Bitcoin Readies For $9,900 Test, Altcoins Trend Turns Bullish

By John Kiguru – June 8, 2020

Bitcoin adherents are closely watching the fast approaching $9,900 resistance. A break above this early in the week could mean a test of local highs by its end. A move to this level comes just after a retest of the $9,300 support at the end of the weekend. This was a positive sign that the bulls have prices largely under control.

The new week has begun slow but with its key resistance approaching, it is bound to see some price action. Notably, if $9,900 fails and Bitcoin continues to trade in the current range, attention will shift to altcoins.

While Bitcoin continues to trade in the mid 9K range, investors simply play with altcoins. And among the current favorites are Cardano, Etheruem, and Tron, while others like Tezos, Chainlink, and Crypto.com coin continue to impress despite low adoption.

For Cardano and Ethereum, their case has been clear, the launch of Shelley Mainnet and Ethereum 2.0 respectively has propelled the two coins. Now joining in the race is Tron.

Tron CEO Justin Sun announced a couple of hours ago that Tron 4.0 will be ready in about a month. This has since seen the digital asset rally by more than 5% and climb one better in the ranking charts to get above Monero. The Tron upgrade is set to improve key aspects such as security and privacy.

So while the altseason is far from being a reality, investors are not shying away from altcoins. But their eyes seem to be dead set on Bitcoin which could be unhesitant to witness a massive post halving rally.

Miners Ready For A Super Rally

Last week, some new data showed that miners have begun HODLing. Now it seems this isn’t all, it has been revealed that miners have upped their intensity, with now mining taking 8 minutes to discover new blocks, two minutes better than the normal 10 minutes. So despite not selling the Bitcoin rewards and choosing to store, they are mining more than ever.

If Bitcoin gets back above $10,000 again, there is a sense that miners will be key in keeping prices above this level in the long term.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by John Kiguru and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin To Soar As High As $28,000 This Year: Bloomberg

By Joji Xavier | Published: 6/5/2020 11:42 AM ET

Bitcoin price could more than double this year to breach its record, and increase as high as $28,000, according to Bloomberg.

Its June Crypto Outlook report cites a slew of factors such as quantitative easing, the coronavirus pandemic, the falling stock market and crude oil as the reason for the meteoric rise.

The report says "something has to really go wrong for bitcoin not to appreciate in value."

"Covid-19 is hastening the shift away from paper money and stimulating plenty of quantitative easing, which is helping independent stores-of- value such as gold and bitcoin," according to the report.

In the opinion of the financial news outlet, 2020 is about increasingly favorable technical and fundamental underpinnings for Bitcoin, and less so for the broader crypto market.

"Last year, the high was about $14,000, which would translate into almost double in 2020 if rotating within the recent band, and mean little in the big picture," the report says.

The same forces buoying gold support Bitcoin, it added.

Bloomberg cites a possible repeat of 2016, when Bitcoin returned to its previous peak. "Bitcoin will approach the record high of about $20,000 this year, in our view, if it follows 2016's trend".

Although this year's market trend did not give an indication of such lofty increase in price, Bitcoin value doubled from $4944 in March to 9809 in June. the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is currently trading at $9675.

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Article written by an RTT News Staff Writer, and posted on the RTT News.com website.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Your Crypto Taxes Can Be Donated to Charity Instead

Cryptocurrency has become one of the easiest ways to donate to charity without the funds being funneled to third parties.

Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

            JUNE 05, 2020

The crypto community is incredibly financially literate and savvy. Despite everyone calling for crypto adoption and more merchants to accept crypto as payment, most people want to accumulate more crypto, not spend it. Holders think it will be worth more in the future, so why spend it now?

Spending Bitcoin (BTC) at Starbucks for a cup of coffee is a huge pain in the side. Although the transaction itself might be relatively painless with the help of a mobile app, the accounting and tax implications can be frightening if you’re transacting on a regular basis. This is because the United States Internal Revenue Service classifies cryptocurrency as property, meaning that if it appreciates, you owe capital gains on the appreciated amount at the time you spend it. No one wants to figure out their tax liability on a $2 cup of coffee.

So when does it actually make sense to use crypto? The one time it actually benefits you financially might surprise you: donations. Hear me out. Those same tax laws that make it a pain to use crypto to buy coffee also make it an incredibly tax-efficient way to donate to your favorite charity. Not only are you doing good, but you’re lowering your taxes and saving money in the process. Sure, sounds too good to be true.

How to donate with crypto

When you donate crypto, everybody wins — except the IRS. That’s because when you donate crypto directly to a nonprofit, it is not a taxable event, meaning you do not pay capital gains tax and can deduct it on your taxes to offset other gains or income. The nonprofit doesn’t pay tax on their end either, meaning you’re also able to donate 20%+ more than if you sold it first and then donated in fiat.

Below is an example of donating $250,000 in Bitcoin that was purchased for $10,000.

The best part yet? Not only can you lower your taxes, but you can make sure you keep the same amount of crypto in your portfolio. How? If you already donate using a credit card or other method, there is an opportunity for tax arbitrage. Replace the way you typically donate with crypto and you’ll actually be able to donate and deduct 20%+ more, then repurchase that same amount of crypto afterwards.

Boom. Donated more, saved more, and kept the same crypto balance.

Do many nonprofits accept crypto donations?

Yes, more and more are getting onboard. Another added benefit of donating crypto is that it encourages more nonprofits to accept crypto, boosting adoption in the process.

Go ahead and Google “donate Bitcoin” or “donate crypto” to find a crypto-friendly nonprofit. You might be surprised by how many you find and how easy it is. Here are a few examples of nonprofits accepting crypto that you probably recognize:

• Save the Children
• No Kid Hungry
• Rainforest Foundation
• Pencils of Promise
• WaterAid
• The Water Project
• International Medical Corps

There are hundreds out there. The above ones even allow anonymous donations and can even automatically email you a tax receipt (you can use a private email like Protonmail).

So the next time your crypto moons, would you rather donate $57,120 to the IRS or to your favorite cause? The choice is yours.

The information provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional tax advice. If you have tax questions, contact a qualified tax professional.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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Original article posted on the CoinTelegraph.com site, by Alex Wilson.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Nearly $1.4 Billion have been lost to crimes involving cryptocurrency in 2020, Analytics Firm Reveals

By Nick James – June 2, 2020

It’s true that the crypto space is awash with criminal masterminds looking to make a buck off the back of unsuspecting victims. Every year, multiple incidents are reported where fraudsters, hackers, and other thieves make away with huge crypto stashes. According to a new report released by renowned blockchain analytics firm, CipherTrace, the first 5 months of 2020 alone have seen the crypto market lose around $1.4 billion to criminals.

Although $1.4 billion is a huge figure to lose to malicious characters, the good news is that 2020 isn’t as bad as 2019. Upwards of $4.5 billion worth of cryptos were stolen in 2019. Still, 2020 looks to be on track to surpass the $1.7 billion lost in 2017. That will make 2020 the year with second-most funds stolen.

“A Classic Pyramid Scheme”

According to the information uncovered by CipherTrace, the major factor contributing to the $1.4 billion stolen this year can be traced to a single entity: Wotoken. Until a few months ago, Wotoken operated a sophisticated crypto-based pyramid scheme that attracted close to a million users. And then it just collapsed.

John Jefferies, the chief financial analyst at the analytics firm, described Wotoken as “a classic pyramid scheme.” Still, the cryptos stolen from the users are moving around – 292,000 LTC, 684,000 EOS, 2.04 million ETH, 56,000 BCH, and 46,000 BTC.

Point To Note

However, it’s worth noting that the bulk of the funds stolen is due to fraud as opposed to hacking. That means crypto exchanges and people are now more cautious and hackers are finding it harder to steal.

In fact, hacking accounts for just around 2% of the reported funds stolen in 2020 – as detailed by CipherTrace.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

On the other hand, criminals who have acquired cryptos from dubious means seem to be getting smarter in how to hide the trail.

CipherTrace analyzed the cryptos sent from dark web wallets and noted that a majority of them are first transferred to an interim wallet or location before being spent on the regular network to obscure their original source.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Nick James and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

BitMex En Route to Launching a Mobile App to Trade Crypto Futures

Popular derivatives platform of BitMex has indirectly announced it will be launching a Mobile app.

John P. Njui   •   BITCOIN (BTC) NEWS – CRYPTOCURRENCY   •   June 4, 2020  

Quick take:

• BitMex has indirectly announced that it has been working on a mobile version of its trading platform.
• The revelation came in the form of a poll on the popular messaging platform of Telegram.
• This comes after competitors such as Binance and Deribit, slowly but slowly gaining momentum as the choice platform for futures and options trading.

Crypto trading has continued to evolve with exchanges providing extra value-added services such as mobile applications, OTC portals, futures and options trading, peer to peer trading, and more. When it comes to the trading of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) contracts, BitMex was the favorite of many traders for the last few years.

However, its dominance has been chipped off by exchanges that have slowly but surely launched their own derivatives products. They include the popular crypto exchanges of Binance, BitMex, Poloniex, KuCoin, OKEx, Huobi, Bitfinex and Deribit.

BitMex Indirectly Announces it Has Been Working on a Mobile Application

The aforementioned competing crypto exchanges have one thing in common in that they have a mobile version of their trading platform available for their users to trade on the go. On the other hand, trading on BitMex has solely been a web browser affair until now.

Earlier today, and on the BitMex announcement channel on Telegram, the team at the exchange indirectly announced that they have been working on a mobile application. The team did so via the following poll requesting followers of the channel to vote on the next feature they would want to see on the exchange.

As can be seen via the screenshot, traders are enthusiastic about the possibility of a BitMex mobile application to trade crypto futures contracts.

BitMex’s Diminishing Dominance in the Trading of Crypto Futures Contracts

As earlier mentioned and over the past few months, BitMex has slowly lost the top spot in terms of the highest trade volume of Bitcoin futures contracts. Other exchanges such as OKEx, Huobi and Binance have slowly chipped away at BitMex’s dominance as can be seen in the Bitcoin volume and Open interest charts below courtesy of the team at Skew.com.

(Click on image for larger view)

Via the charts, we see that BitMex is ranked third in terms of 24-hour Bitcoin futures trade volume. Additionally, BitMex’s open interest comes second to OKEx. Perhaps with the launch of the BitMex mobile app, the derivatives exchange can regain its dominance in the crypto-verse.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of EWN or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Arthur Hayes: Bitcoin’s (BTC) Rally Aint Real Until We Take Out $15k

Bitcoin's rise above $10K was short lived as a dump forced it back to around $9,300.

John P. Njui   •   BITCOIN (BTC) NEWS   •   JUNE 2, 2020  

In brief:

• Bitcoin broke the $10,000 psychological price barrier and briefly traded at $10,383.
• Less than 24 hours later, BTC fell hard to $9,266 in what appears to be a classic Bart Simpson pattern.
• Bitmex’s Co-Founder and CEO, Arthur Hayes, believes Bitcoin’s rally is not real until $15,000 is broken.

At around the time the daily candle closed yesterday, Bitcoin experienced a magnificent push from around $9,700 to $10,383 (Binance rate) in a matter of minutes. The King of Crypto then proceeded to cool down to levels around $10,100 where it traded sideways before dumping hard to $9,266 less than 24 hours after the rally above $10,000 begun. This move of up-sideways-down is often referred to as the Bart Simpson pattern as can be seen in the rough sketch below.

(Click on image for larger view)

Arthur Hayes: Bitcoin’s (BTC) Rally Aint Real Until We Take out $15k

Before Bitcoin took its massive fall to $9,266, the Co-Founder and CEO of Bitmex, Arthur Hayes, had tweeted that he does not feel like the rally above $10,000 was a real rally. According to Mr. Hayes, Bitcoin needed to break $15,000 for it to be a true Bull season. His tweet can be found below.

$130 Million in BitMex Liquidations on the Journey to $10,000

Further doing a brief analysis of losses in terms of liquidations, when Bitcoin pumped hard above $10K to $10,383, there was a total of $131 Million in liquidations. This is according to the @BitmexSniper bot on Telegram messenger. A screenshot of the breakdown of losses from the bot earlier today can be found below.

$96 Million in Liquidations on BTC’s Crash

During the sudden dip down to $9,300 levels, a total of $96 million in futures contracts were liquidated on the Bitmex exchange.

Binance Hit Hard By Bitcoin’s Flash Crash

Additionally, the Founder and CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, notified the crypto community that the drop down to $9,350 on the BTC futures contracts made a big dent on the exchange’s Insurance Fund. He also explained that there were no Auto-Deleverage Liquidations this time round and that the exchange had improved on the speed of the API used by the futures platform. CZ’s tweet explaining the event at the exchange can be found below.

What Next For Bitcoin?

With the psychological price of $10,000 captured then lost in a span of fewer than 24 hours, the bullishness that was previously in the crypto community might have temporarily faded due to the quickness of the crash that followed. Therefore, observing Bitcoin for another 12 – 48 hours might be advisable for the cautious trader of BTC and other cryptocurrencies. At the time of writing this, Bitcoin has recovered mildly from the drip and is trading at $9,472 – Binance rate.

(Feature image courtesy of Unsplash.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of EWN or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

The Creator of Bollinger Bands Hints at Bitcoin (BTC) Breaking $10K

In a recent tweet, John Bollinger has hinted that Bitcoin can break the psychological price of $10,000.

John P. Njui   •   BITCOIN (BTC) NEWS – CRYPTOCURRENCY   •   May 29, 2020  

In brief:

• The creator of Bolling Bands has postulated a scenario where Bitcoin rallies and breaks $10,000.
• CME Bitcoin futures expired earlier today.
• Bitcoin is holding steady above the $9,400 and $9,300 support levels.

The creator of the industry-tested charting tool of Bollinger Bands, John Bollinger, has hinted at the possibility of Bitcoin experiencing a nice rally that could see BTC push hard above the psychological price of $10,000. Mr. Bollinger expressed his trading idea via the following Tweet.

May’s CME Bitcoin Futures Have Expired

Also to note, is that the CME Bitcoin futures for the month of May expired a few hours ago. According to the CME Group website, the derivatives expire on the last Friday of every month at 4 pm London time.

Trading terminates at 4:00 p.m. London time on the last Friday of the contract month. If this is not both a London and U.S. business day, trading terminates on the prior London and the U.S. business day.

What Next for Bitcoin in the Crypto Markets?

1-Day BTC/USDT chart (Click on image for larger view)

Further taking a look at the daily BTC/USDT chart courtesy of Tradingview.com, we observe the following.

• The Golden Cross on the daily chart is very much valid and could lead to BTC testing $10,000 once again.
• The current price of Bitcoin at $9,400 is above the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages further pleading the case of a bullish scenario in the following days.
• The short term support zones for Bitcoin are $9,300, $9,200, $9,050, $8,800 and $8,600.
• Conversely, the short term resistance zones for Bitcoin are around $9,500, $9,600, $9,680, $9,773, $9,879, $9,940 and $10,000.

Possible Retracement for Bitcoin Before a Push-Up

However, there is the possibility of a retracement for Bitcoin as seen through the following chart on the 6-hour timeframe.

6-Hour BTC/USDT Chart (Click on image for larger view)

From this chart, we observe that the bullish momentum of Bitcoin in recent days might be followed by a retracement. The trade volume is seen to be reducing with the MACD moving averages further indicating a move down into the weekend. Additionally, the MFI is high at 75 further pointing to a scenario where Bitcoin will undergo a cool down before the move Mr. Bollinger has suggested, plays out.

As with all technical analyses of Bitcoin, traders and investors are advised to practice risk management as well as use stop losses to protect trading capital.

(Feature image courtesy of Unsplash.com)

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Why The Post-Halving Miner Capitulation That’s Underway May Ignite A Meteoric Bitcoin Rally

By Brenda Ngari – May 26, 2020

Bitcoin miners have been on a wild roller-coaster ride in the past few weeks. After the halving on May 11, the rewards they receive were slashed by half from 12.5 BTC per block to 6.25 BTC. As a result, most of the miners using older model mining machines were forced to shut them down as they were registering meager profits. This resulted in a substantial drop in the hashrate.

With bitcoin recently slipping below crucial $9,000 level, fears of a further dive have been renewed. A possible sell-off might discourage new investors from entering the bitcoin market. However, Charles Edwards, a digital asset manager at Capriole, sees the miner capitulation as an opportune time to buy bitcoin at low prices before the next bull market. 

An ‘Almost Vertical’ Rally Could Spring From Ongoing Miner Capitulation 

According to an indicator known as hash ribbons, miner capitulation has started. As miners capitulate, they sell their bitcoin holdings to cover their expenses and cut their losses. This process adds significant pressure to the bitcoin market.

In a tweet on May 25, Charles Edwards pointed out that the second round of miner capitulation in 2020 is currently underway, indicating that BTC could continue slumping in the near-term.

Edwards had noted earlier that BTC’s third halving that just concluded would be a brutal event for miners. Less than two weeks since the event, bitcoin’s weekly hashrate has dropped by 26%. Notably, a similar pattern was witnessed after the two previous halvings in 2012 and 2016 as miner capitulation began within 21 days of the halving.

The silver lining of the current picture is that miner capitulation is often a “massive bull flag” – a continuation pattern of a bullish trend. In fact, Edwards cites that the rallies that ensued after miner capitulation were “almost vertical”.

Edwards did not explain how high bitcoin could go after a miner capitulation. He had, however, stated in late December last year that bitcoin historically saw an average gain-to-cycle-peak of over 5000%.

Strong Fundamentals Boost Bitcoin’s Bullish Outlook

Charles Edwards further noted that bitcoin’s bullish case is bolstered by the strong fundamentals.

He gave three factors to back his assertion: massive increases in Tether (USDT), funds are hungry for bitcoin as they buy all the newly-minted BTC in 2020, and the overall macro picture against a backdrop of BTC’s halved inflation rate. The latter, in particular, is presumably in regard to the expansive monetary measures undertaken by central banks across the globe as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Edwards observed that the hash ribbon buy signal could be confirmed in less than three weeks. This could very well be the last chance to accumulate BTC before the asset starts soaring into the stratosphere.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Brenda Ngari and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Binance CEO: We Are Still Early in the Bitcoin (BTC) and Crypto Game

CZ believes those getting into crypto investing right now, should not despair for they are still early in the game.

John P. Njui   •   BITCOIN (BTC) NEWS   •   May 24, 2020   •   2 Min read

In summary:

• The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, is optimistic that anyone investing in crypto now, is still early in the game.
• CZ himself got into the game in 2014 after selling his house only for Bitcoin to crash soon after.
• He did not sell back then and believes a similar strategy can work till 2025.
• He also advised those who can hold to do so rather than risking their bags trading.

The crypto community is very close despite all the push and pull that anyone might see on crypto twitter. Everyone wants Bitcoin (BTC) and the entire spectrum of digital assets to succeed. It is with this closeness and willingness to share advice that the CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has offered some words of encouragement to investors and traders getting into Bitcoin and Crypto in 2020.

We are Still Early in the Bitcoin and Crypto Game

In a tweet, CZ explained that he too got into the game at a time like this 5 years ago and he had initially thought he was late into the game. However, five years later, he still believes it is still early and anyone getting into the crypto game now needs not to worry. In another 5 years, the industry would have grown some more. His tweet went on to request anyone who is unsure about their trading abilities, to hold their bags rather than risking it all in the markets.

Everyone I have met that got into, thinks they got in too late, no exceptions, myself included, until 5 years later.

I expect the same will be true in 2025. We are still early in the game.

Not financial advice. And don’t trade if you are not a trader. #hodl.

CZs Journey into Bitcoin and Crypto

CZs tweet can be linked to his own story of how he got into crypto in 2014 when Bitcoin was trading at $600. Mr. Zhao had just sold his house and gone all in. However, a few months later and in 2015, Bitcoin crashed to $200 but he kept holding and is now the CEO of the largest crypto exchange around by trade volume. The following tweet by CZ gives a better perspective of his journey into crypto.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe