Traders can make withdrawals or deposits starting from 0.000001 BTC, equivalent to around USD 5. The maximum limit for each transaction is 0.05 BTC, equivalent to around USD 2,450.

In recent days, cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin officially announced the activation of transactions on the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network. Users of the exchange already receive support to make almost instant deposits and withdrawals through their node.

According to OKCoin, the fees for transactions in the second layer of Bitcoin will be up to 99% lower. Furthermore, the sending and receiving of funds by users will be more immediate. In January, the company said that it was working on a solution to provide an alternative for traders.

On its website, OKCoin established the minimum and maximum amounts that users can trade. The minimum amount for transactions on the Lightning Network is 0.000001 BTC or 100 satoshis, that is, around 5 US dollars. Meanwhile, they set the maximum amount to withdraw or deposit at 0.05 BTC, that is, around USD 2,450.

“On the other hand, BTC transactions on the Lightning Network are confirmed in just a few seconds. Besides, the fees cost an average of less than USD 0.01,” said the company.

A transaction on the Bitcoin Network can take between 10 minutes and a few hours, and even several days. That will depend on the status of the mempool or the number of transactions awaiting confirmation. The Bitcoin Network (on-chain transactions) processes up to seven transactions per second, they explained.

Depositing and Withdrawing Funds with Lightning

Users should use a guide that OKCoin posted to know how to make deposits and withdrawals using the Bitcoin Lightning Network. They must log in and complete their identity verification to add funds to the platform. After that, they must go to “Assets”, press “Deposit” and select Bitcoin.

“After selecting BTC, users must select the Lightning Network as the deposit method. Then, they must select the account into which they would like to deposit the funds and enter the amount of BTC to deposit. When they are ready to start trading, they must select the Spot account or another trading account,” according to OKCoin.

Users must generate and take the invoice that the exchange provides to paste it into the wallet or app from which they are sending the funds. Regarding withdrawals, they must generate an invoice from the wallet into which they want the exchange to send the BTC.

After generating the invoice, traders must go to “Assets” and select the “Withdrawal” option from the menu. Next, they must choose BTC as the cryptocurrency to withdraw from and select the Lightning Network as the withdrawal method.

OKCoin is among the exchanges that have announced their support for these types of transactions. Exchanges that have approached the Lightning Network with their nodes include Kraken, Paxful, and Bitfinex.

The Lightning Network is a decentralized instant micro-payment network that the Bitcoin blockchain uses. The objective is to start a channel of transactions not recorded until the last payment between both parties is complete.

By Alexander Salazar

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell recently shared his optimism about Satoshi Nakamoto’s cryptocurrency. Anthony Pompliano also forecasts that Bitcoin will reach a price of USD 1 million.

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell does not believe that the price of Bitcoin will reach USD 100,000 or USD 500,000. The executive rather predicts that the pioneering cryptocurrency could be worth up to USD 1 million within the next 10 years.

In an interview with the Bloomberg television channel, Powell recently said that Bitcoin could easily exceed USD 1 million. He noted that this is speculation but explained that it is necessary to think that the cryptocurrency “is going to infinity” when measured in terms of US dollars.

It is a fact that Powell is very optimistic about the main cryptocurrency on the market “in the short term.” Many people consider that Bitcoin surpasses gold as a store of value. For that reason, he believes that “a price of USD 1 million within the next ten years is quite reasonable.”

However, the CEO of the exchange thinks that replacing gold will not be enough for Bitcoin. He says that those who believe in Bitcoin predict that the cryptocurrency may replace all fiat currencies globally.

It is not possible to say whether he is right when he makes such predictions about the pioneering cryptocurrency. However, Glassnode’s Reserve Risk indicator shows that Bitcoin’s rally is still in the early or mid-stage, according to cryptocurrency analyst William Clemente.

Anthony Pompliano also Forecasts that the Main Cryptocurrency Will Reach USD 1 Million

A bullish sentiment in favor of the cryptocurrency market seems to have spread. For example, Anthony Pompliano’s also predicts that Bitcoin will reach a price of USD 1 million after the next halving event.

However, as with Jesse Powell’s forecasts, everything about Bitcoin is pure speculation. No one can predict for sure where the main cryptocurrency on the market is going.

Nvidia Wins a Legal Crypto Battle

Investment management firm Fonder AB accused Nvidia of misrepresenting USD 1 billion in sales of cryptocurrency mining equipment. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs established that the company misled investors. They argued that Nvidia overstated the demand from gamers as their main sales audience.

However, the judge recently ruled in favor of Nvidia by dismissing Fonder AB’s lawsuit. The court found that the plaintiffs were unable to prove the facts that they claimed.

DeFi Crypto Project Meerkat Finance Is in Trouble

The launch of the DeFi Meerkat Finance project on Binance Smart Chain occurred in recent days. One day later, the project reported that hackers stole USD 31 million from their wallets.

However, many members of the crypto community seem to believe that the developers of the project were the ones who took the money. Since then, Meerkat Finance has kept its Twitter account and website offline, which raises doubts about them.

It is obvious that this directly affects Binance as it “may be the largest fraud project on Binance Smart Chain.” This is the opinion of Twitter user @WuBlockchain, a prominent Chinese crypto blogger specializing in cryptocurrency mining, regulations, and exchanges.

By Alexander Salazar

Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed answered that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. A third of the institutions consulted have invested in cryptocurrencies, thus demonstrating that the reputation of these assets has improved.

In recent days, investment bank JPMorgan published the results of a survey on cryptocurrencies that they applied to 3,400 investors from 1,500 institutions. The study reveals that 11% of the institutions consulted have already invested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. About 22% of them responded that their organizations would be willing to invest in cryptocurrency-based instruments.

The reputation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies among institutional investors has improved. The fact that a third of the institutions consulted has invested in cryptocurrencies or is willing to do so prove this. However, the survey also indicates that some investors still associate cryptocurrencies with high-risk assets or illegal activities.

When assessing the perception of cryptocurrencies among the respondents, about 14% chose Warren Buffett’s definition: “Probably rat poison squared.” Around 21% of the sample opted to define cryptocurrencies as “a passing fad.”

Positive Opinions about the Main Cryptocurrency on the Market

The remaining 65%, that is, almost two-thirds of the respondents, gave positive opinions about cryptocurrencies. More than half of them claimed that cryptocurrencies “are here to stay.” Meanwhile, around 7% of the investors believe that cryptocurrencies will become “one of the most important types of assets.”

Around 27% of those consulted expressed their individual views on cryptocurrencies. They revealed that they have made personal investments in cryptocurrencies or trade with them.

Regarding cryptocurrency regulations, around 77% agree that they should be stricter. Around 48% think that many fraudulent activities are related to cryptocurrencies. However, 49% consider that fraud appears to a lesser extent with this type of asset.

There was a big boom in institutional investment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies during 2020, according to the results of the JPMorgan consultation. Taking that into account, it would be possible to expect institutional interest in cryptocurrencies to increase considerably in 2021.

JPMorgan’s Recommendations about Bitcoin

It is not the first time that JPMorgan has shown its interest in cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin. However, they recommend investing only a portion of the personal funds to reduce the risk of loss.

Although analysts at JPMorgan advise investing in Bitcoin, they suggest an allocation of 1% of the investment portfolio. Likewise, they consider that cryptocurrencies have their limits on utility because “they are investment vehicles rather than financing currencies.”

The investment firm has said that “investors can add up to 1% of their allocation to cryptocurrencies in a multi-asset portfolio.” In that way, they believe that it is possible to achieve any efficiency gains in the overall risk-adjusted returns of the portfolio.”

Investors remain concerned about Bitcoin’s volatility, which fell by roughly 25% from its all-time high in February. However, the cryptocurrency that Satoshi Nakamoto created has reached USD 51,000 again after a correction following four weeks in the green. At the time of writing this article, the price of Bitcoin is around USD 49,000.

By Alexander Salazar

The price of the pioneering cryptocurrency went from USD 48,400 to USD 51,500. Bitcoin is still more than 10% below its all-time high above USD 58,000.

A correction close to 25% brought the price of Bitcoin down to USD 43,000, but it is now back above USD 51,000. Rising by more than 5% in just 24 hours, the price of the cryptocurrency seems to be seeking USD 52,000 again.

The fact that Bitcoin has reached USD 51,000 again confirms what has been going on since the beginning of the month. On March 1^st, the pioneering cryptocurrency opened with a daily candlestick of almost 10% and closed very close to USD 50,000 per unit.

After falling slightly the next day, Bitcoin resumed the bullish movement and went up by around USD 3,000, according to data from TradingView. At the time of writing this article, the main cryptocurrency on the market is trading around USD 49,000.

In a few days, Bitcoin seems to have crossed the middle of the red candlestick of the previous week. In this way, it has recovered much of the correction that it underwent after four consecutive weeks in the green.

Despite that increase, the price of Bitcoin is still more than 10% below its all-time high. Just over a week ago, the first cryptocurrency exceeded USD 58,000, according to data from CoinGecko.

At the same time, most major altcoins accompany Bitcoin in its bullish momentum. Among the top 30, the only exceptions are Binance Coin (BNB), Cosmos (ATOM), Monero (XMR), and Solana (SOL). None of these pegged coins has fallen 2% in 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

CBOE Contributes to Expected Bullish Cycle for Bitcoin

VanEck recently filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the application for approval of the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The increase in the price of Bitcoin seems to coincide with the support that this request has received.

Exchange specializing in derivatives in Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) applied with the SEC to list the Bitcoin ETF. With this, Bitcoin would have even more presence in regulated markets for institutional investors.

The upward movement seems to support the estimates that market analysts have made previously. They expected the cryptocurrency to regain an upward pace after the correction that gave the market some relief.

Willy Woo, a researcher renowned for his metrics on the Bitcoin blockchain, assessed that this bullish market is “just starting to heat up.” He said on Twitter that he remains optimistic about this bullish cycle as the number of Bitcoin users is increasing daily. The analyst had already predicted that Bitcoin would exceed USD 100,000 this year.

In line with that, Bitcoin miners recently started holding their coins after two months of selling more bitcoins than they were holding.

According to data from Glassnode, there began to be positive balances in miners’ addresses in the last days of February. This behavior could suggest further price increases, given that less Bitcoin is entering the market from mining.

Until now, it seems that Bitcoin will confirm what many researchers have predicted, with new all-time highs. However, Glassnode does not rule out that an even greater correction of the pioneering cryptocurrency could be yet occur.

By Alexander Salazar

Bitfarms considers the miners of Chinese manufacturer MicroBT to be efficient and reliable. The company hopes to “substantially” increase its daily Bitcoin earnings.

In 2020, Canadian mining company Bitfarms faced serious economic obstacles due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, it looks as though they will have a chance to recover.

The company announced that it bought 48,000 new miners from Chinese manufacturer MicroBT. The devices will arrive as of January 2022, and they expect the last batch to arrive in December of that same year.

“We will install the miners in our new facilities and those that are currently under development. If market conditions change, Bitfarms will decide from among several deliveries and contract adjustment options,” the company states.

Bitfarms says that they have purchased more than 12,000 mining rigs from the Chinese company to date. They consider that this mining equipment is “reliable, efficient and consistent.”

They Are Seeking to Increase Their Hash Rate

The Canadian cryptocurrency mining company is seeking to increase its current hash rate of 1.0 EH/s. They hope to reach 3.0 EH/s by the end of 2021 and then exceed 8.0 EH/s by the end of 2022.

“Increasing our hash rate by a factor of eight will increase our company’s share of the global market. That will make the amount of Bitcoin that we earn daily grow substantially,” the company explained.

Emiliano Grodzki, CEO of Bitfarms, said that they hope the deal with MicroBT will benefit them. They want to position themselves above the companies in the sector that are listed on the global stock market.

“This purchase and expansion will be the cornerstone of our corporate growth strategy until 2022. The supply of miners will be one of the greatest challenges in the future as wafers to create semiconductor chips are scarce. This component is of vital importance for mining platforms,” added the executive.

The purchase of mining equipment by the Canadian company has contributed to China gradually losing ground in this sector. Currently, there is a growing North American interest in participating in this activity. A great movement is brewing to challenge the dominance of cryptocurrency mining that the Asian country has traditionally maintained.

Bitfarms Reaches the Stock Market

Canadian company Bitfarms announced in January that they had raised 20 million Canadian dollars (CAD). That amount came from the sale of more than 8 million common shares of the firm.

During that private transaction, they entered into agreements with US institutional investors. Upon completion of the sale of the shares, they will use the proceeds to purchase additional mining equipment. Besides, they will expand the infrastructure and improve their working capital position, reflected in the agreement that they signed with MicroBT.

The relevance of cryptocurrency mining companies is increasingly evident globally. Canada and other countries such as the United States are seeking to challenge China’s supremacy in this sector. Bitfarms’ acquisition of mining equipment is just one example of what is happening in the world.

By Alexander Salazar

The user has led the exchange’s ranking since October 2020. He started his career as a trader more than 10 years ago with only USD 500 in cryptocurrencies.

One of the Bitcoin traders that make life in the Bitfinex exchange is strongly taking the lead in monthly profits. Since October 2020, user John Brown has earned more than USD 200 million in revenue.

The trader made the biggest profit, around USD 150 million, in the first two months of the year. Between December 31^st and January 31^st, he conducted transactions that brought him USD 80.4 million in profit, according to Bitfinex. Other than that, Brown earned USD 70.3 million between January 31^st and February 28^th.

During the 59 days of January and February, the user-generated an average profit of USD 2.5 million per day. The exchange shared the striking figures on its Twitter account by posting the milestone that Brown reached in February.

“John Brown earned more than USD 70 million in profit in just 28 days, thus being at the top of the Bitfinex leaderboard for February,” the exchange said. In recent days, they expressed on the social network their interest in knowing who could occupy first place in March.

The huge income that Brown earns, as well as the advantage that he has over other traders, are striking. In February, the second-highest earning trader (“Top # 2”) made USD 10.5 million, so Brown led him by USD 60 million. In January, there was a USD 50 million difference compared to “Birdy,” whom he preceded.

Bitfinex explained that some of the most profitable traders on the platform constitute the list. However, the users who have explicitly given their consent are those who appear on the list, given that it is anonymous. “Although each name always represents the same user, it is not possible to identify him personally,” the exchange noted.

He Started Bitcoin Trading with USD 500

Brown himself published on the Bitfinex website that his career as a trader of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies started in 2011 with just USD 500. Ten years later, he has reached relevant milestones such as a monthly trading volume cap of USD 3.5 billion.

He confessed that he has traded on almost 50 exchanges and that 50 of his first 52 months as a trader were profitable. After the bullish run of 2017, he “lost focus” with eight consecutive months of losses.

“I never lost funds due to an exchange hack or closure. I got away from Mt. Gox early enough, I dodged Cryptopia, Cryptsy, and QuadrigaCX early enough,” Brown noted. No one knows the age or nationality of this trader.

Within the Bitcoin ecosystem, users develop the trading of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, as well as other activities. It is important to know that this analysis and study of the markets can leave both gains and losses.

In 2020, Spanish trader @inmortalcrypto said that trading “is a fight against oneself” rather than against the market. In this activity, the person always has to consider time and his internal psychology to face a loss.

By Alexander Salazar