Investors would have increased their savings by 38.73% if they had bought Bitcoin once a month last year. DCA is a technique that allows averaging long-term investment and making profits if the value rises.

A well-known and easy technique to invest in Bitcoin (BTC) is DCA (dollar cost average). It consists of putting the same amount of money in the asset every year, semester, month, or week. Of course, that will depend on what investors prefer, as long as they maintain it for a scheduled period.

The DCA technique allows averaging long-term investment and increasing savings when the value rises. Those who invested the same amount in Bitcoin every month during the last year received a profit of 38.73%.

Those who invested little money and those allocating high volumes achieved that increase. In other words, regardless of how much people can save in BTC, they can make that profit if they keep the same investment every month.

The DCA Technique Adapts to the Personal Savings Margin

If a person had invested USD 25 in Bitcoin every month in the last year, he would have spent USD 300. Thanks to that, he would now have USD 416, which means 116 more US dollars. Of course, the same benefits apply to higher amounts of money.

Concerning higher savings, another person could have bought USD 125 worth of Bitcoin monthly during the last year. He would have spent USD 1,500 and would now have USD 2,080, a gain of USD 580.

Some people could have acquired up to USD 1,000 worth of BTC per month during that period. They would have spent USD 12,000 and would now have USD 16,647, a profit of USD 4,647.

There Is Less Risk of Losing by Buying Bitcoin Every Month

The price of Bitcoin has suffered a significant drop since the beginning of November. In other words, if it rises by early 2022, as analysts like Willy Woo have predicted, the profit would be higher.

In case the price of BTC continues to fall, the DCA technique allows averaging the investment of each month. The loss is low since not all purchases are at bearish prices. Investors adopting the DCA technique take that risk as they believe the cryptocurrency will appreciate in the long term.

Colombian trader Juan Rodríguez considers that short-term drops in the price of BTC are an opportunity to profit and buy cheaper. He attributes that to the belief that the value will eventually increase. In other words, it will always end up in profit. For that reason, he plans to continue investing in that way for five years.

Rodríguez, better known as Papa Bitcoin, is a renowned cryptocurrency analyst. He recently revealed how much he has invested in Bitcoin monthly to increase his savings by 154% in just over a year. Besides investing the same amount of money every month, he also takes advantage of price drops to buy more.

By Alexander Salazar

Long-term savers added 16% to their holdings, thus putting more than 13 million BTC in their wallets this year. The number of coins in the hands of those investors reached almost 75% of all Bitcoin in circulation.

In 2021, the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) in the hands of long-term savers increased by almost 2 million coins. The latest report from Glassnode, which closes this year, reflects that figure.

Data from the analysis firm indicate that savers added 1 million 846 thousand BTC to their reserves. There was a 16% increase this year, during which more than 13.3 million coins have gone to the hands of long-term holders.

In contrast, the reserves of short-term holders decreased by more than 1.4 million coins. Due to that fall, those funds went to just over 3 million BTC, for a total drop of 32%.

That increase in long-term holding led those investors to reach almost 75% of all the Bitcoin in circulation. In other words, 3 out of 4 BTC not deposited on exchanges but in private wallets have remained in strong hands for the long term.

According to Glassnode, that behavior suggests that 2021 has been a year of macro consolidation and a period of modest accumulation. They noted that this is something that occurs more frequently during bearish markets. Curiously, that has been the case in the year when Bitcoin reached its new all-time high of nearly USD 70 thousand per unit.

There Is Less Bitcoin on Exchanges, and the Coins in Circulation Are in Profit

The decline was minimal, but the report from Glassnode shows that the amount of BTC on exchanges dropped. Compared to the beginning of 2021, when the net amount fell by almost 68 thousand coins, now there is 2.5% less BTC on exchange platforms.

The price of the pioneering cryptocurrency has been around 78% up since the beginning of the year. Besides, more than 70% of the coins in circulation are currently in profit, compared to the last time holders moved them. That represents a slight decrease from the one described in the previous report.

Glassnode considers that this was a wild ride for those involved in the world of Bitcoin. In addition to market issues, governments and regulators attacked mining, and developers implemented the long-awaited Taproot improvement.

As usual, Bitcoin closes the year being more robust and more resistant, ready to solve more blocks and create more opportunities in 2022. The pioneering cryptocurrency has always recovered from the worst crises and resumed its previous all-time highs.

Glassnode seems to agree with market analyst Willy Woo, recognized for his bullish bias towards the first cryptocurrency on the market. His most modest prediction reflected the same preference, foreseeing an excellent first quarter of 2022 for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is currently trading at around USD 48.04 and has accumulated a 3.2% loss in the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 27.67 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 908.77 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

The new short-term upward trend started after a considerable drop in the price, which found support at USD 3.85. The previous bullish force is dominant, so the recent decline is still a mere correction before resuming the trend.

As the cryptocurrency market recovers from its latest crash, the price of the Theta token jumps strongly to the upside. The launch of new NFTs (non-fungible tokens)  contributes to its rise.

THETA is currently trading at around USD 5.16 and has accumulated a profit of 28.8% in the last week. Its trading volume is above USD 273.19 million, and its market capitalization is about USD 5.16 billion. It occupies 39^th place in the cryptocurrency ranking, according to CoinGecko.

The Theta Network is a blockchain whose design allows user-driven streaming of audiovisual content and the display of various NFT collections. Regarding the latter, the launch of one about celebrity Katy Perry NFT seems to have sparked a new rally in the price.

The Technical Analysis of the Price of the Theta Token

The daily Theta chart shows that the price has risen dramatically over the last week. That has created an upward trend for the short term.

That new trend started after a significant drop in the value of the Theta token, which found support at USD 3.85. At that point, it began to reach higher lows, which indicated the weakness of sellers.

Resistance at USD 5.90 is hampering the price, for which there might be a correction from the current point. However, the dominance of the bullish force suggests that sales should quickly slow down, ushering in new momentum.

The Weekly Chart of the Value of the Theta Token

Over the last week, the Theta token has accumulated gains that are still irrelevant. The price has reached increasingly low lows in that period.

However, the previous bullish force is dominant in the Theta token market. For that reason, the decline of the price in the last few months is still a mere correction/break before resuming the upward trend.

The price of the Theta token has remained in a descending triangle during the bearish process. When that chart figure forms over resistance, it indicates a pullback of the trend. However, that is not the case with this crypto asset.

The chart of the Theta token indicates that this triangle is a sign of a simple break. Right now, the price could escape through the top, showing a resumption of the trend and a possible new all-time high. To confirm that, it must break through resistance at USD 8.18.

Before considering selling, the price must lose support at USD 3.85, which is currently an unlikely scenario.

However, it is only a matter of time before the value of the Theta token reaches and exceeds its previous all-time highs. Of course, everything will depend on how the crypto market, especially Bitcoin, behaves in the coming days/weeks. On other occasions, the pioneering cryptocurrency has led the way for altcoins to follow.

By Alexander Salazar

A torrent download of Spider-Man: No Way Home may contain crypto-malware, warns a cybersecurity company.

Cryptocurrency malware got revealed in a torrent download of the new movie Spider-Man: No Way Home, according to a Bitcoin.com review. The company highlighted in a note that this miner creates exclusion to Windows Defender, creates persistence, and created a watchdog process to maintain its activity.

Reasonlabs issued the warning on Thursday, before Christmas, saying it found cryptocurrency malware in a torrent download of the hit new Spider-Man movie.

Reasonlabs, which brings enterprise-grade cyber protection for users worldwide, noted that attackers must keep up with current affairs to attract as many victims as possible. That is why they use very fashionable topics that everyone knows. The cybersecurity firm indicated:

Malware in Spider-Man

Spider-Man: No Way Home has approached a $ 1 billion mark at the box office, according to various media reports, making it the highest-grossing film of 2021. The last installment in the Spider-Man series, No Way Home, is the first film released during the Covid-19 pandemic to reach the $ 1 billion mark.

The entity thinks that the file likely originated from a Russian torrent website. According to the entity, the miner creates persistence and generates a watchdog process to keep going with its activity.

Malware tries to avoid eye tests by using legitimate names for the files and processes it creates. According to ReasonLab, the malware claims to be from Google and drops files with names like sihost64.exe and Pass them into svchost.exe.

The cybersecurity firm cautioned that the best precaution is to verify that the extension of the file getting downloaded matches the file that is about to get downloaded. 

A movie file must end with .mp4 and not with .exe. The firm added that if users want to see the actual file extension and open a folder, they must go to ‘View’ and check ‘File name extensions. This action will ensure that users see the complete file type.

Insistent Malware

There are many ways in which mining malware tries to trap users. In 2020, it got reported that at least 35,000 computers of Latin American users got infected with Monero mining malware. In December 2019, a photo of singer and actress Taylor Swift also struggled with a Monero mining malware.

Also, earlier this month, Google took steps to disrupt a botnet that was leveraging the Bitcoin blockchain to spread malware among thousands of Windows devices.

Glupteba Harmed at Least One Million Computers

According to the report, hackers expand the malware through third-party free download sites that offer pirated videos and games. Unsuspecting users clicked the download link to receive a Trojan virus that infected their computers.

In one of these cases, the attackers even used a fake YouTube video download site to trick victims into installing their malicious code. Once on the computer, the malware hides and intends to spread to any connected device. Hackers can use the malware to install additional malicious payloads, opening many gateways to steal login credentials.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The regulatory agency argued that the funds were not consistent to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices. Eric Balchunas said that everyone was optimistic about futures, but that decision caused doubts about their approval in 2022.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently rejected two spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) applications from Valkyrie and Kryptoin. The regulatory agency said the proposals did not comply with the requirements of section 6 (b) (5) of the Stock Exchange Act.

The official document indicated that the SEC rejected the spot Bitcoin ETFs due to similar market manipulation concerns. They referred to both the listing and trading of shares by the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund and Kryptoin Bitcoin ETF Trust.

That is not the first time that a regulator has rejected a proposal from Kryptoin. In 2019, it did not receive the go-ahead from the authorities to operate.

The SEC Rejects the Applications from Valkyrie and Kryptoin

The SEC has turned down applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds many times. On December 22^nd, the regulatory entity disproved the proposals they received from Valkyrie and Kryptoin.

The SEC argued that the Valkyrie and Kryptoin funds were not consistent to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices. For that reason, the agency stated that they decided to reject them to protect investors and the public interest.

According to the SEC, the proposals do not meet the requirements of section 6 (b) (5) of the Stock Exchange Act of 1934. They explained the rules of a national stock exchange must prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.

Some Analysts Give Their Opinion about the Decision by the SEC

James Seyffart, the ETF research analyst at Bloomberg, said that the decision by the SEC surprised him. He expressed that he did not understand why they rejected those ETF proposals.

Curiously, Seyffart posted an image of the latest Bitcoin funds that the SEC did not approve. Valkyrie and Kryptoin were the last ones on the list, and the next ones, First Trust and Skybridge, will receive their verdict before January 22^nd.

ETF senior analyst Eric Balchunas commented that the SEC ruined this Christmas season with that decision, but there could be more to come. He stated that everyone was optimistic about futures, but now they are not confident of their approval in 2022. He stressed that the regulatory agency rejects ETF proposals faster than necessary.

The SEC Rejects Other Applications for ETFs

In November, the SEC rejected a spot Bitcoin ETF that investment firm VanEck submitted. After that, the regulatory entity turned down a request from WisdomTree.

Last week, the SEC delayed its decisions on the Bitcoin ETF proposals from Bitwise and Grayscale for another 45 days.

The SEC must decide on the Skybridge Bitcoin ETF proposal from Anthony Scaramucci before January 22^nd. Concerning the decision on the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust application from Fidelity, it is due on January 27^th.

The latest move by the SEC indicates that the market will not see a spot Bitcoin ETF this year. It seems that regulators are still concerned that the use of crypto assets contributes to money laundering and terrorism financing.

By Alexander Salazar

President Nayib Bukele revealed a new bitcoin purchase for a total amount of 21 BTC. BitGo and Bitso would become main El Salvador’s BTC providers, but it is not officially confirmed.

In what appears to be its last bitcoin (BTC) purchase for the year 2021, El Salvador received at least 21 new coins on Tuesday, December 21. The new move would skyrocket the BTC reserves accumulated by the Central American country to 1,391 units.

The announcement came from Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who used his account on the social network Twitter to reveal official purchases of BTC since the cryptocurrency has been legally in use in the country.

The accumulated amount came from eight tweets posted by Bukele between September 6 and December 21 of this year since no data on the operations appeared on the official websites of the government of El Salvador.

On this occasion, the president framed the transaction in the occurrence of a numerological phenomenon, in concordance with the last day 21 of the year 2021, in the 21st century, 9:21 p.m., which would be good luck for believers.

Bukele described the 21 BTC purchase process through various tweets and alluded to the fact that, coincidentally, El Salvador has a vast land region. The purchase took effect for at least 1,033,587.87 dollars, at a rate of USD 49,218.57 for each BTC.

The president of El Salvador highlighted purchases of up to 550 BTC in the first week of September 2021, coinciding with the entry into force of the Bitcoin Law. Subsequently, at least two in December got announced, the largest being the one that took place last October 27, in the order of 420 coins.

There is a Bit of Secrecy about the Management of Bitcoins in El Salvador

The information available on the management of bitcoin reserves in El Salvador’s possession is scarce and comes from non-governmental sources. This September, Forbes highlighted that BitGo, an institutional digital asset custody platform, would become the main liquidity provider for the official Chivo wallet.

On the other hand, the cryptocurrency exchange Bitso also revealed that it would be the first provider of Chivo wallet and that it would support operations in both BTC and dollars. This information did not get denied or confirmed by any Salvadoran government representative.

Further details about the country’s operations are also unclear, such as whether the State delegated custody of the official BTC to another party, whether it keeps its reserves in cold wallets, or whether it has total control of private keys.

This information acquired relevance since BitGo is a company with operations in the United States of America, a nation with which Nayib Bukele has had some differences during his period as president. This situation implies that, in a hypothetical conflictive environment, there would be a serious risk of confiscation on the BTC saved in BitGo.

By: Jenson Nuñez