Bitcoin on Track to Replace Gold as Dominant Store of Value: Crypto VC

Venture capitalist Lou Kerner says bitcoin is well on its way to replacing gold as the dominant store of value, noting that its market cap has already surpassed that of silver. “What [bitcoin] has evolved into is a store of value,” Kerner told Bloomberg. “Today, the main store of value is gold. It’s an $8 trillion [market]. Bitcoin today is around $60 billion, so it has an opportunity to actually replace gold as the dominant store of value.” Kerner doubled-down on Read more …

Bitcoin History Part 7: The First Major Hack

Featured Hacks and heists have been a threat for as long as bitcoin has been worth stealing. By 2011, as Bitcoin was easing into its second year of life and its first bubble, early cryptocurrency exchanges were bringing liquidity and price discovery to the nascent ecosystem. At the same time, they were providing an outlet for thieves to offload stolen coins, which they proceeded to do by the thousands. Also read: Bitcoin History Part 6: The First Bitcoin Exchange No Read more …

Economist Claims Investors Should Expect Volatile Stock Market in 2019

Following the recent downturn in the US stock market, investors have now bore witness to wild market volatility, the likes of which haven’t been seen in years. Although the markets are ending 2018 on a less-than-positive note, one prominent economist now claims that massive daily price swings will become a new reality for the markets in 2019. The recent comments came from Mohammed El-Erian, the chief economic advisor at Allianz SE, during an interview with Fox News Sunday on December 30th. Read more …

Bitcoin’s Institutionalization: Dates to Watch in 2019

It’s been over a year since the Cboe and CME listed the world’s first bitcoin futures contracts, the first ever bitcoin investment product to hit the legacy market. Both futures went live just before bitcoin peaked at its $20,000 all-time high. Out-the-gate trading for the derivatives reflected 2017’s market mania, and Cboe’s futures alone traded over 800 contracts (roughly $12,000,000 at the time) within the first two hours of their launch. With the creation of these markets, the euphoric anticipation Read more …

Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Bitcoin SV, TRON, Cardano: Price Analysis, Dec. 31

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. Market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. It is the last day of a very tough year for crypto traders. While 2018 started on an upbeat note, it is ending with uncertainty. Traders and analysts are divided on whether cryptocurrencies have Read more …

Crypto Critic Elizabeth Warren Officially Exploring Presidential Run

Senator Elizabeth Warren has joined the 2020 United States presidential race, after announcing on Monday that she will be developing an exploratory committee, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal. With the exploratory committee, Warren will be able to formally raise funds and make key staff appointments before she officially kicks off her presidential campaign. The Democratic politician from Massachusetts, who has made quite a name for herself due to her criticisms of corporations, large banks, and most Read more …

Bitcoin Could Revolutionize Governance, Says Cypherpunk Jameson Lopp

Jameson Lopp — a crypto industry figure and self-proclaimed professional cypherpunk — described Bitcoin (BTC) as the first step in a broader transition to an anarcho-capitalist society. Lopp’s comments were made in an interview on the Stephan Livera Podcast, published Dec. 29. According to Lopp, Bitcoin is an experiment that — if successful — could make the transition to an anarcho-capitalist society possible: “I believe that Bitcoin is a very interesting experiment that if is successful in the long run Read more …

Ethereum, Tron Rare Haven as Crypto Market Ends Bleak December

After mounting several unsuccessful attempts at breaking out of a yearlong slump, the bitcoin price and wider crypto market appear poised to end the month of December firmly in the red. However, a handful of cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, tron, and IOTA managed to resist the gravitational pull present elsewhere in the market and post strong returns to end the year on a positive note. Ethereum, Tron, IOTA Headline Market in December Despite beginning the month on a downward slope, both ethereum Read more …

Crypto Markets Drop Slightly After Bitcoin Fails to Break Above $4,000

Following a quiet weekend for the crypto markets they have held relatively steady and are currently trading down slightly over a 24-hour trading period. This past Friday, the cryptocurrency markets surged to recover some of their recent losses, with Bitcoin jumping from lows of $3,600 to highs of nearly $4,000. Despite this, the markets did not have enough upwards momentum to propel Bitcoin’s price past $4,000 and have since drifted slightly downwards. Crypto Markets Could Face Further Downside in Near Read more …

Bakkt Completes First Round of Funding With $182.5 Million

Finance Intercontinental Exchange’s upcoming cryptocurrency trading platform, Bakkt, has raised $182.5 million from a dozen investors. The funds will help develop an institutional-grade regulated crypto exchange, clearing and warehousing services for physical delivery and storage. The company now expects to provide an updated timeline on launching bitcoin daily futures contracts in early 2019. Also Read: Israeli Exchange to Launch Crypto Payments API for Businesses Bakkt Raises $182.5 Million Bakkt, the digital assets subsidiary of the parent of the New York Read more …

Stellar Co-founder Brands 90% of Crypto Projects ‘B.S.’

Most financial institutions will not use Bitcoin (BTC), payment network Stellar’s co-founder and CTO Jed McCaleb stated in an interview with Yahoo Finance Dec. 31. Speaking to the online news outlet, McCaleb — who is also known as one of the founding fathers of defunct Japanese Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, as well as the co-founder of Ripple — made an argument in favor of the use of permissionless, open blockchains in finance. He told reporters bluntly: “It doesn’t need to Read more …

UK Regulators Probe 18 Crypto Firms for Fraud and Illegal Operations

Over a dozen firms in the cryptocurrency sector are under investigation by UK’s financial regulator, reports the Financial Times. According to the business publication, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) disclosed on Sunday that 18 companies were being investigated over their involvement in selling cryptocurrencies. Additionally, alerts and warnings had been sent to another dozen or so firms over suspicion that they were engaging in cryptocurrency investment scams. However, the FCA has declined to name the firms that are in the Read more …