Facebook Crypto on the Horizon: Firm Has 100 Blockchain Staffers Now

Facebook Crypto is (Almost) Ready to Launch

After months of rumors, it seems that Facebook’s crypto is finally right on the horizon. Reported by TechCrunch today, a source claims that the technology company is looking to release the white paper for what is known as “Globalcoin” on June 18th, a mere two weeks away. This has seemingly been confirmed by a Facebook executive, who discussed the June 18th date previously. What’s more, The Information, a publication known to have very good sources within the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, recently revealed that Facebook will be making a big announcement about its ambitions in the digital asset space this month.

As Globalcoin nears launch, Facebook has purportedly begun to bolster its staffers in the cryptocurrency space. The firm, according to LinkedIn data, has a jaw-dropping 100 people working in the Facebook Blockchain division, and is looking for forty more talents to fill in some gaps. A listing reads:

Our ultimate goal is to help billions of people with access to things they don’t have now — that could be things like healthcare, equitable financial services, or new ways to save or share information.

For those who missed the memo, Globalcoin is slated to be a stablecoin based on a basket of currencies and assets, which will purportedly be used to give billions across the world a way to transact value at low cost, without border, and without the difficulties with traditional banking. Facebook is purportedly seeking funding from Visa, Mastercard, and other mainstream firms, and has even been in discussion with crypto exchanges Gemini and Coinbase.

A Net Benefit For Bitcoin?

This all begs the question — will Globalcoin help the adoption of decentralized crypto assets, namely Bitcoin?

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Per Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital, it might do just that. The former Wall Street hotshot, now a well-known cryptocurrency investor, told CNBC last week that “Facebook is wildly important for the ecosystem”, adding that this tacit endorsement of the technology behind Bitcoin is resounding. He even states that contrary to popular belief, Globalcoin will add value to the non-centralized cryptocurrency ecosystem, not subtract.

Novogratz isn’t the only industry executive to have thought so.

In a Twitter thread published in Q1 2019, Ari Paul, the founder of BlockTower Capital, noted that while the so-called “coporatecoins” will operate in an intranet-esque fashion, they will help the more Internet-like Bitcoin. The investor explained that Globalcoin and its ilk are inherently “uninteresting” to Bitcoin’s crusaders, who are enamored with censorship resistance, immutability, security, and peer-to-peer systems. Yet, he adds that centralized cryptocurrencies will “increase global interest dramatically.”

And, Anthony Pompliano of Morgan Creek Digital in late-2018 postulated that “Anything Facebook launches will quickly become the most popular product in the industry….maybe even one of the most popular products in the world.”

Original article written by Nick Chong and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Report: Bitcoin (BTC) Futures Trading Approaching All-Time High in May

According to a new report published by The Block, the month of May is on pace to set a new all-time high in Bitcoin futures trading for the CME Group.

In a note sent to clients on May 21, the Chicago-based firm and backer to one of the largest Bitcoin futures trading exchanges, claims that May is “shaping up to be the strongest month ever for CME Bitcoin Futures.” The firm also reports a record day of trading on May 13, with 33,677 contracts being traded for the equivalent of $1.3 billion in BTC. Daily volume for Bitcoin future trading has also spiked during the month of May to 14000, up from 9900 in April.

CME Group continued,

“Since launch in December 2017 we have traded over 1.6MM contracts (+8MM equivalent bitcoin) representing over $50BN in notional value ($4.2BN per month).”

Beyond daily volume for futures trading, new account creation is also on the rise for the group. CME reports that the number of accounts for Bitcoin futures trading has climbed to an all-time high 2500, which the group interprets as a booming desire for traders to hedge on the risk of BTC,

“The number of unique accounts continues to grow showing that the marketplace is increasingly using BTC futures to hedge bitcoin risk and/or access exposure.”

Despite the seemingly bullish market for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, with the price of BTC up close to 100 percent since the start of April, traders remain divided over the future valuation for the coin. BTC Futures, such as those offered by the CME Group’s exchange, have become a popular alternative for traders looking to speculate on the market movement for Bitcoin. Futures contracts have long been one of the more dominant products for the traditional financial markets.

Users can open long or short positions on BTC futures, depending upon where they see the price of the currency moving. With Bitcoin hovering near the $8000 mark for its second day in a row, both the bears and bulls are holding their breath over the next price movement for BTC. Some analysts are now calling for the currency to fall back to $6K before making another run at the all-time high. Considering the massive gains and bullish rally Bitcoin went on since the start of April, after more than 12 months of declining price and ‘crypto winter,’ some investors are anticipating a correction.

However, others see Bitcoin entering a perfect storm of market conditions for renewed investment. Given the economic uncertainty being generated over deteriorating negotiations between President Trump and President Xi, a looming U.S.-China trade war has bullish indicators for the price of cryptocurrency.

In addition, the mounting adoption of cryptocurrency by major industry players such social media giant Facebook and investment bank JP Morgan Chase have given a vote of confidence for BTC that was not present during 2017’s bull run. While FOMO will continue to drive the price of crypto, in both directions, the growing futures market provides another avenue for would-be speculators.

Original article written by Michael Lavere and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Buying Bitcoin (BTC) Is Investing and Saving for Retirement

When talking about retirement investments, people usually focus on stocks. However, Bitcoin is proving to be a better retirement investment asset, even ahead of stocks, commodities, and other traditional investment vehicles.

BTC Perception Is Improving

Bitcoin’s popularity continues to grow all over the globe, despite the current bear cycle still keeping prices down. A research carried out by Blockchain Capital Blog earlier last month shows that Bitcoin awareness, familiarity, perception, and conviction have increased over the past two years.

According to the research results, the percentage of people that have heard of Bitcoin rose from 77 percent in October 2017 to 89 percent in April 2019. Also, the percentage of people that are familiar with Bitcoin is up from 30 percent in October 2017 to 43 percent in April 2019.

Then again, and this is not surprising, the perception of Bitcoin amongst ordinary citizens is changing for the better. In 2017, 34 percent of the people surveyed believed that Bitcoin is an innovative technology. That figure is now up, increasing to 43 percent in 2019. However, what’s interesting is that more people are convinced that Bitcoin will find more utility in the next decade.

The survey further reveals that more people are open to purchasing Bitcoin now than they were in 2017, with the percentage rising from 19 percent in October 2017 to 27 percent in April 2019. The fact that the younger generation finds Bitcoin more appealing shows that the world’s most valuable asset has the potential to become an investment tool for decades to come.

Bitcoin Is Excellent As a Retirement Investment Tool

Therefore, it is not odd that as the popularity of Bitcoin increases, analysts are convinced that the coin—with superior ROI can, after all be an alternative asset for retirement investment. As a matter of fact, Jason A. Williams, the co-founder, and partner at Morgan Creek Digital, revealed that more people are saving Bitcoin for their retirement.

In a tweet he says:

“1 BTC is $7,000 today, but less than 1 in 3 Americans has more than $5,000 saved for retirement. Always pay yourself first. Buy Bitcoin!”

This statistics is an impressive considering the current state of Bitcoin and the regulatory challenges the community continues to face. Williams further added that “the numbers tell the story. They always do. Bitcoin tells its story in numbers and math. Trust in numbers.”

The cryptocurrency expert is right in his comments. When comparing the growth of Bitcoin against traditional investment vehicles over the past decade, it is clear to see why the younger generation is turning to BTC at this time.

Over the past fifteen years, the NASDAQ top-100 has given a total return of over 500 percent while the S&P 500 has given 254 percent. In the same period, commodities dropped by 34 percent. On the flip side, Bitcoin rallied 1,950 percent. This year alone, Bitcoin gains exceed 100 percent. All this is after last year’s crypto winter that saw the asset tumble 75 percent allowing for attacks. But even so, Bitcoin did outperform almost all traditional assets like Gold adding 58 percent year on year outperforming S&P and other traditional indices. It is because of that that Bitcoin could be a great retirement investment option.

Original article written by Jose Antonio Lanz and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

The Wait Is Over, Bitcoin (BTC) Is Now Mainstream

In 1918 Nicholas Klein addressed the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America in Baltimore with a quote that best describes Bitcoin’s current journey to mainstream adoption. He said,

“And, my friends, in this story you have a history of this entire movement. First, they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you.”

No one is building monuments to Bitcoin yet, because those who initiate such projects are busy attacking and looking for ways to ban and burn Bitcoin.

Congressman Bradley Sherman, for instance, has proposed a bill that seeks to outlaw crypto trading in the U.S. He called on Congress to “nip this in the bud,” which apparently, is not the first opposing stance the congressman has taken against digital currencies.

Sherman reasoned that “… an awful lot of our global power comes from the fact that the Dollar is the standard unit of international finance and transactions. Clearing through the New York Fed is critical for major oil transactions.”

Well, Bitcoin Will Nip Global Economy Manipulation in The Bud

Sherman goes on to add that “… it is the announced purpose of the supporters of cryptocurrency to take that power away from us, to put us in a position where the most significant sanctions we have on Iran, for example, would become irrelevant.”

In those few words, Mr. Sherman illustrates to the Congress why Bitcoin has such utility and actual value and why its mass adoption has become unstoppable. The manipulation of global politics via the Dollar is something crypto is going to make a thing of the past.

Elsewhere the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini and Flexa a startup focused on payments are in a partnership that could open wide the doors of crypto use in mainstream commerce. Flexa’s crypto app Spedn has been integrated into the payment scanners of big-name retailers such as Barrel, Crate, Whole Foods and Nordstrom.

In a statement, Flexa CEO Tyler Spalding said:

“This is the first real instance of decentralized global retail payments, with the power to make commerce more efficient and accessible for billions of citizens globally. The legacy payment systems are complicated and costly. This solution provides a way for cryptocurrencies to solve these problems and allow merchants to conduct inexpensive and fraud-resistant transactions.”

This will help crypto owners to pay for goods using Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash or Gemini Dollar. The real-time payment interface will pay merchants in fiat or crypto as per their choice. Thanks to Flexa’s ecosystem, merchants will no longer have to worry about real-time transaction clearances that once hampered crypto purchases.

Legacy Financial Institutions Massive Moves for Bitcoin

Bitcoin prices are still on the rise, with their value now at 8,106. As more institutional investors set their sights on Bitcoin, the bull run of the season might be on. Massive Wall Street Wheeler-dealer Intercontinental Exchange application to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for their Bitcoin Futures approval looks imminent as “User acceptance testing for Bitcoin futures custody and trading planned for July.”

Bakkt’s operations have been hampered by a multitude of regulatory hurdles, but the firm has its eyes now set on July as its launch date. Giant financial services firm Fidelity Investment’s crypto trading platform is also in the pipeline. The platform is expected to be rolled out “within a few weeks” sources say. Fidelity’s platform is eyeing institutional investors interested in Bitcoin investments.

Original article written by Dalmas Ngetich and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

So Much for $6000 Resistance, Bitcoin (BTC) Price Dominance Reaches Sixteen Month High

After a week of bullish price movement, U.S.-based investors awoke May 11 to the sight of Bitcoin up 8 percent, approaching a relative high of $7000.

Despite April’s bullish turn in the crypto markets, analysts were calling for substantial resistance in BTC surmounting $6000. In November 2018 the price of Bitcoin plummeted from the market uncertainty of the BCH contentious hard fork and general investor fatigue. Retail investors fled the crypto markets in droves, cashing out at a loss. The remaining investors were thought to pose tough resistance for Bitcoin eclipsing $6000, marking the point where traders could recoup on losses incurred in the sudden plummet.

Instead, the price of Bitcoin has smashed the $6K mark and continued steadily towards $7000. Some analysts are calling for even greater price gains ahead, with the bullish sentiment and overwhelming effect of FOMO at a near-high not seen since 2017’s epic price rally. Others are pointing to the coin in danger of being overbought, after more than doubling in price since the start of the year and generating a near-continuous upward climb since the beginning of April.

Facebook, for what it’s worth, has played a role in the renewed interest in the crypto markets. While Bitcoin had likely reached a point of being oversold, falling close to 90 percent from it’s all-time high, the social media goliath has injected confidence and renewed interest in the industry. Prior to 2019’s string of adoption for cryptocurrency, which includes Wall Street bank J.P. Morgan Chase, retail giant Rakuten and Facebook, the industry was in danger of suffering from the backlash of 2018’s ‘crypto winter.’ Developers and crypto enthusiasts may have remained bullish on the outlook for the technology, but outside investors remain wary.

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Facebook’s show of confidence in digital currencies has brought the interest of both institutional and retail investors, giving crypto a base that extends beyond 2017’s constant news headline of Bitcoin as an empty “get rich quick scheme.” Investors are finding more reason to be bullish on the long-term prospect of cryptocurrency, as opposed to cashing out at the first sign of market downturn. The Facebook Coin may eventually come to compete with BTC, as some analysts have predicted, but the more likely situation is synergistic for the price of Bitcoin due to increased exposure.

Compared to the price rally of 2017, this year’s bullish turn for cryptocurrency could receive a substantial boost from the foundation of adoption that has been slowly built over the last sixteenth months. Investors are responding to the belief that Bitcoin will continue to lead cryptocurrency, with the number one coin by market capitalization also achieving an increase in market dominance. BTC’s >58 percent market dominance is at its highest point in sixteenth months, dating back to the last bull rally of December 2017.

Altcoins might be making a general resurgence on the day, but investors are clearly putting their confidence in BTC as the coin that will continue to lead throughout the rest of the year.

Original article written by Michael Lavere and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

It Will Take Bitcoin (BTC) Less than 25 Years to Establish Itself as Premier Money

It is estimated that Gold might have been in use as an acceptable medium of exchange in Africa circa 1500 B.C. The use of Gold as a store value in international trade is both prolific and winded, culminating in the establishment of the Gold standard in 1945. It has therefore taken thousands of years for humanity to accept Gold as premier money. Now, Bitcoin enthusiasts believe it will take less than a quarter of a century for Bitcoin to achieve the same feat.

Critics

Strategic Intelligence’s Jim Rickards, though, begs to differ. Jim, author of Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis is a Bitcoin bear. While a Gold ounce today changes hand at around $1,286, Jim believes that Gold has the $10,000 an ounce potential. He nonetheless says take a swipe at Bitcoin saying it is a Bubble:

“It’s clearly a bubble — it looks like the second biggest bubble in history after tulip mania. Although at the rate it’s going it will pass tulip mania, you know, in a matter of days….name your bubble, it’s bigger than all of them.”

Jim is not in denial but is opposed to its price action. He blames the asset’s fantastic price, even after last year’s drop on, fraudulent trade activities. Similarly, like most skeptics he believes that BTC traders are “painting the tape“; trading BTC back and forth in a ramp to increase its price through manipulative activities like wash trading. He goes on saying that Bitcoin could survive a financial crisis thanks to its supposed ill-gotten value.

Why Bitcoin Will be Premier Money in 25 Years

Even so, most Bitcoin believers associate Bitcoin’s prized value to the coin’s fantastic programming. They love what the token stands for, though those two reasons really cannot dictate BTC’s worth. However, if you combine its marvel architecture, its utility and scarcity values, the pioneer digital asset is straight up, new age Gold.

Economics says that value is a product of utility and scarcity. Bitcoin has a 21 million coin cap meaning that unlike Gold, there’s not going to be a Gold rush, albeit a digital one. There are similarly no hidden treasure troves of BTC awaiting discovery that could cause an influx and crash in price.

Tom Lee, Fundstrat Global Advisors head of research opines that “There are potentially millions of times more Gold underground than actually has been extracted.”Gold is actually becoming easier to mine, thank to technological advances.

Then again, Bitcoin is increasingly becoming market accepted, and supply-demand dynamics is therefore dictating its price. Supports further believe that its pillars of decentralization, security, immutability, divisibility, and its open-source nature. When Satoshi stepped away from it, he allowed the masses to own it. While BTC’s value is not intrinsic, neither is paper money’s or Gold’s. The value currencies have is given to them by their users.

As more businesses like Amazon, Netflix, Facebook or Google rake in billions from digital trust, it, therefore, should be natural that currencies too could evolve and go digital as well. Cryptocurrencies, consequently, could entirely replace Gold.

Bitcoin’s inherent advantages make it most poised to replace Gold in its entirety. Are 25 years too short a time for this change to take place? Maybe not, it’s only taken ten years for crypto to make the vast waves it is making in the financial world.

Original article written by Dalmas Ngetich and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin Grinds Higher, Will The Golden Cross Send BTC to $6k?

For the past seven days Bitcoin has been slowly grinding higher and recording higher lows. The trend has clearly been ascending and current bullish price formations, plus the imminent ‘golden cross’, indicate higher moves could be on the cards.

At the time of writing BTC was trading at $5,425 according to Tradingview.com. It equaled the 2019 high of $5,450 a few hours ago and all signals are screaming ‘buy’ on the trading chart website. Market dominance for Bitcoin has also reached a two month high as it rules over the altcoins. All eyes are on the magical ‘golden cross’ which should occur today or tomorrow according to this chart.

When the 50 day moving average crosses the 200 day it is seen as a clear signal of trend reversal. There are three stages to this pattern which is the opposite of the ‘death cross’. Firstly the downtrend must bottom out indicating that selling has been depleted. In the second stage, where we are right now, the shorter moving average forms a crossover up through the larger moving average to trigger a breakout and confirmation of trend reversal. The third stage is continuation of the uptrend and higher prices.

Bitcoin resistance is currently at $5,400 with a second level at just below $5,600 where the 50 week moving average lies. Once these two are broken there is nothing stopping BTC barreling up and past $6,000. The golden cross could well be the catalyst to spark this move.

Crypto analysts are confirming this action with other signals such as a bullish pennant;

Others have looked into the volume of short positions which are very close to being liquidated should Bitcoin push any higher. This would also be bullish and, coupled with a good dose of fomo, could send BTC back to $6,000 very quickly.

Trader and technical analyst ‘Filb’ noted;

“Bitcoin continues to grind up, without sign of there being any leveraged positions being taken up which implies to me that there is aggressive spot buying in this market, which those shorting it cannot stop. This leads us to a scenario where there will be short positions heavily exposed – around 6k shorts are underwater and at risk of being liquidated.”

With others such as ‘Moon Overlord’ adding to the sentiment;

It may not all be plain sailing though as the 50 week moving average may also come into play as it did during the 2015 bear market. Some analysts foresee a bounce off this and back down to the 200 week ma which sits around $3,550.

Either way something big is about to happen with Bitcoin so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Original article written by Luke Thompson and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe