Bitcoin Just Surged Past $7,000. Here’s Why

Bitcoin Just Surged Past $7,000. Here's Why

Talk about a roller coaster.

As of late Thursday, the price of Bitcoin was about $7,000, having reached the threshold for the first time just hours earlier. The upswing continued a rally that started Wednesday, when the Chicago Merchantile Exchange announced plans to offer Bitcoin futures — a move that could add even more institutional investors to Bitcoin markets and theoretically push up prices.

While Bitcoin investors cheered the rally, dubbing the CME’s decision a step toward legitimizing the cryptocurrency, it was also a reminder that digital coins still have a ways to go before reaching widespread mainstream adoption.

After breaching $6,500 for the first time a day earlier, Bitcoin prices surged as high as $7,350 in trading Thursday likely thanks to traders in Asia noticing the CME’s announcement.

“This is Asia waking up and FOMO,” said Timothy Enneking, managing director at Crypto Asset Management, referring to the fear of missing out on a potentially lucrative rally.

But the euphoria didn’t last. Over the course of the following 20 minutes or so, bitcoin prices shed $550 to hit $6,800—a 7.5% swing. While the volatility of Bitcoin has lessened since its inception, the price swings have continued to worry regulators and institutional investors—deterring widespread use.

Bitcoin's Three-Day Ride

Earlier this year for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission denied a proposal that would allow for a Bitcoin exchange traded fund, or ETF. Some Bitcoin investors had hoped an ETF tied to the cryptocurrency would do what they now expect the CME’s decision to do: Bring in more institutional investors.

In the filing denying the proposal, the SEC noted that Bitcoin had “fundamental flaws” that made it a “dangerous asset class to force into an exchange traded structure.”

Those flaws included price volatility, low liquidity, shallow trading volumes, and oversized exposure to trading in countries with weak regulatory oversight.

Bitcoin on the Rise

The price of Bitcoin reached three milestones in the last 30 days.

Granted, Bitcoin investors are hoping that the CME’s decision, which is still pending regulatory review, will increase the number of players in the market, thereby solving some of those problems by lowering volatility and increasing liquidity.

But other issues, including building a regulatory frame for Bitcoin both in the U.S. and abroad will take time. On top of that, Bitcoin is still undergoing growing pains on the technological side. Bitcoin users are now preparing for a potential “2x hard fork” called “Segwit2x” coming later this month.

Since Bitcoin is decentralized, its users must agree to update to the same software and rules to keep the cryptocurrency running. If just some users decide not the abide by those changes, it creates a new cryptocurrency. So far, the 2x hard fork, which would in theory increase the speed of transactions by increasing the size of blocks to 2 megabytes from 1 megabyte, has been divisive. The lack of consensus has spurred worries that the Bitcoin community itself could fragment.

And despite news of the CME’s decision, Thomas Lee, who is bullish on the cryptocurrency, warned Thursday owners will have to clench their teeth as bitcoin prices may still have further to fall before rebounding.

“For those tactically minded, we would be buyers of bitcoin in the $5,500 range, but such a pullback does not need to happen,” Lee, a managing partner of Fundstrat Global Advisors wrote in a Thursday note. In the long-term, Lee expects Bitcoin prices to reach $25,000 by 2022.

Authors: Lucinda Shen and Grace Donnelly November 2, 2017

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

Bitcoin soared above $6,900 despite strong regulatory warning from Securities and Exchange Commission

The price of bitcoin, the red-hot digital coin up more than 550% this year, soared past $6,900 to $6,916 Wednesday evening, according to data by Markets Insider.
The rally comes ahead of a warning by the Securities and Exchange Commission on initial coin offerings, a cryptocurrency-based fundraising method.

Bitcoin blew past $6,900 Wednesday even after the Securities and Exchange Commission warned investors about celebrity endorsements for certain cryptocurrency-based fundraising efforts.

The red-hot digital currency traded at an all-time high of $6,916 per coin, according to Markets Insider data, on Wednesday. The rally followed a price spike triggered by the announcement of the potential launch of a bitcoin-linked financial product by exchange giant CME on Tuesday. The coin is up more than 550% this year.

The upward march continued Wednesday evening despite a warning by the SEC about initial coin offerings, a red-hot fundraising method.

ICOs, according to fintech analytics firm Autonomous NEXT, have raised more $2 billion this year. A number of celebrities from champion boxer Floyd Mayweather to Paris Hilton have supported ICO projects in recent months. But the SEC said Wednesday that such endorsements do not mean that such investments are sound. Here's the agency (emphasis theirs):

"Celebrities, from movie stars to professional athletes, can be found on TV, radio, and social media endorsing a wide variety of products and services – sometimes even including investment opportunities. But a celebrity endorsement does not mean that an investment is legitimate or that it is appropriate for all investors. It is never a good idea to make an investment decision just because someone famous says a product or service is a good investment."

The SEC added that some celebrity endorsers may not be educated on the investment opportunities they promote. Here's the SEC:

"Investors should note that celebrity endorsements may appear unbiased, but instead may be part of a paid promotion. Investment decisions should not be based solely on an endorsement by a promoter or other individual. Celebrities who endorse an investment often do not have sufficient expertise to ensure that the investment is appropriate and in compliance with federal securities laws."

A number of countries, including China, have deemed ICOs illegal because startups have used the method to raise quick money without disclosing substantive information to investors.

The SEC provided its first guidance on ICOs in July. The financial watchdog said ICOs can sometimes be considered securities — and as such are subject to strict laws and regulations.

Author: Frank Chaparro

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

Bitcoin Price Boom Sees Students Flocking to Take Cryptocurrency Courses

The rise of bitcoin is seeing an increasing number of students signing up for cryptocurrency classes at top computer science schools such as Stanford.

According to Dan Boneh, co-director of the Stanford Computer Security Lab and professor of cryptography, he is attracting a large number of people to his cryptocurrency courses. As a cryptography researcher for almost 30 years, Boneh began teaching a bitcoin and cryptocurrency class in 2015, attracting more than 100 students. His online cryptography course has seen over one million signing up, reports CNBC.

As a result of bitcoin’s increase in value more students are turning their attention to learning more about them. To date, the digital currency has hit a new all-time high near $6,500 pushing its market value above $100 billion. It’s no surprise then that a rising interest is being experienced. Aside from the huge attraction in the valuation of cryptocurrencies, Boneh believes that they have another benefit too.

He said:

Cryptocurrencies are a wonderful way to teach cryptography. There are a whole bunch of new applications for cryptography that didn’t exist before.

Boneh’s online textbook is also being employed across the state. In Pittsburgh, at the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science, Vipul Goyal, faculty member in the Computer Science Department at CMU, is heading a class called Special Topics in Cryptography. Offered for the first time this year, around 20 students, mostly PhD candidates, are taking the class, focusing on digital currencies such as bitcoin and the blockchain.

Last year, the University of California at Berkeley launched a class called the Cryptocurrency Decal. In 2015, the MIT’s Media Lab created the Digital Currency Initiative.

Just as there has been an increase in the number of students taking cryptocurrency courses, so too has there been a rise in the number of bitcoin-related jobs.

According to employment marketplace Freelancer, there has been an 82 percent increase in jobs related to bitcoin. Speaking to CNBC, Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer, said earlier this week that one of the main skills that employers are looking for is a candidate’s ability to manage initial coin offerings (ICOs).

He said:

People are getting freelancers to design new types of cryptocurrencies.

The marketplace adds that employers want people to create new digital currencies and to create proposal plans for technologies utilizing blockchain.

In the third quarter of the year, Freelancer listed 480,000 new jobs. To date it has more than 12 million and 25 million active users on its site.

Author: Rebecca Campbell on 31/10/2017

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

Vietnam Becomes the Latest to Ban Bitcoin, but in China, the Rules May Be Changing

Vietnam became the latest nation state to launch an attack on cryptocurrency, as regulators sided with the alarmists without providing much of a rationale.

Vietnam Issues Ban

The ban, which applies to all cryptocurrencies not deemed legal tender, was issued via formal statement by the State Bank of Vietnam. The punishment for accepting or offering payments in bitcoin can run more than $8,000 USD.

Vietnam’s central bank says only traditional forms of payment are accepted within its borders. This includes cash, checks, credit cards and other electronic payments.

The state-run bank has issued the following statement, according to Mirror:

“Bitcoin virtual currency and other similar is not lawful means of payment in Vietnam; The issuance, supply, use of bitcoin and other similar virtual currency as a means of payment is prohibited in Vietnam.”

The announcement, whenever it was made, had very little impact on cryptocurrency trading. At press time, bitcoin (BTC/USD) was trading at $6,162 for a gain of $57.

The bulls blew the door wide open this weekend, sending bitcoin north of $6,300 for the first time ever.

Chinese Ban? Let’s Move to Hong Kong

Now that China’s Communist Party gathering has come and gone, sanity appears to be returning to public discourse. That is, according to a recent report from CNLedger, which our pals at CCN.com recently covered. The trusted news sources have revealed that OKEX is expected to launch its peer-to-peer OTC bitcoin trading platform shortly.

As it turns out, OKEX and several other leading blockchain companies like BTCC and Huobi-Pro are located in Hong Kong. Theoretically, their presence in the Special Administrative Region allows them to circumnavigate the mainland’s recent ban on everything crypto-related.

It should be noted that OKEX is offering a bitcoin-to-crypto trading platform. Regardless of what Beijing thinks, it might not be a good idea to launch this platform on the mainland. That’s because the Chinese government recently blocked a major port for MetaTrader4, which is the engine of the online forex community.

Regulators have apparently shut down port ‘443’, which is used for secure web browser communications. The port also happens to be the one MT4 brokers use to connect to their trading server.

The port probably inhibits the government’s ability to spy on traders, or at least monitor their data flows (like that’s different?). There’s reason to believe this ban could extend to other trading platforms that utilize a similar standard.

Last month, China broadened its online censorship by blocking WhatsApp, the popular messaging platform acquired by Facebook for way too much. The ban was another blow to the social networking giant, as it too is banned on the mainland.

Author: Sam Bourgi

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

Bitcoin Price Going From $4,000 to $400,000 is Easy – Hedge Fund Manager Mark Yusko

Bitcoin Price Going From $4,000 to $400,000 is Easy - Hedge Fund Manager Mark Yusko

Bitcoin Price Going From $4,000 to $400,000 is Easy – Hedge Fund Manager Mark Yusko

Mark Yusko, the founder & CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Management, the $3.7 billion North Carolina-based investment firm, has stated that the bitcoin price is expected to reach $400,000 in the long-term.

Over the past 12 months, the price of bitcoin has increased from less than $900 to over $5,900. In a relatively short-term, the bitcoin price has demonstrated an exponential rate of growth, almost immediately recovering from China’s ban on cryptocurrency trading and increasing from $3,300 to $5,900 within two months.

According to Yusko, the highly regarded hedge fund manager, the challenge for bitcoin at its early stage was to surpass the $100 mark. Today, the price of bitcoin is closing on the $6,000 region, and Yusko emphasized that the long-term target of $400,000 should be “easy” to achieve.

“Only gamble was whether bItcoin would make if from $0 to $100, that was the real miracle. Going from $4,000 to $40,000 or $400,000 is easy,” said Yusko.

Confidence Behind the Statement of Yusko

High profile hedge fund managers such as Yusko, billionaire investor Mike Novogratz, and executives at Fidelity, a financial services company with over $2 trillion assets under management, have publicly expressed their certainty over bitcoin’s long-term performance.

Novogratz, who recently established a cryptocurrency focused hedge fund, revealed that an increasing number of institutional investors and large-scale retail traders are preparing to engage in bitcoin and cryptocurrency trades. He stated:

“I can hear the herd coming. I was just in San Francisco, met with a few big institutional investors and their still a ways away but they’re coming. Lots of funds are being raised and so I’m pretty confident to say that it [Bitcoin price] is going higher.”

Investors such as Novogratz and Yusko are confident in the mid and long-term performance of bitcoin because of the increasing interest and demand for bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market from the traditional financial industry.

Already, exchanges like LedgerX, an institutional trading and clearing platform approved by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to trade and clear swaps and options on digital currencies, has started to facilitate the settlement of options, futures, and derivatives trades around bitcoin. According to the LedgerX team, during its first week of operation, it has settled over $1 million worth of trades, which was an unexpected volume for the company.

“We ended up completing swaps and options trades worth over $1,000,000 USD. Crucially, these trades were cleared through LedgerX, which is the only institutional grade, US federally regulated exchange and clearing house for digital currencies. And we are literally just getting started,” said LedgerX.

Some of the largest financial institutions and exchanges in the US including CBOE, the largest options exchange in the country, are preparing to address the growing demand for bitcoin from institutional investors, which is a positive indicator for bitcoin’s long-term growth

Author Joseph Young

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

Ethereum and Bitcoin Price Decline Again – Major Factors For Mid-Term Recovery

Ethereum and Bitcoin Price Decline Again - Major Factors For Mid-Term Recovery

Ethereum and Bitcoin Price Decline Again – Major Factors For Mid-Term Recovery

The price of Ethereum and bitcoin have declined in the past two days, with the bitcoin price struggling to rebound beyond the $5,700 mark and the price of Ether dipping below the $300 region again.

Although the price of bitcoin has increased since plunging to $5,300 prior to the Bitcoin Gold hard fork, over the past 24 hours, the price of bitcoin declined from $5,767 to $5,680.

Like bitcoin after the disappointing release of Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum was expected to sustain its upward momentum in the mid-term subsequent to the Byzantium hard fork. But, primarily affected by a series of minor corrections of the cryptocurrency market, the price of Ether has struggled to surpass the $300 mark in the past week.

Factors For Recovery: BItcoin

It has been evident over the past week by the trend of the bitcoin price that the Bitcoin Gold hard fork has had a direct impact on the short-term price trend of bitcoin. Experts including highly regarded bitcoin developer Jimmy Song noted that prior to the Bitcoin Gold hard fork, a relatively large portion of users migrated their funds from bitcoin wallets and exchanges to alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) to avoid the Bitcoin Gold hard fork.

The majority of investors and traders were seeking to avoid the Bitcoin Gold hard fork because it had lacked strong replay protection before the fork, which is necessary for bitcoin wallets and exchanges to credit users with Bitcoin Gold on a 1:1 ratio with bitcoin. But, even after the fork, the Bitcoin Gold development team has failed to deliver on their promise and have not implemented any sort of replay protection.

Consequently, wallets like Trezor and Blockchain have not been able to provide support for Bitcoin Gold deposits, withdrawals,and trading.

More to that, at this phase of development, it is difficult to justify whether Bitcoin Gold is an actual cryptocurrency, because it lacks hash power, wallets, miners, and a client.

Analysts such as Bitfinexed, a popular cryptocurrency blogger, stated:

As the bitcoin market recovers and restructures from the controversial Bitcoin Gold hard fork, it is likely that the price of bitcoin will be able to rebound in the upcoming days, at least until the SegWit2x hard fork scheduled for November 16. Several investors like Tuur Demeester emphasized that a similar trend as Bitcoin Gold is expected around mid-November, as bitcoin investors could potentially migrate to other altcoins to avoid the fork.

Ethereum Price Remains Below $300

Since early September, prior to the initial coin offering (ICO) and cryptocurrency trading ban by the Chinese government, the price of Ether has struggled to remain in the $300 region, despite significant optimism surrounding developer activity and solutions on Ethereum such as the Byzantium hard fork and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s scalability solution Plasma.

As demonstrated in the two price charts above, the price trend of Ether is often correlated with the short-term performance of bitcoin. Hence, during certain periods in which the price of bitcoin corrects itself, the price of Ether is likely to fall by a similar margin.

But, adoption of Ethereum is an important indicator for the mid and long-term price trend of Ether. Earlier this week, Blockchain, the second most popular bitcoin wallet behind Coinbase, announced the integration of Ethereum into its mobile wallet, the most widely utilized bitcoin mobile wallet in the market.

Author: Joseph Young on 28/10/2017

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

There are now more than 120 hedge funds focused solely on bitcoin, digital currencies

Data shared exclusively with CNBC from financial research firm Autonomous Next shows the number of funds investing in digital assets like bitcoin has grown rapidly to 124.
Autonomous Next also estimates that the "crypto-funds" have about $2.3 billion in total assets under management.
While several leading Wall Street banking executives remain skeptical about bitcoin, more seasoned money managers are moving into digital assets management.

More than 90 funds focused on digital assets like bitcoin have launched this year, bringing the total number of such "crypto-funds" to 124, according to financial research firm Autonomous Next.

Data shared exclusively with CNBC Friday showed that the largest share of the funds, 37 percent, used venture capitalist-type strategies and had about $1.1 billion in assets under management. Funds focused on trading digital assets came second at 32 percent, with about $700 million in assets under management.

Funds specifically using machine learning, data science or statistical arbitrage on digital currencies came in third at 10 percent and $100 million in assets under management, the data showed.

Total assets under management by crypto-funds now stands at $2.3 billion, according to Autonomous Next's estimates.

Source: Autonomous Next

This year's surge in the price of bitcoin and another digital currency, ethereum, have drawn attention to the cryptocurrencies and the potential of their blockchain technology. Proponents say blockchain could transform the world as much as the internet did, and several major banks are researching or developing blockchain projects.

Digital currency enthusiasts also attribute much of the latest surge in bitcoin to record highs above $6,100 to increased interest from institutional investors. While several leading Wall Street banking executives remain skeptical about bitcoin, more seasoned money managers are moving into digital assets management.

Notably, former Fortress hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz is launching a $500 million digital assets fund through his new firm, Galaxy Investment Partners. The fund is expected to be the largest of its kind.

Besides investing in digital currencies like bitcoin and ethereum, enthusiasts are betting on a slew of new digital coins for projects built on the same blockchain technology. The tokens are launched through a process called an initial coin offering and have raised just over $3 billion, according to Autonomous Next.

That said, many of the digital coin projects are still in very early stages. China has banned initial coin offerings, while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has warned investors about the risks of investing in them.

The overall number of crypto-funds and their assets under management is also still minuscule compared to the record $3.15 trillion held by the hedge fund industry in the third quarter, according to HFRI.

WATCH: What is an ICO?

Author: Evelyn Cheng

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

Bitcoin Price Storms to $5,955 as Bitcoin Gold Fizzles

The crypto markets experienced a moderate recovery on Thursday, as the bitcoin price began to recover from the dip that it entered following the Bitcoin Gold hard fork. Many altcoins achieved slight price bumps as well, enabling the total cryptocurrency market cap to rise above the $172 billion mark.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

Early in the day, it appeared that the markets were heading south, continuing their movement from the previous day. However, they began to tick up on Wednesday afternoon, and the crypto market cap currently sits at $172.5 billion, which represents a 24-hour increase of $5.1 billion.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin Price Recovers Near $6,000

The recovery was fueled by a 7.5% bitcoin price rise. After beginning the day in decline, the bitcoin price consolidated support at the $5,485 mark and reversed its trajectory leading into Thursday morning. At present, the bitcoin price is trading at $5,955, which translates into a $99.1 billion market cap.

Bitcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

It is not immediately clear what is fueling this march back toward $6,000, but many analysts believe it is an early phase of bitcoin’s eventual transformation into a mainstream asset. Standpoint Research’s Ronnie Moas, for instance, recently predicted that the bitcoin price will reach $50,000 over the course of the next decade.

Ethereum Price Stuck Below $300

The ethereum price made a minor gain on Thursday, advancing about seven-tenths of one percent to increase to a present value of $299. Nevertheless, it was unable to pierce the $300 mark or break out of that threshold’s gravitational pull. Ethereum maintains a market cap of about $28.5 billion.

Ethereum Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

‘Cash’ Rises as ‘Gold’ Fizzles

The bitcoin cash price outperformed the majority of top-tier cryptocurrencies on Thursday, rising as high as $347, although it has since tapered to $340. This is likely due to the dismal performance of Bitcoin Gold — another altcoin created from a Bitcoin fork — during its first few days on the exchanges.

Bitcoin Cash Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Unlike Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold has virtually no community and institutional support, and that has been reflected in its declining price. After debuting near $500, the bitcoin gold price has plunged to $131 — even amid buy pressure from margin traders who needed to purchase it to pay back lenders — and this may worsen when the network officially launches and traders are able to begin making deposits on exchanges.

Bitcoin Gold Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

This bodes well for bitcoin cash, because industry observers theorize that subsequent forks of bitcoin will have diminishing returns and that the forked coins may cannibalize one another. Though it is still early, it appears that bitcoin cash will emerge the victor in this contest with bitcoin gold.

Altcoins Post Minor Gains

Altcoins — led by bitcoin cash — generally made gains on Thursday, although a few top 10 cryptocurrencies did not participate in the advance.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

The ripple price rose about one-half of one percent, but this was not enough to push XRP’s market cap back across the $8 billion threshold. The litecoin price increased 3%, while dash and NEM sat the rally out. Bitconnect led top 10 cryptocurrencies, posting a 12% increase that raised its price to $219, but the NEO price dropped below the $30 mark after a 4% pullback. Tenth-ranked monero achieved a minor gain, but its price continues to trade below $90.

Author Josiah Wilmoth on 26/10/2017

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

Managing Enormous Risk – Bitcoin and Altcoin Investment Strategies

Managing Enormous Risk - Bitcoin and Altcoin Investment Strategies

Managing Enormous Risk – Bitcoin and Altcoin Investment Strategies

While some have made millions investing in digital currencies, others would call it degenerate gambling. If you’re reading this, then you know how exciting and unpredictable the crypto world is. Fortunes are built and demolished in seconds, new and exciting technology pops up every day, and controversy rules the land. It’s pretty much the Wild West of finance.

The unprecedented growth of cryptocurrencies has attracted investors from all walks of life, many of whom have been enticed by the staggering returns made by early investors. If this sounds like you, then keep reading. Unfortunately, we're not going to teach you how to get rich in a few days; in fact, we're going to try and deter you from that objective.

Not that we don’t want you to be super-rich, don’t get us wrong. But we prefer to have more grounded goals and we want you to do the same. Investment is a tricky game and the patient person usually wins. Avoiding “fear of missing out” (FOMO) is essential, especially in crypto, where disinformation, fake news and drama are commonplace.

So what exactly is the point of this article, you may wonder? Well, today, we want to give new players in the cryptosphere some ideas on how they can begin to navigate the tricky world of investment. We feel this is important due to the growing amount of scams and low quality projects out there.

We’re not saying that the strategies we discuss are foolproof or even profitable. They are not based on any mathematical formula nor were they devised by any experienced investment professional. These are simple ideas that are popular among entrants and old school digital currency investors alike.

It’s important to note that this article is not to be taken as investment advice and that you should always remember the golden rule of investment: Never invest more than what you can afford to lose.

Diversify and play it safe

This is a simple one. If your portfolio only has one coin on it, you’re doing it wrong. Now, we know some people will say Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency you should own, but at this point it’s safe to say that this is an absurd statement founded on feelings and ideals, rather than actual facts.

Bitcoin is thriving because it is the first and most popular cryptocurrency out there. It has the first mover advantage and it is also backed by an extensive network of miners who keep it safe. In terms of technology or features, however, Bitcoin falls short of its peers. We’re not saying you shouldn’t have Bitcoin, but you should also acknowledge other cryptocurrencies out there.

It may be a good idea to play it safe, however, and to “bet” on the most popular coins only, such as the top 10 by market capitalization. At present, those are: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dash, NEM, NEO, BitConnect and Monero.

Bet on the idea, not the project

The world of Blockchain technology has evolved to a point where currency is just one of the many functions a cryptocurrency can have. There are smart contract platforms like Ethereum, NEO and Qtum, there are decentralized storage networks like Storj, Sia Coin and Filecoin and there are decentralized exchange platforms like Waves, Bitshares and others.

Our suggestion is, instead of buying one cryptocurrency in each category, you should spread your investment throughout multiple options inside each category. This will allow you to reduce the risk of investing in one single currency. In the world of crypto, a technical difficulty or even a grievance within one of the teams can lead to an rapid crash in the price, regardless of how promising the project and tech are. Just look at what happened with Tezos.

Hedging

Again, diversification is the name of the game. If you’re in crypto, then you are probably aware of how risky it all is. The cryptocurrency movement could end in days if some major security flaw was discovered or if all governments decided to ban them. The same can happen if some new and improved alternative to Blockchain technology comes along. These are, of course, worse case scenarios that are unlikely but possible nonetheless.

So, if you’re not one to have all your eggs in the same basket, you may want to extend your investment strategy to instruments outside of crypto. Precious metals, stocks, and other traditional investment vehicles may be a great addition to your portfolio and will allow you to reduce the risk you would take by investing in cryptocurrencies only.

Some companies, for example, manage cryptocurrency investment funds that combine cryptocurrency investments with investments in other sectors, like real estate. We talked to Kirill Bensonoff, CEO and founder of Caviar, about the importance of heeding your investment in the cryptocurrency space with traditional instruments.

He stated:

“We found a couple of major issues with crypto-asset investing, namely, it’s difficult and time consuming, and all assets are highly correlated. There is no ‘safety’ asset that also produces an income. We also see a movement towards having crypto be backed by traditional assets, such as gold, real estate and others, and we are addressing this head on.”

Liquidity, liquidity, liquidity

This is something that many new players forget about. You may find yourself investing in a cryptocurrency, having it increase in value several times over, only to realise that you can’t really sell it. If you try to sell large amounts at once, you’ll crash the price. Why? Because there is no liquidity. If a coin has no trading volume, significant price swings are bound to happen.

You can play it safe and avoid low volume coins all together but if you don’t want to, the least you can do is to know the risk you’re taking. CryptoCompare has a portfolio tool that allows you to analyse several risk factors in your portfolio, including volatility, exposure and, of course, liquidity. Their tool allows you to get an estimate of how long it would take to sell a certain coin based on the current volume. We asked Charles Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare, why this tool is important for entrant users. He stated:

“We want to make it easy for users to track how well they're doing. Crypto is risky in the extreme and we want to help people understand where these risks lie and how to quantify them.”

Room to grow

Remember what we just told you about liquidity? Well, this strategy is somewhat contradictory, but it’s important to note that not all of these strategies are compatible with one another. Also, some involve more risk than others, and this one is risky. So, what do we mean with “room to grow”?

Small market cap cryptocurrencies have more growth potential than the ones at the top. Of course, other factors will determine if the price will rise or not but the idea is that, if you invest in cryptocurrencies before they are big, you may get to see your investment grow several times over.

Now, before you go to the nearest exchange and start stacking up on useless meme coins, have a think about what you want to buy. Then, perform your due diligence, check the roadmap, check the team, read the whitepaper, learn about the technology. Do everything in your power to ensure that your investment is justified. This will also make it easier for you to stick to your strategy, knowing that you are invested in something you believe in.

Technical analysis

Yes, chart wizardry. To be honest, I have no idea how it works and I admire anyone that does. All those numbers and lines give me headaches. Nevertheless, if you have it in you, learning T.A. can do wonders for your investment strategy even if you only touch the surface! We asked Jonathan Hobbs, CFA and author of the Stop Saving Start Investing: Ten Simple Rules for Effectively Investing in Funds investment book how technical analysis can be useful even for a newbie investor. He stated:

“Any good investment strategy needs rules. Technical Analysis (or “TA”) uses rules to look for price and volume patterns in charts to try and predict what’s going to happen next. It helps investors choose when to buy or sell. One example of TA is the Simple Moving Average (or “SMA”). The 50-day SMA, for instance, is the average price over the last 50 days, which changes or ‘moves’ each day. When an investment starts trading above its SMA, this is could be a bullish sign. Since TA can also protect the downside, it’s a good risk management tool for volatile investments like cryptocurrencies.”

Proof of Stake interest

A lot of people would love to invest in cryptocurrency mining, but at this point, you either go big or go home. Mining has become an industrialized practice reserved only for those with large financial backing, high tech equipment and access to low energy prices. Although there are several alternatives to traditional mining, Proof of Stake is the most relevant one for the subject at hand.

To put it simply, Proof of Stake allows users to “mine” coins without mining equipment. In this system, the amount of coins a user holds will determine how many coins he mines. Although most PoS cryptocurrencies will require you to leave your wallet running, some implementations of PoS like Waves and Lisk allow you to earn interest by leasing or delegating your stake.

Do note that you shouldn’t go out and buy every PoS coin out there. You should, however, check your holdings for these types of coins and, if you have them, mine them! In the worst case scenario, you’ll need to leave the wallet running which can be done with any laptop or even a Raspberry Pi device.

Author: Frisco d'Anconia

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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

Bitcoin Is Paying Out Dividends Now — Just Not to Everyone

Bitcoin Is Paying Out Dividends Now

Bitcoin Is Paying Out Dividends Now — Just Not to Everyone

On top of stupendous capital gains, investors in bitcoin are also getting a dividend — if they’re lucky.

A split in the blockchain created a new offshoot in the form of bitcoin gold on Tuesday, with bitcoin holders receiving one unit for every bitcoin they own, according to the offshoot’s developers. The cryptocurrency fell from a record high after the so-called hard fork, just as stocks typically drop after going ex-dividend. Other major digital currencies including ethereum gained, as investors sold bitcoin and moved the cash to alternatives, saidGavin Yeung, chief executive officer at investment company Cryptomover.

“It’s very healthy for the ecosystem to be able to say, I am an investor, I collect my dividend, and then I can do what I want with my investment,” Yeung said on Tuesday.

There are, of course, differences. Unlike a stock payout, in order to get the additional bitcoin gold, investors have to be using a wallet or exchange that supports the new asset. Coinbase, one of the largest exchanges, has said it won’t.

Additionally, bitcoin gold and an earlier offshoot called bitcoin cash arose from conflicting visions within the decentralized community — as opposed to a conscious decision to boost investor returns. In this sense, such “forks” are more like stock spinoffs.

Bitcoin gold traded at $97 on the exchange Bitfinex as of 12:03 p.m. in Hong Kong. Bitcoin was down 0.5 percent to $5,568, after sliding as much as 5.9 percent on Tuesday, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Author: Justina Lee

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur

David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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