The price of the main altcoins in the market has dropped in just 24 hours. That of Bitcoin has risen by 40% in the last month.

In recent days, the price of the pioneering cryptocurrency exceeded USD 16,000 again, almost three years after its biggest bullish run. The value of Bitcoin had last been at that level in early 2018.

On November 12^th, amid a continuous rise, Bitcoin (BTC) flirted with the USD 16,000 level. It has even reached above USD 16,100. According to data from LiveCoinWatch, at the time of writing this article, Bitcoin is above that level, with an increase of close to 2.3% in just 24 hours.

This slight rebound not only allowed Bitcoin to maintain a sustained upward trend. The cryptocurrency also posted a positive performance between the 11^th and 12^th of this month, compared to that of the main altcoins of the top 15 cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is the only one with green numbers on that list, beyond stablecoins and the ERC20 token version of Bitcoin (WBTC) launched on Ethereum.

This confirms the recent trend of Bitcoin going up while altcoins lose their value. It was the same thing that happened with the rise coinciding with the presidential elections in the United States a few weeks ago.

Bitcoin has had a notable rebound in recent days. The price of said cryptocurrency has risen by a total of more than 40% in 30 days, according to data from LiveCoinWatch. At the start of that period, BTC was just above USD 11,400 per unit.

Correction Before New All-Time High

The current trend of Bitcoin’s price increase has led many members of the ecosystem to speculate on new all-time highs in the near term. Among them is analyst Bob Loukas, who created The Financial Tap.

On his Twitter account, Loukas posted some insights about the price movement of Bitcoin. He believes that the cryptocurrency will soon break above USD 20,000. However, the analyst explained that this will only happen after a new correction.

This position is the same that he had at the beginning of the year when he predicted that Bitcoin would approach new highs towards the end of 2020.

Renowned analyst Willy Woo considered on November 11^th that Bitcoin is starting a big bullish run. He comes to that conclusion because “BTC’s on-chain relative strength index is warming up.”

This year, Bitcoin had a promising start, with its best January in years, but the arrival of the pandemic affected its bullish moment. The price of the cryptocurrency had a major drop in March, from which it has been recovering steadily.

The sustained rise in Bitcoin’s price in recent weeks has coincided with a growing interest from institutional investors. Among them, Stanley Freeman Druckenmiller, a renowned US hedge fund manager, is a prominent example.

The investor said that Bitcoin could become a reliable store of value alongside gold in the face of a possible decline in the US dollar. In his opinion, this devaluation of the US fiat currency is not very distant and could occur within four years.

This year, the returns of the cryptocurrency have outperformed those of the rest of the markets. It has even outperformed gold, stock indexes, and large-company stocks.

By Alexander Salazar

Lagarde highlighted that the digital euro will be a complement to cash and not a substitute. The US Federal Reserve is also considering the creation of a digital dollar.

There is already a tentative launch date for the digital version of the euro, but it is not as early as expected. The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, said that the currency could begin to circulate within about 2 to 4 years when the preparations for its launch are complete.

Lagarde stresses that the development of the digital euro “will take time”. The authorities will not only have to address the development of the technology underlying the currency, which could be a blockchain. They will also have to determine the controls of money laundering and prevention of terrorist financing to which this new euro will be subject.

Despite the wait, the ECB president says that she “has a hunch” that the digital euro will arrive. The authorities are very interested in the facilities that this currency could generate regarding cross-border payments. “We should explore it,” Lagarde noted.

Christine Lagarde also stressed that she does not believe that the digital euro will replace cash. On the contrary, she stated that the new format of the official fiat currency of Europe will only be a complement to payments with euro notes and coins.

Central Bank Digital Currencies Remain in Sight

Lagarde recently participated at a virtual forum on central banks, which included the president of the Central Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, and the president of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.

These personalities expressed the views of their nations regarding the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). For example, Powell reconfirmed that the US authorities are still considering the possibility of issuing a digital dollar.

Even though they are discussing this possibility, Jerome Powell stressed that they have not made a decision yet, so it is not certain that the United States will have its cryptocurrency. This view is consistent with statements by other US authorities, such as the Comptroller of the Currency, who considers that the Central Bank does not need to be in charge of issuing more forms of payment.

On his part, Andrew Bailey states that the authorities in England are more concerned about the impact of stablecoins on the financial security of their citizens. He considers that there are legitimate concerns regarding the privacy of these corporate-issued coins, which they should address to prevent their customers’ exposure.

According to Bailey, the Central Bank of England could focus on creating its digital pound, thus unifying the issuance of this currency and avoiding conflicts of interest. In recent days, a member of the English Parliament said that they are preparing for the creation of their cryptocurrency.

Meanwhile, China continues to lead the way to create a digital currency. The Asian country has spent several years developing this payment method and has begun to conduct tests among its population. Despite its early launch, some citizens of China are doubtful about the success of the use of this new currency daily.

By Alexander Salazar

Paypal forbids the transference of cryptocurrencies between users and payments for services with them. PayPal reserves the right to take action it deems appropriate in the event of a fork.

PayPal joins the companies that facilitate exposure to the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on their platforms, but it does not allow its users to send, receive, or pay for goods and services with them.

Now, all PayPal users residing in the United States can buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC), the company reported a few hours ago. The payment company also intends to extend its cryptocurrency service internationally through Venmo, the operator of a mobile application for payments.

“We are pleased to announce that all US resident users can buy, save and sell cryptocurrencies directly with PayPal,” they stated.

PayPal posted on its Twitter account that the weekly limit for the purchase of cryptocurrencies went from $ 10,000 to $ 20,000 from now on.

PayPal limits functions and could block user funds

Under PayPal’s terms and conditions, you cannot send cryptocurrencies between people or deposit funds directly into the application, as you could do with a conventional cryptocurrency wallet.  The purchase of goods or products and payments for services are also forbidden.

Likewise, there would be no control over the private keys of the wallet, so there is also the risk that the funds will be blocked if the terms and conditions of use are violated. This has raised concerns given the rigor of the company in this regard.

In this line of measures that the company could take depending on the case, it establishes that if there is a negative balance in national currencies, but the client has cryptocurrencies, it allows PayPal to debit the owed balance on the cryptocurrencies.

Likewise, PayPal ignores any event such as a bifurcation or error in the cryptocurrency networks that operate, as well as the volatility of their prices.

The custody of cryptocurrencies is the responsibility of Paxos, PayPal’s commercial partner. Paxos, registered in New York, operates under the BitLicense of this state, implying that they must have an endorsement of sufficient value to protect their clients. However, No specification mentions what mechanisms PayPal and Paxos have to provide liquidity and security to this new market.

The information comes at a time of widespread enthusiasm when Bitcoin remains on the rise to reach $ 16,000, a price that appeared again since January 2018. This new information possibly adheres to the optimistic sentiment about the price of Bitcoin, as it did late last month after the first PayPal announcement.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

CipherTrace estimates that cryptocurrency crime decreased by around 60%. They observe a boom in hacking at DeFi, which shows a figure of $ 98 million stolen.

According to the most recent statistics from cybersecurity analytics firm CipherTrace, total losses from hacks, theft, misappropriation, and cryptocurrency fraud decreased by around 60% in 10 months of 2020.

 A figure that makes contrasts with the increase in hacks in the platforms for decentralized finance (Defi). CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans stated to Reuters with some details about the situation.

The executive pointed out that the total losses, worldwide, for all crimes related to cryptocurrencies rose from USD 4.4 billion in 2019 to USD 1.8 billion in October 2020. Jevans relates this decline to the implementation of greater security measures in many platforms.

The firm also estimates that losses from the crimes of robberies and hacks (excluding crimes of misappropriation and fraud) increased to 468 million dollars through the end of October; thirty percent more than the 361 million dollars stolen for those same crimes during last year. This is a level of increase that links to the rise of DeFi.

Thefts and hacks with cryptocurrencies increase with DeFi

About the thefts and hacks in DeFi, CipherTrace published this November 9 on its blog an excerpt from the report it is preparing for the end of the year.

There he exposes that, the 468 million dollars stolen by hacks, just over USD 98 million in steals on DeFi platforms. This amount represents 21% of the attacks that happened this year. A notable percentage if one considers that during 2019 crimes that relate to these platforms were “practically insignificant”, they say.

CipherTrace shows the percentages showing the increase. According to his calculations, in the first half of 2020, DeFi captured 45% of all hacks: about $ 51.5 million, representing 40% of the volume of hacks at that time.

Meanwhile, so far in the second half of the year, DeFi has dominated 50% of all hacks, approximately USD 47.7 million (14% of the hacked volume). In this case, the lowest percentage of the volume in crimes links to the KuCoin hack.  It qualifies as the largest theft of 2020, the amount that was stolen on this platform amounted to USD 281 million.

CipherTrace recalls that despite the perpetrated theft on a centralized exchange, a portion of the funds from the KuCoin hack suffered laundry through decentralized exchanges (DEX) linked to DeFi projects.

Overall, the firm attributes the rise in DeFi hacks to the enormous interest these platforms generate in the ecosystem.

Public participation increased in the second half of the year with the rise of yield farming. This practice, which translates to “agricultural yield”, seeks to take advantage of different DeFi products and protocols to generate high yield rates.

Risks increase with the growth of DeFi

It is precisely the boom in these platforms that increase the interest of the hackers in DeFi, CipherTrace analysts highlight, adding that these protocols often lack clear regulatory compliance.

Anyone in any country can log in with little or no KYC (know your customer policy) information. As a result, DeFi effortlessly becomes a haven for money launderers, the researchers say.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

The maximum price of Bitcoin in Colombia was previously around 54.5 million Colombian pesos. The pioneering cryptocurrency is still 17% below its all-time high in US dollars.

The price of Bitcoin is rebounding to levels from its biggest bullish run, breaking above USD 16,000. Besides, the appreciation of the cryptocurrency in Colombia has already reached its all-time high in pesos (COP), the local fiat currency.

For the first time in its history, the price of Bitcoin in the South American country is above COP 56 million. That figure exceeds its previous all-time high, which was just under COP 54.5 million, according to data from cryptocurrency exchange Buda.

The previous all-time high occurred in December 2017, coinciding with the largest bullish run in Bitcoin’s history. On that occasion, the main cryptocurrency in the market approached USD 20,000.

This increase in the price of Bitcoin in Colombia shows that the local fiat currency has depreciated over time, compared to the US dollar. The all-time high for Bitcoin in Colombian pesos comes when it is still 17% below the all-time high in US dollars of 2017, according to data from CoinGecko.

Even though it is far from the all-time high in US dollars, some analysts believe that the price of Bitcoin will return to those levels soon. In fact, during this new bullish stage, Bitcoin has already exceeded USD 16,000 for the first time since January 2018, when the fall began after the run in 2017.

Devaluation of Local Currencies and All-Time Highs of Bitcoin in Latin America

It is common to hear that there is a devaluation of local fiat currencies against the US dollar. For that reason, the price of Bitcoin reaches all-time highs in some Latin American countries, long before its value relative to the US fiat currency approached its highest levels.

In this scenario, the case of Venezuela is paradigmatic, but the price of Bitcoin has broken records in other countries in their respective fiat currencies. For example, last October, Argentina overcame the barrier of 2 million pesos (ARS) per Bitcoin unit.

In addition to the above-mentioned countries, the pioneering cryptocurrency exceeded its all-time high in Brazil, Turkey, and three African countries in October. At the time, the price of Bitcoin was above 72,700 Brazilian reais (BRL). Now, it is approaching BRL 90,000, according to the price table in the region.

Cryptocurrency exchange Buda estimates that Chile will be the next country in the region where Bitcoin will reach a new all-time high. Bitcoin continues its bullish trend in US dollars, while institutional investment is becoming more common, and large companies, such as PayPal, are paying more attention to it.

The devaluation of national currencies in Latin America has allowed the price of the main cryptocurrency to achieve all-time highs. In those countries, people see Bitcoin as a store of value that can help them protect their money. Even institutional institutions have shown their interest in the pioneering crypto asset by increasing their investments in it.

By Alexander Salazar

Corpoelec would obey “superior orders,” according to a miner. Mining farm owners are summoned to a meeting in Caracas.

The Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining equipment of Carabobo State, Venezuela, was disconnected by managers of the state electric company, Corpoelec, in compliance with “superior orders.”

“On the weekend, I received information that the same people from Corpoelec were shutting down and disconnecting the mines in Carabobo. Bitcoin mining in Carabobo was turned off for everyone. I do not know of anyone who has it on,” said this informant.

He assures that he does not know if only the computers of those who are registered as miners were disconnected, or also those people who lack the corresponding authorization, but that the government managed to detect their activity.

This individual also presented a statement from the Ministry for Popular Power for Electric Energy (MPPEE) and the Sectoral Vice Presidency of Public Works and Services (VPSOPS), in which the owners of mining farms are summoned to a meeting. This will take place on November 19 at 4 PM in the theater of the Military Academy of Fuerte Tiuna, Caracas.

The goal of the meeting, in which MPPEE and Corpoelec officials will take part, is to design the connectivity procedure to the National Electric System (SEN) and the rate to tabulate the payments. It is clarified that only the people who were summoned should enter.

“If we do not attend this massively, we will not have enough force to demand our rights,” warned another miner in a message that he forwarded to his colleagues. «I ask, please, that we all accompany each other on this new journey.  If we go through unity and togetherness, it will strengthen us allow us to move forward, “he added.

At the meeting, in addition to the owners of mining equipment, the president of Corpoelec, José Betancourt; the vice president, Juan Romero; the finance manager, Vianney Rojas; the distribution manager, Francisco Marti; the marketing manager, Morela González; the legal consultant, Alejandro Carrasco; and the functional authority of Carabobo, Jesús Arcadio.

Currently, cryptocurrency mining in Venezuela is legal. For this, miners must apply for a license in the Comprehensive Registry of Miners (RIM). Also, the creation of a National Digital Mining Pool is underway, which will seek to bring together all miners who are in Venezuelan territory.

By: Jenson Nuñez.