Bitcoin, Ethereum, And Litecoin Are The Most Popular Cryptocurrency Investments Among Millennials

Millennials love cryptocurrencies. For a couple of reasons. One of them is the technology behind them that promises to modernize capitalism, and free it from the tight control of big governments and big banks. The other reason is the potential cryptocurrencies have to make investors rich quickly, provided that they continue to rise at an astronomical pace.

That’s why, among millennials, cryptocurrencies were a popular choice to invest $10,000 in, in a recent survey of 1000 Americans.

Specifically, the survey found that 9.19% of millennials (18-34) would invest the $10,000 in cryptocurrencies, compared to 4.04% of Generation Xers (35-54), and (3.08%) of Baby Boomers (55+).

What’s more interesting is that Bitcoin remains by far the most popular choice, followed by Ethereum, and Litecoin. Specifically, 76% of the millennials in the survey said that they would invest the $10,000 in Bitcoin, 12% in Ethereum, and 12% in Litecoin—see table 1.

Table1

In Which Cryptocurrencies Millennials Will Invest $10,000

Source: LendEDU

To a great extent, the survey results are as one might have expected. The survey rankings of major cryptocurrencies match their market capitalization rankings—see table 2. The only exception is Ripple, which is third in market capitalization, and nowhere to be found in the survey rankings.

That means Litecoin is more popular than Ripple.

Table 2

Cryptocurrencies by Market Capitalization

*As of Sunday March 25, 2018, at 11 a.m

Source: Coinranking.com

There are a couple explanations for that. One of them is that the survey sample is extremely small, and therefore could easily have missed those who could invest the $10,000 in Ripple. Another answer is that the rise of Ripple in market capitalization is fairly recent, and therefore has yet to capture the attention of the average millennial investor.

Contributor Panos Mourdoukoutas

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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Reddit Reportedly Removes Bitcoin As Payment, Cites âCoinbase Change’

Reddit Reportedly Removes Bitcoin As Payment, Cites âCoinbase Change'

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Reddit Reportedly Removes Bitcoin As Payment, Cites ‘Coinbase Change’

Reddit has reportedly removed the option for users to pay for their premium membership program, Reddit Gold, in Bitcoin (BTC) citing an “upcoming Coinbase change”, according to a Reddit post in subreddit /r/btc published March 23.

Reddit user BitcoinXio posted a video of the steps to give another user Reddit Gold, showing that the only payment options are PayPal and credit card.

Reddit user emoney40, a moderator of several subreddits but not /r/btc, commented that the change is due to the Coinbase Commerce change:

“The upcoming Coinbase change, combined with some bugs around the Bitcoin payment option that were affecting purchases for certain users, led us to remove Bitcoin as a payment option.”

Coinbase posted on its Medium page in early March 2018 about retiring Coinbase Merchant Tools in place of Coinbase Commerce, which they acknowledged “may be disruptive to Coinbase Merchant Tool customers.” As of April 30, merchants that used Coinbase Merchant Tools will no longer have access to that product, with May 31 as the final date for the required switch to Coinbase Commerce.

User emoney40 also said that adding BTC back as a payment option is not a guarantee:

“We're going to take a look at demand and watch the progression of Coinbase Commerce before making a decision on whether to reenable.”

Some Reddit users on the thread commented that they were not using BTC to pay for Reddit Gold anyway, due to the high transaction fees. However, in February BTC transaction fees dipped below the price of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) fees, which had been one of the main talking points of BTC’s competitors.

Author Molly Jane Zuckerman

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 23rd Mar 2018 â Another Reversal Pattern

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 23 Mar 2018 â Another Reversal Pattern

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 03/23/2018 – Another Reversal Pattern

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

Bitcoin price failed to break past the $9,000 level after news of a potential shutdown of Binance in Japan broke out.

However, bitcoin price could still form an inverse head and shoulders pattern, which is a potent reversal signal.

Technical indicators are showing that bullish momentum could stay in play.

Bitcoin price sold off recently but could form a short-term reversal pattern on its 1-hour time frame and draw more buyers back in.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA just crossed above the longer-term 200 SMA to signal that buyers are gaining the upper hand. The 200 SMA is also holding as dynamic support at the moment, but a break lower could lead to another pickup in selling pressure.

Stochastic is pointing down to show that bears have the upper hand while RSI is turning lower as well. Both oscillators are nearing oversold conditions, though, so sellers could still let buyers take over soon.

An area of interest is located around $8,000 and a bounce from here could form the right shoulder of the reversal pattern. Bitcoin price has yet to break past the neckline around $9,200 to confirm a potential uptrend. This should last by around $2,000 or the same height as the chart formation.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

Bitcoin price failed to break past the $9,000 level after news of a potential shutdown of Binance in Japan broke out.

However, bitcoin price could still form an inverse head and shoulders pattern, which is a potent reversal signal.

Technical indicators are showing that bullish momentum could stay in play.

Bitcoin price sold off recently but could form a short-term reversal pattern on its 1-hour time frame and draw more buyers back in.

Technical Indicators Signals

Author: SARAH JENN • MAR 23, 2018 • 04:03

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, NEO, EOS – Price Analysis, March 21

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, NEO, EOS - Price Analysis, March 21

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, NEO, EOS – Price Analysis, March 21

The G20 considers cryptocurrencies risky, said the head of Italy’s central bank, but the broad consensus is that they should not be banned. After days of negative news, this is a positive shift for the cryptomarket. Led by Bitcoin, most cryptocurrencies are trying to pull back from their recent lows.

The plunge in cryptocurrencies from their December highs had scared off new wannabe cryptocurrency investors. Once the tide turns, we may see fresh money trickle back into the markets.

A recent survey by Finder.com shows that only 8 percent of the Americans own cryptocurrencies and another 8 percent plan to buy it in the future. With about 92 percent of the population still untapped, the markets have a long way to go. There is still enough skepticism and fear due to the huge volatile moves in the digital currencies. However, if traders plan properly, the risks are way less than made out to be.

Let’s watch the setups that are developing on the top coins.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin broke out of the descending channel on March 20, which is a bullish sign. It had broken out once earlier on March 02, but it could not sustain the higher levels. Within six days, the price was back inside the channel. Will the same thing repeat again?

Just above the resistance line of the descending channel are resistances from the 20-day EMA and the 50-day SMA. We expect the bears to strongly defend this zone because once the price breaks out of this, the BTC/USD pair will rally to $12,172.

The next dip towards the $8,800 levels should offer the traders a good entry opportunity. They should purchase 50 percent of the desired allocation around $8,800 with a stop loss of $7,600. The remainder of the position can be added once the cryptocurrency is clear of both moving averages.

The target objective on the upside is a rally to $12,000.

ETH/USD

Ethereum is trying to break out of the descending channel (marked 2 on the chart) and the overhead horizontal resistance at $565.54. If successful, we’ll see a rally to the 20-day EMA at $650, which will most likely trigger bears selling.

Above the 20-day EMA, the resistance line of the descending channel and the 50-day SMA are the other two significant resistance levels.

Aggressive traders can buy if the price closes above $575 (in the UTC time frame). The initial stop loss can be placed at $500. If the cryptocurrency struggles to break out of $660, the positions can be closed.

On the contrary, if the ETH/USD pair turns back below $565, it will become weak, and the price will experience a retest of the recent lows.

BCH/USD

Bitcoin Cash has broken out of the downtrend line and is currently trying to move above the 20-day EMA. There are a number of resistances between $1,100 to $1,200.

Currently, the cryptocurrency remains in a downtrend, as both moving averages are falling and the price is still below them. Once it sustains above $1,200, we can expect the BCH/USD pair to attract buyers and rally towards $1,600. We should wait for Bitcoin Cash to break out of the 50-day SMA before suggesting any trades.

On the downside, $980 and $880 will act as strong support on declines.

XRP/USD

In our previous analysis, we had recommended a long position for Ripple at $0.71, which got filled on March 19. The stop loss for the trade is $0.53, which is just below the low on March 18.

On March 20, the XRP/USD pair formed an inside day candlestick pattern. The range has shrunk again today, showing indecision between the bulls and the bears.

If the consolidation of the past two days breaks out of $0.73, the pullback will gain strength.

On the upside, the bears will pose a stiff challenge in the zone between the 20-day EMA and the 50-day SMA. Once the price breaks out of the $0.9 levels, the cryptocurrency should rally to $1.1 and then to the upper end of the $1.2 range.

We need to close the position if the price struggles to break out of any of the above-mentioned resistances.

XLM/USD

Stellar has pulled back from the lows of $0.2 to the 20-day EMA. It has broken out of the downtrend line meanwhile, which confirms that the negative momentum is weakening.

Still, the bears will try to defend the 20-day EMA. If the bulls purchase the subsequent dip around the $0.23 mark, it will offer the traders an opportunity to initiate long positions. We are suggestingan aggressive trade on the XLM/USD pair because we find that the 20-day EMA, the resistance line of the descending channel and the 50-day SMA have not offered a strong resistance previously.

The position can be covered if the daily close (UTC) is below $0.18. On the upside, we can expect a rally to $0.35. If this level is crossed, a move to $0.47 can’t be ruled out.

LTC/USD

Litecoin looks strong as it has pulled back smartly from the lows of $144.544. It has broken out of the downtrend line, which is a positive sign. The current recovery might face a stiff resistance between the 20-day EMA and $187. We need to wait for the next dip to initiate long positions.

We find a large symmetrical triangle formation on the LTC/USD pair, which will break out above $205. Though the target objective is way higher, we can trade it for an up move to $240 and after that to $300.

Two possibilities are developing. Either buy on a dip towards $165 with a $142 stop loss or wait for a breakout above $205 to enter long positions with a stop loss at $180.

ADA/BTC

Cardano has broken out of the downtrend line for the first time since January this year. This is a major development as it shows that the trend is changing.

700

Right now, the ADA/BTC pair is facing resistance at 0.00002460. Once the bulls clear this resistance, a move to 0.000035 is possible.

Therefore, we suggest long positions if the price sustains at 0.000025 levels for four hours. The stop loss can be kept at 0.000016.

NEO/USD

NEO has pulled back sharply from its recent lows of $49.04. This shows that the markets have rejected the breakdown and the lower levels. We expect a stiff resistance at the $86 levels.

If the NEO/USD pair finds support at the $65 mark during the next dip, it will signal a bottom formation and can be purchased with a stop below $48.

But if the price continues to march higher, then $90 is a good level to enter long positions with an initial stop loss of $70, which can be raised later. Our first target objective is a move to $115, where we anticipate selling. If NEO breaks out of $120, the momentum should pick up and push prices towards $140 levels.

EOS/USD

EOS has risen sharply from its lows of $3.8723. For the past two days, it is facing selling at the 20-day EMA, but it has not given up much ground, which is a positive indication.

If the EOS/USD pair rallies above $6.3, it should move up to the resistance line of the descending channel.

Prices have turned down from the channel line on two previous occasions, hence, this will act as a stiff resistance. At the moment, we don’t have an attractive risk to reward ratio, that’s why we don’t recommend making any trades on it.

Author: Rakesh Upadhyay

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin Price Breaks $9,000, Does Not Stay For Long

March 20: the Bitcoin (BTC) price broke the $9,000 mark today after a rough start to the year in which the price decreased by nearly 70 percent from the December high of $20,000.

Following the December high the BTC price has moved downward in fits and starts. On January 17, BTC price was down to $9,724, less than half of where it had been a month previously when it scraped the underside of $20,000. The month of February started with BTC dipping below $9,000 for the first time since late Nov. 2017.

By February the price had sunk to just $5,922, with skeptics claiming that it could sink even lower. By late February and early March, BTC was fluctuating around the $9,000 mark, with changes spurred by news of new regulations on exchanges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A return to prices above $9,000 would provide the confidence many traders and investors need for the BTC value to grow even further.

As Cointelegraph reported March 20, the G20 decided not to crack down on cryptocurrency, and opted for a more moderate approach of simply classifying cryptocurrencies as assets. Some see this as a possible cause for crossing the $9,000 psychological threshold.

Others are more skeptical that the results will be long lasting, and see the most recent bump above $9,000 to be part of a holding pattern that requires another, stronger increase in order to break the barrier.

At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $9,017

Author: Salih SARIKAYA

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin Following Nasdaq Path but 15 Times Faster

Morgan Stanley put out a note to its clients on Monday the 19th breaking down Bitcoin trading in comparison to the Nasdaq during the dot-com crash 20 years ago.

Bitcoin Similar to Dot-Coms Through Bear Markets

According to the report, Bitcoin is behaving very similar to the way the Nasdaq did in 2000. There is parity in the pattern of price declines and the rally of 250 -280 percent “in their most exuberant period” just before the bear market.

“Just that the bitcoin rally was around 15 times the speed,” Sheena Shah, strategist at Morgan Stanley said.

There have been four bear markets with Bitcoin since 2009 and through each, the cryptocurrency has lost between 28 and 92 percent of its value. It lost 70% of its value from it’s $20,000 high mark in December to $7,000 in February before recovering slightly to where it is today over $8,000. Averaging a loss of between 40-50% of its value through each bear market is similar to the Nasdaq’s performance 18 years ago Shah said.

According to the Morgan Stanely report trading volume can also be seen as a red flag. The Bitcoin trading volume has jumped nearly 300% since the market decline in December but each rally saw volumes fall ahead of the bear market to come. Shah said regarding the trading volumes;

“The follow-up rally for both bitcoin and the Nasdaq always saw falling trading volumes. Rising trade volumes are thus not an indication of more investor activity but instead a rush to get out.”

Tethers Effect on Market Trading

The Morgan Stanley report continued to point out the effect that the Tether cryptocurrency may have had on market trading. Citing that during the latest bear market the Tether USDT coin which is purportedly backed up one to one with US Dollars took up a bigger share of Bitcoin trading compared to the three historically major trading currencies; US Dollar, Chinese Yuan and the Japanese Yen.

“The coin USDT is not a major funding unit but its increasing use is an interesting development,” Shah wrote. “Over the coming years, we think that market focus could turn increasingly towards cross trades between cryptocurrencies/tokens, which would transact via distributed ledgers only and not via the banking system.”

Bloomberg reported in January that Tether has been subpoenaed by the US commodities trading commission under speculation that they do not hold the $2.2 billion in reserve in order to back their token. Bitcoin’s price continues to vacillate around the $8,000 mark early this week after enjoying a $1,000 price boost from the news that the G20 would not be receiving any further regulatory recommendations from the FSB.

Author JOHN MCMAHON • MAR 20, 2018 • 04:03

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin Price Surges 10% as G20 Will Not Crackdown on Cryptocurrencies

The G20’s announcement that it will pivot away from creating new regulations in favor of examining existing rules gave the cryptocurrency market a much needed seeing Bitcoin surge by $1000.

No New Regulations

The anticipation of what new regulations might come of the G20 meeting this week in Buenos Aires added to a rocky cryptocurrency market over the past week but the news as reported by Reuters is that there will be no new regulation recommendations handed down.

Some of the nervousness of cryptocurrency market watchers coming up to the G20 was due in part to the fact that Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank Of England and outspoken critic of Bitcoin heads the Financial Stability Board which coordinates financial regulation for the Group of 20 economies.

Carney has been very vocal about his doubts concerning the credibility of cryptocurrency in the past speaking as the head of the Bank of England.

Deciding that there was not enough of a consensus to create radical new regulation among the 20 countries that make up the G20 the FSB issued a letter to the central bankers and finance ministers who will convene in Buenos Aries on the 19 and 20 saying

“The FSB’s initial assessment is that crypto-assets do not pose risks to global financial stability at this time,”

Carneys singing off on this letter shows an increased willingness in his attitude towards accepting cryptocurrency as part of the worlds financial system. Noting that this would be his last year as both chairman of the FSB and Governor of the Bank of England he said his successor would be reviewing existing rules as opposed to pushing through new standards.

Scaling Down

President Donald Trump set a mood for scaling back regulatory powers when he ordered American regulators to relax post-banking crisis reforms in order to encourage lending in the economy.

This made world regulators speculate that America, already reticent to join global regulatory bodies would reject any new suggestions and possibly fragment markets.

In reaction, the FSB membership vowed to make a complete review of whether the watchdog is still “fit for Purpose” for evaluating and amending rules.

Having already scrapped a quarter of its working groups in an effort to make the FSB more efficient and dedicated Carney said “As its work to fix the fault lines that caused the financial crisis draws to a close, the FSB is increasingly pivoting away from design of new policy initiatives towards dynamic implementation and rigorous evaluation of the effects of the agreed G20 reforms,”

This seemingly good news for cryptocurrency regulation and the hangover effects of the latest Mt. Gox bulk sale wearing off gave the faltering Bitcoin price a nice boost, up $1000 recovering nearly 8% of its value in 24 hours.

Author JOHN MCMAHON • MAR 19, 2018 • 05:03

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, NEO, EOS – Price Analysis, March 16

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, NEO, EOS - Price Analysis, March 16

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, NEO, EOS – Price Analysis, March 16

Fundstrat's Thomas Lee believes that Bitcoin mining is an unprofitable venture at current prices. A model developed by his data science team has pegged the breakeven price at $8,038.

If prices fall further, the miners will start to lose money on their operations. Shone Anstey, co-founder and president of Blockchain Intelligence Group opines that this may force a few miners to stop their operations.

Technical analysts watch the 50-day MA and the 200-day MA closely to forecast the path of least resistance. A death cross, a situation where the short-term moving average falls below the long-term moving average, indicates weakness. Paul Day, a technical analyst and head of futures and options at Market Securities Dubai Ltd believes that if the cross occurs, Bitcoin can sink to $2,800.

It is common to see wild price forecasts on the downside when Bitcoin is falling. We saw similar outrageous forecasts on the upside when the cryptocurrency was rising.

Though we do keep those factors in mind, we should not be worried much by them. Let’s see what our analysis forecasts.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin fell to $8,066.61 levels on March 15. The bulls are trying to defend the $8,000 levels and pullback towards the $9,500 levels.

The BTC/USD pair remains in a downtrend as prices are trading inside the descending channel and below both moving averages. The 20-day EMA has broken below the 50-day SMA, which is another bearish move.

If prices fail to sustain above the overhead resistance zone of $9,500 to $10,000, the cryptocurrency can fall to $7,850 and after that to the February 06 lows of $6,075.04.

Our bearish view will be invalidated if the bulls manage to sustain above the $10,000 levels.

ETH/USD

Ethereum extended its downtrend as it fell to $568.29 on March 15, close to the February 06 lows of $565.54. This is major support.

We expect the bulls to attempt a bounce from these levels. The pullback will face selling pressure at the 20-day EMA and the resistance line of the descending channel.

If the bounce fails to gain strength, the next down leg in the ETH/USD pair will break below the $565.54 support and move lower to $500 and then to $430 levels.

Aggressive traders can buy a very small position, about 30 percent of the usual position size at $630, if the level sustains for about four hours. The stop loss can be kept at $560. If the price fails to break out of $700, positions can be closed, else please trail the stops higher.

BCH/USD

Bitcoin Cash fell to $910.6798 levels on March 15. Currently, the bulls are attempting a pullback from the supports.

The downtrend line should act as the first level of resistance. Above this, the 20-day EMA and $1,150 will act as resistance. If the cryptocurrency turns down from these levels and breaks below $900, it can slide to $778.2021.

The BCH/USD pair will become positive in the short term once the price sustains above $1,150.

XRP/USD

Ripple found support at the $0.62681 levels on March 15. We believe that the support zone between $0.695 and $0.5627 will hold.

The bulls are attempting to pull back above the March 15 high of $0.72685. Once this level is crossed, a move to the 20-day EMA is possible where the cryptocurrency will face strong selling pressure.

During the next decline, if the XRP/USD pair does not break below $0.695, we can expect it to trade in a large range. We may try to trade this, but as we don’t see any buy setup, hence, we don’t recommend any trade on it at the moment.

XLM/USD

Stellar remains in a downtrend, and it continues to decline gradually. It is close to our first lower target of $0.22.

If the bulls fail to defend these levels, the XLM/USD pair can slide towards the support line of the descending channel.

We remain bearish on the cryptocurrency until it stays below the 20-day EMA, the downtrend line and $0.32.

LTC/USD

Litecoin is trying to pull back towards $186.823 levels, where we expect another bout of selling by the bears.

Both moving averages, the downtrend line and the horizontal line, all converge around $187 levels making it important resistance. If prices turn down from the resistance and break below $157.236, it might fall to $141.

The LTC/USD pair will indicate strength if it can sustain above $187 levels for a day.

ADA/BTC

We expected Cardano to trade in a range, but prices turned down from 0.00002482 levels on March 14 and are now on its way towards the next lower target of 0.00001690.

It continues to be in a strong bear grip as the cryptocurrency has not even touched the 20-day EMA for more than a month.

The ADA/BTC pair will become positive once prices break out of the downtrend line and the 20-day EMA. Until then, all attempts to recover will face selling at the resistance.

NEO/USD

The bulls are trying to hold the critical support level of $63.62 on NEO. We can expect a retest of the breakdown level at $86. If the bulls succeed in sustaining above this overhead resistance, it will indicate that the bears are losing strength.

If prices turn down from $86 levels, we anticipate the next down move to a breakdown of $63.62 and move towards the lower target objective of $49.

We should wait for a confirmed buy setup to initiate a long position on the NEO/USD pair.

EOS/USD

EOS has been declining gradually for the past few days. It fell to a low of $4.7484 on March 15. We can expect the bulls to attempt a pullback from the current levels, but the 20-day EMA has been acting as strong resistance since end-January of this year. If prices turn down once again from there, a fall to $3.26 is likely.

If the EOS/USD pair sustains above the $7 levels, we can expect it to rally to the 50-day SMA and then to $10 levels.

Currently, we don’t find any buy setups on the cryptocurrency.

Author: Rakesh Upadhyay

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin analysis – How low can it go?

Bitcoin, how low can it go

Bitcoin Price Analysis – How Low Can It Go?

Bitcoin is showing more bearish momentum so it's time to look at the next downside targets.

Bitcoin looks ready for more losses as price gained downside traction after its break below a double top neckline. Applying the Fibonacci extension tool on the latest correction shows the potential targets.

Price is currently sitting on the 38.2% extension near the $8000 level at the moment, and a break lower could take it to the 50% extension next at $6459.7 next. From there, price could drop to the 61.8% extension at $5168.1 then the 76.4% extension at $3610.4 at the channel support. The full extension is located at $1063.4.

Technical indicators, however, are suggesting that the longer-term uptrend could still resume. The 100 SMA is above the longer-term 200 SMA so the path of least resistance is still to the upside. Then again, bitcoin has fallen below the 200 SMA dynamic inflection point, which could be seen as an early signal of a pending downward crossover.

Stochastic is indicating oversold conditions to show that sellers are tired, but the oscillator has yet to move higher to reflect a return in bullish pressure. RSI has some room to head south so bitcoin could still see some losses from here.

bitcoin - how low can it go

The latest wave of selling is seen to have spurred from Google’s announcement to ban cryptocurrency ads starting June. Similar action was taken by Facebook back in January when it banned ads on binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies, leading to roughly a 12% drop in bitcoin price then.

It doesn’t help that regulators are stepping up their game to oversee the industry, leading to speculations of more arrests or possibly shutdowns. There are also rumors that the Chinese government continues to crack down on crypto activity in the country.

IMF head Lagarde herself called upon fighting “fire with fire” to encourage encryption experts to help in the crackdown on criminals using cryptocurrencies to facilitate their activity. More remarks in the same line from other top officials could lead to further weakness in bitcoin

By Rachel Lee On Mar 15, 2018

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin Facts You Should Know

Bitcoin is not a fraud, nor is it a golden nugget. People continue to have strong views and positions on what bitcoin is and debate on its potential, legitimacy and relevance. The discussions are meaningful and leave many more thoughts for us to ponder. But those are opinions, and while useful, facts are critical and important to know. Knowing facts will contribute to meaningful dialogue and questions. Here are some to start with.

Bitcoin is programmable money. Bitcoin introduced a new form of money – programmable money. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (or cryptoassets) operate under the same philosophy as past monies and money we are more familiar with. What determines money is a shared set of rules for exchanging value. The difference with cryptocurrency is that the rules are determined by the payer and payee. They decide the terms and conditions of the transaction, which are codified. This system will, and has started to, extend beyond cryptocurrency and ultimately allows for a huge array of transactions including contracts, expertise, assets and services.

In the analog world, we have physical forms of money such as goods and paper money and are limited by distance. In the digital world, we attained further reach with our transactions, eliminating the constraint and dependency of human distance and speed. However, in the digital world, we are governed by the speed and mercy of banks. In the crypto world of programmable money, we eliminate both human and institutional constraints. These frictions are expensive and reduced.

Bitcoin is not created out of thin air. Bitcoin is created through a process called mining. Blockchain, the technology that bitcoin is built on top of, is dependent on a network of nodes that ensures the integrity of transaction history by achieving consensus. (To understand more about blockchain, you can reference this article.) Validation is one part of the process. After validating a transaction, the nodes then need to race, using trial and error, to solve a difficult mathematical puzzle that requires heavy computing resources. The first computer in the network that solves the equation will be rewarded with bitcoins. This is known as ‘mining bitcoins’. This protocol is referred to as Proof of Work (PoW).

Bitcoin mining serves two purposes: it allows for the creation of new coins and facilitates the processing of transactions in the network. Mining requires energy, hardware and bandwidth. If you try to mine bitcoins on your computer, you will find the cost of electricity will likely outweigh the value of bitcoins you can mine. Other cryptocurrencies also use PoW. Another emerging protocol is Proof of Stake (PoS) which does not need energy or hardware to achieve consensus, but rather uses staking or bonding tokens to determine the next block. You can read more about both protocols here and here.

Bitcoin has value. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins created, which is deflationary and the opposite of paper money which is inflationary. Bitcoin’s value and security is derived from the fact that it is easy to prove that substantial computing power and electric energy was expended to solve

a math puzzle. This protects against fraud and counterfeit information. When bitcoin is created by PoW, the mining is authenticated and backed by a verifiable network.

Anyone can create their own currency. But a community is needed to accept the creation in order for it to have value. The world has been transacting with bitcoin for over nine years with a global community. Bitcoin also acts like a stock in that the price can go up and down arbitrarily. A stock price represents what another party is willing to pay for it. Cryptocurrencies function in the same way.

Bitcoin can be used for payment locally and globally – A vacuum existed for a faster, more efficient, and hassle free way to exchange money. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to fill this white space and was created for payments and storing value. This new form of money enables online money transfers, peer-to-peer, without an intermediary like a bank. Generally, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be transferred faster and with lower fees. (As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have gained more popularity, fees may be impacted by congestion and traffic on the blockchain).

In the earlier years of bitcoin, one could buy everyday items such as coffee, beer and dinner and transfer money for a few cents. The price wasn’t so volatile and the transaction time was fairly quick as usage on the blockchain wasn’t high. The charm was that no banks or financial institutions were involved. It was especially attractive if one wanted to transfer money to someone in another country. One could have sent $1MM worth of bitcoin to someone in another country at a cost of less than USD $1 and the receiver could convert it to fiat (aka paper money) in that country in less than an hour. Today with bitcoin’s price volatility and potential higher fees, it may not be practical for payments of everyday items. However, if you are transferring $1MM worth of bitcoin cross border, it may still be worth it.

Bitcoin as the first successful programmable money on the blockchain gave us universal, virtual and borderless cash – which is only the beginning. Bitcoin and blockchain didn’t just define the future of money. It is shaping the future of economies and transactions, and ultimately the future.

Author: Jamie Moy

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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