SEC DELAYS: Hopes that a bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) would be approved before the new year were dashed Thursday when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially postponed any decision to Feb. 27, 2019. VanEck and SolidX teamed up with Cboe earlier this year to propose the ETF, and under the SEC’s rules, the regulator must approve or reject the rule change outright in its next notice – it cannot be delayed further. Thursday’s announcement comes after months of uncertainty around bitcoin ETFs. The regulator previously rejected a number of proposals, including simultaneously rejecting nine in August. Those rejection were suspended the next day when the SEC announced it would review the proposals once more. Full Story BIPARTISAN BILLS: U.S. congressmen have introduced two bipartisan bills aimed to help prevent cryptocurrency price manipulation. Representatives Darren Soto (Dem.) and Ted Budd (Rep.) jointly announced Thursday that the proposed legislation is ultimately aimed at making the U.S. a “leader in the cryptocurrency industry.” The bills essentially ask the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other U.S. financial regulators to come up with a roadmap to better regulate cryptocurrencies in order to protect individuals and businesses. The first bill seeks research on how crypto price manipulation takes place, its impact on investors, and how to prevent such activities through regulatory changes, and in turn, protect investors. The second asks regulators to carry out research on crypto regulations in jurisdictions across the globe and recommend legislative changes to promote the growth of adoption of cryptocurrencies in the U.S. For instance, it asks the regulators to clarify which virtual currencies might qualify as commodities and to suggest a new, optional regulatory structure for crypto exchanges that includes federal licensing, market supervision and consumer protection. Soto and Budd said that “Virtual currencies and the underlying blockchain technology has a profound potential to be a driver of economic growth.” Full Story TOKEN EXPLOSION: Crypto exchange Coinbase is looking at 31 assets to potentially list on its trading platforms, it said Friday. The list includes both independent token projects and ERC-20 tokens.
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Cryptocurrency trading platform Gemini founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have launched a mobile crypto trading app together with a new investment vehicle, according to an official blog post published Dec. 11. As the post outlines, the new app allows users to buy and sell crypto, and monitor real-time and historical crypto market prices for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and ZCash (ZEC). Users can also see the total value of their current portfolio, and set price and percentage value change alerts for their chosen coins. Further functionality includes a “recurring buy” feature, as well as support for a newly-launched investment vehicle dubbed “The Cryptoverse” –– a basket of cryptocurrencies, weighted by market capitalization, to be bought as a single order. In an interview with Bloomberg published today, the twins struck a bullish tone in regard to the recent crypto market slump, Tyler stating “we’re totally at home in winter,” and his twin Cameron adding that “it gives us time to build internally, and refine and kind of catch our breath.” Cameron contextualized the new app as a bid to reach out to retail investors, telling Bloomberg that: “A lot of our decisions have perhaps given off a perception that we’re more institutional-based. The reality of the situation is that we have a diverse customer base. And the retail story is just beginning.” The twins also revealed their 2019 goal of expanding to the Asian crypto market, where they will face stiff competition from a thriving exchange industry that includes the likes of Bitfinex, Binance and Huobi. Gemini’s expansion plans have also been rumored to include possible entry to the United Kingdom market, as reported this September. The twins, stalwarts of the crypto space, have had a checkered history with regulators. Successes include a recent seal of approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) to launch their own U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, the Gemini dollar.
Gemini also obtained insurance coverage for custodied digital assets from lending services firm Aon, which will complement Gemini’s already available Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) coverage for U.S. dollar deposits (in place under the New York State BitLicense framework since 2015). The twins nonetheless faced a high-profile setback this July, when their application to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) received its second rejection from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Most recently, the twins have made crypto news with a lawsuit they filed against Bitcoin Foundation founder Charlie Shrem concerning an alleged Bitcoin theft dating back six years. As of press time, Gemini is ranked 51st among crypto exchanges in terms of adjusted trade volumes, seeing around $16.5 million in daily trades. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) extended a rule change proposal allowing the nation’s first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), pushing the decision deadline to next year.
In a notice posted online, the securities regulator said it was extending the review period for the ETF to Feb. 27, 2019. The proposal was first submitted by money manager VanEck and blockchain startup SolidX, who partnered with the Cboe exchange earlier this year. Under SEC rules, a decision on the proposal cannot be delayed any further, meaning the next notice must either approve or reject the ETF. The decision comes after months of uncertainty as a number of previous ETF proposals were rejected by the SEC, most notably in August when the regulator simultaneously rejected nine proposals submitted by ProShares, GraniteShares and Direxion. The rejections were suspended the next day when the SEC announced it would review all of the proposals. It later reopened a comment period, giving the general public until November 6 to share any new statements in support of or against allowing the ETFs to be approved. The VanEck/SolidX proposal differs from the others in that its value is dependent on bitcoin itself, rather than futures markets like the other nine. The SEC similarly reopened a comment period for this proposal, designating October 17 as the deadline for any statements and October 31 as the deadline for any rebuttals. Yesterday, on October 10, the price of Bitcoin broke out of the $6.600 mark after stabilizing at the $6,550 level for a few weeks.
The volume of Bitcoin saw an increase of 12 percent from $3.2 billion to $3.6 billion on Coinmarketcap and $2.1 billion to $2.38 billion on ShapeShift’s CoinCap.io. Some tokens including 0x and Polymath have recorded decent 5 to 10 percent gains in the past 24 hours but the inability of Bitcoin to demonstrate a promising recovery in its volume to its previous level at around $4.3 billion has prevented the rest of the market from initiating a major rally. Technical Analysts Predict a Big MoveThe majority of technical analysts and prominent traders in the cryptocurrency sector are anticipating a large move on either the upside or downside. Currently, due to the relatively low volume of the crypto exchange market, it is not certain that the next major movement of Bitcoin will be breakout of two resistance levels at $6,800 and $7,000. Hence, in the days to come, it is possible that BTC experiences a substantial spike in its volume and breakout of the $6,800 level or sees another shakeout before initiating a meaningful short-term rally. “The range that never ends. It’s getting tighter though and I suspect we’ll get a big move soon. Recent PA is stuck in the one big green candle. Be careful in both directions, I wouldn’t be surprised by big shakeouts before the real move,” Don Alt said. But, as respected trader Crypto Dog explained, the probability of BTCinitiating a positive upside movement in the upcoming days is higher than the likelihood of the dominant cryptocurrency testing the $6,000 support level, given its stability and graudal increase in volume. He stated: “BTC is nearing apex of this consolidation pattern, hopefully we see a break upwards in the next day or two. From my experience, the longer a consolidation pattern (the closer price ranges to apex), the more likely it is to break down rather than up.” Previously, after major 60 to 80 percent corrections, Bitcoin has historically tended to initiate strong recovery following a few months of noticeable stability. In October 2013 for instance, BTC demonstrated a rate of volatility at around 4 percent before recording a three-fold surge in price by the end of the year. Thus, it is entirely possible that the two-month stability period of BTC from August to October could allow the asset to test major resistance levels at $6,800, $7,000, and $8,000 in the weeks to come, as long as its volume can be sustained. Rest of the MarketEthereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and EOS have struggled to see any major movement in the past week, recording a minor drop in value in the past 24 hours. The volume of XRP, the native cryptocurrency of the Ripple blockchain network, has dropped from its $1.5 billion peak to $395 million within a period of two weeks, which is concerning for the short-term price trend of XRP. Tuesday, Oct. 9: Crypto markets keep trading sideways, with almost all top 20 coins by market cap in the red after seeing some growth yesterday.
Market visualization from Coin360 Bitcoin (BTC) is slightly down around 0.3 percent today, trading at $6,627 at press time. During the day, the major cryptocurrency dipped two dollars below the $6,600 threshold, and the intraday high amounted to $6,669. While markets continues to fluctuate in a mostly stagnant manner, Bitcoin is holding around 2 percent of weekly gains, as well as 5 percent gains over the past 30 days. Bitcoin’s dominance has been remaining almost flat within the day. Bitcoin 24-hours price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index Ethereum (ETH) has been trading around the same levels within the day, fluctuating between $226 and $231. The second cryptocurrency by market cap is down just over 1 percent over the past 24 hours, and is trading at $227 at press time, up around 3 percent over the past 7 days. Ethereum 24-hours price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ethereum Price Index Ripple (XRP) has seen bigger fluctuations over the 24 hour period, down around 2 percent, and trading at $0.48 at press time. Also considerably down around 10 percent on the week, the third top cryptocurrency is still holding its monthly gains, up around 77 percent over the past 30 days. Ripple 24-hours price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ripple Price Index Total market capitalization has been hovering between $218 billion and $221 billion over the day. At press time, total market cap is $219 billion, while daily trade volume has slightly dropped to $11 billion. Total market capitalization 24-hours chart. Source: CoinMarketCap The only cryptocurrency among the top 20 coins seeing considerable gains at press time is Tezos (XTZ), which is up around 3.7 percent. The altcoin is trading at $1.41, up about 6 percent over the past 7 days. Dogecoin (DOGE) is slightly up too, trading at $0.0056 at press time, up around 0.7 over the the past 24 hours. TRON (TRX) and its lower neighbor IOTA (MIOTA) are both down over the past 24 hours, trading at $0.025 and $0.586, respectively. The rest of the top 20 coins are down between 0.3 and 2.5 percent on the day. Founder of financial advisory organization DeVere Group Nigel Green has recently suggested that the currently stagnant condition of crypto markets could be a “signal that the cryptocurrency market is maturing.” Indeed, the markets have seen some sort of lack of volatility recently. Bitcoin reportedly hit “an inflection point with volatility at a 17-month low.” Crypto analyst Joseph Young tweeted that the lack of volumes on markets last week was “concerning,” noting that it is “quite evident” that the industry is experiencing “seller fatigue.” Given the two-month stability of Bitcoin’s price, the “bottom could be in,” Young concluded. Cointelegraph recently reported on a Juniper Research study which found that crypto markets are on the verge of “implosion,” while transaction volumes are dropping. Yesterday, crypto research firm Diar released an analysis claiming that U.S. dollar trading volumes at crypto exchange and wallet service Coinbase have hit a one-year low in the third quarter of 2018 The author of the best-selling book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, Robert Kiyosaki, has spoken in favor of virtual currencies during a recent podcast. Mr. Kiyosaki described the United States Dollar (USD) as comprising a “scam” and predicted that precious metals and cryptocurrencies will outlast fiat currencies.
Also Read: Many Swiss Bankers and Financial Regulators Quit to Join the Crypto Space Mr. Kiyosaki Predicts “Biggest Crash in World History”The author of the best-selling personal finance book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, Robert Kiyosaki, is predicting that the mainstream financial system is heading toward a crisis of unprecedented size and scale. Speaking to News.com.au, Mr. Kiyosaki recently stated: “Unfortunately we had a big crash in 2000, they called it the dotcom crash, then in 2008 it was the subprime real estate crash. The next is going to be the biggest of all. When it’s coming I don’t really know, but the foreshocks are sounding right now.” Fiat Money is “Fake” MoneyMr. Kiyosaki criticized fiat money, stating: “There’s so much fake money. In 1971 Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard and the US dollar became fake money.” Mr. Kiyosaki added that “The problem is it also became invisible, so they could print as much as they wanted. That’s why savers got wiped out.” “For the average person,” Mr. Kikyosaki asserts, the easiest way to hedge against the oncoming crisis is to “just buy some Aussie gold or silver coins from the Perth Mint. When the dollar goes down, gold goes up.” Cryptocurrencies Will Outlast Fiat CurrenciesIn an interview with Sane Crypto Podcast, Mr. Kiyosaki recently praised cryptocurrencies, expressing his expectation that virtual currencies will supersede fiat currencies within the near future. During the podcast, Mr. Kiyosaki describes three forms of money: “government money […] which is fiat currency,” “God’s money, which is gold and silver, [which] will be here after the cockroaches go extinct,” and people’s money, which is [virtual] currency.” “I think the dollar is toast because gold and silver and cyber currency are going to take it out […] The US dollar is a scam,” Mr. Kiyosaki stated, adding, “I think we’re watching the end of the dollar.” What is your reaction to Mr. Kiyosaki’s predictions? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! The Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) will obligate its member exchanges to place limits on the trading activity of some clients, Cointelegraph Japan reports today, July 28.
The self-regulatory body has reportedly established a policy of to require its member crypto exchanges to place maximum limits on the volumes traded by the exchanges’ customers. The move reportedly aims to prevent investors with “small assets” from suffering heavy losses and facing problems with basic daily expenses. The report does not specifically define “small assets,” nor does it specify the exact limits to be placed. According to the report, member crypto exchanges will be able to choose from two options for how they establish trading limits. The first option proposes a universal ceiling that implies establishing one fixed maximum limit for all “small asset” traders. The second option suggests a more individual approach by setting different limits for different customers depending on various factors such as their investment experience, income, the value of their assets, and age. The JVCEA has also reportedly suggested trading activity limitations for minors, requiring an adult’s confirmation as a measure against money laundering. Earlier this week, the JVCEA announced its intentions to put limits on its member exchanges’ margin trading, reportedly with the same intention of preventing customers from significant losses caused by highly volatile crypto markets. The JVCEA was formed in early March, with 16 crypto exchanges teaming up to develop and coordinate rules and policies for ensuring security standards for trading cryptocurrencies. The group’s formation came following the January hack of Japan-based crypto exchange Coincheck, with losses totalling more than $534 mln. The association is reportedly set to regulate the market in conjunction with the local Financial Services Agency (FSA), which has been restructured recently in order improve its handling of fintech-related areas, including cryptocurrencies. crypto krypto news crypto krypto news crypto krypto news crypto krypto news crypto krypto news crypto krypto news Since 2017, SEC has turned down at least three bitcoin ETF applications (including the Winklevoss twins on two occasions) from different groups citing specific reasons for such denials. This has not stopped the surfacing of new applications. Just last month three groups that have been turned down before (CBOE, VanEcK and SolidX) returned with revised applications.
This latest development has reignited the influx of opinions and predictions to how necessary the ETF is to bitcoin and the possible effects of any form of approval of such. While some experts do not see the necessity of an ETF for bitcoin, others believe that is will be a major catalyst for the next big move and possible establishment of the cryptocurrency in the mainstream. Here are the opinions of a few experts who told CCN how much they believe an ETF will affect the development of bitcoin. An Interesting IdeaFounder of Netcoins, Michael Vogel sees the possibility of a bitcoin ETF as “an interesting idea” even though he does not think that such is crucial to bitcoin’s long term success. According to Vogel, many see an ETF approval as another step forward to legitimizing bitcoin in the eyes of Wall Street and the world of traditional finance because it would ultimately put bitcoin (as a trading instrument) in the hands of conventional traders. However, he believes that it would also denote a significant step forward in terms of the comfort level that regulators display around cryptocurrency, given the extreme hesitancy around past ETF applications. “A large ETF would likely have a significant impact on bitcoin prices as well, not just due to trading volume but simply because of the volume of bitcoin that it would remove from the liquid trading market (because the BTC would need to be permanently held by the ETF corporation)”. Absolutely Not Necessary bitcoin ETFs could attract more attention from Wall Street and retail investors alike, but some experts say they aren’t necessary to the asset’s long-term success.Another expert who aired her view on the developing event is the founder of Trezor and business strategy advisor for crypto companies, Alena Vranova. In Vranova’s opinion, an ETF is absolutely not necessary for the development of bitcoin. However, she notes that it will open doors to a substantial mass of new investors who believe that some kind of regulatory approval makes bitcoin legitimate. Vranova indicates that in the short-term, bitcoin will benefit from a positive publicity and the price will probably skyrocket, even as she advised hodlers to ensure the security of their coins. She said: “Everyone who wants to hodl on, please make sure your bitcoin is safe against hackers, because their interest will skyrocket too. I’d recommend to abandon any custodian service, set up some of the proven hardware wallets (TREZOR or Ledger), set up a non-custodian multisig wallet (such as CASA) and read Pamela Morgan’s book on crypto asset inheritance.” Nothing SpectacularFor Dana Coe, Partner at CryptoCrest, an ETF is simply any fund (mutual, hedge, whatever)traded on a listed exchange. He explains that ETFs are mostly trading SEC- or CFTC-regulated assets and, right now, many or most cryptos are neither. Consequently, a fund trading them would have to register its shareholders’ interests in the fund as securities but the traded assets are unregulated. This may add to the reticence of the SEC to allow such a thing. Coe continued by noting that as far as the importance of an ETF to bitcoin, what would really be a good way around is for funds that use large broker-dealers to sell membership interests in whatever fund type they have. So it wouldn’t be an ETF, but the funds themselves could have their membership interests be bought through Vanguard or similar. “In the end that’s how it works anyway – difference being they aren’t listed on an exchange,” concluded Coe. While the ecosystem awaits the new September appointment by SEC in making a decision on the ETF applications, investors and other bitcoin users will continue to ponder on both the long- and short-term effects that may arise. No matter the outcome, the increase in awareness and interest in bitcoin is becoming more certain. Also, with the various development across the entire blockchain ecosystem, improved robustness and industrial stability is becoming more obvious. Bitcoin's (BTC) sharp recovery from two-week lows has raised the odds of a stronger rally towards $6,400, technical studies indicate. As of writing, the leading cryptocurrency is changing hands at $6,245 on Bitfinex. BTC was expected to drop below $6,000 in the last 24 hours as the bears were on the offensive following an inverted flag breakdown. However, the intraday oversold conditions likely put a floor under bitcoin prices at the two-week low of $6,080, helping it chart a solid rebound to $6,283 (today's high). While it is too early to call a bullish reversal, the change of fortune has saved the day for the BTC bulls. Moreover, the probability of BTC's price charting a picture-perfect inverse head-and-shoulders bullish reversal pattern would have dropped sharply had BTC found acceptance below $6,000. Further, the sharp recovery from $6,080 to $6,283 has opened the doors to re-test of $6,400, the price chart analysis indicates. The above chart shows BTC created a falling wedge pattern over the last four days, as represented by lower highs and lower lows. Prices crossed the wedge resistance yesterday with strength (backed by a pick up in volume), signaling the pullback from Monday's high of $6,820 has ended. The falling wedge breakout also validated the bear-to-bull trend change as indicated by the bullish price-relative strength index divergence (higher low on the RSI). So, BTC will likely find acceptance above the immediate resistance $6,270 (50-hour moving average) and rise towards the descending 100-hour MA, currently located at $6,404. While the hourly chart as adopted a bullish bias, the daily chart is still biased to the bears, so the bulls are cautioned against being too ambitious. The 5-day and 10-day MA are trending south, implying a bearish bias. The relative strength index (RSI) is holding below 50.00, indicating the bears are in control.
ViewBTC could attack the $6,400 mark, but further gains are ruled out for now as the descending (bearish) 5-day MA and 10-day MA are located at $6,366 and $6,500, respectively. That said, if BTC manages to close (as per UTC) today above 10-day MA, then the doors would open for a re-test of the Monday's high of $6,820. Bearish scenario: A failure to produce a significant move higher despite the bullish price RSI divergence and the falling wedge breakout would shift risk in favor of a drop to a recent low of $5,755. The downside move will likely gather pace if BTC fails to hold above $6,080 (previous day's high) over the weekend. |