large influx of foreign capital. The North American Bitcoin Conference, which featured figures like Charles Hoskinson, Riccardo Sagni, and Roger Ver, was held in Miami at the start of 2020.

Bitcoin’s explosive rally and bull trend, which it is currently in, is certainly driving new conversations about the digital asset to the table. This is especially true as this rally, unlike the one in 2017, was fueled mostly by corporate and institutional adoption, rather than the retail sector. Bitcoin adoption is increasingly viewed not as a speculation, but as a competitive advantage in an economy riddled with financial instability, record central-bank intervention, and significant asset-price inflation. 

Categories
Forex Fundamental Analysis

EUR/CAD Global Macro Analysis Part 3

EUR/CAD Exogenous Analysis

EUR/CAD Exogenous Analysis

EUR/CAD Exogenous Analysis

  • The EU and Canada Current Account to GDP differential

When a country has a high current account to GDP ratio, it means that it is running a current account surplus. That implies that the country is highly competitive in international trade as the value of its exports is higher than its imports. Conversely, a country with a low or negative current account to GDP ratio, is running a current account deficit. It means that the value of its imports is higher than exports.

In 2020, Canada’s current account to GDP is expected to hit -2.7% while that of the EU 3.4%. Thus, the current account to GDP differential between the EU and Canada is  6.1%. This means that the EUR is in higher demand in the international market than the CAD. We assign a score of 5.

In the forex market, interest rate differential helps to show investors and traders which currency will earn them higher returns. In a carry trade, forex traders tend to be bullish on the currency that offers a higher interest rate differential. This means that the currency with the higher interest rate will have a higher demand than the lower interest rate.

The European Central Bank has maintained interest rates at 0% throughout 2020, while in Canada, interest rates were cut from 1.75% to 0.25%. Thus, the interest rate differential for the EUR/CAD pair is -0.25%. We assign a score of -2.

  • The EU and Canada GDP Growth Rate differential

Since countries vary in the economy’s size, it makes it hard to compare them based on absolute GDP. However, the GDP growth rate helps filter out the effects of the economy size and instead compares countries based on their growth.

From January to September 2020, the Canadian economy has contracted by 4.3% while the EU economy has contracted by 2.9%. That means that the GDP growth rate differential between the EU and Canada is 1.4%. i.e., the Canadian economy has contracted more than the EU economy. We assign a score of 4.

Conclusion

The exogenous analysis of the EUR/CAD pair has a score of 8, which means we can expect a bullish trend for the pair in the short-term. This is supported by our technical analysis, which shows the weekly chart bouncing off the lower Bollinger band, implying that an uptrend is looming.

We hope you find this article informative. In case of any queries, please let us know in the comments below. All the best.