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It was only a few days ago that journalists covering the fall of Bitcoin could still claim that the cryptocurrency was at its lowest point since its all-time high in December 2017.
Although the value of Bitcoin seemed to have stabilized in March, where it floated around $11,500 per coin, it plummeted further.
This steady decline was reflected in other cryptocurrencies like Ripple, Ethereum, and especially the altcoins.
Today, the tune is very different, as it would seem that the famous cryptocurrency has made a surprising, but not unwelcome, comeback in terms of value.
Bitcoin is back
Yesterday, the value of Bitcoin soared by a staggering 17%, which translated into an increase in value of more than $1,000.
Prior to this spike, the value was at an all-time low of $6,786, which meant that many investors had been losing sleep over the future of their assets for months.
The value of Bitcoin was yesterday morning at $8,011, which could on the surface seem like the Bitcoin is making a long-awaited comeback.
Many investors are therefore breathing a sigh of relief, as it could be a sign that the Bitcoin is on the way back up.
Skeptics don’t buy it
However, there are those who view this rise in value as a completely normal and predictable phenomenon.
Experts see this as a sign that investors have gone from long-term to short-term, meaning that day-traders are most likely the cause of the spike.
The head of BKCM, Brian Kelly, confirmed this in an official statement:
”Once bitcoin broke higher, shorts were squeezed and forced to cover.”
One of the developers for Cypher Capital seemed to agree:
“The ratio of short margin trades versus longs has been increasing recently. Buying volume ticked up today and a lot of these short trades got liquidated, helping fuel the rally.”
Others believe that the spike could be due to the fact that many Bitcoin investors owe taxes to the IRS, and are looking to pay off this debt by selling off their assets.
The host of the Bitcoin & Markets, Ansel Lindner, is one of those people:
“I think it’s just some pent-up market movement, [there is] some relief in the selling [ahead of tax day]”
The future’s still bright
What needs to be considered is the many bad news there has been in regards to the international cryptocurrency market.
Just recently, Canadian banks banned their clients from using their services to trade in cryptocurrencies.
This follows a string of other countries around the world which have imposed stricter regulations on cryptocurrency investors and exchanges.
These countries include, but are not limited to, the US, the UK, South Korea, Vietnam, India, and China.
What this means is that despite the increasing unpopularity surrounding cryptocurrencies, the perceived value is still high amongst the investors.
What do you think caused the sudden spike in Bitcoin? Do you think the experts are right in saying that it is simply to pay the IRS ahead of tax day? Or is it because the Bitcoin has stabilized?
Leave your comments below!
Iagon Review
Since the emergence of cloud technology, businesses and private persons alike are storing their data remotely and using SaaS applications.
The cloud space is currently dominated by the likes of IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, as these giants have the capacity to host large amounts of data.
Just like the banks, however, their business relies on a centralized model – a model that will soon be outdated.
As the phenomena of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence become more prevalent in our society, the centralized models will not be able to cope with the increasing amounts of data.
Therefore, it would be advantageous if only there were a decentralized model businesses and consumers could rely on…
Enter IAGON
According to their website, IAGON’s vision is “to create a Global Supercomputer, powered by Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain Technology”
Essentially, the company aims to marry two of the most revolutionizing technologies of the future: artificial intelligence and blockchain.
IAGON’s developers have created a platform that can be used by anyone on any smart device.
With its sophisticated AI, the platform is incredibly intuitive and only requires basic knowledge to operate.
By utilizing blockchain technology, the platform will furthermore provide its users with more safety than a centralized cloud service ever could.
The best part of it is perhaps the way users will be able to generate revenue for themselves via mining.
Whenever a user’s device is idle, the network will use its processing and storage capabilities, so no power ever goes to waste.
This means that all users in the network will essentially be using each other’s free storage, which is 100% safe due to the encryption.
In sum, IAGON offers a safer, faster, and wider-reaching solution than any current system out there.
So how does it all work?
Since the IAGON ecosystem depends on harnessing the processing and storage capabilities of the users in the network, it will only grow faster, stronger, and smarter as more users join.
As a user, you lend the idle power of your computer, server, data center or smart device, and receive tokens in return as compensation.
These tokens can then be traded for fiat money on any of the major cryptocurrency exchanges.
When you use the network for storage, you can rest assured that it will be safely encrypted – just like when you trade in Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.
Because the platform will integrate multi-distributed ledger technology, it will be able to utilize the networks of Tangle and Ethereum.
The network will also have contributors, offering their skills and capacities as and when they are available.
The network’s AI will then ensure that the contributors’ price is reasonable, by matching it to their level of expertise.
To summarize
IAGON is set to revolutionize the way we think about cloud technology and cryptocurrency mining.
Forget having to trust the current Internet giants with keeping your data safe in their centralized data centers.
Forget having to dedicate processing power and energy to mine for cryptocurrencies.
All this will change with IAGON.
bitcointalk username: Ico Friends
The recent regulations rolled out across Western and Eastern countries do not seem to be letting up in the light of new issues.
Canadian Banks Impose Bans
Last month, the Canadian bank Toronto Dominion enacted a policy that would prevent their customers from buying cryptocurrencies using their services.
Another Canadian bank, the Royal Bank of Canada, also announced that it would begin to restrict the number of transactions involving cryptocurrencies.
Now the Bank of Montreal follows suit.
The bank, which is under the BMO Financial Group, just recently announced that their customers would not be able to use their debit and credit cards for the purposes of trading in (or with) cryptocurrencies.
This is could be seen as bad news for new and existing investors in cryptocurrencies, as their options will now be severely limited.
This has not stopped the traders, however. When one door closes, another one opens.
LocalBitcoins, which is a local P2P platform, allows for cryptocurrency transactions and has as a result of the bank ban increased their trades significantly – from $1.2 to $7.2 in just three weeks.
As with the recent bans imposed by social media platforms on the advertisement of cryptocurrencies, some investors even see the bank ban as a good thing.
Given that the whole philosophy behind cryptocurrencies is predicated on the fact that the current bank system is flawed, many welcome the ban as an opportunity.
By banning cryptocurrency transactions, banks are giving the investors one more reason not to use the traditional system to conduct business.
Skeptics of these new ways of doing business, as the traders do with LocalBitcoins, say that it will lead to disaster due to security concerns.
These concerns do not seem to phase Canadian cryptocurrency traders in the slightest, however.
Crypto-Scam in Vietnam Causes Trouble
Canada is not the only country recently taking a stricter stance on the cryptocurrency market.
Vietnam has recently experienced a massive case of fraud involving cryptocurrencies, and have as a result announced that Vietnamese traders should be wary.
As a result of this case, the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Public Securities have been told by the Prime Minister to impose stricter regulations on cryptocurrency trading.
The official website of the Vietnamese released a statement that said:
“Cryptocurrency investment and trading and raising money through initial coin offerings are evolving in a more complicated manner”
In the light of the recent scam, which is thought to involve the company Modern Tech JSC, the police authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have been put on alert.
Le Dong Phong, the chief of police in Ho Chi Minh City, made the following statement:
“All cryptocurrencies and transactions in cryptocurrencies are illegal in Vietnam. We are gathering information about the case, but officially we haven’t launched an investigation until we receive accusations from any of the alleged victims”
The Vietnamese banks have now been asked not to facilitate any further transactions involving cryptocurrencies.
What should be done?
What do you think can be done to prevent scams in the cryptocurrency markets? Do you think the restrictions imposed by Canada and Vietnam is the right response?
Leave your opinion in the comments below!
As anyone in the cryptocurrency community will be painfully aware of, a string of Internet giants have banned (or proposed to ban) cryptocurrency advertisements on their platforms.
Some of the most prominent of these companies include the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter, MailChimp, and Reddit.
Facebook already put the ban on ICO adverts into effect at the end of January this year, and Twitter’s ban was just announced at the end of last month.
Although Google confirmed their ban in March as well, the ban will not come into effect until June later this year.
Finally, “Яндекс”, the biggest search engine in Russia, has now also announced that it impose a similar ban on ICOs.
Russia, in particular, stands to lose quite a lot on this kind of ban, as their contribution to the global ICO market is as much as 10%.
Why ban cryptocurrency advertisements?
The rationale behind this ban is that too many ICOs are scams, and the users of the online social media platforms must be protected.
This has caused some of the investors to worry that the value of their cryptocurrencies will plummet – and indeed some have.
Others have started suspecting that the timing of all the Internet giants deciding on a ban within a relatively short timeframe is due to collusion between them.
However, still other investors are optimistic about the situation. They say that the advertisement ban on social media will help weeding out the criminal elements of the cryptocurrency market.
And there are quite a few criminal elements: money laundering, trading of illegal substances, and scam artists peddling fraudulent ICOs.
Cryptocurrency associations strike back
Regardless of where one stands on the advertisement ban, there are now several organisations that have decided to file lawsuits against the major Internet companies in retaliation.
The organizations are based in a wide range of countries, including Russia, China, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and Armenia, and have recently formed Eurasian Blockchain Association (EBA).
The organizations themselves include the Russian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain, a Chinese association of crypto investors called LCBT, and the Korea Venture Business Associations, the Kazakhstan Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association, the Swiss fintech company InnMind, and the Armenian Blockchain Association.
Pending lawsuit against Google, Facebook, and Twitter
The news about this joint lawsuit is hot off the press, and the world only found out about this move a little over a week ago.
The group of organizations is moving swiftly, however. With funding collected and stored in Estonia, the lawsuit is already set to be filed in New York next month.
Where the lawsuit will apply to is yet to be confirmed, as some states have more lax laws when it concerns cryptocurrencies.
What do you think of the proposed ban on cryptocurrency advertisements? Will the companies change their mind as the criminal elements slowly but surely disappear?
Leave your comments in the section below!
The market for cryptocurrencies has matured, especially in the case of now well-established ones like Bitcoin, which has been in circulation since 2008.
As a result, many of those who were once very sceptical about the concept of digital currencies are now slowly being won over.
Some are even beginning to toy with the idea of investing in Bitcoin themselves. A great example of this is famous billionaire George Soros.
“Cryptocurrencies are a typical bubble” – George Soros
Mr. Soros has denounced Bitcoin several times in the past, and one of the reasons he has given is that cryptocurrencies will help foreign dictators in the same way that they aid criminal activity in the West.
On this subject, Mr. Soros has said:
“There’s also as very innovative blockchain technology, which can be used for positive or negative purposes. Currently it’s used mostly for tax evasion and for people and the rulers and dictatorships to build a nest egg abroad.”
Another reason Mr. Soros has given for not caring much for Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies in general, is that they are not currencies at all.
According to him, cryptocurrencies are nothing more than pure speculation with no intrinsic value:
“Cryptocurrencies are a typical bubble, which is always based on some kind of misunderstanding. Bitcoin is not a currency, because a currency is supposed to be a stable store of value, and the currency that can fluctuate 25 percent in day cannot be used, for instance, to pay wages, because wages could drop by 25 percent in a day. So it’s a speculation, it’s based on misunderstanding.”
A change of tune from George Soros
Now, however, things seem to have changed for the billionaire tycoon.
He has been indirectly involved with Bitcoin since August 2017, which makes his comments above very interesting, given that they came after his involvement with cryptocurrencies.
Overstock.com branded itself as the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin, and Soros is the third biggest shareholder of that company.
That alone is an indication that the businessman has changed his tune when it comes to blockchain technology and digital currencies.
The plot thickens
Things are now becoming much more interesting in the Soros camp.
Bloomberg reports that Soros Fund Management will now be investing in cryptocurrencies, ICOs, and blockchain technology directly.
Thus, Soros joins the ranks of many billionaire investors who have begun to speculate in digital currencies, such as John Burbank (who starting his funding round in January), and Alan Howard (who makes a significant personal income from cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology).
The example of George Soros perfectly describes the changing attitude of seasoned businesspeople and investors all over the world.
They have not achieved their status as moguls in the world of investment because they made foolish decisions.
Sometimes it pays to take it slow, and consider your options before making a leap of faith into a new market.
What do you think of the veteran investors changing their opinion on cryptocurrencies? Will this add to the credibility of the market? Or will they simply push out some of the early movers?
Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
Anyone following the news about cryptocurrencies will be aware that the market is extremely volatile at the moment – perhaps more than it has ever been before.
This means many things. First of all, crypto-miners are having to revise their strategy (and energy bill) when it comes to the feasibility of their mining gig.
Secondly, day-traders are losing both money and interest in the market, as trading Bitcoins and other currencies are no longer as profitable as it used to be.
Conversely, long-term investors are now losing their scepticism and are showing a renewed interest in cryptocurrencies as a long-term investment.
Overall, many once-promising Bitcoin millionaires are now left with a bleak outlook on an uncertain future as the market is seemingly all over the place.
But this only holds true for the West. In the East, cryptocurrencies are perhaps as strong as ever.
Eastern Promises
For companies like BitPay, who, despite the massive drop in cryptocurrency value of the last few month, have somehow managed to secure over $70 in funds, the East shows a lot of promise in terms of expansion.
As a matter of fact, Asia is BitPay’s fastest growing market.
Not only are Asian business thrilled by the prospect of being able to have their invoices paid in one day, as opposed to the long process of traditional banking systems, but Asian consumers are increasingly using Bitcoin to pay for goods and services.
On top of the fast transactions, Asian businesses trading internationally are also happy to see a reduction of transaction fees down to a meagre 1% – much less than would be the case with regular bank transfers.
From China to Japan
In China, the all-around versatile app WeChat has now launched WeChat Pay, which is essentially a QR code that can be used as payment in almost any restaurant or retailer.
In Japan, Bitcoin has been accepted as legal tender for over a year now, and Japanese banks are in the process of developing their very own cryptocurrency called J-Coin.
One of the reasons why investors and entrepreneurs alike see an opening in Asia is that credit cards are not being used as widely there as it is here in the West.
This means that there is ample opportunity to start spreading the use of cryptocurrencies as an alternative form of payment.
Challenges ahead
There are of course challenges to be dealt with as well as opportunities to be seized.
One of the challenges is the fluctuating value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Although the Asian market seems more enthusiastic about the technology, they are, like any other markets, not immune to the volatile nature.
Another challenge is whether or not technological advancement can keep up with the demand for cryptocurrencies – if there’s only a few places to pay with Bitcoin, it will lose some of its appeal.
What do you think of the Asian approach to cryptocurrencies? Do you feel like the West could learn a thing or two about the Eastern mentality? And what about the challenges? Will Asian investors and entrepreneurs face the same issues as Western ones?
Leave your comments below!
For those in the know, mining cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, demands a lot of processing power from your computer, and will also very quickly rack up your electricity bill.
Students are ‘dropping out’
For this reason, university students in the US have been at an advantage, because their electricity bill is often included in the rent for their dorm rooms.
This hasn’t changed, but what has changed is the increase in mining costs, combined with a fall in many of the cryptocurrencies being mined.
Crypto-miners are not alone in facing these issues – it affects avid gamers too. The rising cost is linked to the graphics cards used in computers, and these graphic cards alone can easily cost as much as the average person spends on a whole laptop.
Is mining still feasible?
Whereas university students were making quite a lot of money off of mining in the past, these days it can yield as little as $100 per month – which, if they paid for the electricity themselves, would not be a feasible business for the students.
One student reported that he last year managed to mine .00027 Bitcoins daily, but that it cost him 24 kilowatt of electricity to mine. With the soaring price in Bitcoin back then, it seemed like a great idea – these days, it’s a less attractive option.
The simple reason why crypto-mining is becoming more expensive is due to the fact that currencies like Bitcoin are inflation-proof: the system is set up in a way that there is a limit to how many Bitcoins can be in circulation at any one time.
This means that mining Bitcoin, for example, becomes more difficult as time passes. The equation computers need to solve to yield Bitcoins become harder the more Bitcoins are in circulation.
As the amount of Bitcoins comes closer to the limit, mining will only be possible for those with the most sophisticated computers – and those who can afford the incredibly expensive energy bill.
Mining costs around the world
The price of mining Bitcoins varies depending on where you are in the world. In South Korea, for example, the price of mining a Bitcoin is double of what Bitcoins are currently worth. Anyone mining in South Korea would therefore have to be very confident that the value of Bitcoin will go up.
In Venezuela, conversely, the government subsidizes the energy, and so the price for mining one Bitcoin is only around $500 – around 1/20th of the current value of Bitcoins.
The US falls somewhere in the middle – depending on which state you’re in, mining a Bitcoin will cost you around $3,000-4,000. So for the US citizens, mining is still a profitable business.
For those considering to begin mining Bitcoins, there are some good news on the horizon, however. Intel is currently working on a solution that will lower the power consumption of computers used for mining.
Have you been affected by the rising cost in mining? Leave your comments below!
bitcoin, bitfenix, Blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, dai, gold, investments, oil, ripple, stablecoin, tether
There are many ways to describe the market for cryptocurrencies and blockchain, but “stable” is not one of them. One only needs to glance over any news relating to the popular currencies to see that the coin values go up and down, round and round.
New types of cryptos constantly emerge, and some only last a few months before they fade back into obscurity. Investors bite their fingernails and tear their hair out, as they watch their once-promising investments plummet in a split second – just before they rise in value again.
No, the market for cryptocurrencies is anything but stable.
Why many are still reluctant about investing
Compared to traditional markets, the market for cryptocurrencies is extremely volatile. On the stock exchange, you can maybe see stocks move up or down one percent. On the cryptocurrency market, that number is five times as high.
This alone is one of the reasons why many are still choosing to stay far away from cryptocurrencies. Players in traditional markets know better: the bigger you are, the harder you fall. Investing in a market as unstable as cryptocurrencies means taking too many risks, at too high a cost.
Another reason many stay away is that cryptocurrencies are not tied to anything physical, anything tangible, outside the digital world.
Is Stablecoin the solution?
Enter Stablecoin. A cryptocurrency that comes with the promise of solving this issue. Two of the main players in this space are DAI and Tether. The latter of the two, for example, is tied to the US dollar. That means that every Tether coin is, in effect, worth around $1.
Tether supports this by having one actual real dollar for every Tether coin issued. This concept is much more palatable for those who are used to having the reassurance that they stocks can be redeemed for something physical, that there is a guarantee their currencies will be worth something down the line.
But tying cryptocurrencies to a national currency is far from the only option on offer when it comes to stablecoin. Others are offering, or will be offering in the near future, cryptocurrencies tied to traditional assets like gold and oil.
What this also means is that it is possible to exploit the volatility of cryptocurrencies that are not tied to anything. So if you sell a coin like Ripple (worth $100, for example) for 100 Tethers, and Ripple then falls to $20, you can buy five Ripples back. In this way, many investors are making big bucks.
But is Stablecoin safe?
However, not everyone are equally optimistic about stablecoin. Tether as a company has been the subject of some controversy, and many claim there is a conflict of interest between Tether and Bitfenix– they have the same founder.
Doubt has also started to spread as to whether there are any actual US dollars to backup the enormous amount of Tether coins being issued.
Finally, Tether has, as a company, been reluctant to release their accounts, which has raised further suspicion about their legitimacy as a company.
What do you think about Stablecoin? Are they the solution or just another scam? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Triple A studios no longer play as important of a role as they did in the 2000’s. With greater awareness and powerful creation tools, it’s easier than ever to start an indie gaming studio. A lot of these independent productions don’t stray away quality-wise from these large, corporate products. Still, what will perhaps never change is that game production is an extremely high effort task that is very time-consuming. Great amounts of money are required to develop a game, and a lack of visible community support can be discouraging. LIX knows a solution to these ails, and wants to provide a decentralized platform where everyone can crowdfund their game.
LIXCOIN Description
In addition to being a platform for game crowdfunding, the coin is supposed to be an in-game micro-transaction currency. The company claims to be composed of avid gamers, but as an avid gamer myself, I can’t help but hate the whole concept of micro-transactions as they shallow out the gaming industry. Not only games are more expensive than ever, with a $100 price tag for a brand new title at times, we’re required to pay for DLC and in-game content! A cheap way for dishonest devs to make a ton of money. But I digress. Game development on LIX will be easier than ever, as LIX will provide a decentralized platform for management and creation of gaming assets. Actually, this sounds like the Unreal Engine 4 marketplace to me, but decentralized. Though, later on in the whitepaper we find out that they rather mean in-game assets, such as weapons and collectibles, instead of assets to produce the game. What strikes me is that despite being colorful and having a professional look, the whitepaper doesn’t read professional at all. And the idea feels like a money grab. I remain sceptical to this project.
Regarding the ICO, unlike most other ICO’s, this is not an ERC20 token, but a standalone cryptocurrency, which I presume is somehow based on Ethereum. Usual 100,000,000 coin supply, name LIX, 69% of funds go to the ICO, rest gets distributed to the team/platform costs, et cetera.
LIX Team
I’d say that I’m not surprised by the composition of this group. For this money-grabby idea with little subtlety, there isn’t a single face that stands out. The Co-Founder has a sociology degree, which, to be frank, doesn’t have a positive connotation in my mind when we’re speaking about a gaming project. Other members have linguistics and psychology degrees. There is very little development or financial education on board. This fortifies my perception of LIX being a money grab, or even downright scam. I sense no shred of serious competence in this project.
LIX Social Media, Summary
Quite good for an ICO like this, LIX has over 1.5k likes on Facebook, and high post engagement. Yet, a short post history, dating only to 12th December of 2017. Comments are littered with semi-gibberish like “nice project”, “good project”, “awesome project”, giving me the impression that the team bought the likes and comments. Yikes! Twitter has over 3.5k followers, but only 122 likes. Seems like bots don’t like content on this platform. With all of this in mind, I’d stay away from this ICO. It could possibly be a scam.
Despite the recent plunge of Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency still remains popular as ever. Economic and political uncertainties have steered the public towards Cryptocurrencies for private and secure exchanges, you know, instead of relying on traditional currencies. But the finance is not the only industry Cryptocurrencies are targeting; CryptoBnB is a Blockchain-based Cryptocurrency platform that seeks to revolutionize the hospitality industry.
CryptoBnB is a hospitality marketplace that matches travelers looking for accommodation to available short-term rentals wherever they are. CryptoBnB uses technologies such as Big Data and AI in Blockchain as well as smart contract system to help travelers search for proper accommodation efficiently. CryptoBnB doesn’t want to introduce new accommodation spaces; the platform will be using the existing options but will provide better flexibility, lower overall fees, and more efficiency when searching.
CryptoBnB Main Goal
CryptoBnB is basically a hospitality app, but cheaper and more efficient. One of the biggest problems with Air BnB and other hospitality apps is that their services are too expensive. Travelers looking for short-term rentals, say a week or just a couple of days, end up paying the highest accommodation fees. Additionally, with these apps, some tenants end up trashing the host’s place and get away with it for just a small fee even when the damage is big.
CryptoBnB’s main aim is to put an end to some of these problems by improving trust between the host and the tenant. When there’s trust between the two, fees will go down and tenants will be more careful not to destroy anything in the house. Simply put, CryptoBnB uses its smart contract system to increase responsibility on both sides, the host, and the tenant, and incentivize them to work together. Tenants can enjoy better, cheaper services. The hosts, on the other hand, get faster asset turnaround and increased ROI.
CryptoBnB Components
CryptoBnB has a lot of features that are designed to improve service delivery for tenants. Some of the major components of the CryptoBnB Blockchain are its Crypto DNA Smart Wallet, AI-powered peer-to-peer marketing, and an enhanced search engine, these are the features that make CryptoBnB stand out. The smart wallet is CryptoBnB’s best feature; it’s the driving force behind the platform’s enhanced search engines and smart contracts.
The Blockchain also uses AI data to improve the hosts’ ROI and provide a more targeted market campaign with its peer-to-peer mechanism. CryptoBnB is the only blockchain-driven platform to use AI and Big Data to enhance the capabilities of its search engine. CryptoBnB ensures that travelers are matched to their ideal listings with its combination of search data, user preferences, and transaction history.
Conclusion
CryptoBnB is the first hospitality marketplace platform that’s supported by Blockchain, big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and advanced tokens. CryptoBnB was designed to be efficient, practical, and simple to use. It gives hosts and users an opportunity to work together and develop a market that’s safe, affordable, and easily accessible for all.