Kmanideas: December 2017

Sunday 24 December 2017

Bitcoin Price Recovers Within 24 Hours From $11,500 to $15,000, Optimstic Factors

It took less than 24 hours for the bitcoin price to recover from a 30 percent drop. Earlier today, on December 23, the price of bitcoin recovered from $11,500 to $15,000, as the cryptocurrency market began to demonstrate optimistic signs of growth.

Factors of Potential Short-Term Rally

Since yesterday, the market valuation of cryptocurrencies has increased from $480 billion to nearly $600 billion. Every single cryptocurrency in the market, which previously recorded major corrections, rallied, with bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies in the market recording large gains.

Bitcoin in particular demonstrated a rapid increase in demand from global marekts including the US, Japan, and South Korea, as the daily trading volume of the cryptocurrency achieved $15 billion. That is, a daily trading volume that is larger than that of most stock markets.

Analysts such as billionaire hedge fund legend Mike Novogratz and RT’s financial analyst Max Keiser stated that with the recently acquired momentum, the bitcoin price could rally to $24,000 in the short-term.

“Bitcoin pullback very healthy for this bull market. $28,000 now in play,” said Keiser, as the cryptocurrency market rebounded and showed speedy recovery after a substantial decline in market valuation.

In the short-term, there are several driving factors that could lead to a bitcoin price surge. This week, it was reported that the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe), the largest futures exchange in the global finance market which listed bitcoin futures in partnership with Gemini, and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) have filed bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications to the US Secruties and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The main difference between futures and ETFs is that the latter is more accessible to individual investors and traders in the stock market. With a bitcoin ETF, any investor in a major stock market such as NYSE or the Nasdaq can trade bitcoin with ease, through existing accounts.

A Cboe spokesperson stated:

“Given the success of the launch of our bitcoin futures, several partners are very interested in moving forward with the development of an exchange-traded product.”

Last week, NYSE revealed the filing of its ProShares bitcoin ETF, announcing that investors in the ETF will benefit from long Bitcoin futures contracts.

“By being long Bitcoin Futures Contracts, the Fund seeks to benefit from daily increases in the price of the Bitcoin Futures Contracts. The Fund will not be benchmarked to the current price of bitcoin and will not invest directly in bitcoin. When the price of Bitcoin Futures Contracts held by the Fund declines, the Fund will lose value,” the SEC filing of the NYSE bitcoin ETF read.

More Institutional Money, More Liquidity

By quarter 1 of 2018, Nasdaq will list bitcoin futures into its exchange and the bitcoin ETFs of Cboe and NYSE will likely be approved by the US SEC, given the government’s enthusiastic approach with the bitcoin futures market.

In the mid-term, the entrance of more institutional money into the market will enable bitcoin to further solidify itself as an emerging asset class.

Source: CNN

Friday 22 December 2017

$250 Million Ethereum Mining Scam? Korean Prosecutors File Charges

Korean prosecutors have reportedly filed charges against several individuals associated with Mining Max, US-based cryptocurrency mining firm allegedly behind a major cryptocurrency mining scam.

According to a report by Korean publication Yonhap, authorities at the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office have indicted 21 individuals suspected of being associated with Mining Max LLC, a US-based firm, on charges of fraud and allegedly soliciting 270 billion won (approx. $250 million) from investors across the world for an Ethereum mining operation promising large returns. Three others have been indicted without detention for embezzlement and other charges.

Mining Max presents itself as the developer of “premium cryptocurrency mining” machines headquartered in California. “All of the mining rigs are assembled and maintained in our Internet Data Centers (IDC) in Korea,” the company claims on its website.

The allegedly sweeping scam also entails seven other Korean and foreign nationals, now on Interpol’s wanted list, of being associated with Mining Max and blotching results that purported to mine more Ethereum than the operation actually did. The scam unraveled when the company was not longer able to make sufficient returns from its ‘mining’ operation, presumably in its dividends to new investors.

Altogether, prosecutors allege that the suspects pocketed a significant portion of the $250 million, amassed from roughly 18,000 investors in 54 countries between September last year and October this year.

Authorities further claimed that Mining Max only spent 75 billion won, approximately $70 million of the $250 million, for its mining operation. The company’s executives are also suspected of having tucked away 100 billion won, approx. $92 million, in offshore accounts. Further, ‘top performing’ investors were allegedly paid up to 4 billion won (approx. $3,7 million) alongside luxury perks in Rolex watches and Mercedes Benz automobiles, Yonhap’s report added.

Prosecutors estimate the scam sees approximately 14,000 investors in Korea, 2,600 in the United States, 600 in China and 700 from other countries, including Japan.

Source: cnn

New Bitcoin Fork Adopts Interest Payments

Bitcoin has inspired several spinoff currencies, or “forks,” that also offer financial services through blockchain payment networks. Some of these forks were wildly successful. Bitcoin Cash, arguably the most successful Bitcoin fork of all time, now has a market value of around $20 billion.

Bitcoin Cash and similar success stories have inspired several others to follow suit. Tech entrepreneurs who believe they can create a coin with better mining, transaction verification, or security than Bitcoin are all taking their shot at the big time. However, with forks becoming increasingly common on the Bitcoin blockchain, investors may struggle to compare the value of one new coin with another.

Bitcoin Interest is one of the latest forks on the Bitcoin blockchain to be announced for release in January of 2018. This fork updated consensus rules to allow users to earn interest on Bitcoin Interest Coins they hold.

Bitcoin Interest and Other Bitcoin Forks

Not all forks that followed Bitcoin Cash have been able to mimic its success. For example, Bitcoin Gold launched in late October 2017 to major criticism and controversy. Because the Bitcoin Gold offering included a premine period without reason, many in the cryptocurrency community accused it of being a money grab. Bitcoin Gold has never been able to remove the shadow of controversy that follows it, and several users have alleged hacking, fraud, and hidden fees associated with the coin.

Unlike the more controversial Bitcoin forks, Bitcoin Interest is providing a clear value to the virtual currency market place. Specifically, Bitcoin Interest is offering interest payments to users who hold the currency for specific periods of time.

Interest-Bearing Accounts

For the most part, banks make money by charging interest on loans. However, first they need people to deposit money into the bank so that it has a way to fund loans. To entice people into depositing funds into their bank accounts, banks usually pay interest based on the amount the customer has on deposit.

Interest rates for savings accounts are usually pretty low. The highest yielding savings accounts typically only offer around 1% interest on money deposited at the bank. Sometimes, customers must maintain a minimum amount on deposit to even qualify for interest payments. However, money deposited in savings accounts is basically risk-free, so even a small return on your funds benefits you in the long run.

Bitcoin Interest: A New Application of an Existing Financial Technology

Interest-bearing bank accounts is not a new idea. However, this everyday benefit enjoyed by most traditional bank customers has not been available to virtual currency users. Now, cryptocurrency holders can earn interest on their coins by using Bitcoin Interest.

Bitcoin Interest offers the interest-bearing benefits of traditional bank accounts with the ease and efficiency of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin Interest coin holders can receive monthly or weekly interest payments in the form of Bitcoin Interest Coins (“BCI”) by “parking” their coins for an agreed upon time.

Unlike traditional savings accounts, which pay low, fixed interest over time, users utilizing the Bitcoin Interest technology can access high, and dyanmic interest rates that give them true value for parking their wealth.

Bitcoin Interest Creates Real Value for Virtual Currency Users

Bitcoin Interest stands out among the growing blockchain technology industry because it is taking an old idea – the interest-bearing bank account – and applying it in a new way. Mainstream adoption has been a major obstacle to most blockchain companies. However, Bitcoin Interest offers a service that people are already familiar with.

Offering an interest-bearing virtual currency is an innovative way to introduce a familiar financial service to a brand new market. This novel application of blockchain technology may be one of the most valuable forks on the Bitcoin blockchain we’ve seen yet. Remember to have your Bitcoins in a wallet or exchange that will support the 1:1 swap of Bitcoin Interest (“BCI”) coins before January, you don’t want to miss out on this fork!

Source: cnn

Friday 15 December 2017

Mexican Authorities Call ICOs Illegal, Cryptocurrencies Risky

Apparently spooked by bitcoin’s recent growth and popularity, Mexico’s central bank and finance industry warned consumers that initial coin offerings violate the law and claimed cryptocurrencies were risky investments, according to Reuters.

CNBV, the country’s securities regulator, joined other government authorities in stating that Mexico does not recognize cryptocurrencies as a legal form of payment. The statement further noted there have been no ICOs to originate in Mexico.

Government Wary Of Fraud

Some ICOs, depending on certain characteristics, that originate in Mexico could violate the Markets and Securities Law, thereby constituting a financial crime, the statement said.
Only seasoned investors should experiment with cryptocurrencies, authorities said, adding that they should be on the lookout for signs of fraud.

Cryptocurrencies have demonstrated high volatility and are subject to extensive speculation, the statement said.

This week, bitcoin reached record highs, causing outages at trading services and creating questions about the reliability of the cryptocurrency platforms.

Heavy trading activity caused Coinbase to go down on Tuesday while Bitfinex had to deactivate its website due to “junk” online requests.

The government previously ruled not to make bitcoin legal tender since it is not regulated by a central bank.

Also read: Mexico is working on legislature to regulate bitcoin firms

Lawmakers Seek Regulation

Mexico’s legislature recently proposed a bill to regulate companies that interact with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, along with the wider financial technology sector.

According to El Economista, the legislature will not regulate bitcoin and cryptocurrencies themselves. The bill will focus on firms that operate within the digital currency ecosystem.

The bill does not include specific details about the bitcoin regulations, giving the central bank broad authority to regulate companies operating within this space. However, it claims that the regulations will drive innovation and competition by establishing a clear operational framework.

The bill targets money launderers and terrorist organizations that allegedly use cryptocurrency to circumvent the law. Mexico’s approach is much more conciliatory than that of China, which issued a blanket ban on ICOs and has begun to shutter bitcoin exchanges.

Source: cryptocoinsnews

Wednesday 13 December 2017

Nokia’s Upcoming Phone, The Nokia 6 Has Leaked

Nokia 6 was the first phone the company launched when it announced its comeback back in last year,the phone was a reasonably priced mid-range phone that sold very well in China. Now, it looks like HMD global is preparing to launch a new version of the phone with some added features and some major changes. AndroidHeadlines found the listing of the phone on TENAA’s website.

The leaked phone has model number TA-1054 and it will probably be launched next month. The phone will have a 5.5-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and it will probably be powered by the Snapdragon 630 SoC accompanied by 4 GB of RAM.

In terms of storage, the listing suggests that the phone with come with 32 GB of Internal memory which will be expandable. There will be a fingerprint sensor too and just like theleaked Nokia 9, Nokia 6 will have a dual camera system on its back and the ‘Bothie’ feature which first came with Nokia 7 last month. This feature allows a user to shoot photos from both, the front and the back camera at once.

Considering the smartphone market is very competitive especially in the mid-range phones, it will be interesting to see how Nokia’s offering compares to phones from other brands in the same price section.

Source: gettingeek

‘Bitcoin Creator’ Craig Wright Claims 2018 Will Be the Year of Bitcoin Cash

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Australian businessman Craig Wright, infamous for two separate stints as the self-proclaimed creator of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin, recently tweeted out that 2018 will be the year in which Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is brought to its full potential, as limits to what it can achieve won’t be there, and security will be improved.

In a follow-up tweet, Craig Wright pointed out that among what’s coming for the cryptocurrency in 2018 are “secure threshold systems to make even web wallets secure,” improved mixers, and transactions blinding to improve privacy. When asked who’s the team working on these improvements, and when a public roadmap and testnet would be available, Wright concisely replied with “Several. More public soon.”

In subsequent tweets, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator added that the teams working on Bitcoin Cash are looking to spread the cryptocurrency throughout the world in order to get more people to use it, which will in turn drive up BCH’s price, according to the businessman.

In one of his tweets, replying to a user who asked if the roadmap for 2018 was well planned, and if growth could be expected, Wright stated:

“It is well planned. There are many things coming. We are interested in delivering cash to the world. Not a bank settlement system. So, it is all about whether you believe in PayPal 1.5 in BTC or global cash in BCH”

To help, Craig Wright just asked users to build merchant solutions and “sexy UIs that people want to use.” That, and use Bitcoin Cash, something that may start happening more as new services and businesses related to the cryptocurrency keep appearing. Recently, mining pool ViaBTC announced a new crypto-to-crypto exchange platform that focuses on BCH, while Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver used Twitter to reveal a new Bitcoin Cash Visa debit card.

Whether Bitcoin Cash will outperform or surpass Bitcoin in 2018 remains to be seen, but it’s clear the flagship cryptocurrency won’t go down without a fight. As recently reported by CCN, CBOE’s futures are trading at near $18,000, following a launch filled with hiccups, as Bitcoin’s rapid price swings triggered the exchange’s “circuit breaker” on several occasions, which paused trading after it got to certain percentage checkpoints. Additionally, there was so much interest in the futures that CBOE’s website crashed.

Moreover, a Hong Kong trader who successfully forecast Bitcoin’s dramatic year-end ascent believes the cryptocurrency’s rally isn’t over, and added that he wouldn’t be surprised if Bitcoin’s price reaches $100,000 by the end of 2018.

Featured image from YouTube/BBC.

Source: cryptocoinsnews