Cryptocurrency Market Panics over Recent Deep Bitcoin Correction

Alexander Salazar
-
0
Cryptocurrency Market Panics over Recent Deep Bitcoin Correction

Bitcoin went through a deep correction that took it below USD 33,000. Those who are unsure of the future of the cryptocurrency market have even considered withdrawing.

Bitcoin fell below USD 33,000 for the first time in more than a week, and no one knows if that correction will become deeper. The pioneering cryptocurrency was trading at around USD 32,000, after falling by 8.9% and 19.5% over 24 hours and seven days respectively.

That drop of nearly 20% has caused panic in the crypto market, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Technical analyst Michaël van de Poppe considers “the USD 30,000 area must remain so that there is no further correction towards USD 24,000. Otherwise, that would lead to a 40% decline from recent highs.”

The optimism that reigned in the cryptocurrency market in recent months seems to be starting to fade. For that reason, crypto influencer and investor Scott Melker thinks that markets are panicking over Bitcoin’s crash. He adds that many investors have even considered withdrawing.

Gains amid Bitcoin’s Collapse

These experts’ opinion suggests that investors should remain vigilant for a possible drop below USD 30,000. However, some institutional investors have made a profit as the price of Bitcoin retreats.

According to data from CoinShares, outgoing institutional products indicate that there have been gains amid the Bitcoin correction.

During this situation, JPMorgan states that “Bitcoin is not a protection against market crashes.” In this regard, strategists John Normand and Federico Manicardi said that it is the “least reliable coverage during these periods of tension.”

Normand and Manicardi’s opinion contrasts with that of the other JPMorgan strategists, who Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou leads. The latter believe that Bitcoin is driving investors away from precious metals.

Before Deep Bitcoin Correction

After Bitcoin began its biggest bullish rally, it fell from USD 41,152 to USD 30,525. Previously, it had exceeded the USD 30,000 mark in a matter of days before reaching its all-time high above USD 40,000.

“Even though Bitcoin partially recovered from that crash, questioning arose within the market. The pioneering cryptocurrency finally managed to remain above USD 30,000, but many have lost confidence in the cryptocurrency,” analyst Scott Melker mentioned on Twitter.

In this way, Melker refers to cryptocurrency users’ attitude towards Bitcoin’s latest crash. He says that those who are not fully convinced of the future of the cryptocurrency market could leave it.

Hive Blockchain Will Expand its Hash Rate

In recent days, Hive Blockchain announced that it would buy 6,400 ASICs from Chinese firm Canaan Creative. They are looking to reach 1200 PH/s by expanding their stock of machines to almost 10,000 ASICs.

Bitmain’s inability to supply enough cryptocurrency mining equipment has forced companies to turn to other manufacturers. The growing shortage of these devices represents a remarkable opportunity for manufacturers like Canaan and Ebang, among others.

Regardless of the drops that Bitcoin suffers, the pioneering cryptocurrency has proved that it can recover from the worst crises. It has even reached new all-time highs after having dropped well below its previous marks in a matter of days. For that reason, Bitcoin miners have not stopped working and are always looking to optimize their activity.

By Alexander Salazar

According to JP Morgan Strategists, Bitcoin Has Become a Cyclical Asset Rather than a Hedge

Alexander Salazar
-
0
According to JP Morgan Strategists, Bitcoin Has Become a Cyclical Asset Rather than a Hedge

JP Morgan strategists recently established that Bitcoin has become a cyclical asset, not a hedge. A Wirex survey reveals that older people see the potential of cryptocurrencies in payment systems.

“The pioneering cryptocurrency has become a cyclical asset rather than a hedge against market stresses. This has occurred in the wake of the bullish market for Bitcoin (BTC),” strategists at JP Morgan Chase said.

John Normand and Federico Manicardi, strategists at JP Morgan, consider that betting on Bitcoin as a portfolio diversifier means taking risks. In a recent report, they called Bitcoin the “least reliable hedge during periods of acute market stress.”

The strategists added that “the integration of the crypto property allows the correlations with cyclical assets to increase, making them potentially safe on leverage.”

The term “cyclical assets” generally refers to those stocks that follow the trend of the general economy. Therefore, its performance depends on the economic cycle.

Some companies provide high-demand goods and services when the economy is doing well. For that reason, these assets are among the first items that people leave behind when the economy weakens.

Survey Reveals that Older Investors Are Entering into BTC and Other Cryptocurrencies

Seniors have started to see the potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain in global payment systems. A recent report on the adoption of cryptocurrencies in 2021 from the digital payment platform Wirex reveals this situation.

This platform includes in the report the results of surveys that they applied to 3,834 people in 89 countries. The purpose of that piece of information is to help understand the new trends in the global adoption of blockchain-based digital payments.

Wirex conducted that survey on the use of cross-border transactions over three weeks. To do this, they sent e-mails requesting the voluntary participation of those who wanted to serve as informants. Responses included 81% by European residents and 17% by participants from the Asia Pacific region.

Guggenheim CIO Expects Bitcoin’s Price to fall by USD 20,000

Scott Minerd, a senior executive at financial services company Guggenheim Partners, plans to seek investment exposure to Bitcoin (BTC). He has argued that BTC is about to drop to USD 20,000.

The Guggenheim chief investment officer believes that Bitcoin will not be able to hit another all-time high in 2021. “After reaching USD 42,000 on January 8th, Bitcoin’s price is unlikely to rise before 2022,” Minerd said.

“I think that we have already reached the Bitcoin price ceiling this year. Besides, we could see a complete pullback towards the USD 20,000 level,” added the Guggenheim CIO.

Despite its short-term bearish prediction, the CIO seems to believe that Bitcoin will reach USD 400,000 per unit. He made that point in December 2020, when Bitcoin was heading for a new all-time high.

However, he subsequently turned bearish in the short term, saying that “Bitcoin’s parabolic surge is unsustainable in the short term.” From Minerd’s statements, he seems to be aware of the great potential that Bitcoin has.

By Alexander Salazar

Cambalache Project is Using Blockchain to Create a Social Initiative in Argentine Dining Rooms

Jenson Nunez
-
0
Cambalache Project is Using Blockchain to Create a Social Initiative in Argentine Dining Rooms

Cambalache project is a community kitchen that leverages Blockchain for visibility and traceability.

In Argentina, a social initiative called the Cambalache project uses Blockchain technology to benefit the community. The Cambalache Project, led by the NGO Bitcoin Argentina and Casa Cambalache, seeks to bring more visible volunteer work that’d serve as a bridge to unite social initiatives and the community of popular neighborhoods in Buenos Aires.

Thanks to technological support like Blockchain, the project can consolidate the traceability and transparency of donated funds while granting redeemable points to its volunteers for providing support in a soup kitchen.

Launched at the end of 2019, Proyecto Comedor developed its initial test phase amid the crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. After overcoming its first obstacles, the project set clear goals for 2021: to continue bringing food and support to low-income communities within the country.

The team also plans to set an expansion for the project and create more dining rooms in Argentina. They are also planning a digital training program for community members to get familiar with the use of cryptocurrencies.

The Cambalache Project: A Soup Kitchen with an Eye on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain

Casa Cambalache is a soup kitchen operating for more than 25 years. Its goals are to assist many people Villa 21 – 24 – NHT Zavaletavilla largest village in Buenos Aires.

Residents of the area fully support these activities, arguing that about 300 persons arrive at the soup kitchen to receive food every day. People have plenty of options there like Dancing, social training, and other cultural activities.

With the use of a mobile application, each volunteer receives a reward in payment for their collaboration. With the app, they scan a QR code when they arrive at the dining room; this code will allow the amount through redeemable points of every single hour of service in the kitchen.

The reward is a token that is tradable for products such as food at a local store. The Blockchain provides traceability to donors on the destination of their monetary contributions; it gives visibility to the social workers in a specific area and generates a circular economy within all the participants.

The project received about two million donations, a highlight, and a step forward to build a world where the money is the cryptocurrencies get to people who can’t afford the currency by traditional ways.

 Among the positive features of Proyecto Cambalache, the opportunity to understand seems to be the more valuable. Every single collaborator will receive enough preparation and lessons to become a potential Bitcoin user.

Some volunteers argue about how wonderful it is to learn extra-usages of their phones. They are now doing things they never thought they would do before. The initiative fully supports the education, and preparation of its volunteers to know how to receive, and spend their redeemable points.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Bitcoin Mining is Getting Robust in America: HIVE and Hut8’s Expansion of their Farms in Canada

Jenson Nunez
-
0
Bitcoin Mining is Getting Robust in America: HIVE and Hut8’s Expansion of their Farms in Canada

HIVE acquired about 6,400 miners from Canaan to increase its hash rate to 1,000 PH / s. Hut8 and took out a loan of USD 12 million to order at least other 5,000 miners.

The days of China as the heaven for Bitcoin miners seem to be over. There is an increasing mining community consolidating their activity in America. Canadian companies Hut8 and HIVE are currently joining this phenomenon.

A report says that both companies have recently acquired at least 11,000 Bitcoin ASICs or more with intentions to increase their operations in 2021.

HIVE went first to get its purchase, which exceeds 6,400 mining machines for this coming year. HIVE reported through a press release that the miners are the AvalonMiner 1246 model from Canaan, a very potent model that provides a computing power of 576 PH / s.

There are expectations that the total hash rate under its control will exceed 1,229 PH / s, a mark that shows the expansion goals of the company for 2021. The delivery of the new batch of miners will happen in eight parts. According to its schedule, the first delivery, which adds 500 machines, will arrive in May.

While the rest of the miners’ delivery will happen monthly in shipments of 900 units during the rest of the year, the company clarified that there are possibilities to place additional miners’ orders if it needs to inject more capacity to achieve its annual operation’s goals.

The company’s management ensures that they will continue to make investments using the cash flow they have. They even propose to reach the 2,000 PH / s hash rate by the end of 2021.

Hut8 Will get Over 5,000 Bitcoin Miners Thanks to Foundry

Hut8 is another company that stepped forward and decided to use a $ 12 million loan to equip its farm with state-of-the-art miners from MicroBT. The firm foundry brought the capital and charged an annualized interest rate of 16.5%, with a term of 12 months, and guarantees for every mining equipment.

Hut8 said in its press release that the loan would serve to order some 5,400 units of the Whatsminer M30s, a miner well-known for its popularity and powerful performance. This capacity surpasses by far other existent miners in the market. This batch of miners will contribute an additional 475 PH / s to the 1,039 PH / s that the company already has installed.

The Hut8 management also said that the first batch of miners would start operating by the end of January, while the complete delivery will arrive in the following six months. This new expansion plan for the Canadian farm intends to double the $ company’s 60 million through private equity offerings.

The company is also studying the impact that its expansion will have and how the incomes will serve to pay pending debts.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Argentine Creditor BlackRock Adds Bitcoin in Its Investment Funds

Alexander Salazar
-
0
Argentine Creditor BlackRock Adds Bitcoin in Its Investment Funds

Investment firm BlackRock filed with the SEC two prospects for trading Bitcoin derivatives. Cash-settled futures do not entail handing over Bitcoin to investors.

BlackRock, Argentina’s leading private creditor, recently opened the door for Bitcoin derivatives to its product offering. The group classified this as an eligible investment for two of its funds. It is the first crypto initiative that the managing firm offers to its customers who seek to expose themselves to the pioneering cryptocurrency.

The investment firm filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) updated prospects to include Bitcoin futures. This implies the intention of adding Bitcoin derivative instruments in their investment funds. However, the application to the securities authority does not guarantee the availability of the product shortly.

Commodity exchanges registered with the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFCT) will trade cash-settled Bitcoin derivatives. These will be available in BlackRock’s Global Allocation Fund and its Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio. However, these derivatives do not require the delivery of the underlying asset (Bitcoin), but only exposure to changes in its price.

BlackRock’s Change of Perspective on Bitcoin

This company, which manages around USD 8.7 trillion, has had a gradual change of perspective on Bitcoin. Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, said in 2017 that “Bitcoin only proves the demand for money laundering in the world.” However, in December 2020, he raised that the cryptocurrency could rival the US dollar as a store of value.

This reassessment did not occur because of fear of missing out (FOMO) or lacking due diligence. Since July 2018, the New York firm has researched how to take advantage of the crypto-asset market. Strategist Terry Simpson was in charge of examining whether BlackRock should invest in Bitcoin futures. The intention to include derivatives of the cryptocurrency in two funds seems to indicate that this research yielded a favorable result.

In 2020, BlackRock’s chief investment officer Rick Rieder confirmed that “there is a clear demand for Bitcoin.” Besides, he predicted that it would be “part of investors’ asset pool for a long time.” He even stated that Bitcoin could substitute for gold as a store of value.

These events suggest that BlackRock is increasingly close to becoming the new institutional player managing Bitcoin funds. This way, it adds to the more than 1,200,000 BTC that treasuries and institutional investors are already managing.

Implementation of Regulation on Cryptocurrencies

In recent days, the price of Bitcoin fell by around 10%, reaching below USD 33,000. The pioneering cryptocurrency had reached a new all-time high of USD 42,000 on January 8th.

Fears due to likely crypto regulations during Joe Biden’s administration seem to be one of the main causes. Several operators admitted that the fact that “the new US government may try to regulate cryptocurrencies also adds pressure.”

The price of Bitcoin fell due to concerns about the possibility that the cryptocurrency might be a financial bubble that threatens the stability of the markets.

The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) seeks to further regulate exchanges. To do this, they plan to request the address and domicile of those people who buy more than USD 3,000 worth of cryptocurrencies.

Iván Tello, CEO of Decrypto, believes that this will not “tickle” Bitcoin. The reason for this is that it “already complies with Know-Your-Costumer (KYC) standards and requires supporting documentation from users.”

By Alexander Salazar

Biden Orders to Stop all Federal Regulatory Processes to Bitcoin Wallets that Threaten User Privacy.

Jenson Nunez
-
0
Biden Orders to Stop all Federal Regulatory Processes to Bitcoin Wallets that Threaten User Privacy.

Authorities are counting on 60 additional days to review all regulatory proposals. FinCEN proposed a new regulation that requires exchanges to provide information about their users.

Joe Biden, the newly elected president of the United States, has made his first presidential order to stop all federal regulatory processes for a minimum of 60 days. The presidential term also includes the freezing of a controversial KYC (know your client) measure, proposed last year by the Treasury Department for the cryptocurrency market. This proposal will soon be under revision by the new cabinet.

In a memorandum from the White House, Biden ordered that both federal registry regulations and those still not active will suffer a delay for about two months.

Biden’s plan is that cabinet appointees have enough time to review and become familiar with pending rules in this additional period. In other words, some members of Joe Biden’s government will check these regulations, which open the opportunity for them to be rejected or modified.

The measure relates to the market for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mainly because there is a law proposal introduced by the Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, which proposes even stricter use of KYC measures for businesses and users of digital assets.

The plan asks crypto exchanges the verification the identities of the owners of transactions that surpass $ 3,000. Likewise, it will be requested to send this data to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) if the transactions exceed the margin of $ 10,000.

The required data from cryptocurrency owners are the full name, the home address, and the purpose of such transactions. Similarly, those users who buy bitcoins or other assets to deposit them in their self-custodial wallets will also suffer the consequences of the new State measure.

Due to the Implications of this Proposal, the Regulation Faced Harsh Criticism from the Crypto Community

Coinbase thinks that this is a significant intrusion on the privacy of owners. Also, Kraken and BitGo rejected the regulation. The reason resides in the danger and risks of violation of human rights it represents. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square, talked about some points to consider; one of them is that the proposal is unnecessary. These requirements are essential for the authorities when citizens move a similar amount of cash.

Joe Biden’s first term is a positive move for cryptocurrencies. It will bring opportunities to debate how good or bad these approaches are for the crypto-environment and its market.

A perfect example of how this new administration treats the cryptocurrency subject is Janet Yellen as Secretary of the Treasury Department. The former secretary showed an apparent antipathy for crypto assets.

Yellen’s opinion about cryptocurrencies tends to be ambiguous. She thinks that cryptocurrencies are commonly a target of illicit and criminal acts, and their use tends to fall into dark markets.

This declaration keeps the ecosystem in a veil since it is impossible to know which will be the next move of the United States’ new government about its current cryptocurrencies status.

By: Jenson Nuñez

1...1,1861,1871,188...1,654Page 1,187 of 1,654