Lots of cryptocurrency news to cover including post-Bitcoin Cash trading, altcoins, new digital coin derivatives, cybercrime and up and coming “predictive markets.” Let’s dive right in.
The Street’s David Yoe Williams predicts politics and cryptocurrencies will dominate the market in August. After the much-anticipated bitcoin fork, Bitcoin Cash is operating smoothly so far.
Altcoin market cap
In June, the altcoin market reached a market cap of $72.8 billion falling to $30.7 billion in July before recovering somewhat by the end of the month reported Coin Telegraph. As cryptocurrencies heat up again, analyst Ronnie Maas predicts a jump in the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved registration of cryptocurrency trading platform LedgerX as a derivatives exchange. Not to be outdone, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) partnered with Gemini bitcoin exchange with plans to establish a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange.
Coinmarketcap.com reports Bitcoin Cash, just days after launch, is already trading at $490 per coin and market cap of $8 million. This makes it the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassing Ripple ($6.7 billion) and Litecoin ($2.2 billion).
Prediction Markets
What are “prediction markets” and are they right for you? Apparently tens of thousands of investors, including boxer Floyd Mayweather, think so as they piled onto Stox’s ICO. In a sign of the times, London’s Dadiani Fine Arts launched a luxury goods marketplace trading in bitcoin and altcoins.
Investors in Renwick Haddow’s fraudulent Bitcoin exchange have lost more than $40 million as investors continue to contact authorities. TheMerkle.com takes a look at three cryptocurrency myths and PC Gamer tells you everything you need to know about cryptocurrency mining. Forbes wraps up our cryptocurrency news report with a feature on how cryptocurrencies are contributing to ransomware and other cybercrime.
Trading Strategies: Politics and Cryptocurrencies Are Hot in August
David Yoe Williams, a commodities and gold expert and a panelist on TheStreet’s latest Trading Strategies roundtable, says politics and cryptocurrencies will likely dominate the market in August. He said it will be interesting to gauge the effect these topics have on gold and precious metals come the fall. “This month will be kind of quiet month as people digest what’s happening,” Williams said. Via thestreet.com
The Bitcoin Cash Network Starts Operating as Normal
Blocks are now consistently being found within the usual ten minutes after difficulty adjusted earlier today at around 4AM GMT.
That completes the last element of bitcoin’s first hard-fork chain-split which can be considered as successful with no disruption, no funds losses, nor any problems whatever.The entire process has gone through very smoothly, far more so than any foresaw as the Bitcoin Cash networks saw no attacks of any kind.
The Bitcoin Cash network began operating on August 1st with around 15% to 20% of the bitcoin classic network. An estimated 5% was provided by ViaBTC and bitcoin.com, while an unknown miner or miners had double that hashrate as estimated by blocks found. Via trustnodes.com
Altcoins: July Overview. Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, NEM, Dash
In June, the altcoin market managed to set a historic record, after a long race, which began back in April. The mark of the total market capitalization reached $72,830,700,000. In July, the same trend reversed and, despite the uncertainty about the Bitcoin future, in a matter of days the total capitalization of the market fell to $30.79 mln.
In July, the same trend reversed and, despite the uncertainty about the Bitcoin future, in a matter of days the total capitalization of the market fell to $30.79 bln. In mid-June, Bitcoin and Ethereum reached almost the same share – 39.5 percent and 33.4 percent, respectively.
However, at the end of June, with the most network participants started to signal about the SegWit adoption, the infrastructure again shifted towards Bitcoin, whose share become slightly over 52 percent. Via cointelegraph.com
Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Surge: Are Cryptocurrencies Becoming the New Reality?
On the heels of global market jitters over the Bitcoin split and assorted hacks and robberies, some refreshing news arrived from renowned market analyst Ronnie Moas, who recently released the first two parts of his 122-page report on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, with the rest of the report to be released in coming days.
Bitcoin And Ethereum Price Surge
“In my view, the genie is out of the bottle, and cryptocurrencies will continue to rise and take market share away from stocks, other precious metals, bonds, and currencies,” Moas, founder of Standpoint Research, said in the report.
Mr. Moas went one step further than merely talking about it, and has invested his own money in a diversified portfolio of 10 of the top currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Monero, and Dash. According to Moas, Bitcoin has the potential to almost double in value, from the current $2700 range, to $5000 in 2018. He also expects Ethereum and Litecoin to double their values in this period. Via investorplace.com
LedgerX Will Transform Cryptocurrencies
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission granted LedgerX — a cryptocurrency trading platform — registration as a clearing house for derivatives contracts settling in digital currencies. This indicates increasing official acceptance of cryptocurrencies. More important, the move could redefine them.
Derivatives clearing houses catalyze enormous economic change. The creation of agricultural futures clearing houses in the mid-19th century American West transformed a sparsely populated backwater into ground zero for the second Industrial Revolution. In the same place exactly 125 years later, on April 26, 1973, financial options clearing houses gave birth to the modern global derivatives economy.
The key features of derivatives clearing houses are centrally cleared, collateralized, asset-settled contracts with mark-to-market margin. Existing cryptocurrency futures and options have none of those characteristics: 1. they are merely side bets. 2. LedgerX has the first three, which may be enough to transmute cryptocurrencies. Via bloomberg.com
Options Exchange CBOE to Launch Cryptocurrency Derivatives in 2017
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has partnered with Gemini, the bitcoin exchange backed by investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, as part of a bid to launch cryptocurrency derivatives trading.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the agreement will find the CBOE leveraging Gemini’s data for the launch of dedicated product listings in 2017. Opened to traders in 2015, Gemini is a New York-based exchange offering bitcoin and ether markets, as well as daily auctions of the cryptocurrencies.
The CBOE is still waiting for regulatory approval on the move, the report said, which would provide institutional investors with an avenue to hedge against volatility in the fast-growing cryptocurrency markets. Already, the total value of all cryptocurrencies from just over $10 billion at the start of the year, to a high of $115 billion in June.
Further, the announcement comes at a time when institutional investors are increasingly taking note of this price appreciation, and are seeking to determine opportunities for the technology that fit into their existing business models. Via coindesk.com
Bitcoin cash price and market cap
Bitcoin Cash has secured its place as a top cryptocurrency within a day of entering the marketplace. According to Coinmarketcap.com, the cryptocurrency is trading at about $490 a coin, and its market cap now stands above $8 billion. As such, it is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassing big-name coins such as Ripple ($6.7 billion) and Litecoin ($2.2 billion).
Bitcoin cash came to fruition Tuesday after it split from the original network that powers its crypto-cousin, bitcoin. The split was preceded by a multiyear war among bitcoin power brokers over the rules that guide the digital currency’s network.
Supporters of the newly formed bitcoin cash believe the currency will “breath new life into” the nearly 10-year-old bitcoin by addressing some of the issues facing bitcoin of late, such as slow transaction speeds. Via businessinsider.com
Prediction Markets Attracting New Breed of Investor
Prediction Markets, where people invest in the outcome of an event, have not broken into the mass market yet. However, Stox’s platform, as well as its ICO, were thrust ahead when boxing giant Floyd Mayweather posted an Instagram post about Blockchain-based prediction markets.
Trading the outcome of an event in this prediction market allows for anyone to become a trader, with no need for knowledge of markets, rather on chosen events. In a prediction market, an investor can trade the outcome of anything from a football match to an election result, reaping the rewards if they are correct.
And like an investment market, crowd wisdom can draw in investors with dead-certs visible as a huge array of investors will congregate on a result of an event. Prediction Markets Attracting New Breed of Investor
UK’s ‘First Luxury Exchange’ Offers Formula 1 Cars For Cryptocurrency
A London art dealer has launched a dedicated platform for purchasing “luxury” goods with Bitcoin and altcoins. In a release Wednesday, Dadiani & Partners, an “offshoot” of Mayfair dealer Dadiani Fine Art, says it seeks to “unlock the potential of the cryptocurrency market for high-net-worth (HNW) investors and consumers.”
The outfit will operate as an intermediary, it says, “enabling luxury dealerships and brands who do not currently accept cryptocurrency to establish new […] customer bases and broaden their brand engagement.”
Dadiani Fine Art signaled its decision to accept Bitcoin and a selection of altcoins for artwork last month, with founder Eleesa Dadiani describing it as an “intuitive” move. According to the website, “some of the brightest minds in traditional financial sectors” will guide prospective consumers through the asset acquisition process. On offer will be “fine art, real estate, luxury super cars (sic), precious stones and private jets,” the press release further announces. Via cointelegraph.com
Bitcoin Store Operator Lost Investors $40 million thought
Renwick Haddow has stolen $40 mln of investor cash through fraudulent schemes including a fake Bitcoin exchange. Investors in fraudulent Bitcoin exchange operator Renwick Haddow’s businesses are coming forward as losses worth millions of dollars surface.
As United Arab Emirates news resource The National reports Tuesday, those who contributed funds to Haddow’s schemes have all but lost everything. Haddow is now in police custody after Interpol issued a warrant for his arrest last week. Police found him in Morocco after the US Securities and Exchange Commission said he had committed securities fraud.
Haddow had purported to run a cryptocurrency exchange under the name of Bitcoin Store. According to the SEC, the business never became “profitable,” with investor funds being diverted elsewhere. Via cointelegraph.com
3 Common Myths About Cryptocurrencies
There are many myths about cryptocurrencies and they are driven as much by marketing and mythos as misinformation. With all the new crypto currencies entering the market and misinformation floating around, it can be hard to understand how they work. Here are three common myths about cryptocurrencies and the truth about them.
Buying cryptocurrencies is gambling
Cryptocurrencies, when bought for use, are simply a currency exchange. When you buy it hoping to get rich on it skyrocketing in value, you’re gambling just like someone using binary options as a way to put a thin veneer of legitimacy on what is otherwise online gambling.
Integrating Cryptocurrencies on your site will boost sales
There are some instances where cryptocurrencies might help your sales, but the effect will be minor in most cases. However, cryptocurrencies can enable international trade with people who may not be able to secure your currency for online purchases, such as selling something to someone in Venezuela or transferring money to them that would otherwise be intercepted and a large cut taken by the state. Some colleges even accept cryptocurrencies in payment for an online MLIS degree or similar. Via themerkle.com
What you need to know about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency news has been hot of late, thanks in no small part to the skyrocketing prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies right now. Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies are also up in value, and given the prices on graphics cards that are supposed to be useful for gaming, some of you will inevitably wonder: should I get into the mining business?
That’s a big, open-ended question, and the answer depends on many factors. I’m not going to try and cover every aspect, because Google is your friend, but let’s quickly go over the basics of what you would need to get started, and I’ll include some rough estimates of how much money you can make at the end. Via pcgamer.com
How Cryptocurrencies Are Fueling Ransomware Attacks and Other Cybercrimes
Ransomware has become one of the most popular headline-making cybercrimes due to its nearly instant and guaranteed payday. Attacks have seen exponential growth, increasing by 6,000% in 2016. And despite authorities imploring them not to do so, most ransomware victims do pay up, nearly always in the form of the cryptocurrency bitcoin.
A cryptocurrency is simply a digital or virtual currency that employs cryptography as an anti-counterfeiting measure. Unlike fiat currency — which is issued by a central authority, is based on debts, and derives its value from people’s faith in the issuing government and the economy — cryptocurrencies are “hard” money. They are not issued by a central authority, are not subject to government manipulation and do not represent debts; they are more like gold bars than dollar bills.
Silk Road is gone, but Bitcoin has found another large, illicit market: ransomware. Via forbes.com
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