“Bitcoin” Google Searches Triggered by Price Rally

Willmen Blanco
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“Bitcoin” Google Searches Triggered by Price Rally

Bitcoin’s price and an urban singer keep the interest of Nigerian Internet users. Brazil is currently among the 10 countries with the greatest interest in “Bitcoin” Google searches.

It was reported that the increase in the price of Bitcoin continues to generate growth in the interest of Internet users regarding the subject. According to the information provided through Google Trends, last week’s searches for the word “Bitcoin” using the most widely browser worldwide increased by 186%.

Google measurements show that the week comprised between June 16th and 22nd saw an increase in Google Trends relative interest rate index for the term “Bitcoin”. The maximum point was reached on Saturday, June 22nd, coinciding with the first time, so far in 2019, that Bitcoin prices exceeded US $11,000.

It should be noted that at the top of the list of countries with the highest interest in Bitcoin is Nigeria, with the maximum record of 100 points in Google Trends index. Among the related searches currently on the rise in that African country, the one above the rest is the query about Bitcoin’s prices in dollars and the launch of a song titled “Bitcoin”, produced by a local singer of urban music.

According to Google Trends relative interest rate index, the African nation has remained at the top of this list in recent months. In May 2019, Nigerian Internet users also set the interest rate in Bitcoin for Google Trends, at the time of the highest search volume of the month, which occurred on Tuesday, May 14th.

It was informed that South Africa, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands currently occupy the first five positions within the table, with scores between 65 and 52 out of 100 possible points.

Brazil among the Top 10

Among Latin American countries, Brazil registered the highest level of Bitcoin searches on Google, with a score of 41. The figure places the South American nation in the ninth place within the 62-country Google Trends table.

These data reveal a significant growth of interest in Bitcoin by Brazilian Internet users, since one month ago Brazil was in position 28, with 21 points in the Google Trends relative interest rate index. The Latin American country, where Rio de Janeiro is located, has the highest number of cryptocurrency users despite recent government regulations, which are considered to be disadvantageous by industry players in this country.

For its part, Venezuela, the country that ranked first in regional search for the term Bitcoin in May, fell from position 12 to position 20 within the table, with an index of 28 points. Other Spanish-speaking countries, such as Spain and Colombia, occupied positions 28 and 29 respectively, by the end of May 2019.

One of the main reasons for this trend in the search of the term “Google” is the potential of this cryptocurrency for generating big profits. Another explanation for this behavior would be its ability to recover from big falls. Finally, it can be said that this asset brings hope to countries whose economic systems base upon an increasingly depreciated national currency.

By Willmen Blanco

FATF Cryptocurrency Regulations in Latin America

Willmen Blanco
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FATF Cryptocurrency Regulations in Latin America

The FATF has just implemented a set of recommendations for Latin American exchanges. Several countries in the region belong to a regional branch of the FATF

The recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regarding the exchange houses and other cryptocurrency service providers must also be adopted in Latin America. This is clear from the available information about the active members of the association, which is contained in their official Website.

The FATF has just formalized a set of recommendations through which it guides countries on how to regulate cryptocurrency exchange houses, in an effort to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. These rules proved to be controversial, since they are based on applying to the cryptocurrency industry regulations of the banking system, some of which would be detrimental to the sector.

Despite the fact that only four Spanish-speaking countries are among the 38 active members of the organization, namely Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Spain, the FATF has subsidiaries worldwide. In Latin America, the Financial Action Task Force for Latin America (GAFILAT), which has been affiliated to the FATF since 2006, includes 17 of the countries in the region. This implies that Latin American cryptocurrency service providers will be affected by the regulations.

It should be noted that only Venezuela, El Salvador and Belize are not members of the GAFILAT. However, there is another regional group, a sister organization of the FATF, in the Caribbean area. This is the Financial Action Task Force of the Caribbean (CFATF), which brings together the countries of that region (25 members), also covering Venezuela, El Salvador and Belize.

Harmful Norms

The FATF explains that one of their requirements is related to the exchange of users’ information with third parties, which worries cryptocurrency exchange houses most. It was informed that KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations are transformed into a system for sharing user identification data along with transactions, both among users and among service providers.

The said rule, which is known in the banking sector as a “travel rule”, requires that the issuer of a transaction include data such as the name and physical address of the user that originates the transaction. Additionally, the FATF guide deals with cryptocurrency services focusing on privacy, and requests countries to ensure that these providers adapt to the regulations. It even indicates that they should be able to freeze or prohibit transactions with sanctioned individuals.

Suppliers of these services have expressed the view that the regulations, as presented by the FATF, will be detrimental to the operation of cryptocurrency exchange houses. Most opinions agree that applying them could lead to the closing of operations of many cryptocurrency management companies.

For the time being, although the FATF recommendations are not binding, all Latin American countries must ensure that its regulations regarding cryptocurrency exchange houses are adapted. They should comply with this if they do not want to be placed on a blacklist of countries that may endanger foreign investment.

All cryptocurrency investors should be able to count on a competent body like the FATF that protects both their privacy and their assets.

By Willmen Blanco

Zuckerberg: “Libra is an Independent Organization, Facebook Only Has One Vote”

Andres Chavez
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Zuckerberg: “Libra is an Independent Organization, Facebook Only Has One Vote”

Trust is a word with a complex meaning. Trusting your money and savings in something means that you can rest easy knowing that anybody will take advantage of you or your funds, for that matter.

In the specific case of Facebook and its newly-announced cryptocurrency project Libra, the user base would be dealing with a company that has encountered doubters before. Not only that, but it is also a network known because of its constant invasions of privacy, not to mention a couple of hacking scandals, like the one from September 2018.

Optimism and Skepticism

After the Libra announcement, a significant portion of the industry is excited because of its potential in many fronts. However, others are scared and think that everything will be done to benefit Facebook and its partners, not users. Another chunk of the pie thinks that people would be dealing with lots of companies that have not quite consistently protected user’s data in the past.

After all, partners such as Visa, Master Card, Uber, and eBay have all faced different kinds of issues in the past, such as data breaches, hacking scandals, information loss, and others. We are living in the era of cyber threats, and people are having a hard time putting their trust in the hands of others.

However, Mark Zuckerberg, known for being Facebook’s Founder and highest authority, offered people reasons to trust the Libra project and everything it stands for, because there are numerous partners involved.

Quoted by CNBC’s Fast Money via Twitter, Zuckerberg stood up for Facebook’s cryptocurrency, stating that “building a financial system is not the kind of thing that a company can do by itself. So we played a role in helping to stand this up.”

Zuckerberg further added that despite what people may think, the Libra Association “is an independent organization, and we will have one vote in it… By the time it launches, hopefully we will have 100 co-founding companies.” That means Facebook would only have one vote and equal rights as all the other 99 firms, according to his remarks.

The Libra Project

After months of speculation and rumors about its crypto project, Facebook finally announced it last week, with mixed reviews from the community, but with vast potential, room to grow, and work to do before the coin is ready to meet the market in the first half of next year, according to the plans.

The Libra white paper states that “now is the time to create a new kind of digital currency built on the foundation of blockchain technology. The mission for Libra is a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people. Libra is made up of three parts that will work together to create a more inclusive financial system: It is built on a secure, scalable, and reliable blockchain; it is backed by a reserve of assets designed to give it intrinsic value; and it is governed by the independent Libra Association tasked with evolving the ecosystem.”

The known partners, until now, are Mastercard, Mercado Pago, PayPal, PayU (Naspers’ fintech arm), Stripe, Visa, Booking Holdings, eBay, Facebook/Calibra, Farfetch, Lyft, Spotify AB, Uber Technologies, Inc., Iliad, Vodafone Group, Anchorage, Bison Trails, Coinbase, Inc., Xapo Holdings Limited, Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Initiatives, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, Union Square Ventures, Creative Destruction Lab, Kiva, Mercy Corps, and Women’s World Banking. Those are the “Founding Members.”

By Andres Chavez

Bitcoin Will Keep Rising, But Altcoins Will be Worthless and Cease to Exist, According to Keiser

Andres Chavez
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Bitcoin Will Keep Rising, But Altcoins Will be Worthless and Cease to Exist, According to Keiser

Much of the ink that is spent on papers, and the words that are written in the cyberspace focus on Bitcoin, its future, impact on the society, price, and other related affairs. However, many new investors ignore the fact that altcoins not only exist, but also, that they represent another sector of importance when it comes to usage: people hold, trade, and sometimes, spend altcoins in the form of Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar Lumens, Dash, and many more. Not everything starts and ends with Bitcoin.

Yes, the present and future of Bitcoin take up the majority of interest in the crypto community, but what is going to happen with altcoins? Will they have the same staying power of BTC? Will there be a particular token that can compete with the “beast”?

The Next Price Surge Won’t Include Altcoins

According to American broadcaster and bitcoin bull Max Keiser seems to have a particularly harsh opinion when it comes to altcoins. He suggests that the most recent price surge in the industry won’t include altcoins, in a rather revealing interview with news network CNBC at the start of the week.

Keiser identifies people’s newfound trust in Bitcoin’s chain as the primary reason behind his remarks. He says that people have been adopting Segregated Witness (SegWit) and the Lightning Protocol, and they now have a better understanding about the store of value that bitcoin can offer. He says that investors are eager to move their digital assets into “the most secure chain.”

He even forecasted that altcoins will be worth pennies, or go out of existence in the majority of cases, because all of people’s money “is going to flow into bitcoin.” According to the expert, due to BTC’s dominance of the market (currently at 60 percent, a number that has been creeping up for quite some time now,) “the altcoin phenomenon is finished.”

The Market Dominance Factor

While right now, the dominance factor favors Bitcoin with the aforementioned 60 percent, Keiser says that the number will keep growing in the future, with a projection that could take it to the 80 or 90 percent range.

As surprising as it may sound to some pundits in the field, Keiser isn’t the only one that thinks altcoins’ days are numbered. In fact, Peter Brandt, a recognized trader and author, said recently that BTC will keep its upwards trend but other coins will not enjoy the same fate. The opposite happened in 2017, when altcoins did enjoy a market surge just as BTC, but as Brandt put it, “cryptomaniancs expect alts to do so again — they may be very disappointed.”

Naeem Aslam, who is currently ThinkMarkets chief market analyst, forecasted that BTC will be worth between $60,000 and $100,000 during its next bullish market, an unprecedented figure given that its maximum value, achieved on January 2018, as nearly $20,000.

In fact, that $20,000 threshold will be, according to Aslam, the one that, once cleared, serves as the “floor” in future price discussions that can take the next target to $50,000, and once there, to $100,000.

At the moment of writing this piece, BTC was exchanging hands at $10,313.21, down a little over 7 percent over the last 24 hours. The most valuable altcoin, Bitcoin Cash, was worth $408.71, and ETH checked in at $287.73.

By Andres Chavez

Malta will Register all Rental Agreements Using Blockchain

Maria Rodríguez
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With this measure, the government offers greater security and legitimacy to rental processes, by avoiding the manipulation of records

In Malta, a new provision states that all rental agreements are registered on a blockchain platform, with the aim to protect them from manipulation and also guarantee access only to authorized staff.

Malta continues with its plan to become the “Blockchain Island, taking advantage of what Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) offers to store and manage information quickly and safely. Once again, the European country surprises with a project that seeks to guarantee the legitimacy of rental contracts.

The Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, announced that all rental contracts in that country will be registered in a blockchain system. The official gave the announcement recently during a radio interview.

“Now, we will show people the value of this technology, applying it to something they will use in their daily lives. This contract can’t be manipulated and only authorized people can access it. This shows how digital transformation will affect their lives”, he said.

According to Muscat, the country’s cabinet approved the reformulation of the laws concerning the rental of furniture, after a long period of consultation by lawmakers. The new regulations would be announced in the coming days.

A “Friendly Country” with Blockchain

Malta is known as a country compatible with blockchain technology and digital currencies. In June 2018, Malta launched its first friendly regulatory framework in favor of blockchain technology and digital currencies.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, Silvio Schembri, commented that by the end of 2018 the number of blockchain companies operating in Malta amounted to 800.

In early April, Malta’s Financial Services Authority (MFSA) granted licenses to 14 cryptocurrency agents in order to promote the growth of the sector. This time, the country will become the first one, in the whole world, to have a government agency based on blockchain technology for business registration.

Last May, the government of Malta announced 19 student scholarships for blockchain training worth 160,000 euros, equivalent to US $ 179,000.

Aspects such as digital money, financial instruments, virtual tokens and digital assets already have a space within the current laws; even some lawyers in the country are working on recommendations associated with the management of different types of cryptoactive.

Currently, the nation has a friendly regulatory environment, a workforce familiar with these technologies, students training for the management of blockchain and the creation of new projects, among other legal benefits for the European territory.

For these reasons, at the beginning of June the European Union (EU) recommended to the Maltese authorities to also develop mechanisms that function as protection to prevent crypto-crimes.

However, in February, the Financial Services Authority of Malta conducted a test and suggested that the cybersecurity system should comply with international standards, including the guidelines of the European Banking Authority.

In other countries, the use of blockchain technology in real estate-related processes has increased in recent months. In early June, the Dubai Land Department and the telecommunications company Etisalat signed a Memorandum of Understanding related to blockchain technology and the real estate sector.

Some companies consider that Malta could become a central point for experiments associated with blockchain technology. The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) believes that blockchain has the potential to accelerate the process of registering and transferring properties whilst increasing transparency and making land records reliable, among other aspects.

By María Rodríguez

Bitcoin’s Meteoric Gains Vanish Almost as Soon as They Occur

Willmen Blanco
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Bitcoin’s Meteoric Gains Vanish Almost as Soon as They Occur

The largest digital token reaches nearly US $14,000 before receding. Its volatility is near the highest levels since the crypto bubble in 2018.

It was reported that Bitcoin’s rise on Wednesday, June 26th, was meteoric but its fall was just as fast. This is an example of how easy it is to enter and exit the world of cryptocurrencies, where the Bitcoin fever increased its price to almost US $14,000, its highest level since January 2018.

It should be noted that the largest digital asset subsequently changed course in a matter of minutes after a major cryptocurrency market reported an interruption to service. The withdrawal was said to accelerate on Thursday and returned the currency’s price to almost the same level as the previous day.

The rise in prices reminded of the cryptographic bubble that exploded at the end of 2017, when Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, beset by regulatory setbacks and fraud-related problems, fell out of favor. It is worth mentioning that the price of Bitcoin dropped to around US $3,600 six months ago.

Abrupt Fall

After having reached a record maximum, Bitcoin fell by US $1,800 in only 10 minutes. This year, cryptocurrency bulls were encouraged after many Wall Street heavyweights seemed to be more interested in and more readily accepting of cryptocurrencies and the underlying Blockchain technology, which helped boost prices.

The trend of prices turned parabolic in early June, 2019, when Facebook Inc. disclosed plans to introduce its own digital currency. Many proponents cited the measure as a long-awaited validation of the potential of digital assets to alter the global financial system drastically.

However, the reversal on Thursday, June 27th, caused one of the biggest Bitcoin proponents, Mike Novogratz, to regret not having taken more money off the table before the currency lost most of its profits. John Spallanzani, Portfolio Manager at Miller Value Partners, considers that that could have contributed to its rapid decline.

Bitcoin fell by 19% on Thursday, which reduced the loss to 16% by the end of the day. It advanced 4.2% to US $11,137 at 10:50 a.m. in Hong Kong on Friday, June 28th. Bitcoin’s volatility is close to the highest levels since early 2018, when the bubble burst.

Mati Greenspan, Senior Market Analyst at the eToro trading platform, believes that the cryptocurrency market “got too hot on Thursday and now it is getting cold.” He considers that the market is incredible, as the price can fall by around 15% in less than an hour and return to the highs of the previous trading day.

Besides Bitcoin other alternative currencies also dropped on Thursday, among which Ether and Litecoin had a decrease of 14%. For its part, the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index (BGCI), which tracks a basket of the largest digital assets, also fell by 19%.

Bitcoin has proved to be a solid crypto asset that can recover from extreme situations, such as the one occurred on June 26th. Only one day after that, it was able to return close to its maximum value. Network users can feel confident to invest in this leading cryptocurrency if they want to make good profits.

By Willmen Blanco

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