The use of Bitcoin as an alternative currency will lead it to successfully compete with gold. Bitcoin’s bullish rally is just beginning, says Paul Tudor Jones.

In recent days, the price of Bitcoin entered a cycle of volatility that some analysts had predicted, after months of relative stability. There was an increasing amount of individual and institutional demand. A healthy network did seem to be enough to initiate a determined rebound in Bitcoin’s price.

On October 21^st, PayPal announced that it will allow using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a means of payment on its platform. This gave rise to a noticeable boost in the price of BTC.

PayPal’s announcement is initially aimed at users in the United States, who  will not have access to the private keys of their cryptocurrencies in the new system. However, the impact is very significant due to the scope of this payment processor. With 340 million users and 26 million businesses, PayPal may be key to the massification of Bitcoin among consumers as the service spreads to other countries. If the number of users grows, PayPal may eventually grant them complete control over their cryptocurrencies.

The enthusiasm among bitcoiners for this bullish boom will inevitably provoke a shower of predictions like the 2017 bubble. On this occasion, the price dynamics are more leisurely than when Bitcoin first reached USD 13,000 on December 6^th, 2017. At that time, Bitcoin grew by 53% in 11 days to reach its all-time high.

The manager of billionaire hedge funds, Paul Tudor Jones, had anticipated in May the various institutional supports for Bitcoin that occurred several months later. In recent days, he was more enthusiastic about the cryptocurrency as a store-of-value asset than about his statements at that time. He argues that the recent Bitcoin bullish rally is just starting.

An ongoing volatility cycle seems to have started for Bitcoin. In the last few days, Bitcoin’s price has risen by 13.8%, leading the total capitalization of cryptocurrencies to increase by 9.78%, to get closer to USD 400,000 million.

Data that Slow Bitcoin’s Performance, According to MicroStrategy

Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy CEO, told risk analyst Keith McCullough that data on Bitcoin from cryptocurrency exchanges and price portals are sometimes inaccurate or susceptible to manipulation. The executive warns that such practices could slow Bitcoin’s performance.

Besides, Saylor refers to the volatility of Bitcoin, which some people usually use against this cryptocurrency. He noted that a personal study of all types of assets in the last three months has provided him with evidence that traditional assets outperform Bitcoin regarding volatility in selected periods of the last theree months.

Bitcoin and Bretton Woods

On October 15^th, Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the International Monetary Fund, predicted that the world economy will decline by 4.4% this year. Given that the global crisis is becoming worse, the official said that the world was in “a new Bretton Woods moment.”

That mention of the 1944 agreement, which sought postwar monetary stability and elevated the US dollar to the status of a world reserve currency, seemed to suggest a new imposed agreement. On October 19^th, the president of the US Federal Reserve confirmed that this agency is considering the implementation of a digital dollar. However, he said that they are not in a hurry.

Georgieva’s comments might not be disconnected from the intentions of the Fed. Besides, a new monetary system could include an agreement between the central banks to act jointly against Bitcoin. However, the new deal that the IMF suggests could involve continuing low-interest monetary and fiscal policies and resorting to inorganic money printing. It that happens, Bitcoin will remain attractive to investors as a hedge against the deterioration of the US dollar.

By Willmen Blanco

Litecoin appreciates 17% when included in the list of cryptocurrencies to be traded on PayPal. Gnosis rises 16% this week after enabling its Ethereum sidechain wallet.

During the week of October 17-23, the cryptocurrency market recovers, turning almost entirely green. More than 90% of altcoins registered significant increases, with growth that reached 17%.

The most appreciated cryptocurrencies of the week are Litecoin (LTC), which won a spot in the list of cryptocurrencies related to PayPal; and Gnosis (GNO), which a few days ago implemented its portfolio in xDai. Waves (WAVES) follows, and also announced a new grant program.

Bitcoin is on a substantial rise this week. In these seven days, the price advanced by 12.5%. The cryptocurrency manages to overcome the barrier of USD 13,000 on October 21 and 22, staying above $ 12,000 since that date. BTC breaks this l barrier for the first time since August.

The increase in the price of bitcoin coincides with the announcement of PayPal. The users of the platform will be able to access the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies and hold funds in BTC, Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ether (ETH). The event seems to have pushed BTC back to $ 13,000, after more than one year.

Ether is also on the rise; its average growth is 10.7%. The price ranged between $ 364 and $ 419. The price rise is happening since October 21, on the same date that the value of BTC rose. Possibly its inclusion in the list of cryptocurrencies able to trade in PayPal influenced the rise. The service will be available for the time being to PayPal account holders in the US.

The prices of other relevant cryptocurrencies on the market also turned green. Ripple’s XRP grows 4.9%, and Ethereum Classic (ETC) increases by 5.2%. This while Litecoin appreciates 17% and reached a spot in the weekly top.

Litecoin is on PayPal and added to Germany’s stock exchange exchange

Litecoin (LTC) is on the list of cryptocurrencies allowed for trading on PayPal, as announced on October 21, the same date on which the price of LTC began a rise that led to an average advance of 17 %. Litecoin can be traded on the payment platform along with three other cryptocurrencies.

The list of cryptocurrencies also adds LTC. It woke up interest through the CredEarn program, which allows Uphold customers to make and receive loans with their cryptocurrency assets, the Litecoin Foundation announced on October 22. That same day the value of LTC reached a maximum of $ 56, closing the week at $ 55.

Litecoin also made headlines this week; it appears on the German cryptocurrency exchange Börse Stuttgart. The platform activated LTC, XRP, and ETH trading, the market capitalization of LTC is $ 3,638 million, and the daily trade volume is $ 3,772 million at the time of writing.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

The regulator suggests standardizing the measures used by exchange houses. The report calls for regulations on security among social media companies.

A report from the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) highlighted six anti-fraud practices among bitcoin exchanges that need to be under inspection and a standardization process. The entity made the list of security measures regarding the Twitter hack that occurred in July.

The DFS validated the measures that the exchanges applied during the hack to the social network but added other recommendations to minimize the possibility of users compromising funds in the future.

The action protocol to mitigate potential scams includes: blocking cryptocurrency addresses associated with scammers, restrictions of transactions only to pre-approved addresses, and the improvement of the marketing of their promotions for they do not appear as potential fraud.

The other three elements are: educating users to detect scams, detect new modus operandi, and share information with other companies in the bitcoin ecosystem.

The department was clear in saying that companies related to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies should not run promotions and contests that look like common scams. Besides, educational campaigns should be conducted to prevent new fraud.

When it comes to detecting new scam methods, the DFS suggests that exchanges keep an “active watch” to identify new trends. Regarding the exchange of information between the exchange houses, it is recommended to do it at all times, but with special emphasis on critical moments.

Exchanges are executing measures to create a regulated environment.

The DFS indicated that up to 15 companies related to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies blocked operations, while another seven did not. Being in its regulatory jurisdiction, the entity detailed how  Coinbase, Square, Gemini, and Bitstamp handled the situation.

In total, the four exchanges blocked more than 6,000 attempted transactions worth approximately $ 1.5 million. The destination of the funds was the addresses that the hackers disclosed through the social network.

The regulator indicated that this served to demonstrate the degree of “maturity” that exists in the New York cryptocurrency market. Also, he explained that companies were impacted in two ways: by the hacking of their Twitter accounts and by the risk that their clients would be tricked into sending funds to criminals.

It is important to mention that the Twitter accounts of the Binance, Bitfinex, and KuCoin exchanges were also compromised by hackers. However, in this case, these are companies that are regulated in other jurisdictions, so they were not included in the report.

The report leaned on the performance of exchanges but also called for attention, saying that vulnerabilities are still latent on social media. For this reason, the investigation requests the implementation of regulations on security when it comes to social media.

The Twitter hack affected the accounts of Elon Musk (Tesla), Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Barack Obama (former president of the United States), and that of the presidential candidate of the United States, Joe Biden.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

For the executive, “digital currencies” would shape the future of finance. He believes that today’s financial system should be less dependent on banks.

The founder of the Chinese consortium Alibaba, Jack Ma, struck at financial regulations and the international banking system. The executive said that both would suffocate the technological innovation in the fintech area.

For Jack Ma, the current financial system should depend less on the big banks, so he believes in the establishment of a new ecosystem in finance. This new scheme should include, at its discretion, “lakes, ponds, streams and streams” that allow the injection of capital into different corners of the economy, according to a Bloomberg report.

Amid his questioning, the businessman stressed that cryptocurrencies, or “digital currencies” as he called them, could play a leading role in the construction of a potential new system for the next 30 years.

“Digital currencies could create value and we should think about how to establish a new kind of financial system through digital currencies,” said Jack Ma. The remarks came ahead of the initial public offering (IPO) of Ant Group, the Chinese financial services tech and parent company of Alipay, which is under the control of the wealthy executive.

China on its route to digital currencies

According to Jack Ma, China should chart its path in this matter. His message would point out that the Asian giant should distance itself from global financial guidelines, among which he mentioned the Basel regulations.

Jack Ma views these banking supervision arrangements as “elders’ clubs” that do not serve as methods of “regulating the future.” The billionaire thinks that many of the world’s problems arise because of the attitude of banks about risk controls and not talking about new developments, opportunities for young people, and countries in the process of development.

On the business models of banks, the founder of Alibaba thinks that institutions should abandon the mentality of “pawnshop” which accepts guarantees to issue loans, according to a note in the Financial Times.

The executive’s remarks come amid tests by China on its central bank digital currency (CBDC), or the digital yuan or e-RMB (electronic renminbi). The project started in the Asian country some years ago, but in 2020 China unleashed real experiments with transactions among its inhabitants.

The approval of the distribution of 10 million yuan in various regions of China. The free distribution of 10 million yuan was authorized for a new trial of the digital currency. Users who chose to participate in the trials received 200 yuan ($ 30) to make purchases. In early 2019, China tried to become the first country to issue its central bank digital currency.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

PayPal’s decision to integrate cryptocurrencies to its platform may bode well for the price of Bitcoin, as its user base could triple.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed the $ 13,000 mark again after PayPal’s announcement yesterday triggered a powerful rally that took the price to a new yearly high. Currently, near $ 13,100, the price of Bitcoin is up almost 10% since the announcement, and BTC is now close to surpassing PayPal as the 21st largest asset by market capitalization. (Update: Bitcoin is now more than PayPal by market capitalization)

The announcement that PayPal will integrate cryptocurrencies to its platform exactly two weeks after Square, another payment giant, announced its foray into the crypto space by investing approximately 1% of its assets in Bitcoin.

According to Lanre Jonathan Ige, a researcher at Amun AG, the continued trend of high-profile investments will be a primary key to attracting institutional interest in Bitcoin. Ige said: “Corporations tend to follow trends and we can expect other corporations to follow Square and Microstrategy’s lead as asset returns continue to impress”.

This recent news from PayPal is more likely to draw the masses to Bitcoin rather than institutions. This is because PayPal is capable of bringing a more general audience up to speed with cryptocurrency as an investment vehicle for now and as a payment method in the future, which is one of the main focuses of the Bitcoin community when it comes to mass adoption.

PayPal should boost Bitcoin’s user base

According to data from Glassnode, Bitcoin currently has more than 187 million users or “hodlers”. While it’s an impressive number, cryptocurrency analyst Willy Woo noted that this pales in comparison to PayPal’s 487 million users.

With the addition of Bitcoin, PayPal brings the cryptocurrency name to a mainstream audience. While it is only possible to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin through PayPal at the moment, the company announced that it will add payments and transfers in cryptocurrencies in 2021. Once this happens, it could consolidate the reputation of Bitcoin as a payment mechanism and remittances.

Transacting through PayPal and other centralized platforms could even become one of the ways Bitcoin can climb up to a more mainstream user base. Centralized transactions (along with other methods like sidechains and the Lightning Network) could help to alleviate congestion on the Bitcoin blockchain, allowing its use only for larger transactions that require more security, transparency, or immutable proof.

According to experts, Bitcoin may even benefit from what some call the “Robinhood effect,” a phenomenon in which retail investors with disposable income buy an asset through fee-free and gamified investment platforms to avoid headaches frequently associated with banks.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

More and more bitcoins are pouring out of older wallets. The number of addresses that store 100 BTC reached a six-month high.

According to statistics shown by Glassnode, more and more bitcoins are coming out of older wallets. On this, some Twitter users suggest that these holdlers probably took a small amount of bitcoin and using it as collateral for other operations such as the renewal of mining equipment. They would look like sales, but they are not.

What Glassnode’s dormancy chart suggests is that the hodlers of yesteryear are selling their funds possibly out of fear of lower prices. The funny thing is that these “old holdlers” do not tend to succumb to market fluctuations, as they are faithful to bitcoin and differ from others who dump their funds at the first sign of problems.

Possibly, what is happening may be a sign that a new generation of bitcoin holders is coming. If so, what we are seeing on the Glassnode chart are movements that indicate that they found new formulas to increase their profits. Another possibility is that old hodlers are migrating their address coins.

A quite similar movement is taking place in the Ethereum network, where a massive amount of Ether is moving from centralized exchanges and wallets to the smart contracts of DeFi platforms. Some alternatives recently emerged that allow bitcoin hodlers to enter the DeFi territory of Ethereum.

Addresses with more than 100 bitcoins increase

Other data from Glassnode feeds the theory that the bitcoin ecosystem would face the presence of the birth of a new generation of hodlers. According to their numbers, the number of addresses that store more than 100 BTC increased to 16,159, reaching a maximum in six months. The last time they recorded a record like that was on June 8, when there were 16,158.

Despite the increase that shows the data, the current number of addresses that accumulate more than 100 bitcoins is below the maximum of this year, which, according to Glassnode, would be 16,300. The firm’s data also records that the historical maximum in February 2017 reached a total of 18,543. The current figure represents 12.86% less than the historical maximum.

Retail and business operators of bitcoin continue to accumulate cryptocurrencies, but the safeguard is increasingly conducted outside exchanges or exchange houses. For Willy Woo this is a sign that “new buyers are coming in to take coins out of the markets and move them to cold storage hodl, we are seeing new holders at this time,” he explained on Twitter.

By: Jenson Nuñez.