Cryptocurrency market update – Crypto bulls push Bitcoin BTC and major altcoins higher ranges still observed

Cryptocurrency market update – Crypto bulls push Bitcoin (BTC) and major altcoins higher; ranges still observed

  • Bitcoin and major altcoins are range-bound with bullish bias during early Asian hours.

  • A new catalyst is needed to push the coins out of ranges.

The cryptocurrency market has recovered from the recent lows. However, significant resistance levels remain unbroken as Bitcoin (BTC) and all major altcoins are still moving within the recent ranges.

 

Top-20 coins are all in the green zone, with Tezos gaining eye-watering 22% of its value in recent 24 hours. The gains of the rest are less impressive, ranging from 1% to 5%.

 

The total capitalization of all digital assets in circulation settled at $268 billion. The total trading volume slipped to $46 billion, while Bitcoin's market share stayed at 64.5%.

Top-4 coins price overview

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) recovered from the intraday low at $9,575 to trade at $9,660 by the time of writing. Despite the recovery, the bull's momentum is not strong enough to take the coin out of the range, while the critical $10,000 is still a distant dream. BTC/USD has gained about 2% on a day-on-day basis and stayed unchanged since the beginning of Wednesday.

 

Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset with the current market capitalization of $22.7 billion, has grown by 2% on a day-on-day basis and 1% since the start of the Asian session on Wednesday. ETH/USD is hovering above $210, off the intraday low registered at $209.66.

 

Ripple's XRP tested $0.3200 handle, but the barrier proved to be too strong for the bulls. The coin retreated towards $0.3170 and entered a consolidation mode amid low trading activity on the market. Ripple's current market capitalization is registered at $13.6 billion. The coin has gained 3% on a day-on-day basis and stayed unchanged since the beginning of Wednesday.

 

Litecoin (LTC/USD) is hovering around $91.00 during early Asian hours on Wednesday; however, the coin slipped to the fifth place in the global cryptocurrency market rating, giving way to Bitcoin Cash. Litecoin's current market capitalization is registered at $5.7, while an average daily trading volume surpassed $2 billion.

 

 

Tanya Abrosimova

FXStreet

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Cryptocurrencies Are Booming in Smaller Countries

Cryptocurrencies Are Booming in Smaller Countries

Cryptocurrencies are earning their due, and we can thank most of the world’s smaller nations for this.

 

 Cryptocurrencies Are Growing in Stature

Many developed countries, such as the United States, see cryptocurrencies primarily as speculative tools; something to invest in for the sake of becoming rich five, ten or 20 years down the line. Other countries, however, see cryptocurrencies for what they really are – forms of payment. It’s always been the goals of most major cryptocurrencies to be utilized for purchasing goods and services. However, their volatility and consistent price swings have made this very difficult. Many companies do not wish to allow cryptocurrencies as means of payment due to the potential of losing money in the future. Think about this: you use $50 worth of bitcoin to make a purchase, but then the next day, the price goes down and that $50 turns into $30. You still walk off with all your merchandise, but the company has lost $20 in the process. Fair? Hardly, but it seems to be how crypto operates.

For this reason, many countries have sought to either reject or ban the notion of crypto being used to pay for everyday needs, but in some areas, crypto is the only hope for citizens. In third-world or developing nations, for example, where corruption runs rampant within the financial systems or where most people don’t have access to solid credit options like they would with standard institutions, crypto can solve a lot of problems. It moves quickly, for one thing. People can deposit or send money faster than it takes to send or receive fiat.

Prospects like these are beginning to garner notice in regions like Belarus of eastern Europe. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met with cryptocurrency entrepreneur Viktor Prokopenya roughly two years ago to discuss regulating cryptocurrency activity within the nation’s borders. Belarus has since become one of the first nations on the planet to fully legalize and regulate cryptocurrency trades. Citizens are now able to sell, trade and receive cryptocurrencies through a digital exchange managed by Prokopenya. In a recent interview, the entrepreneur

stated:

 The idea was to create everything from scratch. To make sure that it is free in some of the aspects it needs to be free, and very stringent in other aspects.

Since then, other regions – such as Malta and Bahrain – have studied Belarus’ ways of monitoring crypto and implemented similar systems. The idea among these nations (and others) is to create their own specific rulebooks and avoid general legislation that other countries have tried so hard (and failed) to implement.

 Be Lenient and Tough at the Same Time

Jesse Overall, a crypto lawyer at Clifford Chance in New York,

states:

 There are jurisdictions in the see-no-evil, hear-no-evil camp. On the other end, there is the U.S., U.K. and the EU. In the middle, that’s the juicy part of the spectrum.

Article Produced By
Nick Marinoff

https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/cryptocurrencies-are-booming-in-smaller-countries/

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Millennials Next Financial Investors Going Crypto What Does That Mean For Gold and Fiat?

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Millennials Next Financial Investors Going Crypto. What Does That Mean For Gold and Fiat? 

The CEO of Digital Currency Group, Barry Silbert, clarifies his reasoning why the game changer’s of tomorrow are outfitting to dump gold for Bitcoin and other advanced resources. 

Silbert's Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which permits regular financial specialists access to BTC, increased 192% in the second quarter of 2019, surpassing all other funds for the first half of the year. As an early Bitcoin speculator, Silbert has a long-term outlook on the rising innovation of technology, having viewed cryptocurrency fluctuate aggressively through many bull and bear cycles. Presently, by checking the quickly thriving enthusiasm among institutional financial specialists, he accepts gold's status is firmly deteriorating. 

The main concern and bottom line as to the state of gold is it’s clunky, bulky, inconvenient and not conducive to smartphones – not really a Millennial thing, who shop on Amazon, hail rides on Uber, search information on Google, make companions on Facebook, get together on Tinder, stream programs on Hulu, tune in to music on Spotify and track their pulses on a Fitbit.

Silbert is sure the appeal that gold did have will relinquish, right along with physical dollars. He states

“It’s clear that money is going digital, and it’s clear that in the future, physical cash is going to go away. And it’s also clear based on history that fiat currency tends to not exist into perpetuity. The average life of fiat currency over the past 500 hundred is 27 years. So what that means is, on average, in 27 years, a government will destroy their currency or devalue their currency, typically through debasement or through war.”

Silbert says he doesn’t see Bitcoin replacing the US dollar in the short term, but he recognizes we are seeing a changing tide in places like Venezuela, Argentina and other countries with struggling economies where cryptocurrencies have certainly gained a place and paved the way for further development in these challenged economies. 

“It’s clear that something other than the local fiat currency would have real demand and real appeal.”

Barry Silbert shares,

“I think what many gold investors don’t seem to appreciate is that the next generation of investors, the next generation of asset allocators, do not view gold the same way that our parents or grandparents did.”

“Over the next couple of decades, there’s an estimated $68 trillion of wealth that’s going to be handed down. That’s just in the US. That $68 trillion is going to be handed down from Baby boomers to Gen X and Gen Y and Millennials. I’m absolutely convinced that whatever of that $68 trillion is currently in gold, it’s not going to stay in gold. I’m not saying it’s going to Bitcoin but I know it’s not going to stay in gold. So if gold stops performing the way gold investors think it should in periods of high inflation or macro-economic dislocation, I think it’s game over. I think the next generation of investors is going to put their money elsewhere.”

While the 487,000 gold bars weighing in at 6,190 tons or around 12.4 million lbs the Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds for its clients such as the US government, foreign governments, central banks, and other institutions, it continues to decline. The growing number of bitcoin and cryptocurrency supporters declare crypto is a far superior way to store wealth. It’s portable, lightweight and traceable and not held by any conglomerate. 

Over the last 10 years since the advent of Bitcoin, Society has gone through 5 different phases. First, there was denial, then skepticism, then an intellectual curiosity coming through to believing in the new currency and finally evolving into evangelists where cryptocurrency is seen for the greater good it can accomplish for the people en masse. 

 

Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention 

Necessity being the mother of invention has brought forth visionaries, architects and originators of technology to rise up with the purpose of benevolently wanting to see the world a better place. This is now proven as the unbanked and struggling countries experience a better economy, autonomy and financial freedom that was sorely lacking. 

We’ve seen how our privacy has been invaded and free speech curtailed to the point where some lost their livelihood due to being deplatformed from the tech giants of social media. Free enterprise is diminished by the monopolies, and yet there are more people than ever trying to create a home-based business. Many of us strive for a better life for our families and endeavor to seek opportunities that the technology of today can bring. But who do you trust? Is there a place of integrity where the entrepreneurial mindset is revered, not just for the elite or professional, but for the little guy and gal looking to free themselves from the tyrannical pressures? Yes, there is. Read on… 

 

Markethive – A Step Ahead Of The Rest

Markethive and its creator Thomas Prendergast envisioned what has come to pass is the balkanization and autocratic style and behavior of the very influential tech giants that have monopolized the social media and marketing space since the early noughties. What may have been good intentions is becoming a disaster for humanity on every level. 

CEO and Founder of Markethive Thomas Prendergast says,

“Markethive is a philanthropic endeavor. To give, not take. To help not exploit. Markethive is a safe, secure, generous, unique and simply the most powerful marketing social network an Entrepreneur could have. Markethive is an easily understood, gamified, monetized and incentivized to bring the connection back to humanity to really help share and grow each other. We have a culture and a system whereby all users are rewarded for their activity instead of being stripped of everything we do by the social media monopolies for their own gain. The Markethive platform can be utilized by everyone.”

Markethive is the first Social Market Network to be built on the Blockchain. What that means your privacy is ensured, freedom of speech and autonomy is paramount. Markethive has listed its coin (MHV) on an exchange while still in beta until its own exchange and wallet is implemented. 

When I asked what impact will this coin have and how is it utilized for the benefit of all in the Markethive Ecosystem, this is what Thomas had to say,

“The Markethive coin will not be dependent upon speculative value as is the case with other cryptocurrencies and platforms, thereby creating eternal economic velocity in the entrepreneur ecosystem within Markethive. This is a fundamental difference to the other systems currently out there today.  The Markethive system has been developed to produce revenue in the traditional sense with the added benefits of the blockchain taking it to the next level.”

He went on to say, 

“The Markethive Coin is a Consumer coin, is being utilized within the Markethive exchange by way of airdrops and the faucet system which rewards associates using the platform, so the coin is used within the commerce of the system thus creating the velocity. The Revenue is a vehicle that is used to buy the Markethive coin back in the free market so it can be redistributed into the economic vortex of the system. Once the Markethive Exchange and wallet are introduced that will allow Markethive Members to convert their coins to a number of strong cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and fiat. So now is a perfect time to accumulate your coins” 

Thomas concluded by saying, 

 “My vision is to empower and bring prosperity to every living soul with a purpose. Even if that purpose is only to be free from the shackles of the Social Media tyranny we all face. This is a new era with the evolution of technology. It is the next generation.”

“Markethive will be huge. We got things rolling years ahead of others” 

People are now flocking to Markethive. They see what this system is capable of and how they can benefit. Even though Markethive is still in Beta, the Inbound Marketing tools that are forever free, by the way, are operational and the social entrepreneurial culture is alive and well. The launch is set for the 4th quarter of 2019 after 4 years of implementing the Blockchain and perfecting this state of the art system. This is the next generation of all things Social Media and Market Network. 

 

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

 

Published on https://news.livecoinwatch.com/millennials-investors-going-crypto/

 

 

David Ogden
Entrepreneur at  Markethive, a global Market Network, and Writer for the Crypto/Blockchain Industry. Also a strong advocate for technology, progress, and freedom of speech.  I embrace "Change" with a passion and my purpose in life is to help people understand, accept and move forward with enthusiasm to achieve their goals. 

FOLLOW US ON: 
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David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Ten Tips to start the day

1) GIVE YOURSELF TIME

Getting up an hour earlier gives you the time to focus on yourself and set positive intentions for the day.

Rushing your morning routine means you’re more likely to feel flustered and agitated throughout the day. Be generous with yourself and relish that extra time! This will set the tone for the rest of your day.
 

2) ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

American super star Oprah Winfrey’s morning routine starts with opening her eyes and simply saying “Thank you”.

Appreciate the dawn of a new day with all of its myriad possibilities. It really puts a smile on your face.

 

3) DEEP BREATHING, GENTLE YOGA & MEDITATION

Are all great ways to blow off the cobwebs of sleep and gently awaken your mind and body.

On waking it’s a good idea to first take 8-10 deep breaths with one hand on your tummy, the other on the floor. This is both physically energizing and mentally calming. Yoga stretches will help to de-knot your muscles. And just 15 minutes of meditation creates a sense of peace that you’ll carry with you for the rest of the day.

 

4) WRITING

Keeping a notebook first thing in the morning is a great way to shake off worry and create positive intentions for the day ahead.

Just 10-15 minutes of “stream-of-consciousness” writing helps us to discard anxiety and create a sense of optimism and excitement to get the most out of our day, every day.

 

5) OUTDOORS / EXERCISE

Getting out in nature for a brisk walk or a run is a fantastic way to get your energy up.

Exercise releases endorphins – the happy hormones – that flood your body first thing in the morning, filling you with a sense of well being that lasts all day long!

 

6) FEEL GOOD SOUNDS AND SMELLS

Set an alarm tone that’s nice to wake up to, rather than the typical (and stressful!) B-b-b-beep. Create a morning playlist of all your favourite uplifting songs. It’s a sure-fire way to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step (singing along in the shower optional!).

 

You can also create a calm playlist to accompany your yoga or deep breathing. Use an aromatic shower gel or oil to turn your daily shower into a luxury. Wear a scent that gives you a sense of confidence. Put a fresh baguette in the oven or light a scented candle to make your kitchen smell wonderful!

 

7) EVENING ROUTINE

Why do we mention your evening routine when this article is about how to START your day?

Having a good evening routine before going to bed has a big impact on how you sleep – and therefore how well the following day begins. Simple things like turning off the TV an hour before you go to sleep, or taking a herbal tea to bed with a good book before turning off the light … These things can really help improve the quality of your sleep to ensure you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go!

 

8) BREAKFAST

Well known as the most important meal of the day – yet so few of us have a proper breakfast.

Sit down to a delicious, healthy breakfast – it’s also an opportunity to catch up on the news, listen to the radio, enjoy chatting with the family or simply savour in silence. A good breakfast makes for a happy and energy-fuelled day. You wouldn’t drive a car without petrol!
 

9) CUDDLES

Make everyone happy! Start the day feeling loved by giving your kids, partner or pets an extra cuddle in the morning as you set off for the day!

 

10) A CUP OF TEA

Of course we would say that! But really, nothing beats a good cup of tea first thing in the morning.

Reassuringly familiar and always delicious, sit down and relish a cup of Breakfast tea to get your day off to a great start!

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin Falls as Facebook Warns Libra Might Never Launch

Bitcoin Falls as Facebook Warns Libra Might Never Launch

Investing.com – Bitcoin fell on Tuesday in Asia after Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) said in a report that Libra might not “be made available in a timely manner, or at all.”

Bitcoin dropped 2.6% to $9,517.9 by 12:15 AM ET (04:15 GMT). Litecoin fell 1.6% to $89.133, while Ethereum was down 3.3% to $205.25. XRP slipped 1.2% to 0.30800.

In its latest quarterly report, Facebook warned a number of factors could hinder the expected launch of its own cryptocurrency, Libra.

The company originally planned to launch the digital coin in 2020.

“Libra has drawn significant scrutiny from governments and regulators in multiple jurisdictions and we expect that scrutiny to continue,” Facebook said in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“In addition, market acceptance of such currency is subject to significant uncertainty. As such, there can be no assurance that Libra or our associated products and services will be made available in a timely manner, or at all. We do not have significant prior experience with digital currency or blockchain technology, which may adversely affect our ability to successfully develop and market these products and services,” the social media giant added.

In other news, the Iranian cabinet authorized crypto mining as an industrial activity with the move taken as a first step towards legalizing cryptocurrencies, according to Mehr News Agency.

The government cautioned that users of alt coins were solely responsible for the risks involved and that the use of digital currency was still not permitted.

 

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Perverse Outcomes – FATF Bitcoin and Financial Exclusion

Perverse Outcomes – FATF, Bitcoin and Financial Exclusion

In last week’s column — my third on Libra — I referred to a core dilemma confronting the cryptocurrency project’s financial inclusion goals: the impossibility of being both pro-privacy and pro-KYC.

I promise a break this week from Libra and its controversial founder, Facebook. But I want to dive deeper into that dilemma because the problem is hardly unique to that project. As “know-your-customer” rules have steadily encroached into their world, all cryptocurrency startups trying to expand financial access for the poor are hamstrung by requirements to identify and track the people they seek to serve.

This contradiction stems from tough policies contained under Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism rules (AML-CFT), which were tightened worldwide after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and then again after the financial crisis. Since virtually every bank needs access to dollars, KYC rules everywhere tend to follow models laid down in the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act and in guidelines of the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. Further internationalizing pressure comes from the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, which sets the regulatory standards by which countries pressure each other to comply.

This network of rules, which empower enforcement agencies to impose stiff fines, hold the Sword of Damocles over bankers’ heads, driving them into risk-averse positions. Bank compliance officers need only mention HSBC (fined $1.9 billion for enabling Mexican drug money laundering) or Standard Chartered (hit with a $1.1 billion fine for similar lapses with Iran) to convince their bosses of a rigorous approach to identifying and profiling customers.

Yet it’s not clear these measures are effective. The UnitedNations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that a 2-5% of global GDP, or between $800 billion and $2 trillion, is still being laundered each year. Would the figures be higher without these tough rules? Maybe. But we have no counterfactual against which to measure performance.

Criminals still have a host of mechanisms to move money around and avoid sanctions. Yes, some use bitcoin – which is why the FATF this year introduced tougher rules for what it calls “virtual asset service providers” – but cryptocurrency’s role is far smaller than that played by fiat currency banknotes. And as revealed in the Panama Papers in 2015, all sorts of shady entities continue to help crooked politicians and their financiers hide identities and obscure money movements.

What we do know is that these rules hinder financial inclusion.

Caribbean governments, for example, complain that their economies have increasingly suffered “de-risking,” as tougher compliance has stanched investment flows to the islands.

The consequences are even more severe for poorer countries, where state-led IDs are either non-existent or easily forged. The heavy scrutiny that foreign banks apply to their counterparties in FATF-labeled “high-risk jurisdictions” means the bar for businesses and individuals in those countries to obtain local banking services is very high. It’s a key reason why 2 billion people worldwide are considered “unbanked.”

This, of course, has a negative impact on poverty, which in turn feeds crime and terrorism – the very problems AML-CFT is intended to fight.

Consider Somalia, a failed state whose institutions are often blacklisted by the world’s biggest banks. It’s difficult and costly for Somalian expats to send money home to family members who rely on such remittances. This perpetuates poverty, drives people into informal payment systems and fosters the disenfranchising economic conditions in which terrorist organizations such as the Somali-based Al Shabaab thrive.

Talk about a perverse effect.

Is cryptocurrency the answer?

The Cypherpunk answer is to say, screw governments. People should use bitcoin, since it enables peer-to-peer digital payments without the intermediation of a regulated entity.

The problem lies at the crypto on- and off-ramps, where government surveillance has become ever more intense. The FATF’s new “travel rule” says cryptocurrency exchanges should be required to obtain information, not only about their customers but also on their customers’ customers, forcing cross-exchange information-sharing. This suggests the only environment where cryptocurrency transactions will be free from KYC exists solely between self-custody wallets. The minute a transaction touches the custodial structure that underpins most exchanges, cryptocurrency will be subject to KYC reporting.

Decentralized exchanges, or DEXes, which provide price and matching services but take no custody of clients’ coins, might be a way around this problem. Recent FinCEN guidance excluded them from the definition of regulated money service businesses in the U.S.

However, cryptocurrency advocacy group Coin Center has raised concerns that the FATF’s definition of regulated “virtual asset service providers” includes a vague reference to entities which “transfer” funds. Vagueness creates uncertainty, which as we’ve seen with bank compliance officers, is toxic to risk appetites. Many lawyers will advise their DEX clients to impose KYC to be on the safe side.

Also, with Helsinki-based LocalBitcoins announcing new KYC rules this year due to a new Finnish anti-money laundering law, it has become much harder for people to find each other in person and agree on a price for exchanging cryptocurrency for fiat without being officially surveilled.

In any case, it’s simply impractical for people in the developing world to use bitcoin as their main unit of account and medium of exchange. Perhaps Libra, with its basket-based stability mechanism, could evolve into a day-to-day payment vehicle, but as we saw from David Marcus’s testimony to Congress, that corporate-backed project will require KYC.

Bottom line: the poor need an easy-access fiat on-ramp.

Monitoring tech advances

We’re back to square one: financial inclusion goals suffer at the expense of governments’ crime-fighting objectives.

One could argue governments should decriminalize money – combat the actual crimes of drug trafficking, arms dealing, and so forth, but treat the right to exchange value as a human right. Let’s be realistic, though: that isn’t going to happen.

So, how to escape this vicious cycle? The answer may lie in blockchain technology’s own capacity to track transfers between pseudonymous accounts – though not as currently applied.

For some time, transaction-trackers such as Elliptic and Chainalysis have helped law enforcement agencies trace cryptocurrency payments to and from bad guys and provided rigorous AML monitoring audit services to companies.

Now, newcomers such as the Coral Protocol and CipherTrace are using high-tech network analyses and cryptographic protections to help businesses share cryptocurrency metadata to flag suspicious behavior without revealing their customers’ personal identifying information, or PII. These could make it easier for companies to comply with the FATF travel rule and generally create a more sophisticated, systemic analysis of risk.

Quite apart from KYC rules, there’s real value here for a cryptocurrency economy increasingly dominated by “bots.”

Still, there’s no way around the law. At the on- and off-ramps, customers must be ID’ed. And, under order from a law enforcement agency armed with these sophisticated tracking tools, a firm must crack open the black box and release the PII to the authorities.

A new mindset

What if, though, governments concede that it’s both impossible and unnecessary to formally identify poor people at the on and off-ramps? What if they accepted an AML model that treats the endpoints as unidentified nodes and, drawing on these new analytic tools, actively managed access to networks based on behavior not identity?

Here, ongoing research in machine learning and high-performance computing by the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab in collaboration with Elliptic could be a catalyst. As described by lab researcher Mark Weber, the team uses an approach known as “graph convolutional networks” to create enhanced money flow forensics to address the challenges posed by the “complex layering and obfuscation schemes utilized by sophisticated criminal networks.”

Mapping a massive pool of bitcoin transactions, the researchers have isolated patterns that distinguish between illicit and licit behavior. In a forthcoming paper, they posit their work as a contribution to financial inclusion goals.

One day businesses might use such tools to control access points to cryptocurrency networks without applying traditional KYC, ensuring that good guys get financial services but bad guys don’t, even if neither is furnishing an official ID.

Would regulators go for it? Not, it would seem, under the current mindset. Compliance is used to identify and catch criminals, not as way to control access per se. If anything, the regulatory trend has been toward a greater dependence on state ID and ever more conservative treatment of “high-risk” poor people by financial institutions.

Cryptocurrency compliance expert Juan Llanos complains that regulators “are not open to innovation.” He adds, “As long as government ID is the standard, we are going to have this problem. Anything anonymous is controversial and not allowed. It’s very unfortunate.”

Still, the FATF’s latest round of deliberations did contain one olive branch to innovators: a willingness to explore the potential for “digital identity provided by governments or by the private sector.”

Combine that “private sector” line with a brief reference in Libra’s white paper to “portable digital identity” as a financial inclusion solution, and one can at least imagine financial and tech companies such as those the Libra Association’s members hashing out an onboarding solution for the poor that no longer depends on the outdated notion of state IDs.

This approach won’t satisfy hardline privacy advocates, who rightly view exchange as a human right.

But as a pragmatic solution, it’s perhaps the best hope that the world’s 2 billion unbanked have.

 

 

Michael J Casey

Michael J. Casey is the chairman of CoinDesk’s advisory board and a senior advisor for blockchain research at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative.

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Florida Court Summons Wife and Associates of Craig Wright in Billion Dollar Lawsuit

Florida Court Summons Wife and Associates of Craig Wright in Billion Dollar Lawsuit

As part of a pending lawsuit, a Florida judge has requested international judicial assistance from the Queen’s Bench Division in London to summon and question Craig Wright’s wife and associates in court. The Kleiman estate had filed a $10 billion federal lawsuit against self-proclaimed Bitcoin founder Wright in February 2018.

The court filed the petition on behalf of Ira Kleiman, wife of the now-deceased computer scientist, Dave Kleiman. According to Ira, Wright allegedly embezzled over $5 billion worth of Bitcoin at the time of the lawsuit, from her husband, who worked with Wright from 2009 to 2013. The Kleiman estate is looking to recover at least 30,000 BTC from Wright, along with any forked assets.

Wright’s Business Associate and Author Summoned

The Kleiman estate has filed for the motion to question Ramona Watts, the wife of Craig Wright, since she “was identified in his initial disclosures as an individual with knowledge of the facts underlying the plaintiffs’ claims.”

According to the estate, Wright had revealed his mining partnership with Kleiman to his wife, who became the co-director of Bitcoin-related companies with her husband after their marriage.

I addition to questioning Ramona Watts, the Kleiman estate is also looking to obtain the testimony of Andrew O’Hagan, author of the book “The Satoshi Affair.” To prove that he was indeed the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, Wright provided O’Hagan “extensive access” to his life. The estate claimed:

“During this 6-month process, O’Hagan recorded many hours of tape” of his many dozens of hours of conversation with Wright” where they discussed information relevant to the lawsuit.”

Wright’s business associate, Robert MacGregor, was also named since he is acquainted with the details of the partnership between Wright and Kleiman, in addition to being the buyer of “Satoshi Nakamoto’s” life rights.

Bitcoin Inception Partnership: A Betraying Affair?

According to the initial lawsuit filed by the Kleiman estate in 2018, Wright forged Kleiman’s signature to steal his share of the partnership. The value of the overall Bitcoin mined by the duo was worth approximately $10 billion in 2018 when Kleiman’s estate sued Wright.

Addressing claims that the two individuals were involved in the creation of Bitcoin, the estate said that “it was unclear whether Craig, Dave, and/or both created Bitcoin.” Reiterating their demand to receive a fair share of Kleiman’s digital assets, they said,

“It is undeniable, however, that Craig and Dave were involved in Bitcoin from its inception and that they accumulated a vast wealth of bitcoins from 2009 to 2013”.

 

Author Rahul N.

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz: Bitcoin will reach 20000 this year

Crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz: Bitcoin will reach $20,000 this year

In a recent interview, crypto personality Mike Novogratz gives his view of the crypto world for the rest of the year.
 

Earlier this summer, crypto personality Mike Novogratz gave a somewhat modest forecast for bitcoin. He said that the price would stabilize between $10,000 and $14,000.
 

Sometime later, Novogratz, who founded Galaxy Digital (a company that helps institutional clients invest in cryptocurrencies), stated that this time he will not sell any bitcoin when the price hits $14,000.

 

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Novogratz gives his view on the bitcoin price for the rest of the year. He believes the price will reach the previous record highs around $20,000 – as soon as institutional investors start showing great interest again.

This will happen towards the end of 2019, according to Novogratz, something he also mentioned in another prediction in June, Cointelegraph reports.

 

Number of users is crucial

Novogratz also highlighted Facebook’s entry into the crypto world with its planned cryptocurrency libra. He said the social media giant’s over two billion users will be crucial in getting many people to start experimenting with the cryptocurrency.

 

The hard part about doing business is usually to attract customers, according to Novogratz, who also emphasized that the messaging service Telegram will release its cryptocurrency “ton” in just a few months.
 

“In about two or three months Telegram is launching their blockchain. Telegram is about 218 million users. So before Facebook launches, we are going to have a real view at an experiment called Telegram, where they also have a user base”, Mike Novogratz said in the interview, according to Cointelegraph.
 

 

Christian Ploog

christian.ploog@trijo.co

 

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Survey says that Americans prefer Bitcoin over Facebook’s Libra

Survey says that Americans prefer Bitcoin over Facebook's Libra

  • Only 2% of the people trust Facebook's Libra over public cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

  • 77% of people say they do not trust Facebook with their personal data due to previous scandals.

According to a recent survey, people from the US trust Bitcoin more than Facebook's upcoming stablecoin, Libra. 1,799 adults took part in this survey, which started after Facebook's white paper launch in June. Consumer insights provider CivicScience revealed that only 2% of the people that expressed a view would trust Libra and its Calibra wallet more than Bitcoin.

By comparison, 40% of the participants said that they'd trust Bitcoin more while 19% said they'd trust both the cryptocurrencies about the same. It's noteworthy that less than 10% of the surveyed group has actually bought any crypto.

A staggering 77% of the people said that they do not Facebook with their personal data at all, while only 2% said that they trusted Facebook. The poll also revealed that there is also a significant lack of interest in the project. When asked if they were interested in Libra and the wallet, 86% replied that they weren't and 5% said that they were interested.

Regarding the age demographics, the survey showed that age groups between 18 and 24 showed more interest (30%) in Libra. The next biggest age group was the one between 25-29, of whom 18% showed interest. Only 7% of the 65+ age group had any interest in Libra.

Regarding the study, CivicScience said:

"Similar to when Bitcoin first mysteriously surfaced ten years ago and brought with it the cryptocurrency gold rush, no one really knows what to expect when some of the largest corporations in the world collaborate to create their own version. Regardless, it's definitely an exciting trend to watch unfold."

 

Rajarshi Mitra

FXStreet

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Cryptocurrencies price prediction – Bitcoin Ethereum amp EOS – 25 July

Cryptocurrencies price prediction - Bitcoin, Ethereum & EOS - 25 July

Cryptocurrencies price prediction – Bitcoin, Ethereum & EOS – 25 July

Bitcoin price prediction: BTC/USD faces two healthy resistance levels in path back to $10,000

BTC/USD has had a bearish Wednesday wherein the price fell from $9,856 to $9,771.50. In the process, BTC/USD has strung together four straight bearish days where the price fell from $10,768 to $9,771.50, falling by 9.25%. The daily confluence detector shows two prominent resistance levels in its path back to the $10,000-level. On the downside, there aren’t any healthy support levels, indicating a further drop in price.

 

Ethereum price analysis: ETH/USD in recovery mode, gains over 8%

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency with the current market capitalization of $23.7 billion, is hovering above critical $220,00 ??????. The coin tested area above $225.00 during early Asian hours; however, this barrier remains unbroken so far.

EOS price analysis: EOS/USD trending in an upwards channel formation

EOS/USD has had a bullish Wednesday, as the price went up from $4.15 to $4.46, charting a 7.47% increase in valuation. In the process, EOS/USD managed to have two bullish days in a row. Plus, four out of the last five sessions in the EOS/USD daily price chart were bullish.

 

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden