Tag: Monero

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Crypto Crypto Education Cryptocurrencies

Monero vs. Zcash vs. Beam on Confidentiality and Scalability

When the world was first introduced to cryptocurrencies, one of the features that stood out the most was the privacy these digital coins offered. However, as more people got on board the blockchain train, it became apparent that bitcoin and other pioneer cryptocurrencies weren’t exactly as private as we thought.  Thus, the need for privacy-oriented […]

When the world was first introduced to cryptocurrencies, one of the features that stood out the most was the privacy these digital coins offered. However, as more people got on board the blockchain train, it became apparent that bitcoin and other pioneer cryptocurrencies weren’t exactly as private as we thought.  Thus, the need for privacy-oriented […]

When the world was first introduced to cryptocurrencies, one of the features that stood out the most was the privacy these digital coins offered. However, as more people got on board the blockchain train, it became apparent that bitcoin and other pioneer cryptocurrencies weren’t exactly as private as we thought. 

Thus, the need for privacy-oriented cryptocurrencies arose. These cryptocurrencies have several built-in security features that enhance privacy and anonymity. Therefore, it’s no surprise that they are a hot deal among crypto enthusiasts who prefer to keep their affairs to themselves. 

Monero, Zcash, and Beam are three of the most popular privacy-centric cryptocurrencies. Crypto investors who are focused on the privacy features of a digital currency will probably contemplate buying into any or all of these three. So, which one should you go for in terms of scalability and confidentiality?

In this article, we’ll have an in-depth look at how the three altcoins compare. But first, how about a little background on them?  

Monero

The cryptocurrency, launched in 2014 under the name BitMonero, relies on a technology called Cryptonote. It is a Proof of Work algorithm different than that of Bitcoin. In order to make the operations on its blockchain anonymous, the method adopted is that of the “Ring Signatures.”

It is a digital signature that can be created by anyone and in which each user has the key. A person can then put the electronic signature anonymously in a message or document on behalf of a “circle” of users. The members of the “circle” are chosen by the author of the signature and are not necessarily informed about the operation.

The strength of Monero (XMR) is therefore based not only on decentralization but also on its secrecy, which allows carrying out transactions that are theoretically untraceable by an external agent. If, for example, bitcoin operations are publicly recorded on the blockchain, in the case of Monero’s ledger, the information is not accessible to everyone

Zcash

Zcash (ZEC) defines itself as “If Bitcoin is like HTTP for money, Zcash is HTTPS,” underlining its enhanced security and privacy features. Zcash has implemented a cryptographic tool called Zero-Knowledge Proof and grants participants an option to shield transactions. It allows participants to transact without any of them revealing their addresses to the other(s). Zero-Knowledge Proof also obfuscates the transaction amount. Zcash ranks at number 42 in the list of cryptocurrencies with a market cap of $654 million and trading at $60.50 per ZEC as of December 24, 2020.

Beam

Beam is a security-focused token with core features that include complete control over your privacy. All transactions are private by default and no addresses or other private information are stored on the blockchain. It claims superior scalability due to its compact blockchain size, opt-in auditability, support for online and offline transactions, atomic swaps, and hardware wallet integration. As of December 24, 2020, Beam tokens were trading at $0.28, with a total market value of $21.9 million, making it the 294th most valuable cryptocurrency.

Confidentiality Comparison

Monero

Monero enables confidentiality by using Ring Confidential Transactions (a combination of Confidential Transactions and Ring Signatures) and Stealth Addresses. In addition, Kovri (currently in pre-alpha) is used to obfuscate peer-to-peer communication. Confidential Transactions hide the transferred amounts. With Ring Signatures, at least six “decoy” coins are added to each transaction, each looking equally likely to be the actual one spent in the transaction, thus making the actual source and destination next to impossible to trace. That said, there are certain claims (see this study, for example) stating that there are ways to trace transactions on the Monero network. We do not aim to confirm or contradict those claims.

ZCash

Zcash uses zk-SNARKs — a novel and very advanced form of zero-knowledge cryptography. Some people call zk-SNARKs “Moon Math” — that’s how arcane and presumably beautiful they are. With zk-SNARKs, all transaction amounts, inputs, and outputs on the blockchain are entirely hidden. However, transactions on Zcash are not private by default. Since zk-SNARKs are computationally heavy to create (it takes 1–3 minutes on a regular PC to create a private transaction on Zcash), most users do not enable them, hurting the overall privacy of the network. At the time of writing, the percentage of fully shielded (i.e., entirely private) transactions on Zcash is below 1% (see here).

The upcoming Sapling network upgrade should make the performance of shielded transactions much more efficient, and hopefully, increase the amount of private transactions on the Zcash network.

In addition, zk-SNARKs require a special secret key to set up the entire system. If this key leaks, the perpetrator can print money and thus destroy the coin. Zcash carries out intricate multi-person ceremonies to create this key, and we have no reason to doubt the integrity of the people involved. However, this is still a valid concern.

Beam

BEAM is built on Mimblewimble, a very elegant protocol that allows for both confidentiality and scalability. Transaction amount, sender, and receiver are hidden using Confidential Transactions, and there are no “addresses” in the system — each user just holds private keys to the UTXOs she owns.

Privacy in BEAM is enabled by default. Actually, there are no “open” transactions at all. Reading the blockchain would not yield any information to the observer.

In addition to Mimblewimble’s default privacy, BEAM also implements Dandelion, a networking policy that significantly improves anonymity. Dandelion prevents someone from observing the network traffic to infer any valuable information.

Scalability Comparison

Monero

Due to the use of Ring Signatures, additional data is attached to each transaction, significantly increasing the size of the blockchain. At the time of this writing, Monero blockchain size is around 48GB and will continue to grow with wider adoption, hurting usability. We estimate that in Monero, the size of an average transaction is about 14Kb which is almost 25 times greater than in Bitcoin. Simply put, when Monero reaches Bitcoin’s current scale concerning the total number of transactions, its blockchain will be about 5 terabytes — hardly sustainable for a regular PC, let alone on smaller devices. It should be noted that Monero team is currently implementing bulletproofs that should improve scalability by up to 80% (which is still about 5 times more than Bitcoin)

ZCash

At the time of writing, Zcash blockchain size is around 19GB, while the total number of transactions is approximately 3.5 million, giving an average of 5.3KB per transaction — almost 9 times higher than Bitcoin. While it is better than Monero, it is still much heavier than Bitcoin, which is also not scalable enough in that respect

Beam

In BEAM, the Mimblewimble cut-through mechanism is used to keep the blockchain small. The cut-through removes all the intermediate states of UTXOs, essentially leaving only unspent outputs on the blockchain. Thus, the blockchain size does not grow with the number of transactions, but with the number of UTXOs, which is overall much slower.

We estimate that BEAM Blockchain size will be around 30% of Bitcoin’s, so the blockchain size should be below 70GB when BEAM reaches Bitcoin’s scale, making it possible to run a full node on smaller devices. We are actively researching additional improvements to Mimblewimble to make the blockchain even smaller (see Eliminating Transaction Kernels).

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Cryptocurrencies

Monero Reaches 2-Year High, Is It the Next-Best Alternative?

Recently (Oct 2020), Monero hit $139 – its 2-year high, and investors are expressing renewed confidence in this crypto. What’s even more inspiring is the fact that the cryptocurrency has maintained a consistent sideways or upward – but not downward – trend since then. Before the 2017 crypto bull run, Monero always shied from surpassing the $1 mark. But the boom seemed to have inspired this crypto to take on the major players. 

Recently (Oct 2020), Monero hit $139 – its 2-year high, and investors are expressing renewed confidence in this crypto. What’s even more inspiring is the fact that the cryptocurrency has maintained a consistent sideways or upward – but not downward – trend since then. Before the 2017 crypto bull run, Monero always shied from surpassing the $1 mark. But the boom seemed to have inspired this crypto to take on the major players. 

Recently (Oct 2020), Monero hit $139 – its 2-year high, and investors are expressing renewed confidence in this crypto. What’s even more inspiring is the fact that the cryptocurrency has maintained a consistent sideways or upward – but not downward – trend since then. Before the 2017 crypto bull run, Monero always shied from surpassing the $1 mark. But the boom seemed to have inspired this crypto to take on the major players. 

On the other hand, investors are all over the place scrambling for Bitcoin, partly why it is currently shining in glory. While most of those jumping onto the Bitcoin frenzy might be a bit late to the fiesta, the case could be different for Monero investors. Could it be the next-best alternative to Bitcoin at the moment?

Let’s take a closer look at this crypto and determine whether it can give Bitcoin a run for its money.

What Makes Monero Special?

Monero was invented in 2014 with one goal: to facilitate private and anonymous transactions. But Bitcoin was already doing that! Well, not quite. Bitcoin was thought to be anonymous, but that is not the case. With the Bitcoin blockchain (and many others), it is possible to trace the transaction’s origin because the blockchain is transparent. 

Monero, on the other hand, provides a high level of obscurity for transactions. We can’t say that it is impossible or not to tell the source of an XMR transaction, but as of now, that possibility remains a matter of conjecture. 

In this age, users seem to cherish privacy, even when they are doing nothing illegal. As Monero positions itself as one of the most private and anonymous cryptocurrencies, it is gradually becoming a darling to many. 

Other than providing unmatched privacy and anonymity, Monero is also cheap, fast, and easy to use – qualities that appeal to both neophytes and seasoned users.  

The Sudden Interest in Monero

It’s not only speculators and investors who have expressed increasing interest in Monero – hackers and regulators are also realigning their strategies around this crypto. For instance, Sodinokibi, a ransomware (criminal hacking) group, recently announced that they would start taking ransom in Monero instead of Bitcoin. They added that their decision to abandon Bitcoin was based on privacy issues, which Monero does not face. 

If you follow dark web affairs, you know that there is a close relationship between cryptocurrency adoption for illegal activities and the growth of Monero. This can be evidenced by Bitcoin’s momentary decline in 2013 after Silk Road, one of the largest black markets, was seized by the FBI. If we draw parallels between BTC’s adoption in the black market and Monero’s interest in the underworld, there can be no denying that Monero will soon become a much sought-after gem. 

Authorities are also showing interest in the crypto, albeit not for investment purposes. In September, the US Internal Revenue Service announced that it’s giving out a bountiful reward to anyone who can help them trace the source of Monero transactions. Europol also reported that Monero is fast rising as the standard for dark web transactions.

These events suggest that XMR’s adoption is likely to increase. With increased adoption comes increased volumes, market capitalization, and prices. 

Monero’s Historical Performance

The coin was launched in 2014, exchanging at about $2 or 0.005 BTC. After struggling for several years, the 2017 crypto bull finally came to its rescue, raising its value to over $400 at some point. However, XMR’s performance against BTC had started rallying way before the crypto boom. Since mid-2016, XMR had already started gaining against Bitcoin. This was a noteworthy trend since XMR has largely maintained its growth against BTC.

The crypto has also grown its 24-hour trading volumes tremendously. Just a year ago, Monero seemed to struggle to reach $100 million in daily transactions. Even during the 2018 peak when it was fetching $400 in XMR/USD trades, daily volumes hardly surpassed $200 million. At the time of writing, XRM was exchanging at only $116, but the 24-hour volume was hitting over $2 billion. In other words, 24-hour volumes have increased 20-fold in 12 months. There is no doubt investors are increasingly trying out this alternative. 

XMR/USD or XMR/BTC?

If you are convinced that Monero is a worthy alternative to Bitcoin, there’s one crucial decision you need to make – and that is whether to trade XRM with Bitcoin or with USD. After all, most exchanges that list XMR offer both pairs. It is important to evaluate this decision because XMR’s relationship with BTC and USD hasn’t been linear – there are times when the crypto has fetched more BTC than the equivalent in USD. In fact, this has been the case during most of its lifetime, except for the last few weeks where Bitcoin has grabbed headlines for its performance. 

Based on the historical exchange rates, it would be more profitable to exchange XMR with BTC when selling than with USD. However, owing to the trend reversal in the last few weeks of Bitcoin’s glory, it is important to watch how the curve extends. 

Concerns You Might Consider

While Monero is generally promising, there are two major concerns you might want to evaluate before picking it as an alternative to Bitcoin. 

#1: It might not be available on your favorite exchange – Due to the crypto’s high level of privacy, some major exchanges do not list it. This is especially true for exchanges that seek to comply with regulators. As we have seen, Monero is increasingly becoming popular in the underground economy, and reputable exchanges might want to distance themselves from it.

#2: Monero is widely associated with facilitating illegal trade – When you mention that you are a Monero, Zcash, or Dash investor, chances are you might be mistaken for being part of the dark web economy. Well, this won’t dampen your chances of successful crypto investment, but it’s worth keeping in mind all the same.

Final Thoughts

Monero is one of the fast-rising altcoins besides the fact that it has had a good track record in financial performance. In 2020, the coin has grabbed regulators’ attention due to its increased adoption in the underground economy. At the same time, the coin has consistently gained against both the USD and BTC throughout the year, save for the last few weeks where it has lost slightly against BTC. Also noteworthy is that the crypto’s daily volume has increased more than 20 times since the beginning of the year – signaling its increasing adoption. Although there might be a few concerns regarding the use of this cryptocurrency for covert activities, there is no denying it is a worthy alternative to Bitcoin.

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Cryptocurrencies

Monerujo wallet Review: What Makes This Android Crypto Wallet App Unique?

Monerujo, the android wallet for Monero, is considered the first-ever open-sourced mobile app that Monero altcoin users can rely on to store and manage their XRM altcoins. And while it is not the official Monero smartphone app, it has been developed by Monero community experts. It also features prominently on the list of best wallet apps recommended by the Monero network developers.

Monerujo wallet app

Monerujo, the android wallet for Monero, is considered the first-ever open-sourced mobile app that Monero altcoin users can rely on to store and manage their XRM altcoins. And while it is not the official Monero smartphone app, it has been developed by Monero community experts. It also features prominently on the list of best wallet apps recommended by the Monero network developers.

Monerujo, the android wallet for Monero, is considered the first-ever open-sourced mobile app that Monero altcoin users can rely on to store and manage their XRM altcoins. And while it is not the official Monero smartphone app, it has been developed by Monero community experts. It also features prominently on the list of best wallet apps recommended by the Monero network developers.

But how safe is this Android-only mobile wallet app? We seek to answer this question and tell you everything you need to know about the Monerujo wallet in this review. We will look at its key operational features, security measures in place, and ease of use. Additionally, we will provide you with a step-by-step guide on setting up, sending, or receiving XRM coins to your Monerujo wallet.

Monerujo key features:

Multi-account support: Monerujo is a multi-account crypto wallet. This implies that there is no limit to the number of user accounts and wallets addresses that you can create and host on the Monerujo wallet. More importantly, there is no limit to the number of XRM coins you can store in a Monerujo wallet.

Pay BTC addresses: You don’t have to leave your wallet or engage in lengthy and time-consuming XRM-BTC conversions to make payments on a BTC store. Monerujo currently allows you to pay into a Bitcoin address directly, without going through a crypto exchange.

Lightweight wallet app: Monerujo is a light wallet that doesn’t require you to download the full node blockchain into your phone. Rather, the wallet app uses remote nodes to synchronize the app functions with the Monero Blockchain. This ensures that the crypto wallet app doesn’t drain your phone’s storage, RAM, or battery life.

Integrates hardware wallet: Monerujo is a Monero-only wallet, but to expand the scope of the number of supported cryptos as well as its security features. Currently, Monerujo integrates Ledger Nano S that, in turn, supports over 1000 cryptocurrencies and tokens.

Security and privacy features:

Password encryption: Like most other crypto wallet apps, Monerujo is secured with a password that you set when installing and creating a user account. The password also serves as a security tool that is used by the wallet to encrypt all the user data stored therein – including private keys.

Open sourced: Monejuro is an open-sourced and community-led crypto project. Its source code is available on GitHub and is open for viewership, auditing, and critique by its users and the crypto community. This makes Monejuro one of the most transparent crypto wallet apps.

F-droid privacy: The Monero network and XRM coins take pride in guaranteeing your transactions’ security and transparency. And to achieve this and avoid leaving digital footprints when you download the wallet app from your Gmail-linked Google Play Store, Monejuro is now available on the ultra-private F-Droid app repository.

Hierarchically deterministic: The Monejuro crypto wallet app is also hierarchically deterministic. This implies that every time you initiate a crypto transaction, the wallet auto-generates a new public address, effectively masking your real address and throwing-off any would-be crypto trackers.

Non-custodial: Monejuro doesn’t store your private keys within the Monero Foundation servers. Instead, these are encrypted and stored within your smartphone, giving you absolute control over your private keys.

Recovery seed: When installing the crypto wallet app and creating a user account, you will be provided with a series of random phrases that form your recovery seed. The seed comes in handy when you are looking to recover private keys from a lost wallet.

How to set up and activate the Monerujo wallet

Step 1: Download the Monejuro crypto wallet app from Monejuro official website, Google Play Store GitHub, or the F-Droid mobile app repository.

Step 2: Install and launch the app. Click on ‘Create New Wallet’

Step 3: Create a unique username for the wallet

Step 4: Create a password for your wallet

Step 5: Click on ‘Make Me A Wallet Already’ to authorize the wallet to generate public and private wallet addresses.

Step 6: The phone screen will now display all the important wallet information, including its Public address, view key, and Spend key, wallet restore key and a mnemonic seed that comprises 25 random words. Write these words down and keep them safe offline.

Step 7: Click on the “I Have Noted The Mnemonic Seed” to complete the setup and access your wallet’s user dashboard.

How to add/receive coins to Monerujo wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Monerujo wallet, and on the user, dashboard click on the green ‘Receive’ button

Step 2: The wallet will display both the wallet address and QR code, copy either and forward and to the party sending you XRMs

Step 3: Wait for the funds to reflect in your wallet – may take up to 20 minutes.

How to send crypto from Monerujo wallet

Step 1: Log in to your Monerujo wallet app and click on the Orange ‘Give’ button

Step 2: The app will display a transaction page where you can enter the recipient’s wallet address, Payment ID (optional) and private note (optional)

Step 3: Enter the number of coins you wish to send. This can be expressed in the form of XRM altcoins or any of the supported fiat currencies.

Step 4: Check the accuracy of the transaction details and hit ‘Confirm.’

Monerujo wallet ease of use

Monerujo’s crypto wallet’s onboarding process is relatively straightforward. It doesn’t request personal information from the user when creating a wallet. The user dashboard is also easily navigable, and so is the process of sending and receiving XRMs into the wallet.

Monerujo wallet supported currencies and countries.

Monerujo is a Monero-first crypto wallet that is specially designed to store and help manage XRM coins. It, therefore, will only support Monero cryptocurrency.

Monerujo wallet cost and fees

Downloading and installing the Monerujo crypto wallet app is free. Plus, the wallet does not charge you for storing your Monero altcoins therein.

You will, however, be charged Monero network fees every time you initiate a transfer out. This fee is typically influenced by the level of anonymity you want to achieve with the transaction (the Ring Size) and the transaction processing speed. Typically, large ring size and high transaction priority levels translate to higher transaction fees and vice versa.

Monerujo wallet Customer support

Monerujo has a readily available and highly responsive customer support team. In addition, you can contact them by raising a support ticket on the Monejuro wallet website, sending them an email, or interacting with the development team via their respective handles on such social media platforms as Reddit, Telegram, or Twitter.

What are the pros and cons of using Monerujo wallet

Pros:

  • The open-sourced nature of the Monerujo crypto wallet guarantees maximum security and transparency.
  • Monerujo doesn’t collect or store any information that may be personally identifiable to you.
  • It is highly versatile and makes it possible to pay a Bitcoin address directly from a Monero wallet.
  • It is highly convenient as it is accessible on mobile platforms.

Cons:

  • Monerujo is Android only crypto wallet app
  • It will only support money crypto coins
  • It is unregulated

Comparing Monerujo wallet to other Monero specific wallets

Monerujo wallet vs. MyMonero

Monerujo and MyMonero are both lightweight wallets, specially designed to store Monero cryptocurrencies. They are to the extent that they will only support Monero altcoins, allow for anonymous user registration and transaction processing, and allow you to set the transaction fee.

But while Monerujo is an online-only wallet app, MyMonero is a cross-platform vault available as a web-wallet, desktop app, and iOS app. Monero, however, carries the day when it comes to compatibility with hardware wallets as it integrates ledger Nano S and its ability to pay into bitcoin addresses directly.

Verdict: Is the Monerujo wallet safe?

Well, Monerujo has embraced premium security and anonymity measures aimed at keeping your digital assets. For instance, it facilitates the execution of anonymous crypto transactions. It doesn’t collect or keep logs of a user’s private information. It is highly encrypted and also built on open-sourced technology.

These features, plus the fact that you can download the app on the highly anonymous F-Droid repository, make Monerujo one of the most secure crypto wallet apps. However, we must mention that being an online-based wallet, Monerujo is exposed to common challenges facing hot wallets – like phishing and hacking – especially since it doesn’t support 2FA. 

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Crypto Videos

Monero Is Going To Be Huge Because of It’s Real World Applications!

 

 

 

Monero’s Hashrate Skyrocketing – Biggest Daily Gain Ever Recorded

Monero has experienced the biggest daily increase in its hashrate since the network’s creation in 2014 on Aug 6.
The Monero hashrate managed to increase from 1.67 Gigahashes per second on Aug 5 to 2.2 Gigahashes per second on Aug 6. The 0.52 Gigahashes per second single-day gain represents the highest increase in the project’s history. Prior to this, the most significant daily percentage gains came in Monero’s early days.


Banks should embrace privacy coins 

On Aug 3, Coin Center submitted various comments to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Federal Savings Association and National Bank Digital Activities. The submitted comments suggested that banks should be embracing privacy coins rather than fighting them.
“We argue that Banks shouldn’t only be able to use trustless mixing technology or privacy-enhanced crypto such as Z-cash or Monero, but that they may be obligated to do so so they could protect the privacy of their customers.” – was written in one part of the submission.

Monero is a unique value proposition

It is unclear what made Monero’s hashing power explode in such a way. In a world where many people feel that they are becoming watched and tracked by the governments more and more, Monero may simply present a unique value proposition.
Various reports have indicated that Monero is currently the best major privacy-preserving cryptocurrency. While other privacy coins like Dash and Zcash can be traced with relative ease, Monero proves to be quite a challenge. The sheer fact that it is hard to track has led to several centralized exchanges delisting it.

Monero trails only Bitcoin in its adoption rate amongst Dark Web users and dealers, for whom the privacy-preserving features of cryptocurrencies are sometimes quite literally a matter of life and death.

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Cryptocurrencies

Most Important Cryptocurrencies Apart From Bitcoin Part 2

1. Tether (USDT)

1. Tether (USDT)

1. Tether (USDT)

Tether was one of the pioneers of a new class of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that avoid the legendary volatility of cryptocurrencies by being pegged to real-life assets. The cryptocurrency industry, including Bitcoin itself, is known for unpredictable price swings that can wash out gains in a matter of hours. This volatility is also the reason why cryptocurrencies have been slow at real-life adoption since users fear making losses. Stablecoins such as Tether exists to provide cryptocurrency users with both security and speed of cryptocurrencies with the stability of Fiat currency. 

Launched in 2014 by Tether Holdings, the project describes itself as a “blockchain-enabled platform designed to facilitate the use of Fiat currencies in a digital manner.” What this means is that Tether users also get to sidestep the complexity sometimes associated with crypto. As of July 18, 2020, Tether’s per-token value is $0. 997473, with a market cap of 9.2 billion. It currently occupies the third spot right after Bitcoin and Ethereum.

2. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Created in August 2017, Bitcoin Cash is one of the most recognizable altcoins. This is because it was born of a contentious hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. At that time, the Bitcoin community was split into two. One faction was against the idea of splitting the chain, while the other argued that for Bitcoin to reach its potential, it had to be able to process more transactions at each time.

Be that as it may, it’s one of the most successful forks of the dominant currency. The source of that success is probably the currency’s compelling offering of a much faster Bitcoin network. This it does by increasing the size of blocks, and as a result, a number of transactions each can hold. 

Satoshi Nakamoto intended Bitcoin to be a peer-to-peer electronic currency that could be used for day-to-day purchases. However, as the coin gained mainstream traction, so did transactions increase on the network, and the network slowed down due to the limited 1MB block size. The block limitation meant that one block could only handle a limited number of transactions, causing transactions to queue up and clog the network. 

Bitcoin Cash’s solution was to increase the block size to 8 MB, thus permitting more transactions to be held in one block. While one block on Bitcoin can hold between 1000 and 1500 transactions, one block on Bitcoin Cash can handle tens of thousands. As of July 2018, BCH’s price was $225.36. It occupied the 5th position in the market with a market cap of 4.2 billion.

3. Libra (LIBRA)

The decision to add Libra to this list can certainly raise eyebrows but bear with us. Important here can mean the scale and magnitude of a cryptocurrency’s potential disruption or simply the power of the outfit behind it. And going by those two yardsticks, Libra is, to put it mildly, important. 

The currency is set to be launched by Facebook. When Facebook broke out the news last year, it said the currency would launch in 2020, but at the time writing, we’re yet to see that happen. 

As would be expected, the news was met with mixed reactions. Some people were excited about the potential of a powerful entity such as Facebook, helping to push the concept of crypto into the mainstream. Others, especially regulators, met the news with indignation. The reason for this was twofold. 

One was Facebook’s unflattering history with how it has dealt with users’ data and privacy. Regulators submitted that Facebook would sell user data to advertisers, and then we’d have a repeat of the Cambridge Analytica debacle. The other reason was due to Facebook’s massive worldwide reach – we’re talking about billions of users – which regulators argued would undermine the global financial system. 

The reason for the cryptocurrency’s launch delay is probably its going back to the drawing board to create a cryptocurrency that can appease regulators. In July last year, David Marcus, the project’s head, in remarks prepared for US lawmakers said that Libra would be “the broadest, most expensive, and most careful pre-launch oversight by regulators and central banks in fintech’s history,” and that Facebook wouldn’t launch the crypto until it had “fully addressed regulatory concerns.” Upon launch, the project will be overseen by Switzerland-based Facebook’s subsidiary, Calibra.

4. Monero (XMR)

Monero is one of the cryptocurrencies that have been created to make up for Bitcoin’s less than satisfactory privacy approach. While the Bitcoin blockchain does not reveal a user’s identity, all its transaction history is out there for the whole world to see. With enough resources and dedication, an entity can trace down the real-life owner of a transaction. 

Created as a fork of Bytecoin in April of 2014, Monero is a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency whose development was completely donation-dependent and driven solely by the community. It utilizes “ring signatures” to anonymize transactions. A ring signature is a cryptographic signature in which several signatures are merged together, with all of them appearing valid, while in actuality, only one is. This makes it impossible to single out the real signature.

This level of privacy for Monero has caused it to become the go-to currency for clandestine dealings and criminal activities. No matter the reputation it has acquired, though, Monero has enormously contributed to the crypto space in its offerings. So, let’s see how Monero is doing in the market. At the time of writing, Monero has a per-token value of $68.63, with a market rank of #15 and a market cap of $2.1 billion.

5. Cardano (ADA)

Created by Charles Hoskinson and launched in September 2017, Cardano is a cryptocurrency platform on which people can send and receive value in a decentralized, peer-to-peer, and safe manner. Through this, Cardano wants to make the world “work better for all.” The cryptocurrency has been nicknamed the Ethereum killer, and given its rapid rise to the coveted top 10, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this prophecy came true in a few years.

Cardano has taken a unique and intriguing approach to its development process. Apart from being originally peer-reviewed by blockchain experts, academics, and researchers from various universities, protocol updates have to undergo the same round of evaluation by experts. Cardano’s rationale for this rigorous process is to ensure that the platform meets the highest standards for security, scalability, and efficiency, ultimately granting users a quality experience. 

Cardano is one among many third-generation cryptocurrencies, which is a term used to describe cryptocurrencies that seek to improve upon the deficiencies of the first generation (Bitcoin) and second-generation blockchains (Ethereum). As of July 19, 2020, Cardano has a per-token value of $.0123970 and is the sixth-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of 3.2 billion.

6. EOS (EOS)

EOS is one interesting cryptocurrency in part because no one knows what ‘EOS’ stands for and because it rose to the high sanctums of cryptocurrency riding on a wildly successful ICO that raised $4 billion. The crypto was created by Dan Larimer, who is also the founder and co-founder of successful crypto projects BitShares and Steemit, respectively.

Just like Ethereum, EOS seeks to provide a platform for developers to create decentralized applications. Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum that use the power-hungry proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, EOS uses a delegated proof-of-stake mechanism that is not only energy-efficient but also allows it to achieve an impressive TPS (transactions per second) capability of 1000+. As of July 19, 2019, EOS traded at $2.50 had a market cap of $2.3 billion that positioned it at #12 in the market. 

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Forex Assets

Analyzing The ‘XMR/USD’ Crypto Fiat Pair

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Monero is a private and secure cryptocurrency that was launched 18th of April 2014 as a fork of ByteCoin. It is an open-source digital currency built on a blockchain, making it opaque. With Monero, the holder will have full control over their investment and funds, and nobody will have access to their balance and transactions.

Monero is traded in exchanges under the ticker XMR. It is under the top 20 in terms of market capitalization according to data from CoinMarketCap. It can be traded against USD as well as for cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, etc.

Understanding XMR/USD

The price of XMR/USD depicts the value of the US Dollar equivalent to one Monero. It is quoted as 1 XMR per X USD. For example, if the market price of XMR/USD is 64.67, then each XMR will be worth about 65 dollars.

XMR/USD specifications

Spread

Spread is the basic difference between the bid and the ask price of the cryptocurrency. These prices are put up by the clients and not exchange. Thus, the spread constantly varies in and across exchanges.

Fee

The types of fees in cryptocurrency exchanges vary from that of equity broker and forex brokers. Most crypto exchanges charge the following fees:

  • Execution fee (Taker or Maker) – twice, for opening and closing the trade
  • 30-day trading volume fee
  • Margin opening fee, if applicable

Example

  • Short 100 XMR/USD at $64.82
  • 30-day volume fee is $0
  • Order is executed as Taker
  • With Leverage

Total cost of the order = 100 x $64.82 = $6482

Assuming the taker fee to be 0.26%, the opening fee will be – $6482 x 0.26% = $16.85

Since the trade is opened with leverage, there is 0.02% of margin opening fee collected – $6482 x 0.02% = $1.29

If the position is squared off at $60.00, the total cost of closing will be – 100 x $60.00 = $6000.  The fee for the same can be calculated as – $6000 x 0.26% = $15.60

The algebraic sum of all the fee will yield the total fee as –

$16.85 + $1.29 + $15.60 = $33.74

Trading Range in XMR/USD

A trading range is the number of units the cryptocurrency pair moves in a specific time frame, represented in US dollars as the quote currency for the pair is USD. The values basically depict the volatility in different time frames.

The following table is the trading range for 100 quantities of XMR/USD.

Note: the above values are for trading 100 units of XMR/USD. If X units of the pair are traded, then the ATR values will be,

(ATR value from the table / 1,000) x X units

Procedure to assess ATR values

  1. Add the ATR indicator to your chart.
  2. Set the period to 1
  3. Add a 200-period SMA to this indicator.
  4. Shrink the chart so you can assess a large time period
  5. Select your desired timeframe
  6. Measure the floor level and set this value as the min
  7. Measure the level of the 200-period SMA and set this as the average
  8. Measure the peak levels and set this as Max.

XMR/USD Cost as a Percent of the Trading Range

This cost as a percent represents relative the fee on the trade by considering the volatility and time frames. The percentage values are calculated by finding the ratio of each ATR value and the total fee.

Taker Execution Model

Opening = $16.85 | Margin fee = $1.29 | Closing = $15.60 | 30-day volume = $0

Total fee = Opening + Margin fee + Closing + 30-day volume = $16.85 + $1.29 + $15.60 = $33.74

Maker Execution Model

Opening = $10.37 | Margin fee = $1.29 | Closing = $9.6 | 30-day volume = $0

Total fee = Opening + Margin fee + Closing + 30-day volume = $10.37 + $1.29 + $9.6 + $0 = $21.26

*Assuming maker fee to be 0.16% the trade value.

Trading the XMR/USD

XMR is ranked 16 in market capitalization with a denominator over a thousand. It offers enough liquidity and volume for retail traders to participate in this pair. However, it is comparatively lesser than coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, etc.

As far as the analysis for this pair is concerned, it is no different from analyzing other cryptocurrencies and forex pairs. Hence, you can confidently apply those concepts in Monero as well.

The cost percentages in the above tables represent how expensive or cheap trade is going to be based on the profit you make or the loss you incur. The larger the percentage, the higher is the fee. Note that we are referring to the relative fee, not the absolute fee. Irrespective of the time frame and volatility, the fee will be the same but will vary relatively. For example, a short-term trader who makes $50 on trade must pay the same fee as a long-term trader who makes $1000.

Thus, to effectively reduce your relative costs, you must understand the volatility of the market. The concept is simple; one can make money only if there is enough movement in the market. Thus, before taking a trade, you must know the current volatility of the market using the ATR indicator. If the values are above the average, then you’re good to go. But, values near the minimum value indicates that there is not much movement in the market, and it could not reach your target point within the expected time.

Categories
Crypto Guides

Impact of Cryptos & Blockchain on The Current Prison System

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

It is a known fact that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology has impacted many of the industries in a positive way. In our previous guides, we have discussed many such sectors like Healthcare, Supply chain, Banking, etc. It is obvious that these are only a few of the many industries where the adoption of these path-breaking technologies is taking place. In this article, let’s see how cryptos and blockchain together are making the current prison system better.

Enhanced Tracking

The judiciary system in developed countries has already adopted technologies like cryptography & blockchain to enhance their tracking capabilities. In Foshan, a city in China, police have set up a community correction system that is entirely based on blockchain. The purpose of this system is to enable the real-time tracking of convicted criminals.

Every prisoner will have a specific duration of parole after their sentence is over. During this period, they must be monitored very carefully, and currently, governments do have some outdated techniques for this purpose. But with the community correction blockchain system, this process will be simplified.

Prisoners will be given electronic bracelets that they must wear all the time. These bracelets will have a tracking encryption program that allows police and court executives to get all the relevant real-time data. This enhances the supervision of offenders with minimal effort and provides more accurate information. Since the technology behind this system is based out of blockchain, the data cannot be tampered with no matter what.

More information related to this can be found on the Facebook page of People’s Daily, China.

For A Better Cause

There is a study that says almost 90% of the prisoners who can’t afford their bail money turn out to be pleaded guilty. This data holds true only for New York City. The number might go high in countries that are still developing. This essentially means that these prisoners can’t even utilize their constitutional rights as they aren’t allowed to argue their case because they don’t have enough money to do so. In very simple terms, we can say that irrespective of them being involved in a crime or not, they are found guilty because they are poor.

A blockchain startup known as Bail Bloc is trying to help this kind of prisoners. This company is allowing users like us to offer the processing power of our gadgets when they are not being used. This power is used by a set of miners to mine a well-known crypto – Monero. The Monero generated is donated to a charity organization known as the Bronx Freedom Fund. This NGO uses all of the created cryptocurrency to help bail out prisoners who aren’t in a position to afford their bail money.

If you are interested in making a contribution to the poor prisoners, you can download Bail Bloc from here and allow the software to access your unused gadget’s unused processing power. Below you can see a snapshot from the Bail Bloc official website where the statistics are given in an understandable way.

Conclusion

There are many other startups like CellBlocks that are using cryptos and blockchain to improve the current prison system. The intention of CellBlocks is to digitize the economy of large prisons by tokenizing the currency that circulates in jail and keeping a record of all the transactions on a blockchain network. With so much adoption in such less time, we can only imagine the amount of impact these technologies will have on various industries in the future. Cheers.

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

Privacy Coins: Here Is Your Complete Guide

Public blockchain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum utilizes cryptography technology to disguise users’ identity. To an extent, this protects users’ privacy, making the cryptos ideal for pseudonymous transactions. However, the transparent nature of these cryptocurrencies’ ledger system compromises users’ complete anonymity. As such, it’s easy for malicious third parties to trace all your transactions […]

Public blockchain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum utilizes cryptography technology to disguise users’ identity. To an extent, this protects users’ privacy, making the cryptos ideal for pseudonymous transactions. However, the transparent nature of these cryptocurrencies’ ledger system compromises users’ complete anonymity. As such, it’s easy for malicious third parties to trace all your transactions […]

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

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

What Exactly are Privacy Coins?

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

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

Monero – XMR

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

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

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

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

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

Dash – DASH

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

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

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

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

ZCash – ZEC

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

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

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

PIVX – PIVX

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

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

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

Verge – XVG

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

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

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

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

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

Takeaway

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

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

Categories
Crypto Guides

Monero – One Of Those Cryptocurrencies That Ensure 100% Privacy!

Introduction
We have seen the in-depth analysis of different cryptos so far and understood that new coins keep coming up, improvising the shortcomings of the previous ones. Monero is such

Introduction
We have seen the in-depth analysis of different cryptos so far and understood that new coins keep coming up, improvising the shortcomings of the previous ones. Monero is such

Introduction

We have seen the in-depth analysis of different cryptos so far and understood that new coins keep coming up, improvising the shortcomings of the previous ones. Monero is such cryptocurrency.

Monero was launched in 2014 as an open-source, privacy-oriented crypto, operating on the concept of blockchain technology to completely anonymize the transactions in the network. Monero literally means coin in Esperanto. This crypto was initially named BitMonero, forked from the codebase of Bytecoin. Later it was renamed as Monero after a different group led by Johnny Mnemonic took over the project.

Objective

Monero aims to make the platform opaque for outside observers completely. The transactions are made entirely obscured by anonymizing the sender and receiver details. This is done by disguising the addresses used by the users transacting on the platform. While all the cryptocurrencies promise the future of privacy, the degree of confidentiality varies. But Monero achieves the full level of privacy, making it a widely used currency in the dark web.

Mining process

Mining Monero doesn’t need any specialized hardware; hence, there is no need for any significant initial investments in mining the coin. Anyone with a computer can mine the coin and earn rewards.  The founders believe that everyone is equal, and they didn’t even allocate any percentage of coins for them during its inception. They have just used the funds volunteered by the community to develop the currency.

How is the complete privacy ensured?

To ensure complete privacy, Monero uses features such as ring signatures, stealth addresses, and ring confidential transactions. Let us look at the below briefly.

Ring Signatures: While making a transaction in the blockchain network, one must sign the transaction using his private key. In the case of ring signatures, the private sign of the user transacting is combined with the signatures of the other ten users in the network, thus making a ring signature genuinely anonymous.

Stealth Addresses: These are randomly generated one time used addresses for a transaction using the public key of the user making a transaction. Since these are only used one time, the outside observers will have no idea about the transactions.

Ring Confidential Transactions: Ring CT was introduced in January 2017 to conceal the number of coins being transacted in a transaction. They stopped using Ring CT in October 2018.

Market Cap

Monero stands at 13th place in the world of cryptocurrencies, with the market value of around $1.06 Billion, while the value of each coin is at $61.60 as on 03/11/2019. The 24-hour trading volume is approximately $191 Million, with ~17 Million coins circulating in the market. Monero is traded with the ticker symbol ‘XMR’ in all of the cryptocurrency exchanges.

Challenges faced by Monero

Since Monero ensures complete privacy for the transactions, the usage of the currency is particularly popular in the dark web. While, still Bitcoin holds prominence in both the legitimate and illegitimate transactions across the world, owing to its knowledge amongst the people, there is a slow shift towards Monero with the people who wants to cover their tracks. Certain ransomware attackers demand the money exclusively in Monero to decrypt the encrypted files.

The rich privacy feature has made Monero a popular coin shortly after its inception, while its usage in the dark web markets is widely questioned. That’s about Monero. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below. Cheers!

Categories
Crypto Videos

Is Your Cryptocurrency Anonymous? How To Ensure It Is!

https://youtu.be/o0-w9g9TVxw

 
Anonymity in cryptocurrencies

Confidentiality and privacy (financial and in general) are becoming more and more important nowadays as the world has pretty much given up on privacy

https://youtu.be/o0-w9g9TVxw

 
Anonymity in cryptocurrencies

Confidentiality and privacy (financial and in general) are becoming more and more important nowadays as the world has pretty much given up on privacy

 

Anonymity in cryptocurrencies

Confidentiality and privacy (financial and in general) are becoming more and more important nowadays as the world has pretty much given up on privacy with the expansion of the internet. Cryptocurrencies have given users an option to protect their financial privacy. These cryptocurrencies are based on cryptographic protocols that act as security methods. By utilizing these protocols, all the transactions are safe, irreversible, and do not contain any personal information whatsoever.
Privacy and anonymity are one of the most important factors that lifted cryptocurrencies in the eyes of potential users. However, we have to make a distinction between “anonymity” and “pseudonymity” and what they represent, as well as which cryptocurrencies possess these features.
Simply put, anonymous transactions are transactions that can’t be connected to any person/user. But are cryptocurrencies anonymous?

Bitcoin’s anonymity

Bitcoin is often described as anonymous because people can send and receive transactions without actually revealing their identity. However, the truth is a bit different.
Even though Bitcoin does not tie an identity to a person, all Bitcoin transactions are stored publicly and permanently on the Blockchain. This means anyone can see anyone’s balance as well as transactions. Even the identity of the user behind an address can be cracked down if an address is used to purchase goods or services outside the “system.”
Most blockchains aren’t truly anonymous but rather pseudonymous, and that includes Bitcoin. Transacting in Bitcoin is like writing under a specific pseudonym. If the pseudonym is ever tied to one of the transactions, everything done under that pseudonym is also tied to the account.

People may say that full privacy is what they want, but pseudonymity and having no anonymity is exactly the argument against people saying that Bitcoin can be used for illegal transactions. However, if full and complete privacy is required, then people should turn to a branch of Cryptocurrency called “privacy coins.”
Private cryptocurrencies
Unlike Bitcoin, every transaction involving so-called “privacy coins” obscures the digital addresses of the sender and the receiver. Not only that, but the network also obscures the value of the transaction. This feature offers privacy coin users near-total anonymity.
We will cover a few privacy coins with the biggest market capitalization to show what they have to offer to the market:
Monero;
Dash;
Zcash.

Monero

Monero is the biggest privacy coin by market capitalization. This is most likely due to a lot of people believing that this cryptocurrency is the most anonymous coin on the market. Monero is based on CryptoNote, a privacy protocol that implements ring signatures which obfuscate payments in order to ensure anonymity when both are sending and receiving funds.
However, throughout time, Monero has evolved far beyond CryptoNote. The development team behind Monero combined CryptoNote’s ring signatures with Greg Maxwell’s Confidential Transactions to create Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCTs), which only obscure senders but also hide the transaction amount. Monero is constantly improving and implementing new features, such as giving its users the option to hide their IP address and geographic location through garlic encryption and routing.

Dash

Dash, previously known as Darkcoin, came to life as a fork of Bitcoin in 2014. Even though Dash includes privacy features, this cryptocurrency also tries to achieve other features such as Portability, Inexpensiveness, Divisibility, Speed.

When talking about Dash’s privacy features, its users have two options. Dash gives you the option to send funds PrivateSend or through a regular network. PrivateSend implements a feature called “CoinJoin,” which mixes the sent funds with other people’s PrivateSend funds before sending them to the recipient. The coins that a recipient receives are not in any way associated with the wallet from which the transaction was initiated.

Zcash

Zcash is another extremely popular private cryptocurrency. It utilizes a feature called Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (or simply zk-SNARKs). Zk-SNARKs validate the transaction without ever having to reveal the details of the transaction. This feature makes it possible to send ZEC, Zcash’s currency, while the sender’s address, the recipient’s address, as well as the amount is never compromised or revealed.
Even though Zcash developers built this cryptocurrency on the original Bitcoin code base, these two cryptocurrencies have very little in common today. One significant difference between Bitcoin and Zcash is that Zcash is run by a for-profit company called the Electric Coin Company. This company receives 10% of all the mining rewards, which is regarded as a “Founder’s Reward.” These funds are then used to support further development of the project.

Conclusion

It’s no secret that Bitcoin isn’t actually anonymous, despite what various public figures might claim. Its pseudonymity makes its transactions vulnerable to being tracked by governments and intelligence agencies. However, Bitcoin’s privacy features are steadily increasing.
With Bitcoin’s improving privacy, it is possible that cryptocurrencies such as Monero, Zcash, and Dash may become obsolete. This will, however, happen only if Bitcoin offers anonymity alongside with superior store of value.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Update 19.07.2018 – Another Burst Expected

General Overview

Market Cap: $287,548,026,731

24h Vol: $18,483,342,934

BTC Dominance: 43.8%

Since yesterday’s high at just slightly below $300B, the evaluation of the cryptocurrency market cap has retraced a bit and is currently sitting around $287,5B. Since today’s open the evaluation has flattened out much like it did before yesterday’s increase. 

Consequently, the market is in red with an average percentage of change among top 100 coins ranging from 3-6%.

News

As the market showed significant gains in the last day, many news headlines are analytical in nature, promoting the idea that the market reached its bottom.

For example, Barry Silbert, founder and chief executive officer of venture capital Digital Currency Group, said he is bullish on Bitcoin (BTC) as an investment vehicle, CNBC reported July 18.

Speaking at the Delivering Alpha Conference in New York on Wednesday, Silbert said that he thinks “we’ve probably hit the bottom for the year. I actually put some money into Bitcoin last week.” He added that “as an asset class it is here to stay … I’m 100 percent confident a decentralized, non-fiat form of money is here to stay.”

The most significant event in the last 24 hours in the US Congress hearing regarding cryptocurrency regulation entitled “The Future of Money: Digital Currency”. The news is neither positive or negative but at the moment as this is a discussion on which the regulatory framework is going to be built.  At the hearing, the Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade discussed the deployment of cryptocurrency and its underlying technology, blockchain, by central banks, arguing whether central banks should introduce a central bank digital currency, and there are views supporting both cases.

Witnesses before the U.S. House of Agriculture Committee at a public hearing July 18 were unanimous in their view that digital assets complicate the hard and fast distinctions of existing regulatory frameworks.

We will be closely monitoring what policymakers have to say as their action could impact the market in both ways.

Analysis

BTC/USD

From yesterday’s open at 7319$ the price of Bitcoin went up to 7514$ and since then it has retraced to 7315$ forming a cluster around those levels, and currently, we are seeing a breakout from that cluster on the upside as the price is on a green candle around 7400$.



As you can see from the hourly chart it looks like the price is ready for another exponential increase, and if that happens I would expect the price to around 7834$ where the black downward pointing line is, which is the resistance line from the triangle on the higher time frame.

Market sentiment 

Bitcoin is in the buy zone.

Pivot points 

S3 6721.6 
S2 7063.1 
S1 7221.3 
P 7404.6 
R1 7562.8 
R2 7746.1 
R3 8087.6

EOS/USD

From yesterday’s open at 8,89$ the price of Eos has at first increased to 9,14$ and fallen to 8,37$ after. Since like in the case of Bitcoin a cluster has formed and now we are seeing a breakout on the upside.



On the hourly chart, we can see that the price is below the 8,69$ level which is a significant resistance level, and you can see that the price went below it quickly. If that level gets broken I am expecting the price to go to the next Fibo level which would in the price terms be around 10,4$.

Market sentiment 

Eos is in the buy zone.

Pivot points

S3 6.9916 
S2 7.8954
S1 8.2502 
P 8.7992 
R1 9.1540 
R2 9.7030 
R3 10.6068

XMR/USD

From yesterday’s open at 143,9$ the price of Monero has increased at first but fallen after to 138$, and currently, we are seeing the start of another uptrend as the price is currently sitting around the same levels of yesterday’s open.


Looking at the hourly chart we can see that the price went above the triangle’s resistance, but we still cannot say that it broke out as these fakeouts happened in the past, but judging but the bounce off of the resistance line I think that the support is found for the price to continue upward.

Market sentiment 

Monero is in the buy zone.

Pivot points

S3 117.387 
S2 129.917 
S1 134.893 
P 142.447 
R1 147.423 
R2 154.977 
R3 167.507

Conclusion

As the confirmation of the uptrend happened yesterday and the first minor retracement happened, fear of missing out will kick in and the prices are going to be pushed higher which is why we are going to see some recovery in the market in the following days.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily crypto update 04.07.2018 – Another Low Coming Before The Recovery

General Overview

Coin Capital Market Cap: $272,844,346,322

24h Vol: $15,104,000,275

BTC Dominance: 42.0%

From this morning, the cryptocurrency market cap has increased by aproximately 10 billion, the evaluation coming to 277,181,000,000$ at the higest point.

Coin Capital Market

As you can see from the global chart, that area is clearly the seller’s territory, so the evaluation retraced from those levels as selling was activated.

The market is still in green as the prices haven’t retraced more than they have increased over the 24 hour period.

News

There aren’t any significant headlines that have come out from this morning. The only one that is worth mentioning is that the cryptocurrency exchange Binance has now resumed services after it announced the suspension of all trading and withdrawals, as reported by cointelegraph.

The temporary suspension was due to an alert over “irregular” Syscoin (SYS) trades “from a number of API users.” Binance subsequently chose to suspend trading, withdrawals and other account functions, as well as to take a series of further measures in order to protect its users.

Another headline that is worth mentioning is that UK housing minister Eddie Hughes released a report into blockchain July 4, calling on the government to “show leadership” by making the technology and its benefits a priority.

The report, ‘Unlocking Blockchain,’ makes several key proposals, using state projects currently underway in Estonia as the standard authorities should follow at home.

“The state should focus its attention on using blockchain to enable social freedom, to increase efficiency, and to rebuild societal trust,” Hughes summarises.

Source: cointelegraph

Analysis

ETH/USD

From today’s low at 454$, the price of Ethereum has increased by 4.25% as it is currently sitting at 474.40$.



Looking at the hourly chart, we can see that the latest high was lower than the last, and it looks like this may be the start of a descending channel of some kind, but currently, we are seeing another attempt to break that resistance, as the green candle is on its levels.

Market sentiment 

Ethereum is in the buy zone.

Pivot points

S3 414.42 
S2 442.08 
S1 452.05 
P 469.74 
R1 479.71 
R2 497.40 
R3 525.06

EOS/USD

From today’s low at 8.64$ the price of EOS went to 9.28$ and has retraced since to 9$ which is an overall increase of 4.76%.



Looking at the hourly chart, we can see that the 9.20$ levels are where the prior top was and that area serves as strong resistance. Now that the price has failed to break that resistance once again I am expecting the price to drop to around 8.50$.

Market sentiment 

Hourly chart technicals signal a buy.

Oscillators are on neutral and moving averages signal a strong buy.

Pivot points 

S3 7.5413
S2 8.2669 
S1 8.5395 
P 8.9925 
R1 9.2651 
R2 9.7181 
R3 10.4437

XMR/USD

From today’s low at 136$, the price of Monero increased by 3.44% and is currently 141.70$.



Looking at the hourly chart we can see that the price is currently interacting with the median line of the pitchfork, and I am expecting it to go further down to create a higher low.

Market sentiment 

Monero is in the buy zone.

Pivot points

S3 123.033
S2 131.213 
S1 134.787 
P 139.393 
R1 142.967 
R2 147.573 
R3 155.753

ADA/USD

From today’s opening at 0.147$, the price of Cardano has increased by 5.13% coming to 0.1558$.



As you can see, the price went higher to the resistance at 0.16$ and has retraced since to the mid-range support line. I am expecting the price to break the support and go further down to the next support levels at 0.146$.

Market sentiment 

Cardano is in the buy zone.

Moving averages signal a strong buy.

Pivot points

S3 0.078
S2 0.104
S1 0.121
P 0.13
R1 0.147
R2 0.156
R3 0.186

Conclusion

Coin Capital Market: After the prices have been increasing rapidly in the last 24 hours, we are seeing interaction with first significant resistance levels, and this retracement as the result of that. I am expecting that tomorrow will be another green day.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Weekly Crypto Update 27.06.2018 – One More Low Expected To The Bottom

General Overview

Market Cap: $245,897,879,486

24h Vol: $10,982,438,642

BTC Dominance: 42.6%

From last Monday, the cryptocurrency market has been in a constant decline as the market fell from 294,184,000,000$ which was last weeks high on Tuesday 19.06.2018. The lowest the crypto market has been was on Sunday when the crypto market capitalization hit 235,331,000,000$.

Those levels were expected to be a lower low after which the cryptos were going to recover, but as the new high failed to exceed the prior one, there aren’t any signs of a trend reversal, and the evaluation is close to the last low levels. This situation implies that a lower low is more likely and that this is the bottom after which the trend reversal is going to start.

News

Out of those stories that marked the past week, the most significant one is the Bithumb hack.

Bithumb, which has fallen from 6th to 10th place for cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide by trading volume, has had about $30 million worth of cryptocurrencies stolen in an apparent hack.

This headline created a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) in the market and many blamed this event as the fundamental reason of the continuation of the bear market, which was not the case as this exchange is not that large.

In the law and tax category, there are two major headlines. First is that  U.S. federal employees will have to report their cryptocurrencies holdings if they equal more than $1,000 or made more than $200 during the reporting period. The other one is that the Uruguayan Chamber of Fintech has announced the creation of a special committee to develop a framework for crypto regulation and promote innovation to support the country’s financial system.

Both of this news is positive, as the first one implies that cryptocurrency is valuable and should be reported as “other forms of securities.”

In the adoption category, the news items that stands out is the news of Square receiving the New York BitLicense. The announcement means that Cash App users in every state except for Georgia and Hawaii now have the option to buy and sell Bitcoin.

Analysis

BTC/USD

From the opening on Monday, June 18 at 6875$, the price of Bitcoin has decreased by 11.19% as it is now sitting around 6110$. The opening price is the highest Bitcoin has been, and the lowest was at 5770$, from which it quickly recovered closing as a Doji candle with a big a wick from the downside on the daily chart on 24.06.2018.



Looking at the daily chart, we can see that the current wave is near completion, but it looks like another low might happen whos target I’ve projected to be from 5664$ on the supportive significant level (purple dotted line), to 5515$ which is the support line from which Bitcoin created the all-time high. As I think this current wave is the wave X of the WXYXZ sideways correction, I am waiting to see signs of the short-term trend reversal, before the price continues to new lows.

Market sentiment 

Daily chart technicals signal a strong sell.

Oscillators are on sell, and moving average signal a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 4426.3 
S2 5365.2 
S1 5758.6 
P 6304.1 
R1 6697.5
R2 7243.0 
R3 8181.9

LTC/USD

From last Monday, the price of Litecoin has depreciated in value from 100$ to slightly below 80$ which is a 20% decrease in ten days. The opening on Monday was the weeks high, and the lowest Litecoin has been is to the 73.5$ area on Sunday.



Looking at the daily chart, I am seeing another low ahead to the support line at 71.29$ which is significant as from that level the price of Litecoin went on to create the all-time high. If that level holds I would be expecting a short-term trend reversal as I think that the current wave is an X from the WXYXZ sideways correction. 

Market sentiment

Litecoins daily chart technicals signal a sell.

Oscillators are on sell, and moving averages signal a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 44.663 
S2 66.371 
S1 74.517 
P 88.079 
R1 96.225 
R2 109.787 
R3 131.495

EOS/USD

At the start of last week on Monday, June 18, the opening price of EOS was at 10.95$. Since then the price has decreased substantially to 8$ which is a decrease of 25.81%. The price went even lower on Sunday when it spiked to 6.89$.



Looking at the daily chart, we can clearly see that the corrective move was a WXY correction and that the Y wave is near completion. I am expecting the price to drop to the 6.58$ level were an 8/1 Gann fan level is and another support level from a prior range from whom similarly to the case of Bitcoin and Litecoin, the price created the all-time high. As this would be the last low a trend reversal would be expected, but how long would it live we are yet to see from the formations and patterns ahead.

Market sentiment

Daily chart technicals signal a sell.

Oscillators are indicating a sell, and moving averages signal a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 3.3173 
S2 6.2033 
S1 7.2797 
P 9.0893 
R1 10.1657 
R2 11.9753 
R3 14.8613

XRP/USD

From the opening price at 0.55$ last Monday, the price of Ripple has decreased by 15.48% as it is now sitting at 0.47$.



On the chart, we can see that the support at the prior low level at 0.4541$ held the price again. As the current wave is the last impulse wave I am expecting a trend reversal, but the price may fall a bit lower before that happens. The new potential low would be at the next support level at 0.4144$. However, this level may hold and the trend reversal starts happening from here. The move up would be a corrective move, probably in a form of another three-wave ABC move, which is why I am expecting the price to go down further.

Market sentiment

Ripple’s daily chart technicals indicate a sell.

Oscillators are signalling a sell, and moving averages a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 0.32270 
S2 0.41468 
S1 0.45231 
P 0.50666 
R1 0.54429 
R2 0.59864 
R3 0.69062

XMR/USD

The price of Monero is on the same levels like on Monday last week which is around 128$. The price fell by 17% from Monday to Sunday to the weeks low at 106.78$.



Looking at the 4-hour chart, we can see that the price is currently on the rise, but that would only be a corrective move from where I am expecting the price to go lower to the 100$ level, which would be the support line 2 of the support area.

Market sentiment

Monero is in the buy zone.

Both oscillators and moving averages signal a buy.

Pivot points

S3 97.133 
S2 102.972 
S1 108.811 
P 126.405 
R1 146.510 
R2  190.105 
R3 210.210

Conclusion

If you remember this was my projection from 02.06.2018

As you can see I was expecting to see on the global chart that the prior lows at around 250 billion dollar evaluation get retested, after which another similar pattern would appear.

The lows were retested and the evaluation is hovering around those levels which is why now I am looking for signs of a reversal.

After looking at the charts of major cryptos, and especially Bitcoin as it has the 42% market dominance, I think that another low is going to happen before some short-term recovery. Those lows would be to tests the support levels from where the all-time high was made in all cryptos that we’ve covered in this report.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

XMR Retesting Previous Levels

Monero Live Price

  • Market cap: $1,985,355,918 USD
  • Total supply: /
  • Circulating supply: 16,170,159 XMR
  • Daily volume: $35,912,200 USD

XMR retesting previous levels

Monero has been pretty quiet in the past month or so. Privacy and anonymity were not a priority when it came to cryptocurrencies, as adoption and manipulation prevention was the biggest problem. However, Monero has managed to break the chains, and leave its “comfort zone”. For the past month, it was ranging between the support and resistance lines. But, they were moving downwards, and that was not good for the price of Monero. After two unsuccessful attempts, Monero has broken the resistance line upwards and got some momentum. Of course, a retracement has to come sooner or later, and we are expecting Monero to retest the line yet again, but from the other side. What will happen?

Monero Live Price Chart


Trading XMR/BTC In The Current Market

There are two possible scenarios. The first one is that XMR will bounce off of the line and go up in price, making it clear that the once ranging line that bound it to a price level is left behind. The other one is, of course, to break the line downwards and fall down in price. It will all depend on the Bitcoin price levels and movement. With everything being pegged to Bitcoin, we need to take everything into consideration, including the future movements of Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrencies are pegged to Bitcoin because it’s the entrance and the exit to the crypto world, meaning that everyone has to buy into Bitcoin before diversifying. When Bitcoin goes down, everything does. If Bitcoin goes up, so do other altcoins. When trading Bitcoin, trading should always be in the direction of the major trend. When trading altcoins, one should always trade after getting the confirmation given by the altcoin pattern, but with one thing on top of it. Bitcoin has to match in trend direction in order for the trade to be validated.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Update 25.06.2018 – Short-term Recovery Expected

General Overview

Live Trading Update:

Market Cap: $254,201,622,949

24h Vol: $15,258,651,571

BTC Dominance: 41.7%

In the last 24 hours, the evaluation of the cryptocurrency market capitaliSation started off at 259,367,000,000$ and shortly after that it fell to 235,331,000,000$ yesterday. This is the lowest cryptos have been since the correction has started, and the last time we saw this evaluation was in the first half of November last year. Currently, the evaluation has recovered from yesterday’s low and is sitting on the levels prior to the drop.

Live Trading Update

The market is currently in green with an average percentage of change ranging from 5-10%. Biggest gainers among top 100 coins are WaykiChain 39%, Cortex 38%, and Theta Token 26%.

News

There aren’t any significant news items that came out in the last 24 hours. Most of the headlines are analytical in nature as the cryptocurrency market experienced the recent low, followed by interviews that reassert the bullish views on cryptos over the long run.

These are some of the headlines:

Bitcoin Price Hits 2018-Low at $5,825, Where Will it Bottom Out?

Bitcoin’s Defense of $6K Raises Odds of Relief Rally

Ether Price Drops to 10-Week Low Near $400

Cardano Co-Founder: Wall Street Will Bring ‘Tens of Trillions of Dollars’ to Crypto

Blockchain CEO Says Bitcoin Adoption Will Take a Long Time, Survivors Will Win

One of the headlines that stand out and is not from this category is that China’s state-backed monthly ratings are out and according to them, EOS in number 1. The rating is called “Global Public Chain Technology Evaluation Index” and is published by the China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID) of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

EOS’ top ranking is attributed to the “outstanding technical advantages in transaction confirmation efficiency, network throughput, and transaction costs” of the protocol.

While conceding the EOS Mainnet’s recent mishaps – since going live on June 15, the network has faced technical issues, and criticism for freezing some accounts – the evaluation nonetheless judges the project to be “highly active in technological innovation,” a “new generation public blockchain” that is “currently most regarded by the industry.”

Source: cointelegraph

Analysis

BTC/USD

From yesterday’s low at 5777,3$ the price of Bitcoin has recovered by 7.54% and is currently sitting at 6224$.



Looking at the hourly chart we can see that the price of Bitcoin has fallen below the 6000$ level which was a psychologically significant level as are most round numbers. This spike at around 5700$ played out yesterday just like I’ve predicted and now the price is likely going to start to recover.

Market sentiment 

Bitcoin’s hourly chart technicals signal a buy.

Oscillators are signalling a buy and moving averages are signalling a buy.

Pivot points

S3 5061.5 
S2 5556.2 
S1 5852.1 
P 6050.9
R1 6346.8 
R2 6545.6 
R3 7040.3

XRP/USD

From yesterday’s low at 0.4417$, the price of Ripple has recovered by 9% as it is currently sitting around 0.481$.



On the hourly chart, we can see that the price has fallen below the 0 Fibonacci retracement level, which means that the price fell lowest since the correction has started as this is the ending point of the prior retracement. Currently, it looks like is testing for support on the last range support and we are yet to see if it holds.

Market sentiment 

Hourly chart technicals signal a buy.

Oscillators are on buy, and moving averages signal a buy.

Pivot points

S3 0.35393 
S2 0.41192 
S1 0.44334 
P 0.46991 
R1 0.50133 
R2 0.52790
R3 0.58589

EOS/USD

From yesterday’s low at 6.96$ the price of Eos has recovered significantly as it rose by 15.3% coming to around 8$ where it is currently sitting.



On the hourly chart, we can see that the price action created a similar U shape bottom as in the case of Bitcoin and Ripple. After the recovery the price has experienced, it is currently looking for support on the levels from which the drop appeared.

Market sentiment

EOS is in the buy zone.

Oscillators are on buy, and moving averages signal a buy.

Pivot points

S3 4.7107 
S2 6.2507 
S1 7.1489 
P 7.7907 
R1 8.6889 
R2 9.3307 
R3 10.870

XMR/USD

Monero is another coin which experienced significant recovery. From yesterday’s low at 108.6$ the price has increased by 15.8% coming to 127$. Currently, the price has retraced a bit and is now sitting at 124.7$.



Unlike other cryptos, Monero didn’t just spike down to its lows but instead retested those levels two more times after the first spike down. The price is now above the levels from which it previously dropped, looking for support, as you can see from the chart.

Market sentiment

Hourly chart technicals signal a buy.

Oscillators are on neutral and moving averages signal a buy.

Pivot points

S3 80.973 
S2 99.403 
S1 110.097
P 117.833
R1 128.527 
R2 136.263 
R3 154.693

 Conclusion

Live Trading Update: As the prices of all major cryptos fell to their lowest since the correction has started, and in a way, retested the lowest cryptos have ever been, I am now looking for signs of a short-term trend reversal that will serve as a retest of prior highs. Spikes that we’ve seen look like the bottoms as they are V-shaped and were short lasted which is how markets usually bottom out. As those spikes could be interpreted as a missed opportunity by buyers, fear of missing out on the bottom can push the prices higher.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Update 22.06.2018 – Flash Crash

General Overview

Market Cap: $$267,957,152,299

24h Vol: $12,899,681,614

BTC Dominance: 40.6%

In the last 24 hours, the crypto market has crashed from 291

General Overview

Market Cap: $$267,957,152,299

24h Vol: $12,899,681,614

BTC Dominance: 40.6%

In the last 24 hours, the crypto market has crashed from 291

General Overview

Market Cap: $$267,957,152,299

24h Vol: $12,899,681,614

BTC Dominance: 40.6%

In the last 24 hours, the crypto market has crashed from 291,883,000,000$ on yesterday’s high to below $270B. This crash was expected as this was my conclusion from the daily update two days ago.

The artificial spike we have seen on Monday didn’t trigger buying, and there’s not a single sign of a potential trend reversal. The prices look unstable and the selling may be very steep as a consequence of the spike up we have seen. As soon as the market participants realise there’s no trend reversal coming, sellers will start selling and there will be no buyers which will result in a significant price drop in a short time period.

The market is currently in red with an average percentage of change ranging from 6-10%.

News

There isn’t any significant negative news that is impacting the market currently. Top stories that came out in the last 24 hours are those regarding major players showing acceptance toward blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies which is positive in sentiment.

Enigma will partner with Intel on privacy research as it prepares to launch its blockchain testnet, the two companies confirmed June 20, as reported by cointelegraph

Enigma said the collaboration would focus on “research and development efforts to advance the development of privacy-preserving computation technologies.”

Robinhood, which in February began allowing zero-fee cryptocurrency trading through its Robinhood Crypto tool, is currently in “constructive” talks with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to position itself as a banking services provider, Bloomberg reported.

Bloomberg Terminal, a paid financial data monitoring service, will now list crypto exchange Huobi’s Cryptocurrency Index, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph today, June 21.

Bloomberg Terminal will also list prices for nine crypto trading pairs, denominated in Tether (USDT), including Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Ripple (XRP), Dash, EOS, and ZCash.

Stanford has created the Center for Blockchain Research, supported in part by the Ethereum Foundation, Stanford Engineering’s website posted yesterday, June 20.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will now be tracking the prices of four cryptocurrencies on their research database, according to a June 19 post on the bank’s website.

The database, called the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), will now include the prices of Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) from as early as 2014 to the present. The prices will be updated daily with data obtained from U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange and wallet Coinbase.

As you can see, the crash that we are currently seeing doesn’t have any fundamental reason, it is only price action based much like it always is.

Analysis

BTC/USD

From yesterday’s open at 6768$ until the current low, the price of Bitcoin has decreased by 6.84% coming to 6293$. Since that low which happened an hour ago, the price has recovered a bit which can be seen from the chart below.



The price found some temporary support at the prior low levels of the current range, but that support isn’t close enough to stop the momentum behind the current down move, which is why I am expecting this crash to continue to at least the 6000$ level.

Market sentiment

Bitcoin is in the sell zone, as indicated by hourly chart technicals

Oscillators are on neutral and moving averages signal a strong sell.

Pivot points

S3 6283.1 
S2 6508.8 
S1 6618.3
P 6727.8 
R1 6776.2 
R2 6837.3 
R3 6946.8

ETH/USD

The price of Ethereum has decreased by 10.39% from 543$ on yesterday’s opening, to 490$ where it’s currently.



The price found temporary support on the range support line 2 but has broken 0.236 Fibonacci level and the range support line. As in the case of Bitcoin, these levels can’t and won’t hold the momentum behind the move.

Market sentiment 

Hourly chart technicals signal a sell.

Oscillators are on neutral while moving averages signal a strong sell.

Pivot points

S3 483.21 
S2 507.08 
S1 516.59 
P 530.95 
R1 540.46 
R2 554.82 
R3 578.69

XMR/USD

The price of Monero has decreased by 6.57%, coming from 123.550$ to 115.225$.



The price has broken out off of the triangle and found some temporary support on the prior low levels. The price is going to struggle to stay above these levels, but eventually, it will drop down further, and the next level strong enough to hold the drop is at around 100$.

Market sentiment 

Monero’s hourly chart technicals signal a strong sell.

Oscillators are signalling a sell and moving averages a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 115.613 
S2 119.283 
S1 121.387 
P 122.953 
R1 125.057 
R2 126.623 
R3 130.293

Conclusion

This crash was expected and in fact, it’s way overdue. I have stated in my weekly update that I am expecting a retest of prior lows that were the lows in this prolonged correction before we can see a short-term trend reversal. That would in the case of Bitcoin be around 6000$ and I think that this crash is finally going to do exactly that – retest the ultimate lows, which is why I am expecting more red to come today and especially over the weekend. Maybe on Sunday, we will see the selloff end, and from Monday that trend reversal to retest the recent highs, before capitulation phase can happen.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Weekly Crypto Update 18.06.2018 – Retest of the Lows Expected

General Overview

Market Cap: $276,493,181,374

24h Vol: $10,178,348,969

BTC Dominance: 40.1%

From last Monday, 11th of June, the cryptocurrency market cap has experienced

General Overview

Market Cap: $276,493,181,374

24h Vol: $10,178,348,969

BTC Dominance: 40.1%

From last Monday, 11th of June, the cryptocurrency market cap has experienced

General Overview

Market Cap: $276,493,181,374

24h Vol: $10,178,348,969

BTC Dominance: 40.1%

From last Monday, 11th of June, the cryptocurrency market cap has experienced a short-term rise from 294,722,000,000$ to 301,321,000,000$ which was the weeks high, and after that, it has fallen to 265,974,000,000$ which was the weeks low on 13th of June. After the low, the market has recovered slightly and is currently sitting in the middle of the high-low range as you can see from the graph below.

 

Crypto Weekly Update

News

Top stories that came out in the last week are the following:

German Government Doesn’t Think Bitcoin Threatens Financial Stability

Officials from Germany’s federal government do not believe that Bitcoin poses a threat to the existing financial structure, as the volume of crypto transactions is too low compared to the size of the global financial system to be a great influence. However, the government added that cryptocurrency should be regulated as they continue to monitor the crypto space.

Proposed Bills In Michigan Classify Blockchain Tampering As Crime

Two bills currently proposed in the Michigan state legislature would make altering the public digital record on a blockchain with intent to defraud into a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison, as well as adding definitions of distributed ledger technology to the Michigan penal code.

CBOE President Says SEC Calling ETH Not A Security Paves Way For ETH Futures

The president of CBOE–which released the first Bitcoin futures last December–said that the SEC’s recent decision that Ethereum will not be regulated as a security has removed a big “stumbling block” from the possibility of offering Ether futures.

Source: cointelegraph

 

Analysis

EOS/USD

From last Monday, the price of EOS has dropped from 11.3$ to 10.22$ which is 9.28% decrease.



As you can see from the daily chart, last Monday’s opening was the highest price it has been, and that level now serves as resistance. On June 13th, on which we saw the market experienced a low was also the day that EOS was at its lowest, closing as a Doji on that day. The next day price recovered significantly but was stopped out by the resistance of Monday’s open. Currently, the price pattern is looking unstable and I would expect another low from here to around 9.1$ at least which was last weeks low, or even further down to the support at 8.69$.

Market sentiment 

Daily chart technicals signal a sell.

Oscillators are signalling a sell, and moving averages a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 1.1720
S2 6.2113
S1 8.3731
P 11.2506
R1 13.4124
R2 16.2899
R3 21.3292

LTC/USD

From 108.461$ which was the opening price last Monday, the price of Litecoin has decreased by 13.87% and is currently 93.395$ per Litecoin.



As you can see from the daily chart, the opening on 11th of June was the highest price Litecoin has been, and since then it has fallen to 89.277$ on 13th of June and recovered slightly, but today’s candle is on the levels of 13th of June’s close. The price is currently about to break out from the triangle in which it was consolidating, and judging by the market sentiment the breakout from the downside is expected.

Market sentiment

Daily chart technicals signal a sell.

Oscillators signal a sell, and moving averages a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 44.706
S2 72.869
S1 84.755
P 101.032
R1 112.918
R2 129.195
R3 157.358

DASH/USD

The price of Dash has dropped from 281.27$ which was the opening price on Monday 11th of June to 251$ where it is currently sitting, which is a decrease of 10.2%.



As you can see from the daily chart, the price of Dash has followed the same pattern as the other cryptos as markets are strongly correlated – the price was at its highest on last Monday, its lowest on 13th of June and is now looking like its going to break out from the downside of triangle.

Market sentiment

Dashes daily chart technicals signal a sell.

Oscillators are signalling a buy, and moving averages signal a strong sell.

Pivot points

S3 130.32
S2 198.03
S1 231.81
P 265.73
R1 299.51
R2 333.43
R3 401.14

XMR/USD

From last Monday until today, the price of Monero has been dropping from 140.89$ to 103.84$ on 13th of June which was the lowest Monero has gone in the past week. Since that low, the price has recovered and went above the support line at 121.775$, but is now back below it.


On the daily chart, we can see that the support at 121.775$ is a significant level as that was the prior range resistance, from which the price went on a steep upward trajectory to the all-time high. We will see what happens on this level, maybe today’s candle will close above it, however, that’s highly unlikely considering the market correlation and the bearish sentiment.

Market sentiment 

Monero’s daily chart technicals signal a strong sell.

Oscillators are on sell, and moving averages signal strong one.

Pivot points

S3 22.723 
S2 75.123 
S1 100.647 
P 127.523 
R1 153.047 
R2 179.923 
R3 232.323

Conclusion

Crypto Weekly Update: As the prices were mostly consolidating after the low experienced on June 13th, the crypto market was mostly stagnating. The consolidation period is near completion and from my analysis of the four cryptocurrencies that are covered in this report, I conclude that we are in for another low. This week will most likely be the week of the retest of the lowest points cryptos have experienced in this prolonged correction after which I am expecting a short-term trend reversal.

This was my projection published on 02.06.2018 in my weekly update post, and it looks like it all going in accordance with my projection. What I meant by a ‘retest of the lowest points cryptos have been’ is to see the market at around $250B. After that, I would expect a short-term trend reversal to slightly below last high and then a final down move that many would consider ‘capitulation’, but I would consider it a great buy opportunity.


Crypto Weekly Update Chart

Market cap on 02.06.2018 with my drawn projection 

 

Market cap today 

 

For more on what I think it’s coming next, make sure to check out the weekly update video in which I will provide my longer-term analysis and the potential scenario of this correction using Elliott Wave principles.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Update 15.06.2018 – Be Ready For Another Low

General Overview

Market Cap: $283,999,903,554

24h Vol: $15,738,961,943

BTC Dominance: 39.8%

In the last 24 hours, the crypto market cap has been showing sideways action as the evaluation went from 268,312,000,000$ to 290,760,000,000$ and has been decreasing since that point to around 283B where it is currently.

The market is currently mixed in colour with a small average percentage change of around 0.4-2%.

News

The most significant news that came out in the last 24 hours which may impact the space positively is that a senior U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official has said that leading altcoin Ethereum will not be regulated as a security, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

SEC Corporation Finance Director William Hinman said at Yahoo Finance’s All Market Summit: Crypto in San Francisco today that:

“Based on my understanding of the present state of ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralised structure, current offers and sales of ether are not securities transactions.”

This news is interpreted by some analysts as the fundamental factor in charge of the rebound we are seeing currently in the markets.

Another significant news headline is that Coinbase Index Fund opens for large-scale investors, as reported by cointelegraph.

The fund, whose creation was announced in March, is available only to U.S. resident accredited investors – those who have a net worth of more than $1 mln or an annual salary of more than $200,000 – who invest between $250,000 and $20 mln.

Both of these headlines may introduce some short-term confidence in the markets, and impact it positively.

Analysis

BTC/USD

Since yesterday’s low at 6273$, the price of Bitcoin has increased by 5.3% coming to 6605$ where it is currently sitting. The price went a bit higher to 6660$ where the resistance was found, as you can see from the chart below.



Looking at the hourly chart, we can see that current formation looks similar to that of the prior low. The price is currently above the 0 Fibonacci level, but it might drop again steeply, as the cluster is starting to form around 6660$ level which serves as resistance.

Market sentiment 

Bitcoin is in the sell zone.

Oscillators are on neutral, and moving averages signal a strong sell.

Pivot points

S3 5612.5
S2 6079.6
S1 6356.6
P 6546.6
R1 6823.6
R2 7013.6
R3 7480.6

XMR/USD

The price of Monero is on the same levels as it was on yesterday’s opening around 122$.



Looking at the daily chart, we can see that the price of Monero has broken out off of the triangle on the downside and has currently found support at prior range resistance. Wednesday’s candle was a hammer Doji that tested the prior range support line and from there went on to recover quickly.



Zooming into an hourly chart, we can see that from the spike down price went to 133.6$ four times and hasn’t exceeded the level which means there’s a strong resistance there, which made the price fall back again to the support line.

Market sentiment

Hourly chart technicals signal a strong sell.

Oscillators are on sell, and moving averages signal a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 96.317 
S2 112.207 
S1 122.293 
P 128.097 
R1 138.183 
R2 143.987 
R3 159.877

DASH/USD

From yesterday’s opening at 245$, the price of Dash has increased by 6.2% and is currently sitting slightly below 260$.



Looking at the daily chart, we can see that the price of Dash found support at the levels of the current range support at around 238.85$.




Zooming into an hourly chart we can see that the price action is forming the same pattern like it did last time it bottomed out, but also similar to that of the prior triangle fractal from which the price went on to continue in a downward trajectory and finally to the current low.

Market sentiment

Hourly chart technicals signal a sell.

Oscillators are on neutral and moving averages signal a strong sell.

Pivot points

S3 201.55 
S2 231.57 
S1 249.39 
P 261.60 
R1 279.42 
R2 291.62 
R3 321.65

 Conclusion

As price action of the three cryptocurrencies that I have covered in this report are showing signs of a recovery, they are also struggling to get past the first resistance that they face. I think we might see another low to the levels of the lasts one or even a bit lower, before a short-term trend reversal.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

XMR/BTC Head and Shoulders Confirmed

Monero (XMR)

Market Cap: $2.16B

Circulating Supply: 16.12M XMR

 Max Supply: 0 XMR

Volume (24h) $36.49M

XMR/USD = $132.77

Technical Analysis

XMR/BTC dropped sharply today but failed to reach the 0.01950010 yesterday’s low. It is expected to drop further as the Head and Shoulders pattern is confirmed now. The price has increased a little in the short term, but it was only a temporary rebound. The crypto is on a declining path in the short term and maybe you can still go short on it.

The rate is pressuring a dynamic support, so a valid breakdown will confirm a further drop towards the next downside targets.


 

XMR/BTC dropped again below the upside 50% Fibonacci line (descending dotted line) of the descending pitchfork but it remains to be seen if this will really be a valid breakdown or if we’ll have another false breakdown.

You can see that the 50% Fibonacci line acts like a very strong dynamic support and has rejected the rate in the last weeks. A valid breakdown will confirm a further drop towards the median line (ML) of the descending pitchfork and towards the major uptrend line.

The failure to reach and retest the upper median line (UML) of the descending pitchfork has signalled a high selling pressure. It has broken below the lower median line (lml) of the black descending pitchfork.

Conclusion

Right now we don’t have a great selling opportunity but only because the sell-off has already started, but you could still go short if the rate will close above or if it will stabilise below the 50% Fibonacci line. The next major target will be at the uptrend line.

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

XMR/USD You Can Still Catch The Sell-Off

Monero (XMR)

Monero Market Cap: $2.16B

Circulating Supply: 16.12M XMR

 Max Supply: 0 XMR

Volume (24h) $36.49M

Technical Analysis

 The cryptocurrency could extend the sell-off in the upcoming period after the crucial breakdown.  The rate passed below a major support area signalling that the bears are in full control. Right now it remains to be seen if the rate will come back to retest the broken zone or it will drop further without a rebound.

Monero drops as all the major cryptocurrencies have started another bearish momentum. The crypto market could resume the major downtrend.


 

You can see that the rate has made a valid breakdown below the first warning line (WL1) of the ascending pitchfork, it has retested the lower median line (lml) of the other ascending pitchfork and now is trading much below the 150.00 psychological level.

It has also retested the uptrend line failing to close on it, so the current drop is natural and was expected. If you read the latest trade setup on this crypto, you’ll notice that I’ve talked about a significant drop after the rate will make a valid breakdown below the 150.00 level and below the 145.810 low.

XMR/USD could be attracted by the confluence area formed between the 250% Fibonacci line (descending dotted line) with the 150% of the ascending pitchfork.

Conclusion

If you want to go short on this you should place your Stop Loss above the 177.78 high. Personally, I still believe that the rate could move towards the first warning line (wl1) of the minor descending pitchfork. A further drop will be confirmed only by a valid breakdown below the 250% line and below the 150% lines.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Update 08.06.2018 – First Signs Of Weakness

General Overview

Market Cap: $342,083,903,530

24h Vol: $14,649,610,900

BTC Dominance: 38.1%

From yesterday’s high at 349,654,000,000$ the evaluation of the cryptocurrency market capitalisation has been declining steadilly and is now $7 billion lower.


The market is currently in red with the average decline of 3% amongst the top 100 coins. Biggest losers are Loom network -11%, Veritaseum -9%, Theta Token -9.2%. Those who are in green are Zcoin +4%, Bibox Token +9.55%, MOAC +4% and Huobi Token +8%.

News

In the last 24 hours, news that came out is mostly regarding governmental in relation to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. These are some of the significant headlines:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it was “underwhelmed” by regulatory adherence among cryptocurrency exchanges in fresh comments June 6.

Speaking to CNBC, Brett Redfearn, the SEC’s Director of Division of Trading and Markets, suggested exchanges that offer trading in tokens issued in Initial Coin Offering (ICO) – which may constitute securities under U.S. law – were reluctant to comply.

“We’re underwhelmed by the enthusiasm for coming within the regulatory structure right now,” he commented at the Sandler O’Neill Global Exchange and Brokerage Conference in New York, adding:

“There are a number of exchanges that are trading ICOs that I would think that we should see more registrations.”

As ICO tokens will be classified as securities, crypto exchanges would have to register to SEC and comply under a regulatory framework. As SEC is still having trouble with their classifications because of the different nature of different tokens, crypto exchanges are playing dumb, as regulatory compliance may cause complications within their business.

Money 20/20 conference is over, and there are overviews from the conference highlighting the main points.

A particular highlight of the Money 20/20 Europe showpiece was a discussion panel titled “Cryptocurrency, the central (bank) question”. It featured four prominent individuals from the Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Bank of Lithuania, and the Swiss National Bank.

The Bank of England has been particularly thorny in its stance towards cryptocurrencies in general over the past few years. Despite this, the Bank of England began to change its tune more recently, announcing a cryptocurrency task force that would provide an in depth study into the sector.

Dr Marius Jurgilas a member of the board of the Bank of Lithuania, stated:

“The product we (banks) are selling is trust. If our product is good, there would be no need to talk about cryptocurrencies. It’s a matter of trust, if we trust the institution mandated and entrusted to keep oversight of our payment systems, ensure that money is not affected by excessive inflation then there is no need for payment instruments or other means of storing value.

“But if society starts questioning, rightly or wrongly, or it thinks what we are selling could be done better, in a more convenient and cheap way, other things will appear. We as regulators have to react to that − we are not sitting entrenched in our positions, the work everyone is doing here shows that we are really paying attention.”

PhD Economist James Chapman, the Bank of Canada’s Senior Research Director in the Funds Management and Banking Department, stated his concerns regarding cryptocurrencies as potential threat to the fiat system:

“I don’t see that happening as long as central banks continue to do a good job of maintaining monetary policy. But could a cryptocurrency really spell the end of fiat currency? I think so. In a situation of hyperinflation where a central bank has abdicated responsibility for stability then you could see a case for cryptocurrency.”

Swiss National Bank‘s, Thomas Moser is an alternate member of the board and the Deputy Head of Department. His department deals with Economic Affairs, International Affairs, Statistics, Legal Services, and Communications. Switzerland is known to have a positive relation to cryptocurrency, that’s why his take on crypto is coming off in a supportive tone:

“Switzerland has been relatively enthusiast to crypto. We have a national railway system that transformed ticket machines to bitcoin atm. At every train station in Switzerland, you can put cash into a ticket machine and load a BTC wallet. Cryptocurrencies have been very well tolerated in Switzerland so far.”

When asked to state his views on the posibiliy of crypto replacing fiat he stated:

“In general no but I think it depends on the fiat currency of the central bank. Of course, if a currency is not performing well, you have hyperinflation and a country where people lose trust of rule of law of its central bank. It depends on the central bank, as long as they do a good job there is no reason for fiat currency to disappear.”

Source: cointelegraph.com

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his annual live question and answer session, gave an ambiguous but knowledgeable answer to the question:

“Will Russia have its own cryptocurrency? […] Will it be controlled by the government? […] Do you think that in the near future cryptocurrency will completely replace our regular, standard money?”

To the first question, he replied that Russia cannot have its own cryptocurrency, as cryptocurrency “by definition” cannot be owned by a centralized state since it “goes beyond borders.” He then continued by saying that Japan is partially excepting crypto as a means of payments but he doesn’t see that happening in Russia. However, he hasn’t disregarded potential use case for blockchain technology saying that:

Russia must keep an eye on this “phenomenon developing in the world” in order to determine how Russia can “participate in the process”. He added that Russia must also look into “how we can use it [cryptocurrency] in order to avoid any restrictions in the field of international financial activity,” perhaps a veiled reference to the potential use of cryptocurrency to avoid Western sanctions currently imposed on the country.

Source: cointelegraph.com

While Russia is still uncanny on cryptos,  The Bank of Thailand (BoT) is considering issuing its own cryptocurrency, the bank’s governor revealed in a speech June 5, as reported by cointelegraph.

In his keynote on Thai economic development at Nomura Investment Forum Asia (NIFA) in Singapore, BoT governor Veerathai Santiprabhob spoke of a new project in which the central bank and other Thai banks join forces to develop a “new way of conducting interbank settlement” using a central bank-issued digital currency (CBDC).

As cryptocurrencies prove to be superior in the speed and cost, they are competing with the fiat/banking system, and so far they have been discarded and ignored. But we are now seeing a global attention to cryptos from big players like central banks and government official agencies, as technology gets better and adoption rate spreads across the globe.

This correlates with the saying: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Mahatma Gandhi

We were past the ‘then they laugh at you’ stage last year when Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a fraud and people who believe and invest in it stupid. Now as you can see we are at the beginning of the ‘then they fight you’ stage, as central banks are gathering around to discuss how serious of a threat this is for them.

Analysis

BTC/USD

From yesterday’s high at 7735$ the price of Bitcoin has been on a steady decline and has decreased by 1.22%, which is price wise, 7641$.



The price of Bitcoin has been stopped out at the 0.236 Fibonacci level which serves as resistance and has fallen below the baseline support line again. We can see that the price is in an extended cluster as buyers and sellers are indecisive. As the price failed to create a higher high from the 3rd of June we are starting to see first signs of weakness, so I would expect the price to drop quickly from these levels, as buyers would back away, or turn into sellers.

Market sentiment

Bitcoin is in the sell zone.

Oscillators are on sell, and moving averages signal a sell.

Pivot points

S3 7426.8 
S2 7558.4 
S1 7623.6 
P 7690.0 
R1 7755.2 
R2 7821.6 
R3 7953.2

DASH/USD

From yesterday’s high, which was coincidently the same as the open, the price of Dash has decreased by 2.41% coming from 320.29$ to 311.4$ where it is currently sitting.



The price of Dash has escaped the descending channel couple of days ago but is still in a symmetrical triangle while consolidating. It now looks near a breakout and we will see if this consolidation was just a pause of the downtrend or we are going to see a trend reversal.

Market sentiment

Hourly chart technicals signal a sell.

Oscillators are showing a buy, but moving averages are signalling a strong sell.

Pivot points

S3 299.82
S2 308.073
S1 312.125
P 316.32
R1 320.37
R2 324.57
R3 332.82

XMR/USD

From yesterday’s high at 169.7$ the price of Monero fell by 4.6% to 161.6$ where it is currently.



Yesterday’s high was on the symmetrical triangle resistance, and from there the price went on a downward trajectory, breaking out from the triangle on the downside. I am expecting the price to go down to the wedge support to retest prior lows.

Market sentiment 

Hourly chart technicals signal a strong sell.

Oscillators signal a sell, and moving averages a strong one.

Pivot points

S3 148.487 
S2 157.167 
S1 160.483
P 165.847 
R1 169.163 
R2 174.527 
R3 183.207

NEO/USD

The price of Neo has declined since yesterday’s open at 54.65$ by 4.3% and is now sitting at 52.31$.



As you can see from the daily chart, the price was repealed by the resistance at the 0.382 Fibonacci level and is now sitting on the range support. I am expecting the price to go down slightly further to the baseline support (bold black line), where there is also the 0.236 Fibo level for a retest.

Market sentiment

Neo is in the sell zone, as indicated by hourly chart technicals.

Oscillators are on neutral, and moving averages signal a strong sell.

Pivot points

S3 49.49
S2 51.63 
S1 52.59 
P 53.76 
R1 54.73 
R2 55.90 
R3 58.03

Conclusion

As the prices are showing the first signs of weakness, after almost a whole week went by in a stagnating way, and having in mind that weekend is coming, we are likely to see the first stages of a sell-off of what will last at least until Monday and will retest prior lows.

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Update 06.06.2018 – Prices Hovering Around The Same Levels May Trigger Selling

General Overview

Market Cap: $343,665,292,792

24h Vol: $15,166,854,450

BTC Dominance: 37.9%

From yesterday’s open at $341B, the crypto market cap fell to 330,636,000,000$ to yesterday’s low from where the evaluation has been rising. It had experienced an overall increase of 3 million dollars.

 The market is dominantly in green with an average increase of 2% amongst the top 100 coins. Biggest gainers are Nexus by 15%, Binance coin 12.54%, and the biggest loser is Huobi Token who dropped by 11% today.

News

Overall, news that came out in the last 24 hours is mostly positive, however, there are some significant negative items. Out of those that are positive, we can put them into two categories – blockchain tech adoption and positive relation to cryptocurrencies.

Regarding blockchain adoption these are the stories that stand out:

Samsung SDS is launching its own blockchain platform called “Nexfinance”, according to the official press release.

Nexfinance is a digital banking platform, applying artificial intelligence, blockchains, big data analytics and advanced IT technologies, such as intelligent process automation (IPA).

U.S. government telecoms agency seeks feedback on blockchain technology for its international agenda

In an announcement, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, said that it wanted stakeholders’ input in “shaping its international agenda.”

As the tech evolves and is showing the benefits, many are jumping aboard to seize the opportunity and have the first mover advantage. There are two major news items regarding banks utilisation of the tech as well, as the traditional finance industry fear its decentralised competition.

South Africa’s Central Bank Pilots Tokenised Fiat Interbank Payment System

South Africa’s Central Bank (SARB) has successfully piloted a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) for an interbank payment system that tokenises fiat using Quorum, according to an SARB press release published June 5th. Quorum is an Ethereum-based private blockchain.

Chinese Central Bank Develops Blockchain System to Digitise Paper Checks (Cheques)

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has revealed a blockchain-powered system to digitise paper checks (cheques), local media Financial News reports June 5. The system aims combat financial fraud as well as reduce expenses for printing them.

Even though what was previously stated is evident, representatives from multiple central banks discussed in Amsterdam on Money20/20 conference whether or not cryptocurrency are posing a threat to the fiat system.

During a panel talk titled “Cryptocurrency, the Central (Bank) Question”, representatives from the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Lithuania, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Canada took turns responding to the question “Can cryptocurrencies spell the end of fiat currencies?”.

Source: cointelegraph.com

They have concluded that cryptos are not yet a threat to the fiat system, as long as central banks are doing a good job. As a matter of fact, central banks are doing a fantastic job, but for themselves – which is why Bitcoin was invented in the first place.

As the dollar devaluates throughout the years, through fractional reserve banking and insane money printing, the purchasing power diminishes and national debt is rising insanely. A Keynesian economic model proves it to be unsustainable which is why people are looking for better alternatives. That’s why people are enthusiastic about cryptocurrencies.

Adena Friedman, president, and CEO of Nasdaq Inc,. recognizes this trend as he stated in an interview on Bloomberg Businessweek on June 5., that cryptocurrencies are at “the height of a hype cycle” and can become a “financial element of the Internet.”

On the other side, some like Jim Chanos, hedge fund manager, who said last year, that he “didn’t understand” Bitcoin or blockchain technology, now said speaking at Institute for New Economic Thinking that:

“This is simply a security speculation game masquerading as a technological breakthrough in monetary policy.”

According to him, in the event of a global crisis, it would be “better” to own food or a government-backed (fiat) currency.

Even though cryptos are “not there yet” would it really be better to hold fiat currency in a global crisis that was probably induced by those same central banks?

Analysis

BTC/USD

From yesterday’s open at 7471$ the price of Bitcoin has increased by 1.65%, coming to 7595$ where it is currently sitting.



 

Looking at the hourly chart we can see that the price is yet again below the support baseline and form a cluster but this time there’s now higher high which is the sign of weakness. I am expecting the price to drop from here like it did three times previously, and the first support would be at yesterday’s open of 7470$ levels.

Market sentiment

Hourly chart technicals are on buy, but it looks more like neutral as we have 8 indicators signalling a buy, 9 are neutral, and 9 sell.

Pivot points

S3 6950.3 
S2 7253.3 
S1 7437.6 
P 7556.3 
R1 7740.6
R2 7859.3 
R3 8162.3

LTC/USD

From yesterday’s low at 116.115$ the price of Litecoin has increased by 4.16% coming to 121.140$ where it is currently.



 

Looking at the hourly chart we can see that the price is still in the retracement zone, and currently in a triangle which can be interpreted as a bull flag. If the price breaks out from above, I would expect to see the interaction with the retracement zone resistance at 124,7$, but from the degrees of the triangles trendlines, we can see that sellers are more aggressive and that the price is likely heading down afterwards.

Market sentiment

Litecoin is in the buy zone, as indicated from hourly chart technicals.

Oscillators are on sell (8), and moving averages are signalling a buy (9).

Pivot points

S3 105.807 
S2 113.097 
S1 117.743 
P 120.387 
R1 125.033 
R2 127.677 
R3 134.967

ETH/USD

From yesterday’s low at 576.13$ the price of Ethereum has increased by 4.62% rising to 602.8$ where it is currently sitting.



 

On the hourly chart, we can see that the price is yet again above the down channels resistance line and 0.382 Fibonacci level. As the price action is showing signs of topping as indicated by the cluster which resembles the previous one, I am expecting it to go down from here probably to this last uptrend support line (blue line) and down channels resistance line intersection to retest for support.

Market sentiment

Hourly chart technicals signal a buy, however, it more looks like neutral as 7 indicators are on sell, 10 on neutral and 9 on buy.

Pivot points

S3 522.99 
S2 561.21 
S1 584.96 
P 599.44 
R1 623.18 
R2 637.66
R3 675.88

XMR/USD

In the last 24 hours, the price of Monero has been rising. From yesterday’s low to yesterday’s high, the price increased by 7.8%. However, from yesterday’s open until now, Monero has increased overall only 1.65% – from 160.9$ to 163.420$ where it is now.



 

Looking at the hourly chart we can see that the price action is between the triangle support line (black line) and wedge support line (blue line) which I’ve declared a dominant pattern in the charting section previous week. Currently, we see another triangle forming and the price bounced off its resistance line. I would expect a few more bounces before a breakout, but I wouldn’t recommend trading it because if the proximity of the triangle and wedge support which would surely repeal the price in either way, so the trade would be short-lived.

Market sentiment

Monero is in the sell zone, as indicated by the hourly chart technicals.

Oscillators are on neutral, and moving averages on a strong sell.

Pivot points

S3 137.857 
S2 151.127 
S1 159.123 
P 164.397 
R1 172.393 
R2 177.667 
R3 190.937

Conclusion

As the prices have shown a lot of sideways movement in the last few days, unable to create significant highs and are not falling further below, we are soon going to see a triggered action. As the prices are hovering at around the same levels for days I would expect people to get anxious and start selling as they would fear not to lose money, because the prices aren’t going higher. In that case, we may see a retest of prior lows or even lower lows which would in the case of Bitcoin mean a drop to 7000-6500$ levels.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Monero Further Drop On The Cards

Monero (XMR)

Market Cap: $2.57B

Circulating Supply: 16.1M XMR

Max Supply: 0 XMR

Volume (24h) $38.49M

Monero (XMR) Technical Analysis

Monero plunged today and erased the yesterday’s gains. The price maintains a bearish perspective on the short-term after today’s drop. The rate has failed to close above a dynamic resistance (support turned into resistance) and now it seems determined to challenge a major support area. A valid breakdown will signal a further drop.

All the major cryptocurrencies have dropped today signalling that the rebound could be temporary and the crypto market could resume the downside movement.


 

You can see that the rate has increased a little after the false breakdown below the 151.260 static support, but yesterday’s failure to close above the lower median line (lml) of the ascending pitchfork has signalled that the rate could resume the corrective movement.

We can go short on this cryptocurrency if it will make a valid breakdown below the 151.260 static support, and if it will close below the 145.810 former low. The price could stabilise below the first warning line (WL1) of the ascending pitchfork, which represents another bearish signal. It has also retested the minor uptrend line which represents the downside line of the triangle chart pattern.

Conclusion

You can sell Monero if the bearish scenario will be confirmed. The first downside targets will be at the 150% lines. The Stop Loss can be placed above the 177.780 yesterday’s high.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

XMR/BTC – Head and Shoulders Seems To Be Confirmed

Monero (XMR)

Market Cap: $2.70B

Circulating Supply: 16.06M XMR

Max Supply: 0 XMR

Volume (24h) $46.72M

Technical Analysis

The XMR/BTC dropped sharply in yesterday’s trading session and most likely it has validated the Head and Shoulders pattern. You can see that the rate has moved sideways on the Daily chart, but now it has made an aggressive breakdown signaling that it could move towards fresh new lows in the upcoming period.



 

Technically, it should drop significantly if the chart pattern was validated. The price failed to stay above the 0.02369701 static support and now seems determined to go down as the crypto market has started an aggressive bearish movement again. All the important cryptocurrencies are moving down after a temporary rebound.

You can notice that the rate has failed to reach and retest the upper median line (UML) of the descending pitchfork signaling a high selling pressure on the short term. Right now it is pressuring the upside 50% Fibonacci line, but it most likely will close below it and will move towards the median line (ML) of the descending pitchfork.

Technically, it should drop towards the 0.013 level after the breakdown below the neckline. We’ll see what happens, but you should know that the perspective remains bearish as long as the rate stays below the UML and much below the 150% Fibonacci line.

Conclusion

The XMR/BTC is expected to drop further after the yesterday’s amazing sell-off. You can still go short on this and you can place your Stop Loss right above the 0.0257100 former high.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

XMR/BTC Hovers Above Critical Support

XMR/BTC has developed a Head and Shoulders pattern, but we still need the confirmation. What are the perspectives now? Can we sell this crypto pair?

Monero (XMR)

Market Cap: $3.70B

Circulating Supply: 16.02M XMR

Max Supply: 0 XMR

Volume (24h) $32.97M

XMR/USD = $231.03

 

The XMR/BTC is trading into a strong support area. The price increased today and is trying to reach the 0.02505000 yesterday’s high. It remains to see what will really happen in the upcoming period because it looks like the rate has developed a Head and Shoulders chart pattern.

The rate moves sideways on the short term, so we’ll have a clear direction only after a valid breakout from this pattern.



 

XMR/BTC has found a temporary support on the 50% Fibonacci line and on the 0.023 static support. It could increase a little and could try to retest the upper median line (UML) of the descending pitchfork. A valid breakdown below the 0.023 area could validate the Head and Shoulders pattern.

The crypto pair will drop towards the 0.016 if this scenario will take shape. Price could drop as long as it stays below the 150% Fibonacci line.

Personally, I believe that the rate will take out the resistance from the 150% Fibonacci line if it will touch it. We could think of another trading opportunity if the Head and Shoulder pattern will be invalidated and if the rate will make a valid breakout above the 150% Fibonacci line. The price should rally from above the 150% Fibonacci line targeting the 0.03234574 static resistance.

Conclusion

We’ll have a great selling opportunity if the Head and Shoulders is confirmed and as long as it stays far away from the 150% Fibonacci line. However, a valid breakout above the 150% Fibonacci line will send the rate at least up to its former highs.