Bitcoin Will Gain From The Growing Distrust In Traditional Asset Classes: Morgan Stanley Analyst

By Brenda Ngari – December 10, 2020

The United States dollar has been the world’s premier reserve currency for a century now, but bitcoin has the potential to dethrone the greenback in the long-run and end its long-lived dominance. This is according to an analyst at the U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley.

Ruchir Sharma, the head of emerging markets and chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley is of the opinion that the increasing distrust in legacy finance will put an end to the dollar’s supremacy as the reserve currency and bitcoin could stand to benefit from this lack of faith.

Will The Heightened Distrust In Traditional Finance Usher In A New Wave Of Bitcoin Interest?

Sharma posited that over the course of the dollar’s reign as a reserve currency, other notable national currencies like the Chinese yuan and the euro have terribly failed to garner the trust of people across the globe, according to a report by The Financial Times on Wednesday. This underlines the lack of a successor for the greenback.

The analyst believes decentralized alternatives like bitcoin are likely to oust the dollar. Bitcoin has emerged as the best-performing asset this year, leaving other asset classes like stocks, fixed return bonds, other currencies, and precious metals in the dust. In particular, bitcoin has posted a spectacular run since March despite the COVID-19 pandemic and central banks around the world going on a money-printing rampage.

Sharma explained:

“The dollar’s reign is likely to end when the rest of the world starts losing confidence that the US can keep paying its bills. […] Money printing is likely to continue, even when the pandemic passes. Trusted or not, Bitcoin will gain from widening distrust in the traditional alternatives.”

Despite its wild volatility, bitcoin is still regarded as one of the best hedges against currency devaluation and economic uncertainty. And with trust in traditional systems dwindling, it will come as no surprise if more people turn to the flagship cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Is On Course To Replace The Dollar As A Medium Of Exchange

The Morgan Stanley strategist went on to note that bitcoin’s adoption is growing significantly as the asset’s use cases expand. For instance, he posits that payment giant PayPal and its subsidiary Venmo recently started storing bitcoin and they are now planning to start accepting the cryptocurrency as payment beginning from next year.

Moreover, he states that the bellwether cryptocurrency is making progress on its goal to overtake the dollar and become the go-to medium of exchange. Sharma then warned central banks around the world to be more cautious of their fiscal and monetary policies if they wish to remain kings of the hill.

He stated:

“Bitcoin’s surge may still prove to be a bubble, but even if it pops, this year’s rush to cryptocurrencies should serve as a warning to government money printers everywhere, particularly in the U.S. Do not assume that your traditional currencies are the only stores of value, or mediums of exchange, that people will ever trust.”

Notably, several public corporations have poured money into bitcoin in recent months, strengthening the crypto’s appeal as an inflation hedge and reserve asset.

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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

Fidelity unlocks Bitcoin as collateral for borrowing on BlockFi

Depositors using Fidelity Digital Assets custody will be able to access liquidity via BlockFi.

Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

            DEC 09, 2020

Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto arm of the asset management conglomerate, will allow institutional customers to pledge their Bitcoin (BTC) as collateral for cash loans.

As reported Wednesday by Bloomberg, the firm partnered with crypto lender BlockFi to disburse the loans. Institutional clients of Fidelity’s custodial solution will be able to draw cash loans from their stored Bitcoin without having to move it, provided they have an account with BlockFi.

The target customers of this feature are primarily hedge funds, miners and over-the-counter trading desks. Overcollateralized lending is generally used to access liquidity without losing a long position on the asset used as collateral. The cash can be used to enter leveraged positions and build hedged strategies or to pay for business expenses.

In a conversation with Cointelegraph, a Fidelity spokesperson said that the offering comes as part of a "demand for increased capital efficiency" among its customers. "Our full-service offering that includes custody and trading will continue to help institutions enable capital efficiency, while prioritizing asset safety and stillness," they said

The loan-to-value ratio will be set to 60%, meaning that each $1,000 in collateral can back at most $600 in borrowed money. Nonetheless, that parameter could change according to the specific customer's needs. Fidelity clarified that it does not play any role in setting loan terms, limiting its contribution in the tri-party agreement to the safekeeping of the Bitcoin.

Fidelity Digital Assets has provided Bitcoin custodial services since October 2019. More recently, it also began offering its services to the Asian market.

BlockFi is a major cryptocurrency lender, offering interest on deposits sent to the platform. While it is a retail-centric company when it comes to collecting deposits, that money is primarily lent out to other institutions. The company recently launched a Visa debit card with Bitcoin rewards.

Update, 16:30 UTC: Added commentary from a Fidelity spokesperson.

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Original article posted on the CoinTelegraph.com site, by Andrey Shevchenko.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

US gov is Bitcoin’s last remaining adversary, says Messari founder

Bitcoin may have experienced the perfect storm for success, but action by the United States government may remain a threat.

Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

            DEC 08, 2020

Ryan Selkis, co-founder of data and research company Messari, recently released his 2021 crypto sector thesis, examining the state of the industry as well as forecasting what lies ahead. Selkis explains in this report that the U.S. government is one remaining adversary he feels BTC must win over.

“The ‘final boss’ to beat is the state,” Selkis wrote in his report, released on Tuesday. “For the U.S., bitcoin presents a tool to undermine international sanctions, and 80% of mining capacity now sits behind enemy lines in China, Russia, and Iran,” he noted. “Will a Biden administration like BTC? TBD.”

Bitcoin has trudged through its fair share of governmental adversity in the 12 years since its inception. With its status as a commodity, Bitcoin’s reputation is somewhat solidified. Concerns of a U.S. government ban have still arisen, but the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s acting leader, Brian Brooks, recently explained that his unit views Bitcoin favorably.

Still, the government changed its tune on gold in 1933, confiscating the precious metal from citizens en masse. Even though the U.S. government may find it difficult to confiscate Bitcoin functionally, banning the asset could still hurt its price and associated cash on-ramps.

On the bullish side of the table, Selkis gave a nod to Bitcoin’s resilience. “Bitcoin is an unseizable form of private money that’s proven very hard to kill,” he wrote. “It’s outperformed every major asset class over every relevant time period in its history, and it’s got perfect macro tailwinds and momentum,” he said, adding:

“It’s getting ‘safe’ to purchase from a legal and reputational standpoint as a professional money manager, and its supply will inflate less than the Fed’s target rate no matter what happens next year. When you look at BTC vs. gold, and its growth vs. global M1, M2, and central-bank balance sheets, it’s a compelling investment.”

Bitcoin’s price has flourished in 2020 amid massive U.S. money printing efforts and economic uncertainties. A number of large mainstream players, such as Microstrategy and Paul Tudor Jones, have allocated large sums of money to Bitcoin this year as well, padding the asset’s credibility.

Bitcoin topped near $20,000 in December 2017, only to fall below $5,000 multiple times in the years following. This year, Bitcoin broke its previous all-time high, showing a refusal to die, something big mainstream players like, according to Selkis’ interview with Anthony Pompliano, published on Tuesday.

“Smart money investors knew about Bitcoin back in 2017,” Selkis said, subsequently explaining Bitcoin’s mainstream attention back then, as well as its boom, bust, and boom again over the past three years. “I think a lot of them have appreciation for things that don’t die,” he explained.

Mainstream giants, such as Amazon and eBay, have also shown great resilience through the years, rising from the ashes after the dot-com bubble popped in the early 2000s.

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Original article posted on the CoinTelegraph.com site, by Benjamin Pirus.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Fear Among Big Investors May Support Bitcoin's Polarizing Rally

(Jakub Jirsak/Dreamstime

Sunday, 06 December 2020 08:36 PM

The financial industry was something of a curious onlooker during Bitcoin’s furious, retail-led rally past $19,000 in 2017. There are signs the sector is playing more of role in the cryptocurrency’s latest surge.

Licensed crypto exchanges, Bitcoin funds and a regulated futures market give the likes of trend-following quant funds, asset managers and family offices avenues for investment that didn’t exist a few years ago. Mix in this year’s 170% jump in Bitcoin’s price amid a once-in-a-generation pandemic, and it becomes clearer why more institutions might size up the volatile asset.

“The multitude of regulated crypto exchanges and custodians has eliminated the ‘career risk’ for institutional investors,” PwC’s Hong Kong-based Global Crypto Leader Henri Arslanian said in an interview. “In 2017, there was retail FOMO. The question is whether we will see institutional FOMO in 2021.”

Bitcoin began December by hitting a record just shy of $20,000. Proponents argue it’s muscling in on gold as a portfolio diversifier, as stimulus injections to counter the economic damage from the pandemic weaken the dollar. Critics see pure gambling by retail investors and speculative pros in a scandal-prone sector, and anticipate a bust like the one after the peak three years ago.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists point to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust — which invests in the digital coin and tracks its price — as a potential window into wider crypto ardor beyond the retail demand from Millennials.

The trust’s “exponential” growth suggests longer-term investors like asset managers and family offices may have been playing a bigger role in recent weeks, compared with trend-following commodity trading advisors, a team led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a Nov. 27 note.

The Grayscale vehicle’s assets have swollen to more than $10 billion from $2 billion at the start of December last year, its website and factsheets show. It drew almost $720 million of inflows in the third quarter, according to an investment report, which said institutions — dominated by hedge funds — accounted for 81% of the money coming into the firm’s digital-asset funds.

Guggenheim Partners LLC last month reserved the right for its $5.3 billion Macro Opportunities Fund to invest in the Grayscale trust.

“Institutional investors are keen on portfolio construction in the wake of Covid, and the ways they need to reposition themselves given how governments have injected stimulus into the system,” Michael Sonnenshein, managing director of Grayscale Investments in New York, said in an interview, adding the size of investment allocations is growing.

Over the summer, Fidelity Investments announced the launch of a passively managed Bitcoin fund aimed at qualified purchasers through family offices, registered investment advisers and other institutions. Public companies Square Inc. and MicroStrategy Inc. recently invested in the coin. Investment managers Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller have backed the digital asset as a hedge against potential inflationary pressure, though price increases remain subdued.

Strategists have started to expand or initiate coverage of Bitcoin, sensing more demand for crypto analysis in the financial industry.

One example is U.S. brokerage BTIG LLC, whose chief equity and derivatives strategist Julian Emanuel wrote last month that cryptocurrency will come of age in part due to the policy response to the economic hit from the pandemic.

Digital assets remain a fringe market for the approximately $52 trillion of funds managed by institutional investors. After all, total crypto market capitalization is just $580 billion, according to data tracker CoinMarketCap. Moreover, potential obstacles remain, such as the fact that Bitcoin ownership is concentrated among a few large holders often referred to as whales.

Still, PwC’s Arslanian expects increased pressure on asset managers to consider Bitcoin as investors become more comfortable with it. “The question investors will ask fund managers will gradually switch from ‘why did you invest in crypto?’ to ‘why have you not yet invested in crypto?’” he said.

© Copyright 2020 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.

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The original article posted on Newsmax.com/Finance.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Why One Fund Manager Says Bitcoin Is On The Verge Of A Larger Bearish Correction

By Brenda Ngari – December 6, 2020

Bitcoin has had a good run for the past two months, even surging to almost $20,000 earlier last week. Raoul Pal, the CEO of Real Vision Group has pinpointed several technicals that now suggest that the number one crypto is about to suffer a deeper correction in the near term.

Bitcoin Looks Poised For A Steeper Decline

After recently rallying to new all-time highs, bitcoin’s momentum has slowed down over the past few days. Notably, the bitcoin price faced harsh rejection at the $19.5K region once again. The cryptocurrency is trading at $19,170 at press time, gaining 0.27% over the previous 24 hours.

According to Raoul Pal, bitcoin is currently facing “some serious technical headways” that may have the strength to push the cryptocurrency lower. Pal is utilizing the DeMark sequential indicator to predict the price of bitcoin. A reading of 9 on this indicator suggests that a correction is underway, while a 13 reading indicates trend exhaustion.

The fund manager also analyzed bitcoin’s weekly chart, which he believes is topping. Moreover, the crypto’s monthly chart has registered a DeMark reading of 9.

Pal notes that the confluence of these technical patterns across three different timeframes suggests that bitcoin is poised to retrace significantly in the coming days. He said:

“This all puts the odds of a larger correction in play, not a certainty, but top patterns across 3 time series are something to take seriously and if you are not a long-term HODLer, you might consider some caution is merited. Let’s see…”

Bitcoin Needs To Take Out $19,400 For A New All-Time High

In technical terms, the bearish scenario for the flagship cryptocurrency in the coming days hinges on the $18,500 level. If BTC drops below this key support level, analysts expect bitcoin to fall further.

Full time-trader from Amsterdam Stock Exchange and popular crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe, popularly known as Crypto Michael, has observed that bitcoin risks plunging to the $16Ks if it loses $18,500. On the other hand, the cryptocurrency could register a new record high if it manages to obliterate the stubborn resistance at the $19.4K level.

Crypto Michael elaborated:

“And as $19,400 and $19,150 rejected, the range low was tested at the $18,500 area, tweeted yesterday. All fine, range-bound construction further. Breaking $19,400 = new ATH. Losing $18,500 = likely $16K tests.”

Meanwhile, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy has invested an additional $50 million into the flagship cryptocurrency. According to an announcement by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor on Friday, the company bought 2,574 bitcoins (valued at $50 million at the time) bringing its total holdings to 40,824 bitcoins.

The firm doubling down on its bitcoin investment indicates that it is confident that the crypto-asset has plenty of gas in the tank.

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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

Bitcoin’s Price is Ahead of Fundamentals by 6 – 9 Months – BTC Analyst

John P. Njui   •   BITCOIN (BTC) NEWS • CRYPTOCURRENCY   •   DECEMBER 5, 2020

Quick take:

• Timothy Peterson has pointed out that Bitcoin’s price is ahead of its fundamentals by 6 – 9 months
• However, this is not a big concern as it sometimes happens with technology in the limelight
• Bitcoin has a high chance of breaking $20k. After this level, fundamentals will not matter
• $24k is possible by the end of 2021 based on Bitcoin adoption
• $36k is also possible with $50k still being okay

Crypto and Bitcoin analyst Timothy Peterson, has pointed out that Bitcoin’s current price is ahead of its fundamentals by six to nine months. As a result, Bitcoin is currently overpriced by a factor of 50%. Mr. Peterson further explained that this should not be a big concern as seen in his statement below.

Thoughts on #bitcoin. Overvalued to fundamentals by ~50%. Price ahead of fundamentals 6-9 months. Not a big concern, this happens often especially with a technology in the limelight.

Fundamentals Won't Matter Once BTC Breaks $20k

In his analysis of Bitcoin, Mr. Peterson forecasted that BTC has a high chance of breaking $20k. After this level, fundamentals will not matter and the price of Bitcoin will continue rising as seen with Tesla (TSLA) and Snowflake (SNOW) stocks.

Good chance #bitcoin higher if breaks $20K. Fundamentals won’t matter, high can and often does go higher: $TSLA $SNOW

$24k, $26k Possible in 2021, Above $50k Would Be ‘Concerning’

With respect to Bitcoin’s performance next year, Mr. Peterson had this to say.

End of 2021, #bitcoin adoption rate justifies $24k, but if 50% overvalued, then $36k would be entirely possible sometime in 2021. Would not get concerned unless > $50k in 2021.

Conclusion

Summing it up, Bitcoin and Crypto analyst Timothy Peterson has pointed out that Bitcoin is currently overvalued by a factor of 50% with respect to its fundamentals. However, such an overvaluation should not be a big deal as it sometimes happens with emerging technology in the limelight such as Tesla or Snowflake Inc.

With respect to 2021, Mr. Peterson has forecasted that once $20k is breached, Bitcoin will keep rising and possibly hit $24k or even $36k. The only scenario that should be worrisome, is Bitcoin exceeding $50k in 2021.

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

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Is Bitcoin Poised to Break Out or Plunge Again?

(Mikhail Primakov2/Dreamstime)

By Bert Dohmen
Thursday, December 03, 2020 04:51 PM
Current | Bio | Archive

Once again, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are all over the news. We have seen such periods for these digital currencies in the past, many of which ended in financial pain for the bulls. Will that be repeated now, or is something more bullish potentially ahead?

We have been correctly skeptical about this sector over the past three years. The charts show that was a good position. But the markets are dynamic, and of course, facts change.

Bullish or not, Bitcoin’s volatility is very high. It has doubled and halved in price over periods lasting just a few weeks.

Below is a weekly chart of the Bitcoin-U.S. dollar exchange rate over the past 4 years, highlighting the extreme price swings:

Cryptocurrencies in general plunged 75% to 100% from their euphoric highs in December 2017 to their lows just one year later. Bitcoin retreated from nearly $20,000 to below $3,200, depending on what market price is used. At that 2017 high, analysts in the financial media were hyping up these digital coins every day, forecasting rises to $50,000, $100,000, and even higher. Predictably, that euphoria marked the top.

Bitcoin then rallied sharply into the 2019 high, more than doubling in the span of a few months. But just when the hype hit its peak once again in June 2019, prices were slashed by 72% into the low of March 2020.

Since that point, Bitcoin has recovered its huge loss, and even rallied to slightly above the 2017 high.

Old highs are usually strong resistance. The further back in time, the stronger the resistance. The Bitcoin chart is now slightly above its 2017 high. If it reverses downward now, it would predict a sharp correction.

Once again, the wild forecasts of even $500,000 per Bitcoin are back in the media. To us, that is at least a near-term warning signal.

The Long-Term: At Dohmen Capital Research, we continuously reanalyze the various scenarios of different asset classes and market moves. Thus, we go back to the very long-term monthly chart, shown below. It is also a “log” chart, where the vertical price scale is logarithmic.

This long-term chart looks very bullish to us. $50,000 seems very possible. However, look at the huge declines, like the 81% plunge in 2018. Could you ride that out?

We also see some bullish long-term signs on a fundamental basis.

Several large institutions, including PayPal and Square, have taken out some sizeable positions. Of course, for them it is just a medium of payment, desired by many of their customers. The vast majority of asset managers, on the other hand, are skeptical.

High Regulatory Risks

Owning Bitcoin has been a speculator’s game up to this point. The government could impose regulations at any time, without warning, or shut them down. The U.S. Treasury Department is, after all, the only agency permitted to produce and distribute currency.

We have warned our members for years about the potential abuses in the cryptocurrency markets.

There have been numerous scams where investors lost everything. One founder of such a digital currency died, and he was the only one having the password to access the system. Some investors may have lost everything.

In October, the CFTC brought charges against BitMEX, said to be one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Supposedly, its transactions have been in excess of $1 trillion over the past few years, making over $1 billion for itself.

The inherent regulatory risks are likely one of the many reasons large asset managers have avoided exposure to the crypto sector. Now, however, we hear that very smart and successful hedge fund managers like Paul Tudor Jones, Stanely Druckenmiller, and even the managing director of Guggenheim, Scott Minerd, are putting sizable investments into this sector.

So, we ask, what do they know?

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

The following is conjecture on our part.

We see an increasing number of statements from central bank officials about using “central bank digital currencies,” or CBDCs for short. One said it would enable the central banks to inject stimulus directly into people’s bank accounts, a much more efficient way than sending out millions of checks as the government did this year.

We think CBDCs are inevitable, perhaps within the next two years.

Central banks don’t like competition. Therefore, they must find a way to extinguish other digital currencies. They could just declare them illegal. But that would unleash an uncomfortable backlash.

What to do? They could offer an exchange, a buyout of existing cryptocurrencies, or just Bitcoin far above market value. Everyone would be happy. Eliminating all the other digital currencies, many of which are not trustworthy, could also be justified to the public as an effort to protect investors.

Our point is that when something doesn’t make sense, such as very smart investment professionals who pay a lot for insider information entering a brand-new and high-risk sector, there has to be a reason.

Conclusion

We have written for the past several years that we don’t consider anything an investment if it can lose 30-50% of its value overnight.

However, the world is dynamic and evolves. When the facts change, it pays to change with them. We are not recommending the purchase of cryptocurrencies but there may be a time when we would accept it as a speculation. The fact that very knowledgeable and successful investors are now committing to Bitcoin is an interesting change.

At Dohmen Capital Research, the cryptocurrency markets are just one of the areas we cover in our analysis. In our award-winning Wellington Letter, we offer our more detailed contrarian insights on stocks, precious metals, the economy, and global financial markets.

Sign up for the Wellington Letter at 20% off today as part of our Extended Cyber Monday specials, along with our services for active stock and ETF traders. Click here to take advantage of these deals soon before they expire!

Bert Dohmen is a professional trader, investor, and analyst. As the founder of Dohmen Capital Research group and Dohmen Strategies, LLC, he has been giving his analysis and forecasts to traders and investors for over 43 years.

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The original article written by Bert Dohmen and posted on Newsmax.com/Finance.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

You Could Soon Pay for Spotify’s Audio Streaming Subscription with Bitcoin

By Nick James – December 4, 2020

Bitcoin is still gaining more popularity, and the crypto industry at large is winning hearts and minds. Spotify is the latest conquest of the crypto empire. Apparently, the audio streaming service is currently mulling over a plan to start accepting Bitcoin payments from subscribers.

Spotify’s plan would introduce a whole 320 million strong customer base to cryptocurrencies, something that would mean a lot for the industry. At the moment, reports have it that the company’s Payments and Innovation team is looking for an Associate Director to lead the development of a new framework for crypto payments. The company threw lots of hints to that effect.

New Opportunities And Innovation

According to Spotify, the new team member will be tasked with looking for new payment opportunities and provide innovative solutions in that sense. Basically, it’s safe to say that the most recent innovation in the payment industry is all about cryptos and blockchain technology.

Based on that, the Director will help develop opportunities and innovations in the use of blockchains, CBDCs, cryptos, stablecoins, among other digital assets. With that requirement, it’s clear that Spotify is going all-in with cryptos.

Experience In Blockchain And Digital Assets

Also, the expected Associate Director needs to have good experience in blockchain technology as well as digital assets (like cryptos).

With this, the company wants the new team member to help it roll out a crypto payment solution on a global scale. Notably, Bitcoin is currently the most popular crypto that has reached all corners of the world. There are now BTC ATMs on almost every continent. That’s why Bitcoin would be most suited for this role.

Engagement With The Libra Association

Spotify is also joining up with Facebook’s Diem, a developer team that’s now planning to create a payment system to host various stablecoins.

It’s fair to opine that besides accepting Bitcoin payments, Spotify could be teaming up with the Libra Association to give its subscribers more payment options. Either way, it’s a good deal for BTC.

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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

Trader Reveals 8 Cryptocurrencies With Massive Potential For Growth In 2021

By Bernice Nyambura – December 4, 2020

Influential Altcoin trader and Crypto analyst Aaron Arnold has revealed 8 crypto assets with massive potential for growth in 2021 that investors should consider keeping tabs on.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Arnold, who runs Altcoin Daily YouTube Channel with his brother Arnold Austin told over a quarter million followers (283000 subscribers) that of the 8 coins that will do extremely well, Bitcoin is his top pick.

Arnold made the remarks during an interview with PayPal’s CEO Daniel Schulman, who said that Bitcoin is only in its early stages of merchant adoption. Schulman added that PayPal made it easier to trade and hold cryptocurrencies and there’ll be more coming in early 2021. PayPal will enable 28 million merchants on its platform to use crypto as a funding source for any of their transactions.

“I think you’ll see more and more utility happen with cryptocurrencies.”

Polkadot (DOT)

Arnold picked Polkadot as the second-best performing asset of 2021. The project launched in mid-late August and immediately received an explosively positive reception by the crypto community.

Polkadot is a next-generation Proof-of-Stake blockchain network that facilitates full interoperability of any data type including tokens between different open-source and private blockchain networks.

It is now one of the top competitors of Ethereum alongside Cardano and Binance Chain termed as potential ETH killers.

Polkadot’s native token DOT has attracted an investment of $3 billion from investors looking to earn a passive income from staking. Arnold also noted that Polkadot has attracted investments in DeFi and non-fungible tokens (NFTS).

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum has officially begun the migration to proof of stake with the successful launch of Beacon Chain. According to Arnold, his third pick is only set to grow as it promises to introduce a new era of network scalability and staking rewards.

YFI (yearn.finance)

YFI is one of the top DeFi projects that was born out of the DeFi boom of 2020. The protocol implemented Yearn Improvement Proposal 54 (YIP-54) which Arnolds foresees as a possible catalyst for the DeFi project.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano takes the fifth position. Arnold stated that upcoming major upgrades on Cardano, including Yella, will push up ADA’s value, utility, and Price.

XRP, SNX, LINK

The remaining three picks are XRP, Synthetix, and Chainlink. Arnold said that XRP will have a key role to play in the rising interest that Central Banks have shown in developing CBDCs.  Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse wants central banks to consider using the XRP Ledger to issue their stablecoins.

SNX and LINK will also benefit from the rising trend where crypto platforms are rallying to tokenize assets such as oil. Synthetic assets mirroring their real world counterparts can use Chainlink as an oracle for real time data feeds and market reactions.

”sOIL is a synthetic asset that mirrors the price movements of oil using a Chainlink decentralized oracle network… It is available Synthetix Exchange and can be traded for any Synth with infinite liquidity and zero slippage.”

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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 Bernice Nyambura and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Current Bull Cycle Could Send Bitcoin As High As $590,000, This On-Chain Metric Shows

By Brenda Ngari – December 1, 2020

Bitcoin made history on Monday by breaking past its previous all-time high. While a near-term pullback could be possible, pundits have suggested that this rally is quite different from 2017 where bitcoin tickled the underbelly of $20,000 before crashing hard a month later.

One difference from the late December 2017 run? The current bull market has gained support from a new cadre of institutional investors. This summer, MicroStrategy invested almost $500 million in bitcoin; Square, PayPal, Stone Ridge, and Grayscale gobbled up gazillions of BTC and well-known wealthy investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller praised the cryptocurrency. Most recently, institutional asset management giant Guggenheim revealed the possibility of investing at least $500 million in bitcoin via the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. That said, bitcoin could continue to climb this year.

What’s more, a key on-chain metric is suggesting that bitcoin could be aiming for as high as $590,000 during the current bull run. According to data from on-chain analytics provider Glassnode, the Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) has hit a level that typically drove the price of bitcoin significantly higher.

$590,000 On The Cards?

The CTO at Glassnode, Rafael Schultze-Kraft, observed this big bull signal in a tweet on Nov.30.

The NUPL currently stands at 0.62. Historically, reaching this level has ignited a bull run that only stalled after bitcoin had reached a fresh price range. For instance, in 2011, the bitcoin price surged by 3000% after the NUPL indicator flashed while in early 2013 it jumped by 800% before jumping another 600% later the same year. In 2017, the year when bitcoin registered an all-time high, the NUPL spurred 1200% gains.

The NUPL is a metric that estimates the difference between unrealized profit and unrealized loss in order to determine whether the bitcoin network is presently in profit or in loss. Any value above zero shows that the network is in profit and values smaller than zero show that the network is in a state of loss.

At this point, a reading of 0.8 or higher could fuel a frantic rally to anywhere between $133,000 and $590,000.

“This Is Just The Beginning”

Pseudonymous analyst PlanB who created the stock-to-flow model also shares the same view as the Glassnode CTO. In a tweet a few hours ago, PlanB noted that the “bull market is upon us”. He explained that the November red dot closed above all other previous red dots as expected.

The analyst expects high volatility along the way, and also new record highs. Just like Glassnode’s Schultz-Kraft, PlanB is of the opinion that the bitcoin bull run is only getting started. This means that bitcoin is likely to continue following its historical behavior “like clockwork”.

Bitcoin is trading at $18,914.02 at press time, gaining 5.12% over the past 24 hours. Now that bitcoin is currently in unchartered territory, there is really no telling what comes next for the bellwether cryptocurrency — but as PlanB says, “Enjoy the ride!”.

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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