Crypto Currency

The distribution of political power could be reshaped by blockchain, which provides a decentralized alternative to existing structures. The 21st century world is connected, but not centered. These are both good things. Connections link people, cultures and ideas. Indeed, all the great advances in human history have been the result of social and economic networks. Without the trade routes of the Indian Ocean, the Islamic world would never have acquired the numerals of India that now form the foundation of our mathematics of science. Without the coffeehouses of 17th- and 18th-century Britain, the Enlightenment probably wouldn’t have materialized. Genius dies in isolation; connection is the engine that drives human progress. By contrast, the centralization of power is highly correlated with disaster and suffering. Some say that this is the iron law of oligarchy — i.e., as any institution, private or public, becomes larger and more complex, power will inevitably become concentrated in...

Bitcoin price failed to break through the $7,800 resistance and now likely to backtest levels that have recently flipped into new support. Whereas Bitcoin ( BTC ) was hovering at $6,500 earlier this week, it has since rebounded to the resistance zone of $7,800 but failed to break it on the first attempt. Crypto market daily performance. Source: Coin360 As the short term trend is still upwards, should traders be cautious about the recent price action? Let’s take a look at the charts.  Bitcoin still inside the downwards channel The more notable timeframe — the daily in this case  — is still showing a downward trending channel since the top at the end of June 2019.  BTC USD daily chart. Source: TradingView This downwards trending channel is still active as the price bounced back from the “support” line and the 0.618-0.65 golden ratio Fibonacci level earlier this week.  The green zone around $6,500-6,800 can still be seen as a significant support level here, w...

An estimated 0.2% of all XRP transactions are used for illicit activity. How true is this figure and how does it impact the industry? It’s the clichéd rhetoric of choice for anyone seeking to discredit crypto. An ace in the hole for any argument against its proliferation. The go-to thesis for those who know very little about cryptocurrency but wish to appear otherwise.  The idea that cryptocurrencies are solely utilized within illicit activities has become both a tool for mass media to disparage the industry and, for many, a reason to steer well clear. But besides being a tired stereotype, it may also be true. That’s one of the prevailing problems with stereotypes: While many derive from truth, they often represent an oversimplified — and sometimes twisted — version of it. It is true, for instance, that cryptocurrencies are used to facilitate criminal activities.  However, it is also true that any form of value will be used for illegal purposes, whether through crypto or ...

Bitcoin node sync would be impossible without the scalability improvements implemented in the node software, according to BitMex Research. Bitcoin ( BTC ) node synchronization would be impossible if it were not for the improvements that have been made to the software, according to the research arm of crypto exchange BitMex. BitMex Research measured the Initial Block Download (IBD) times of Bitcoin Core software releases from 2012 to 2019 needed to download the blockchain and verify it and shared their conclusions in a blog post published on Nov. 29. The research team claims that the older version of the Bitcoin Core software may be impossible to synchronize now and that the scalability improvements made to the software are essential to the operation of the network: “Older versions of Bitcoin struggled to get past the pickup in transaction volume which occurred in the 2015 to 2016 period. Therefore we conclude that without the software enhancements, an initial synchronization tod...

Next year is to be crucial for the crypto industry in Europe, when the EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive will be transposed into the national legislation of each EU member state. In January 2020, the regulatory landscape for crypto businesses will completely change in the European Union in comparison with the last decade — and these changes will touch all those who store clients’ crypto funds or provide fiat-to-crypto exchange services, at minimum. Not long ago, the Anti-Money Laundering regulations were extended to cover cryptocurrency custodian wallet service providers and crypto-to-fiat exchanges in the EU. The legislation known as the EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive entered into force on July 9, 2018, and shall be transposed into the national legislation of each EU member state by Jan. 10, 2020. Before that, cryptocurrencies, in most cases, fell outside of the EU regulatory regime.  Related: Do Lawmakers Use AML as an Excuse to Centralize Crypto and Blockc...

Over the past four years the price of Bitcoin has seen moves of more than 30% during the holiday month of December — so will this year also see volatility? At just over 10 years old, crypto’s largest asset Bitcoin ( BTC ) has made a name for itself as a volatile asset, as shown by its past price action. December, in particular, has seen a notable chunk of this volatility with price moving more than 30% since 2015.  As 2019 nears its end, Bitcoin looks back on a standout year in terms — up over 100% from the yearly lows in February of around $3,350. By the end of June, BTC/USD found itself up near $13,800. Then after several months of consolidation and subsequent selling pressure, BTC hit 6-months lows of around $6.5K in November only to recover back to the $7Ks range. Crypto space participants often look for different narratives to make sense of various price moves, as well as try to make predictions on future price action based on historical trends.  One such narrative...

Bitcoin bulls will be buoyed by talk of the need for “a new, neutral global reserve asset” is rife at the heart of the traditional financial sector. Bitcoin ( BTC ) bulls will no doubt keenly watch talk of the need for “a new, neutral global reserve asset” at the heart of the traditional financial sphere.  Financial Times business columnist and associate editor Rana Foroohar published an opinion piece on Nov. 25, pointing to the renewed, half-justified “paranoia” of the “gold bugs,” which has only been compounded by comments from investors and central bankers in recent weeks.   “You have to really believe the sky is falling in order to hoard physical bars in a digital age,” Foroohor writes. And while she does not put her faith in gold itself, the very talk of gold points to a systemically fragile post-2008 horizon and the new urgencies ushered in by an era of acute geopolitical uncertainties. Need for an asset “that’s not somebody else’s liability” Foroohar points...

The settlement of monthly futures contracts points to bullish short-term performance for Bitcoin, which has already begun reversing its downward trend. Bitcoin ( BTC ) is statistically likely to gain in the coming week as a new futures expiration event comes and goes, according to new data.  Compiled by trader an analyst Luke Martin on Nov. 25, figures charting Bitcoin price performance before and after each expiration show that overall, higher levels appear afterward. Data: BTC stands to gain next week Martin used CME Group’s monthly futures as a basis. Among the first futures to hit the market in December 2017, their settlement dates — of which Friday was one — have already attracted attention as a force for moving price.  Bitcoin price movements around futures settlement dates. Source: Luke Martin/ Twitter “Takeaway: Generally experience selling pressure before and positive returns after,” he summarized. Per the calculations, a negative return for Bitcoin inves...

Bitcoin price popped above the $7.8K resistance, opening the door for gains to $8K but bulls need to supply serious volume to break above the bearish rising wedge. Bitcoin price ( BTC ) is taking a bit of a breather after breaking flipping the $7,600 resistance to support during the morning trading hours of Nov 29.  While the current technical setup is exciting, bulls will need to supply significant enough volume for the price to break to the upside of the rising channel, above the $7,800 resistance and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level.  Crypto market daily performance. Source: Coin360 Buyers stepped in on Friday morning, pushing Bitcoin price from $7,430 to $7,880 before pulling back to $7,750. Currently, Bitcoin trades in a rising wedge and the price remains capped below the resistance at $7,800.  Today’s upside move brought the price above the midpoint of the long term descending channel and the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) on the daily and ...

Prosecutors announced the arrest of a U.S. citizen who traveled to North Korea to deliver a presentation on how to use blockchain and crypto to avoid sanctions. Today United States prosecutors announced the arrest of Virgil Griffith, who allegedly traveled to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to deliver a presentation on how to use cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to circumvent sanctions. According to the November 29 announcement , the 36-year-old Griffith was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport, and will be charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The charges carry a maximum term of 20 years in prison. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman stated: “As alleged, Virgil Griffith provided highly technical information to North Korea, knowing that this information could be used to help North Korea launder money and evade sanctions. In allegedly doing so, Griffith jeopardized the sanctions that both...

Bitcoin traders can use Bitcoin price drops to reduce their tax liabilities. After many countries around the world such as the United States , the United Kingdom , France , and Portugal published their own cryptocurrency tax guidelines this year, it is only reasonable they will expect to see an increase in crypto tax filing. They may even follow suit with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and begin their own crypto tax compliance campaign . As the price of Bitcoin ( BTC ) jumped this year, so too did the tax liability for every profitable sale, trade or exchange for Bitcoin traders. The recent drop in Bitcoin price presents traders with a great opportunity to reduce tax liabilities accumulated since January 2019. Many people don’t know it, but cryptocurrency tax liability can be significantly reduced by a recently developed practice called crypto tax planning. Just like you can plan your taxes in stocks trading, countries that consider cryptocurrency to be an asset subject to ca...

By applying blockchain technology and IoT the food industry could save up to $31 billion in food fraud savings. The food industry could save up to $31 billion in global fraud savings by tracking food on its way from farms to consumers via the blockchain. A Nov. 25 study by Juniper Research reveals that blockchain technology, in combination with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and trackers, will greatly reduce retailers’ costs by streamlining supply chains, while simplifying regulatory compliance, offering more efficient food recalls, and tackling fraud. The study points out that the increased adoption of blockchain and IoT in the supply chain industry will add significant value to the food business’s supply chain. By stacking these innovative technologies, the food industry could stack up to $31 billion in food fraud savings in just five years. Research author Dr Morgane Kimmich said: “Today, transparency and efficiency in the food supply chain are limited by opaque data forcin...

It’s time to tackle the potential future problem of package theft by drone. IBM has filed for a patent of a system that uses blockchain technology to prevent drone-enabled package theft. According to a filing published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Nov. 12, IBM will track drone altitude using an Internet of Things (IoT) altimeter, while continuously uploading that data to a blockchain secure platform. Drones might be a thief’s perfect tool It might become ordinary for drones to be used for stealing packages in the future. The idea is that packages will be outfitted with an altitude sensor that is set to trigger an alarm if a significant altitude change is measured outside of the preset criteria. Once the alarm is triggered, the GPS-enabled IoT device will transmit its exact location data to a tracking module. It’s like giving your Amazon packages a way to call SOS when something goes wrong en route to your house. IBM’s patent describes unattended de...

Can the EU's massive investment into blockchain and artificial intelligence research and development save us from the world’s tech oligopoly? The European Union's announcement of a new 110 million euro fund to support research on artificial intelligence and blockchain comes at a critical time for the AI industry, when issues at the intersection of privacy, security and AI are the focus of acute attention by government, the tech industry and the general public. Blockchain technology has the promise to radically transform the way society handles data as well as how AIs are trained and taught with this data. It has the potential to create a world in which control over and reward from data and AI is distributed more broadly across various stakeholders, including the people who generate the data. But there are still some difficult technical problems to be solved in order to manifest this potential, as well as a lot of large-scale software engineering. The question isn't whe...