Tag: Bitcoin

Bitcoin prices have soared overnight following an announcement by the world’s biggest ETF provider, BlackRock, that it will be forming a team to examine the advantages of cryptocurrency and blockchain.

New York City-based BlackRock currently manages almost $6.3 trillion in assets.

The price of BTC jumped from $6,375 to almost $6,500 at around 9:30 am this morning and has since continued to rise to over $6,600. While it hasn’t yet reached this month’s all-time high of $6,769 on July 7, it’s the most significant increase so far this month.

The surge means its moved out of the previous $6,170 retracement levels and reached the $6,550 Fibonacci resistance point. Correspondence with the 200 day moving average shows strong positive signs that BTC could close above this point, which would put it on a trajectory for over $8800.

However, if resistance holds then a return to its current limbo between $6,100 and $6,500 could occur and maintain throughout July.

Last weeks announcement by Steve Cohen of his support for crypto hedge fund Autonomous Partners and an outlook by Chris Matta of $15,000 for BTC could also have helped to fuel new investment.

Future support could be garnered from a positive announcement by the SEC on the fate of the first Bitcoin ETF that is planned for mid-August. Two previous applications for a Bitcoin ETF have been rejected but fresh overseas regulation might sway the SEC’s decision this time around.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appear to have begun investigating a reversal on it’s blanket ban that saw all exchanges in the country forced to stop operations.

A working group for BlackRock, Inc. is reportedly taking steps to better understand how they, as the world’s leading asset manager, could legally partake in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The alleged move by BlackRock – whose chief executive officer (CEO) has previously downplayed Bitcoin (BTC) – to begin exploring the emerging crypto market follows that of other established financial giants such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Fidelity Investments.

As broken by Financial News on Monday, this recently-assembled working group is tasked with investigating how BlackRock “can take advantage of the fast-growing cryptocurrency market.” One of their anonymous sources claimed that the prospect of investing in BTF futures, in particular, will be assessed.

The working group reportedly put together by the BlackRock asset management giant is said to include chartered financial analyst Terry Simpson (Multi-Asset Strategist, BlackRock Investment Institute).

BlackRock has been but one of a host of traditional financial institutions that have been losing top-end talent to the booming digital asset investment space. In March, for instance, Vishal Karir – a budding BlackRock portfolio manager who had $1.5 billion AUM – joined Ethos (ETHOS) to serve as the cryptocurrency platform’s chief investment officer (CIO).

A number of influential members of the crypto and blockchain space tweeted their approval of Monday’s news relating to the BlackRock investment management juggernaut.

Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano (Founder & Partner, Morgan Creek Digital Assets) suggested that the outcome of the strategic crypto-related move from Blackrock represents a blessing for the downtrodden value of BTC, stating: “Easy answer: Buy Bitcoin.”

Providing comment, also, was Carter Thomas (Founder, Coin Mastery), who informed his followers that “BlackRock is the world’s largest ETF (exchange-traded fund) provider;” a reminder of what may ensue, should the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) approve VanEck and SolidX’s co-filed Bitcoin ETF application.

Host of CNBC Africa’s Crypto Trader, Ran Neu-Ner (Founder, Onchain Capital), also made reference to the possibilities of what a BlackRock entrance into the crypto ecosystem could mean for the future of Bitcoin ETFs – which the SEC has never before approved – stating:

When the world’s biggest ETF company is looking at Crypto and the SEC has no real reason to block the next ETF, it could get a little exciting.”

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Popular cryptocurrency and blockchain-oriented company Coinbase, Inc. is looking increasingly unlikely to match last year’s revenue of one-billion U.S. dollars, as the bearish Bitcoin (BTC) and broader cryptocurrency market continues to define 2018.

Such a possibility for the Coinbase crypto exchange giant was discussed in the latest episode of CNBC Africa’s Crypto Trader, as host Ran Neu-Ner took to interviewing Jonathan Meiri (Founder & CEO, Barrel Protocol).

Video-crossing from Crypto Trader’s Johannesburg-based studio, Neu-Ner asked Meiri to elaborate on what his firm’s data analysts had discovered about the company widely thought to be a key pillar of the nascent blockchain and crypto ecosystem.

Speaking from Tel Aviv, Meiri revealed that their data-driven insights emerged from having “looked at Coinbase transactions dating back to January 2017…all the way until a couple of days ago (early July).”

Having found “some really jaw-dropping numbers,” Meiri told Crypto Trader’s Neu-Ner that Coinbase’s reported $1 billion revenue for 2017 was heavily skewed, given that “about fifty percent of [their yearly] revenue…came in December alone.”

Coinbase Revenue “Falling Precipitously” in 2018

Continuing on with their data-tracking of anonymized Coinbase receipts throughout 2018, Meiri told CNBC Africa-based Crypto Trader that “it tells a very different story,” saying that:

Transactions in May were ninety percent down over the transactions back in January, which itself was down from December a month before.”

“Worst is Behind Us,” Crypto Exchange Data Suggests

With Coinbase having seen continual slumps so far in 2018 – both for “number of transactions” and “total revenue” – Meiri’s team calculated a roughly “ten percent bump in June over the May numbers. And, by looking into July, that process continues.” Based on this, he adds, “the worst in behind us.”

Most of Coinbase’s revenue, Meiri explained, is currently derived from retail consumers who download the Coinbase smartphone app before proceeding to purchase one of the following four cryptocurrencies they currently offer: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).

For more on the Coinbase-related findings referred to by Meiri – whose Israel-based team specialize in the booming industry of alternative data – we suggest reading his blog posts from February and June.

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The former vice president of Goldman Sachs, Chris Matta, believes Bitcoin could hit $15,000 this year and said he would still invest his own mum’s cash into the digital asset.

In a June interview with CNBC’s Fast Money, he told the show’s hosts that cryptocurrencies offer good returns compared to other asset classes.

Last time Christopher Matta was on, he said he’d bet his mom’s money on #bitcoin. We check in on where he stands now. pic.twitter.com/oGy4axlI24

— CNBC’s Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) July 12, 2018

Matta has now moved on from Goldman Sachs and works for Crescent Crypto Asset Management, a firm he co-founded along with two other former colleagues back in December last year. The firm is aimed at accredited investors earning over $200,000 and with a net worth upwards of $1m.

Despite Bitcoins huge drop in value this year, Matta believes now is a good time for long-term investors to enter the market for a two to five-year commitment. While regulations and the introduction of Bitcoin futures may have had a negative effect short term, in the medium to long term an outlook of $15,000 is realistic.

Matta confirmed that new buyers are entering the market and new products such as ETF’s will increase Bitcoins exposure, fuelling the price. While volatility remains an issue he doesn’t believe that Bitcoins futures have necessarily affected it and unlike when a Gold ETF was introduced, with Bitcoin, scarcity remains.

Moving forward, he thinks improved infrastructure and smart regulations should encourage retail and institutional investors to become more involved in cryptocurrencies, increasing wider adoption and stability.

‘Stay calm, this is a long-term investment’, he advises.

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Amongst news of Russian intelligence officers using Bitcoin to fund their election meddling and a Greek court extraditing a $4 billion Bitcoin money-launderer, the price of the digital asset has been predicted to drop below $6,000 soon – but then enjoy significant recovery.

Analysis by FXStreet sees a pattern emerging with an obvious downward bias heading for $5,900. In the short term, we could see support at $6,100 with resistance at $6,300 in a 21-day moving average.

Bitcoin to $2 million?

However, there have been some wild long-term predictions flying around lately. CEO of ADVFN Clem Chambers recently detailed his beliefs of Bitcoin being a logarithmic asset. When looking at logarithmic price charts, rather than the bearish trend that has emerged in the past few months, you see a constant price increase of around 26 percent. Chambers points out that this growth looks promisingly similar to that of Warren Buffet’s own investment portfolio.

Following this non-linear pattern reveals an almost limitless potential for Bitcoin, with possible growth to $200,000 or even $2 million in the long term. However, the same analysis means the price could test $5,000, or even $4,000, before any significant recovery. Should this prediction pan out we could soon be seeing a repeat of last December’s bullish highs – but with an extra zero.

Wild Bets and two-way Bitcoin ATMs

The news comes as an anonymous Australian trader placed a $6.3 million bet with bookmaker Tom Waterhouse that Bitcoin’s value would exceed that of billionaire investor Warren Buffet’s company Berkshire Hathaway by 2023. If his prediction is correct he could win as much as $890 million on the bet. Although, considering he is likely heavily invested in Bitcoin, if his prediction comes true then $890 million will be small change to him. Berkshire Hathaway shares are currently worth $290,000.

In other positive news, Malta got its first two-way Bitcoin ATM, meaning users can not only buy Bitcoin using the ATM but also withdraw fiat cash from their Bitcoin wallet.

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The BTC/USD price chart appears to have started building a ‘head and shoulders’ reversal pattern last night, indicating a possible uptrend coming.

As long as Bitcoin can maintain support above $6099 then we should see the upside prevail, according to analysis by FXStreet. However, a dip below $6099 means Bitcoin could test the $5800 level again as it did last month.

Last night saw a recovery of about $100 that brought the price closer to the $6300 levels it was on earlier this week. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC) saw even more significant gains of around four percent overnight.

India Ban Reversal

The recent announcement of a possible reversal by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on its decision to ban cryptocurrencies in the country could help buoy up the Bitcoin price.

This year has seen India apply a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies in what appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction to possible criminal activity. However, news emerged yesterday from an anonymous insider that indicates the RBI might be realizing the true value of the market.

It is likely they will now attempt to form regulations that allow the bank to maintain control over the trading of digital assets in the country. Rumors suggest that it’s possible a decision will be made to class cryptocurrencies as commodities, going forward. This will make them tradeable on exchanges in a similar fashion to other assets.

A Bitcoin ETF and possible $60k by year end?

In other news, there has been speculation that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may grant a license for the first ever bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) next month. A bitcoin ETF could bring fresh liquidity to the market but could also increase volatility.

In a recent interview with CNBC, TenX co-founder Julian Hosp stated that he believes Bitcoin could reach $60,000 by year end.

At the time of writing BTC is currently trading at around $6240 to the dollar, up one percent in a 24 hour period.

Another day, another dire Bitcoin prediction. Despite ten years of proving otherwise, people around the world seem convinced that Bitcoin will suddenly collapse any day now. Admittedly, the recent bear market may not seem very positive at first look but it’s hardly a catastrophe, yet.

Bitcoins most recent detractor is that of Joseph Carlson, the chief security scientist at Thycotic and a man who seems to have the credentials to back up his beliefs.

He surmises that Bitcoin will die as a result of mining becoming unprofitable. While this scenario is possible, the prediction isn’t entirely of his own creation – it was the third choice out a series of outcomes detailed by Bloomberg’s Noah Smith.

Three Possible Outcomes

In his analysis, Smith details three possible paths for Bitcoin to follow. The first and most positive path sees Bitcoin becoming the global currency envisioned by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey recently. In this scenario, Bitcoin will replace all cash worldwide and be used to pay for everything from chewing gum to taxes. While this scenario may seem far-fetched, it wasn’t that long ago that credit and debit cards were deemed unlikely to enjoy widespread adoption.

In Smith’s second scenario he believes Bitcoin could achieve gold like status, becoming exceptionally valuable and being used a means of safeguarding wealth in the event of a cataclysmic financial crash. In this scenario, he also imagines that certain failed economies like that of Venezuela may adopt Bitcoin to replace their local currency.

The third scenario, that grabbed Carlson’s attention as being the most likely possibility, is where Bitcoin loses all value and becomes essentially worthless. Carlson believes that the cost of mining will eventually outweigh any profits and miners will simply stop working.

While anything is possible, it seems unlikely that after ten years of support Bitcoin would be left to collapse. Whatever difficulties it may encounter related to mining or otherwise it seems far more likely that the network will be reconfigured so that it evolves and adapts to meet requirements.

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Whilst Bitcoin (BTC) dwells at price levels nearly 70 percent below all-time highs, one wealthy Australian punter believes the leading cryptocurrency cannot only burst back into five-figure totals, but can exceed the unit-share price of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. multinational by December 31, 2023.

Indeed, on Wednesday, one of Australia’s leading bookmaker magnates, Tom Waterhouse, took to Twitter to reveal that a “well known crypto expert” contacted him to request a bet of $AU8.5 million (~$US6.3 million) that one BTC “will exceed the price of a Berkshire Hathaway share (c.$280k) by 2023.”

Should the unidentified crypto expert win the bet at the terms stipulated in Waterhouse’s tweet, they would stand to win $1.2 billion Australian dollars (~$US884.7 million).

Waterhouse, having recently moved on from his position as chief executive of CrownBet-owned William Hill Australia, shared that he “put [the prospective bettor] in touch with [a] large syndicate.”

Bitcoin will certainly have some catching up to do in order to surpass the Omaha-based holding company that has gained global recognition thanks to its crypto-averse leaders in Buffet and Charlie Munger (Vice Chairman). At the time of writing, one share in Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) is $288,481 USD, over 45 times larger than Bitcoin’s current BTC/USD value of $6,325.

Whilst the Bitcoin punter’s identity was not disclosed by Waterhouse, the gamble is typical of Australia’s fervour for all things cryptocurrency and blockchain. Indeed, one of the world’s leading crypto exchange companies, Huobi Global, opened their Huobi Australia operation last week; launching ten fiat-to-crypto trading pairs in celebration.

Big Bet: Well known Crypto expert has just requested a bet of $8.5m AUD to win $1.2bn that a Bitcoin will exceed the price of a Berkshire Hathaway share (c.$280k) by 2023. Have put him in touch with large syndicate – hope he can get set! pic.twitter.com/C20AHzH2k9

— Tom Waterhouse (@tomwaterhouse) July 11, 2018

Australia’s enthusiasm for distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain, has extended to federal Parliament, also. Only days ago, the Australian government’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) struck a one-billion-dollar (AUD) deal with IBM to provide technological services to its departments, a portion of which will be blockchain-based.

Late last year, also, the Perth-based Power Ledger (POWR) blockchain startup was granted over $8 million worth of funding by the federal government.

Further, for the 2018-19 national budget, the incumbent Coalition party allocated $700,000 to the DTA for the purpose of exploring how blockchain technology could apply to government services.

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Tuesday afternoon (ET) saw Bart Smith (Head of Digital Asset Group, Susquehanna International Group) join the panel on popular American post-market business program, CNBC’s Fast Money, to provide insight on the current investment environment surrounding Bitcoin (BTC), and cryptocurrencies, in general.

Bitcoin Bulls Excited by BTC Volatility, Volumes?

Smith informed the Fast Money panel that Bitcoin’s realized volatility (i.e., the extent to which BTC oscillated in the past), is tracking at around 70; a level that is “down from 140.”

Whilst this sizeable reduction in BTC volatility is encouraging for more risk-averse investors, the Susquehanna digital asset head cautioned that Bitcoin remains “seven times more volatile than the S&P 500.”

In addition to reduced BTC volatility, Smith highlighted that the significant pullback in crypto trading volumes could very well serve as another reason why many day-traders have begun wondering, “is this bear market petering out?”

Bitcoin’s Use Case “Valid Today”

Bitcoin (BTC) has managed to attain two value-adding use cases thus far, according to Smith, that is, it represents both digital gold and an asset that can execute cross-border money transfers far more effectively than, say, “using Western Union [or] traditional banks” – as he posits below.

With Bitcoin, I can send money. It’s fast. It’s cheap. And frankly, no one can stop me.” – Smith

On both these aforementioned use cases, Smith told CNBC’s Fast Money that “it’s hard to imagine Bitcoin losing [them] versus the field.”

Asian Retail Investors “Driving the Bus”

Fast Money panellist Dan Nathan, wondering where the next inflow of capital will come from, asked Smith whether he was seeing any increased interest from institutions not currently invested in cryptoassets.

Smith answered by explaining that Susquehanna tend to think of the world’s assets in terms of the following four pools: U.S. retail, European retail, Asian retail, and global institutional.

He then shared his belief that “there’s really only one player” out of these four asset groups that have entered into the Bitcoin and crypto space “right now,” that being the Asian retail pool.

Whilst he conceded that “there’s a little bit in the U.S.,” Smith maintained that it is nothing substantial, particularly when compared to the fervour with which Asian retail investors have embraced the emerging cryptoasset class.

It’s been a tough month for #bitcoin but Wall Street’s #crypto king Bart Smith points out the interesting bright spot. pic.twitter.com/UKYuXrcmEc

— CNBC’s Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) July 10, 2018

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To explain the recent price slumps experienced by leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC), popular financial stock trading program CNBC’s Fast Money called upon Spencer Bogart – a partner of one of the most prominent venture capital firms in the blockchain and crypto sector, Blockchain Capital LLC.

Speaking to the Fast Money panel late on Monday afternoon (UTC-4) from Blockchain Capital’s San Francisco headquarters, Bogart, despite admitting to being “super bullish on crypto right now,” warned that the price of Bitcoin – and therefore, cryptocurrencies in general – may again buckle under relentless selling pressure in the upcoming weeks.

More Pain for Bitcoin Price if Fund Partners Quit

Justifying why the partner of the pioneer crypto and blockchain-focused venture capital firm was of this short-term bearish sentiment, Bogart alluded to a ‘fund redemption cycle’.

Explaining what he meant by this, the Blockchain Capital partner told Fast Money host Melissa Lee that “if we go back to the summer of 2017, when crypto prices were booming, there was about a hundred, two hundred, maybe three hundred new crypto hedge funds that were formed.”

#Bitcoin down 70% from all-time highs set back in December and  Spencer Bogart (@CremeDeLaCrypto) says things are about to get worse before they get better for #crypto pic.twitter.com/Bo9LflVNMg

— CNBC’s Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) June 25, 2018

Now that we find ourselves in the summer of 2018, a lot of these crypto hedge funds “are hitting the end of their one-year lockup,” Bogart added. And so, operating at roughly fifty percent losses (or worse), many limited partners (LPs) of these funds are likely starting to say “hey, I want to redeem out of that fund,” Bogart postulated.

If this is indeed a common directive from LPs of these 12-month-old crypto funds, the flow-on effect for Bitcoin is a reduced price due to “forced selling [their] on behalf,” Bogart told Fast Money on Monday.

Bitcoin Remains “Very Attractive”

Whilst the Blockchain Capital partner believes that numerous coins “are still very overvalued,” he struggled to say the same for Bitcoin; calling BTC “very attractive at these levels.” As to why he remains bullish on Bitcoin, Bogart pointed out multiple factors BTC currently has in its favour, relative to other cryptocurrencies.

Such winning features he identified pertained to mindshare (i.e., strongest level of public awareness), distribution (i.e., almost every major country has a “fiat onramp”), regulatory clarity (i.e., Bitcoin and Ethereum are the only two to have been commented on by the SEC in relation to securities classification), and real-world use case (i.e., Bitcoin is already being used “to move value around the world and to store it”).

Timing the Bitcoin Bottom Not a “Good Strategy”

For those looking at these heavily retraced cryptocurrency prices as an apt opportunity to invest, Bogart warned against “trying to hit the very bottom,” adding that he believes most people who choose to “wait for lower prices will end up paying higher prices than they are today.”

Crypto investors should instead mimic Blockchain Capital’s current strategy of averaging into the market, Bogart suggested to Fast Money.

#Bitcoin has fallen almost 70 percent from its all-time high, with other cryptos getting hammered as well. #Ethereum #Litecoin #Ripple and #BitcoinCash also plunging from their record highs. pic.twitter.com/ugnuE53Tsd

— CNBC’s Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) June 25, 2018

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