Selling Bitcoin [BTC] for fiat is âreverting to the pastâ, says Tim Draper

Selling Bitcoin [BTC] for fiat is “reverting to the past”, says Tim Draper

Tim Draper made another bullish prediction about the price of Bitcoin [BTC]. He also believes that fiat currencies will become a thing of the past.

He said:

“Price-wise, we’ll continue to see Bitcoin move higher. I’ve revised my estimate up to $250,000 four years out, so we’ll see Bitcoin trade around the $250,000 mark in 2022.”

He said that he is placing his bets on cryptocurrencies increasing the velocity of money, predicting that the cryptocurrency market will hit $140 trillion within the next decade. He said:

“I expect that since cryptocurrencies will increase the velocity of money, the current $86 trillion global market for currency will grow to be about $140 trillion in the next 10 years, and that growth will be in crypto. In fact, I estimate that fiat currencies will actually decrease in use, and that crypto will become as much as $100 trillion of that market. I expect Bitcoin to be about 10% of that market, or $10 trillion. There is a lot of room to grow there.”

He expects that the world would move into the cryptocurrency space, not for storing value, as it is used for today, but as a means of transacting value. He stated that in four years people will start paying in cryptocurrency all over the world.

Draper quoted the problem with Bitcoin as being the small block size which resulted in its inability to conduct microtransactions. He referred to second-layer scaling solutions such as Lightning Network to make the Bitcoin blockchain more suitable for smaller payments. He stated:

“Fiat currency will eventually become as passé as trying to pay for coffee with pennies.”

He also stated that liquidating his portfolio would be moving back to the past, adding that he has no interest in doing so. He said:

“I have no interest in selling my Bitcoin. What would I sell it into anyway? Moving from crypto to fiat is like trading shells for gold. It is reverting to the past. I’m thinking long term I’ll use it, spend it, invest it, or just keep it.”

Author Anirudh VK June 16, 2018

David Ogden (Entrepreneur) I agree with these sentiments, there is only one way forward.

David

The Real Reason Behind Bitcoin’s Price Crash Revealed – Cryptocurrency Today

Bitcoin-Price-Today-What-is-triggering-the-Bitcoin-sell-off

The Real Reason Behind Bitcoin’s Price Crash Revealed -Cryptocurrency Today

Bitcoin investors in the United States are selling off their crypto to pay off capital gain tax.

First-time investors in Bitcoin are faced with large capital gain taxes from the profit they made in 2017. Reports show that they are now selling off quickly before they file their April taxes.

You’ll recall that the IRS made an announcement in 2014 that cryptocurrencies are defined as property and not currency.

The CEO of ARK Invest said in a quote:

“Those who have never paid taxes before are shocked. Many people gained a lot from cryptocurrency last year but currently, do not have enough cryptocurrency to pay taxes for their last year’s gains.”

Also, the founder of OnlineTaxman.com, Vincenzo Villamena said that people have realized that they are stuck with large tax bills. They are either preparing to pay or selling off the cryptocurrency.

How Does Selling Off Cryptocurrency Help People Avoid Paying Huge Taxes?

If an individual buy and sells Bitcoin within the same year, the person will be taxed on short-term capital gains which can be as high as 39% depending on the tax bracket.

Airdrops and Bitcoin mining are also being taxed. However, they are taxed as ordinary income, and so the rate depends on the Individual’s tax bracket. However, when a person holds on to Bitcoin for more than a year before selling, it will only be liable for what the IRS refers to as long-term capital gains. The rate for this kind of tax is significantly lower from about 15 to. 23.8%.

Jun 14, 2018 by Andreas Kaplan

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Bitcoin rebounds after recent bout of heavy selling

KUALA LUMPUR: Bitcoin staged a rebound at midday on Thursday, rising to a high of US$6,495 after falling sharply in recent days.

At midday, it was up US$233 to US$6,495.

Earlier Bloomberg reported that Bitcoin extended losses, bringing its four-session slide to as much as 20 percent, as questions mount about whether the world’s biggest cryptocurrency was manipulated during last year’s record price surge.

After rallying more than 1,400 percent in 2017 amid an investor frenzy for digital assets, Bitcoin is down almost 70 percent to around $6,238 as of 4:37 p.m. in New York on Wednesday, from its record high of $19,511 set in December. It traded at a few cents after being launched in 2009.

“Things have changed for Bitcoin and the crypto space,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at online trading firm Oanda Corp. in London.

“There doesn’t seem to be as much hype, or positive news. Every time we get a negative news story now — after a period of consolidation — we don’t see bullish sentiment come in to support it. It’s almost as if people are waiting to sell it.’'

The virtual currency has struggled to reverse a selloff that coincides with negative news, most recently a study of possible price manipulation using the Tether coin. Bloomberg News reported in May that the Justice Department opened up a

criminal probe into illegal trading practices that can manipulate the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Tether, one of the most-traded cryptocurrencies, shows a pattern of being spent on Bitcoin at pivotal moments, helping to drive the world’s first digital asset to a record price in December, according to research by a University of Texas professor known for flagging suspicious activity in the VIX benchmark.

Questions about Tether and Bitfinex have dogged the cryptocurrency world since last year when Bitfinex lost banking relationships yet continued to operate.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission subpoenaed both firms in December, seeking proof that Tether is backed by a reserve of U.S. dollars, as it claims. Tether and Bitfinex haven’t been accused of wrongdoing.

The digital coin has closed below its 50-, 100- and 200-day moving averages for the past 16 days, the longest stretch below those support levels this year.

In other technical measures, Bitcoin’s relative-strength index has fallen below 30, a level often used in equities and some other asset classes as indicating oversold. It typically rises, snapping back above 30, in a matter of days, according to a five-year analysis.

Many of Bitcoin’s closest peers have also tumbled. Ethereum, the No. 2 coin by market value, and No. 3 Ripple have both dropped about 20 percent this week.

“The entire crypto space seems to be taking the hit now,” Erlam said. “For Bitcoin, $6,000 seems to be a support level now. If I’m bearish, I’m desperate to see it break below $6,000.” – Bloomberg

David

Bitcoin notches two-month low in the wake of cryptocurrency exchange hack

Bitcoin continued to pull back after its initial 10 percent drop over the weekend.
Other major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, also saw declines in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin eased further on Wednesday following its initial drop after the weekend announcement that South Korean cryptocurrency exchange had been hacked.

Other major cryptocurrencies also weakened markedly.

Bitcoin traded as low as $6,455.91 early on Wednesday Asia time, its lowest level since April. Bitcoin pared some of those losses to trade around $6,550.76 by 11:40 a.m. HK/SIN, according to CoinDesk.

Bitcoin had fallen around 10 percent over the weekend following news that South Korean exchange Coinrail had been hacked, with a number of lesser-known cryptocurrencies such as Pundi X counting among those affected. Bitcoin, however, was not mentioned by the exchange in its statements, according to Google translate.

Over the last 24 hours, bitcoin has seen a dip of more than 4 percent, according to CoinMarketCap. So far in 2018, the cryptocurrency is down more than 50 percent.

Chart analysts have indicated that bitcoin's move below the $7,000 mark suggested a speedy recovery was unlikely.

As for other crypto assets, the last day has proven challenging.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down almost 6 percent in the last 24 hours, CoinMarketCap data showed. Ethereum stood at $499.54 at 11:40 a.m. HK/SIN, according to CoinDesk.

Ripple was also lower by nearly 6 percent in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. It traded at 56 cents at 12:15 p.m. HK/SIN.

Author Cheang Ming 13/6/2018

David

Bitcoin Price Breakout Days Away, Long-Term Trend Bullish: Analyst

Bitcoin’s price has bottomed and will break out over the next few days. That’s what Robert Sluymer, head of technical strategy at Fundstrat Global Advisors, predicts.

Sluymer doubled-down on his earlier projection that positive momentum is building for the top cryptocurrency by market cap, and a price spike is just around the corner.

As CCN previously reported, Sluymer said the technical setup is very attractive for a near-term rally. But he also projects a longer-term resurgence is in the making.

‘Markets Always Respond To Technical Analysis’

“I think the markets always respond to technical analysis,” Sluymer said. “Price is news in the crypto world. And there are some very important levels coming up for bitcoin literally in the next couple of days.”

Sluymer said if we define a trend by a series of higher lows, the technical chart shows that there has indeed been a series of higher lows, both recently and dating back to 2016 (see below). That’s a bullish indicator.

Sluymer said the daily chart on bitcoin is also very instructive, as it shows that a bottom has been reached. “This 15-day moving average is a very good proxy for trends,” he said.

“If we think about what does it take to turn a security, a market, or a cryptocurrency around, it first needs to bottom. Then it needs to reverse through that uptrend or downtrend, and then it needs to turn that trend positive.”

Setup In Place For Near-Term Spike

Sluymer said the charts show that BTC prices have hit bottom, so the setup is ripe for a near-term escalation.

“We have step one in place. We have a bottoming phase in place, and it’s starting to go sideways,” he explained. “And it’s right at that point where it’s challenging its downtrend.”

Sluymer said BTC needs to break through two key low points at $7,350 and about $7,000. He said if bitcoin can’t bust through those levels, the longer-term trend turns negative, but that’s unlikely based on technical analysis.

“Once it breaks above $7,800, the trend is clearly pointing up,” Sluymer said. “So the setup is there.”

Another bullish indicator is that bitcoin is currently oversold, with a relative strength index (RSI) that recently topped 40. An RSI of 30 indicates an asset is oversold.

Sluymer said bitcoin’s RSI has stalled and is moving sideways, so it’s moving out of “oversold” territory.

Trading Volume Is Artificially Deflated

Another bullish signal that doesn’t show up on the technical charts is the flourishing over-the-counter market.

“There’s clearly a bigger OTC market developing. We hear it from the brokers and the clients,” Sluymer said. “It is happening. There are trades developing, but we don’t see it in the charts. What you see in the charts is the trading volume getting lighter and lighter and lighter as the cryptocurrency moves sideways.”

Sluymer said huge block trades are occurring but aren’t showing up anywhere, giving a falsely dismal impression of bitcoin trading volume.

Meanwhile, Sluymer’s colleague and boss, Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, “absolutely” stands by his bitcoin price target of $25,000 by the end of the year.

Despite BTC’s recent flailing, the avowed crypto bull predicts bitcoin will clear $25,000 by December 31, 2018.

Lee said that doesn’t mean bitcoin prices will escalate in a linear fashion. “It doesn’t require bitcoin to go up every day until the end of the year,” he noted. But it will hit $25,000, he predicts.

AUTHOR Samantha Chang

David

Bitcoin [BTC] has niche investors, Apple and Twitter CEOs invest!

During an interview with CNBC, Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak calls Bitcoin [BTC] ‘pure’. In addition to this, Steve also mentions that he is not a Bitcoin [BTC] investor but only bought Bitcoin [BTC] to experiment.

Steve Wozniak talks about how much he is intrigued with Bitcoin and mathematics. He also mentioned that he currently owns one Bitcoin and two Ether. He also constantly emphasizes on how similar Bitcoin is to the internet and expects Bitcoin to bring across the revolution internet has brought across.

The Apple Co-Founder talks about his strong belief in mathematics, purity, and science as defining the world. According to him, Bitcoin is mathematically defined as a circle and there’s a way that it’s distributed. He considers Bitcoin [BTC] pure as there’s no person or company running it despite which it continues to grow and survive and this to him is ‘something that is natural… and more important than human conventions.’

He also says that the main reason he sold his $700 BTC was due to the overwhelming price fluctuations in the market. He says:

“I never invested in Bitcoin, I was actually a little worried. Once, all of a sudden the price went up and I had a lot of money in Bitcoin, I said, wait a minute, I only bought to experiment.”

When asked whether Bitcoin will continue to dominate the market with the rise of other platforms like Ethereum and Ripple, he replied:

“We’ve seen a hundred sort of Bitcoin copies, some are faster, some are centralised control, some have other advantages, only Bitcoin is pure digital gold… I totally buy into that…How the math on Bitcoin that it was so correct that it still works.”

He also talks about Bitcoin [BTC]’s price in the future and says that because of Bitcoin’s regulated quantity, the value is down to the demand and supply, and Bitcoin saw a hike to $20000 for a period because ‘more and more people want it.’ He adds:

“So if the demand increases and becomes more and more popular for more things and people start using it, there is no supply; it’s limited. In terms of dollar, yes bitcoin will go up and up in time… things might be sloppy at first and things that change that much in life take a long time to change, they tend to go slowly. We had a crash in the internet age and I see that going on with a lot of blockchain things including Bitcoin itself right now.”

Steve further says that it’s going to take about 10-15 years for Blockchain to become the next widespread technology. He compares blockchain to the internet and says that just the way internet had promised to provide so many services online like bank reservations and airplane reservations, it faced a big crash as all the companies had competed. He continues:

“And here it is, in 2018 all of our life, everything we do with these third-party apps to this day, oh my gosh, this saved me, such a wonderful world. It was the world we talked about than but it just doesn’t happen instantly because people will have to have their mind set changed, culture and tradition and status quo and the way things are doesn’t change that rapidly/ instantly when it’s that huge.”

Simran Alphonso Published on June 6

David

Bitcoin âDies’ for the 300th Time, Trading At $7,300

Bitcoin âDies' for the 300th Time, Trading At $7,300

Bitcoin ‘Dies’ for the 300th Time, Trading At $7,300

Bitcoin (BTC) has recently “died” for the 300th time, according to 99Bitcoins Bitcoin obituary list. The cryptocurrency faced its “most recent death” in the latest “obituary” provided by Forbes.

Bitcoin celebrates its 300th death anniversary following an article from Forbes published May 30. The article claims that Bitcoin’s “Achilles Heel” is the huge amount of electricity required by crypto mining operations.

According to Forbes, Bitcoin miners underestimate the risks associated with energy consumption on the global scale. The report also stresses such issues as power theft and the cost of mining equipment that is becoming more and more expensive:

“Predictably, Bitcoin miners downplay both their energy usage and the threat it poses to ordinary people, ordinary businesses and the planet that they occupy.”

At the time of the latest “death” recorded by 99Bitcoins, BTC was trading at $7,312. In December, when Bitcoin died it’s 200th death, the BTC price hit the $11,000 mark. According to 99Bitcoins stats, the major cryptocurrency “died” 62 times this year.

This year, various pundits and public figures proffered their own suggestions as to why Bitcoin is doomed to fail, including the notorious Warren Buffet statement that Bitcoin is "probably rat poison squared," and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s claim that BTC has “failed” as a currency.

While Bitcoin has recently faced its 300th death and dropped in value by around 20 percent last month, several prominent figures in the tech and business worlds have made bullish statements on its future. Recently, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said that “only Bitcoin is pure digital gold,” reiterating the statement of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey that in a decade BTC will be the “single currency” of the world and the Internet.

According to Cointelegraph’s price index, BTC is trading at $7,407 at press time, having gained around 4 percent over the past week.

Author Helen Partz

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

David

Bitcoin Cash Price Weekly Analysis – BCH USD Gaining Upside Momentum

Key Points

Bitcoin cash price is back in a positive zone and $1,000 with bullish signs against the US Dollar.
There was a break above a crucial bearish trend line with resistance near $980 on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
The pair is now above the $1,040 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours).

Bitcoin cash price is gaining bullish momentum above $1,000 against the US Dollar. BCH/USD has to move above $1,100 to accelerate gains in the near term.

Bitcoin Cash Price Trend

This past week, there were mostly range moves below $1,040 in bitcoin cash price against the US Dollar. The price was struggling to gain pace above the $1,020 and $1,040 resistance levels. Finally, there was an upside break and the price settled above the $1,040 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours). During the upside move, the price broke many hurdles, including the $1,000 barrier.

Moreover, there was a break above the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,323 swing high to $871 low. More importantly, there was a break above a crucial bearish trend line with resistance near $980 on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair. The pair is now placed nicely in a positive zone above $1,040. At the moment, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,323 swing high to $871 low at $1,096 is acting as a resistance. A break and close above $1,100 is needed for more gains towards $1,200.

Looking at the chart, the price action is positive above $1,000. On the downside, the broken resistances at $1,040 and $1,000 are likely to act as supports if the price moves down.

Looking at the technical indicators:

4-hours MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is gaining momentum in the bullish zone.

4-hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now well above the 60 level.

Major Support Level – $1,000

Major Resistance Level – $1,100

Author AAYUSH JINDAL | JUNE 3, 2018 | 5:08 AM

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

David

Buy bitcoin now while it’s still cheap, says cryptocurrency hedge-fund owner

Buy bitcoin now while it's still cheap, says cryptocurrency hedge-fund owner

Cryptocurrencies are cheap right now, says Dan Morehead, founder of Pantera Capital Management. So it's a good time to buy.
Bitcoin was priced around $7,500 on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET — down more than 50 percent from December 2017 highs of approximately $19,500.

Bitcoin may have reached its bottom this year, Dan Morehead, founder of Pantera Capital Management, told CNBC. So now is a good time to buy.

"All cryptocurrencies are very cheap right now," said Morehead, who serves as CEO and co-chief investment officer of Pantera.

As a whole, cryptocurrencies have declined about 65 percent from their highs this year, he said.

"It's much cheaper to buy now and participate in the rally as it goes," Morehead said Thursday on "Fast Money."

Bitcoin, one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, reached highs of $19,500 last December, only to dip below $6,000 in February. On Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. ET, bitcoin was priced around $7,500.

The volatile nature of all cryptocurrencies has left market watchers on edge amid looming regulatory concerns. Cryptocurrency is still a largely unregulated industry.

But this might work in investors' favor, Morehead said.

"Many institutions are essentially buying the rumor [of potential SEC regulations] and selling the fact," he said. "Getting invested now so that in three, four, five months when the institutional, quality-regulated custodians that we're hearing about come online, they'll already have their positions."

His tip for investors: Buy a currency once it breaks its 230-day moving average, wait a year and sell.

"Without even thinking about it," Morehead said, "you make an average of 239 percent."

The trader said this strategy is best illustrated in bitcoin, a coin in which it "happened about five times in the last six years," he said.

"That's the essence of this trade: It rarely ever gets cheap to its long-term average," Morehead said. "So today is a good day to be buying."

Pantera Capital Management, which Morehead founded in 2013, is one of the first U.S. bitcoin firms. The company owns about 35 pre-auction ICOs and about 25 liquid blockchain currencies, including XRP, ethereum and bitcoin.

Author Kellie Ell

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Bitcoin Price May Be âFear Gauge’ for Stock Market -VIX Analyst

Bitcoin Price May Be ‘Fear Gauge’ for Stock Market -VIX Analyst

Like all digital assets, the bitcoin price is notoriously volatile, but a surprising pattern has emerged from that volatility which may have wider ramifications for the traditional finance markets as a whole.

The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, is an established measure of volatility in the overall marketplace long-used by traders to give them an impression of investor fear in the market

VIX analyst and President of Equity Armor Investments Brian Stutland — better known as the “The Fear Merchant” — believes that the bitcoin price is actually predicting the VIX one month in advance.

Speaking with CNBC, he said

“There is huge correlation right now between VIX and bitcoin 30 days ago, 30 trading days ago, that is starting to measure out credit risk in the market. That’s what cryptocurrency is becoming. It’s becoming a way to sort of de-risk yourself from credit risk in the banking industry.”

Because cryptocurrencies are largely unregulated and allow investors to move their money off the balance sheets of banks and decrease credit risks, Stutland thinks they may be using bitcoin as a safe haven from the stock market despite the volatility of the former to avoid credit risks by putting their money in a more “off-grid” position.

“Bitcoin is a way to for investors to basically move their money off the balance sheets of banks and into their own wallets,” he added. “Essentially storing their money under their pillow in the form of virtual currency.”

While bitcoin’s reputation as a volatile cryptocurrency may give the impression that stock traders would shun it in favor of a more stable haven, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton pointed out that these days bitcoin is actually less volatile than the VIX, something that may come as a surprise to many.

“Just recently the volatility in bitcoin was not as great as the volatility we’ve seen in other securities, such as the VIX product,” said Clayton.

The benefits of avoiding credit risk plus the median stability provided by bitcoin compared to the stock market overall may have turned bitcoin into a leading indicator in the stock market.

If true, the implications are huge, meaning that the bitcoin price is actually a marker by which traders can predict stock market behavior. As credit risk increases, volatility in the marketplace does as well. Time will tell if the analysis is accurate, but if it is, the stock market is in for a bearish trend over the next few weeks.

AUTHOR Conor Maloney

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