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Altcoin Season 2021 – $151 Trillion Market Cap?

We’ve written frequently about the 4 year cycle in cryptocurrency prices. Cryptocurrency – this first of which was Bitcoin – was introduced in 2009. Four years later, in 2013, prices surged to a blowoff top. Exactly four years later, in 2017, prices again surged to another blowoff top.

Using this 4 year cycle as a guide, later this year, in 2021, the cryptocurrency market should again experience another blowoff top.

Using this 4 year price cycle in cryptocurrencies, we’ve made predictions on how high the price of Bitcoin could go. We’ve also made 2021 price predictions for altcoins such as Ethereum, Chainlink, EOS, Stellar Lumens and others.

But what about the entire altcoin market as a whole?

Let’s take a look at the previous altcoin season and use that price information to make an educated forecast of where the altcoin market is likely headed later this year.

Whereas Bitcoin was released in 2009, the first Altcoin wasn’t released until 2011. However, Bitcoin is the undisputed leader of the entire cryptocurrency market. The 4 year cycle in altcoins does not see a peak 4 years after the introduction of the first altcoin, but rather the altcoins follow the leader – Bitcoin – and rise and fall in tandem with it.

Here is the chart of the first blowoff top of the entire altcoin market cap:

You can see from the chart above that the total market cap of the entire altcoin market reached its peak of $2,004,339 billion on December 4, 2013.

Like Bitcoin, after reaching its blowoff top in 2013, the altcoins went into a bear market for the next 2 years.

It was not until June of 2016 that the altcoin market convincingly topped its previous all time high, and it wasn’t until more than 3 years later, on December 28, 2016 – exactly 1,120 days – that the altcoin market exceeded its previous all time high for good.

What did the altcoin market do after exceeding its old all time high for good?

The answer can be found in the following chart:

After permanently exceeding the 2013 all time high on December 28, 2016, altcoins then rose for the next 375 days to set a new all time high of $551,926,104 billion on January 5, 2018.

That’s a gain of 27,536%, or stated another way, 275-to-1.

Now let’s take a look at what has happened since then, and see if the altcoin market is following the same pattern, and if so where the 2021 altcoin season is heading.

The 4 Year Cycle In Action

Like what happened in 2013, after reaching its blowoff top in 2017, the altcoins went into a bear market for the next 2 years.

It wasn’t until more than 3 years later, on February 11, 2021 (4 days ago!) – exactly 1,133 days – that the altcoin market exceeded its previous all time high for good.

Wow.

The cycles are amazingly close. In the previous altcoin cycle it took exactly 1120 days for the altcoin market to convincingly exceed its previous record peak, and in the current altcoin cycle it has taken 1133 days to do the same.

The difference in timing is a mere 13 days, which is only one tenth of one percent!

So where to from here?

The Next Altcoin Blowoff Top

Using this cycle as guidance, it would indicate that the altcoin market will go up for the next 375 days and reach a top on February 20, 2022.

If the overall percentage gain is identical, that would place the total altcoin market cap at over $151 trillion.

Is that even possible?

Our opinion: one word, yes.

Let’s see where we are a year from now.

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World Economic Forum Releases Very Pro-Cryptocurrency Report

The World Economic Forum has recently released a report that suggests cryptocurrencies have a very prosperous future. The report, titled “Crypto, What Is It Good For? An Overview of Cryptocurrency Use Cases,” is rabidly optimistic about the future role of cryptocurrencies in the world’s economic and financial systems.

Here are some various quotes from the report:

Over a decade ago, a white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto was distributed to a cryptography mailing list outlining a novel proposal for a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” called bitcoin. This innovation spurred a new, global industry and asset class that has created hundreds of billions of dollars in value, and inspired a generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.

From the foreword

Another pro-crypto statement:

The World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Cryptocurrencies represents a broad cross-section of experts working to make cryptocurrencies useful across a wide range of use cases.

From the foreword

And one more:

Cryptocurrencies have reached a point of inevitability. We have dedicated our careers to advancing the adoption and use of cryptocurrencies because we believe they represent an enormous opportunity to grow the global digital economy and benefit consumers and businesses across the world.

From the foreword

When on reads the report, it becomes very clear that the World Economic Forum clearly believes that cryptocurrency will permeate all economic and financial transactions globally.

These specific cryptocurrencies each have a dedicated segment in the report: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Tezos, Celo, Litecoin, Zcash, Filecoin, and Arweave. These second layer protocols also have their own segments in the report: Bancor, Lightning, Compound Protocol, Uniswap, Etherisc, and OMG Network.

This report is more evidence that the world is heading towards mass adoption of blockchain.

Got crypto?

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Bitcoin New All Time High In February?

We’ve written extensively about the 4 year cycle in Bitcoin and Altcoins. Just two days ago we released our Bitcoin and Altcoin forecast for February and March.

We pointed out how closely 2021 price behavior is following 2017 price behavior:

This year, Bitcoin reached its high on January 8, only 3 days later than it did in 2017.

In 2017, the previous 4th year of the Bitcoin cycle (2021 is also a 4th year of the Bitcoin cycle), Bitcoin made an intermediate high on January 5 and an intermediate low on January 25.

This year, Bitcoin made an intermediate high on January 8, and made an intermediate low on January 28 – again, exactly 3 days later than it did in 2017.

The timing of these swing lows and highs is remarkable.

Using this data, we predict that February will not see a new all time high for the price of Bitcoin.

If the pattern continues to follow 2017 this precisely (at some point it will diverge, markets don’t repeat so precisely for extended periods of time), the new all time high for Bitcoin will not arrive in February, as the pattern in 2017 saw Bitcoin top its early January high on February 28th of that year.

Comparing 2021 to 2017, the cycle has been experiencing a 3 day delay, which would suggest a new all time high for Bitcoin will not be reached this year until March 3.

Of course, this forecast is not guaranteed. Highly charged positive crypto news events could cause Bitcoin to surge to new highs sooner, while the unexpected appearance of negative Bitcoin news sphere could delay the timing of a new all time high for Bitcoin.

We are quite certain, however, that a new all time high for Bitcoin is only a matter of time.

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Bitcoin (And Altcoin) Price Trends Expected In February And March

Several of our news articles this year – as well as several from last year – included details regarding the 4 year cycle in cryptocurrency prices. The editors at Top5Cryptos are strongly of the opinion that the entire cryptocurrency market is correlating to the previous 4 year cycle patterns in excess of 90%.

Our cryptocurrency price predictions for 2021 are base upon the correlation to the 4 year cycle, among other specific factors.

Using this year cycle pattern, we are going to predict the general price action of the crypto market for the months of February and March.

First, though, we will look at the crypto price behavior during the previous 4 year cycle top of 2017.

Bitcoin Price Performance In Early 2017

Bitcoin started the first day of 2017 at $1,003. It rose rapidly, gaining nearly 19% by January 5th.

Bitcoin then fell by 24% to reach a low on January 25.

From that date, Bitcoin basically bounced up and down in price without going much in either direction. Prices were choppy from January 25 until February 16.

From February 16 to February 24, Bitcoin had a sustained upward movement in price, reaching the same price that it had attained on January 5 of that year.

From February 24 until March 1, the price of Bitcoin remained near the high of January 5. However, on March 2, Bitcoin broke out above the high of January 5, rising about 8% above the peak price attained in early January.

Bitcoin then suffered a 20% correction into a low on March 19.

Bitcoin then again experienced choppy sideways price action until March 30.

April was the month that the climb in the Bitcoin price really kicked into high gear and Bitcoin left for good the trading range it had been in the first 3 months of the year.

Here is what the Bitcoin chart looked like for the above described time period in 2017:

Using this price behavior taken from the previous 4 year cycle time frame, we are going to compare it to the price behavior of Bitcoin this year.

This year, Bitcoin reached its high on January 8, only 3 days later than it did in 2017.

Since then it has been following the same type of price action that transpired in 2017.

We have no reason to believe that the price of Bitcoin will stray much from its previous price behavior.

Our Bitcoin Forecast For February and March

Using the data above, the price of Bitcoin should get back to the $42,000 range around February 23 – 26.

From there, it should make a new all time high around $45,000 to $47,000 the first week of March.

After reaching a new all time high in early march, Bitcoin will likely fall to the range of $30,000 around the 3rd week in March.

The the fun REALLY begins for crypto bulls.

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Bittrex Change In Terms Of Service Language Is Concering

Bittrex has long been one of our favorite crypto exchanges based in the U.S. However, a recent change to the language in their terms of service disclaimer is a cause for concern.

Of course, we are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice. As always, consult a legal professional for all legal matters and advice.

That being said, the changes to the Bittrex Terms of Service wording has us quite concerned. Here is a quote from the Terms of Service, Version 4, amended 1/21/2021:

RISK DISCLOSURE: BY ACCESSING OR USING ANY BITTREX SERVICES YOU ARE VOLUNTARILY CHOOSING TO ENGAGE IN SOPHISTICATED AND RISKY FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS. YOU ARE FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGING THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF THE MANY RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF THESE SERVICES AND WITH ENGAGING IN TRANSACTIONS IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, RISKS OF FINANCIAL LOSS, TECHNOLOGY GLITCHES (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO PROBLEMS WITH THE BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY), AND HACKING. BITTREX WORKS HARD TO PROVIDE STATE-OF-THE-ART SYSTEMS AND SECURITY. NONETHELESS, CERTAIN ISSUES AND RISKS ARE UNAVOIDABLE, AND IF SUCH ISSUES OR PROBLEMS ARISE IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF BITTREX’S SERVICES, INCLUDING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH DEPOSITING OR TRADING CRYPTOCURRENCIES, IT MAY TAKE DAYS, WEEKS, OR MONTHS TO RESOLVE, AND SOME ISSUES MAY NOT BE RESOLVED AT ALL. BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BITTREX IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED RISKS, AND YOU VOLUNTARILY ASSUME AND ACCEPT SUCH RISKS IN DECIDING TO ENGAGE IN CRYPTOCURRENCY TRANSACTIONS ON THE BITTREX PLATFORM.

Sometimes legal wording/disclaimers can be extra wordy and confusing. Often, this is done on purpose.

This updated terms of service can be broken down into 3 parts:

  1. There are risks in cryptocurrency transactions.
  2. Bittrex has told you about the risks.
  3. If you continue to use Bittrex knowing these risks, the responsibility for these risks are yours and not Bittrex.

While those 3 points seem sensible and realistic at first glance, but, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.

Let us quote directly from the above language, only we will take out much of the wordage – without changing any of it – just to make a point:

YOU ARE AWARE OF THE MANY RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF THESE SERVICES… INCLUDING …. HACKING. IT MAY TAKE DAYS, WEEKS, OR MONTHS TO RESOLVE, AND SOME ISSUES MAY NOT BE RESOLVED AT ALL. BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BITTREX IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED RISKS, AND YOU VOLUNTARILY ASSUME AND ACCEPT SUCH RISKS.

Again, we’re not lawyers and this is NOT legal advice. As non-lawyers, we read the above statement and conclude that Bittrex is telling you that if they get hacked, the losses “MAY NOT BE RESOLVED AT ALL,” and that “BITTREX IS NOT RESPONSIBLE,” and finally, you “ASSUME AND ACCEPT SUCH RISKS.”

If our understanding is correct, that means that if Bittrex loses any of your money in any type of “hacking,” you’re out and you cannot hold Bittrex accountable for the losses.

Would you deposit into a bank if the bank’s legal disclaimer told you that if the bank gets robbed, you’re money is gone and you cannot hold the bank responsible?

That sounds exceptionally risky.

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Altcoin Season!

Take Advantage Of Altcoin Price Trends Of 2021

The evidence is abundant that 2021 is the year that will bring a jaw-dropping Altcoin Season. Just as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency to rise in price, and the Altcoins eventually follow.

Bitcoin Leads, The Altcoins Follow

There’s no questioning that Bitcoin is the definitive OG of the cryptoshere, as is most likely best highlighted by the point that the flagship digital asset has been in a position to pique the interest of many prominent legacy financial institutions – like Microstrategy, BlackRock, Grayscale – during the last year or thereabouts.

Not just that, in recent months, a selection of banks and venture capital funds as JP Morgan, Raiffeisen, Pantera Capital have projected BTC to scale past beyond the $100k mark with great ease (not to mention our own Bitcoin prediction exceeding $379,000 in 2021), indirectly indicating their growing confidence in this yet incipient asset class.

Even with all the sell offs and volatility which was witnessed during the last week, data available on the web definitely shows that the number of addresses with 1,000 or over Bitcoin (referred to as “whales” in the crypto world) has continued to increase. As is ALWAYS so with professional institutional money, the “buy-the-dip” strategy is employed with full force.

It’s called “talking your book” om Wall Street jargon.

While big institutional players plant news stories and give interviews that create fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) – thus driving the price down as nervous traders sell – at the same time they are accumulating for themselves at lower prices.

Like it or not, that’s standard operating procedure for traditional markets, and especially crypto.

Bottom line: whales continue to buy Bitcoin.

And where Bitcoin leads, the altcoins will follow.

Forecasting Altcoin Market Activity for the Coming Year

We’ve been pounding the table that 2021 is going to be another moonshot type of year due to the 4-year cycle. 2013 was the year of the first 4-year cycle top. 2017 was the second instance of a tremendous crypto bull run into the second top of the 4-year cycle.

2021 will be the year of the third top of the 4-year cycle.

In order to gain a better understanding of how the 4 year cycle top will play out, we’ll go back and examine the previous iteration of the cycle.

Looking At The Altcoin Season Of 2017

It’s been said that “History doesn’t repeat, but it sure does rhyme.” If you go back and look at historical prices of Bitcoin from previous years, it’s very obvious that Bitcoin isn’t following the 4-year cycle precisely 100% on a daily basis, but the correlation is over 90%.

In other words, Bitcoin price action rhymes with previous Bitcoin price action.

Let’s look closely at Bitcoin’s price action in 2017 as well as the leader of the altcoins, Ethereum.

Bitcoin Price Action In 2017

Bitcoin was priced at $1,003 on January 1, 2017.

It took 138 days for Bitcoin to double in price. (May 18)

It took 216 days for Bitcoin to triple in price. (August 4)

It took 226 days for Bitcoin to quadruple in price. (August 14)

It took 284 days for Bitcoin to quintuple in price. (October 11)

Ultimately, Bitcoin went up more than 19-fold into the 4-year cycle high on December 17, 2017.

Ethereum Price Action In 2017

Ethereum was priced at $8.20 on January 1, 2017.

It took 60 days for Ethereum to double in price. (March 1)

It took 72 days for Ethereum to triple in price. (March 13)

It took 74 days for Ethereum to quadruple in price. (March 15)

It took 75 days for Ethereum to quintuple in price. (March 16)

By the first day of summer, June 21, Ethereum had increased in price by a factor of 41 times over.

Ultimately, Ethereum went up more than 170-fold into the 4-year cycle high on January 10, 2018.

Altcoin Season Lessons

Looking at the above prices of both Bitcoin and Ethereum, we can gain insights into how the altcoin season of 2021 will unfold.

Here are some key takeaways:

  1. Once altcoin season starts to gain momentum, prices of meritable altcoins will rise faster than Bitcoin.
  2. March is likely to be a very good month for the leading altcoins.
  3. By the summer of 2021, a handful of the best altcoins should be as much as 40 times higher in price compared to where they started the year.
  4. The top altcoins could go up in price more than 150 times their value at the start of the year.
  5. Bitcoin will reach its 4-year cycle peak 3 to 4 weeks before the altcoins do, and will start its new bear market.
  6. The entire altcoin market will follow Bitcoin into its next bear market.

Specific Price Targets

There’s no question in our minds that 2021 is going to be a very, very exciting year for cryptocurrency investors.

You should, however, remember that prices don’t move in a straight line higher. Bitcoin Experienced several LARGE drops in 2017, even though the the overall trend was wildly bullish.

The same is likely to be the case this year.

If you’d like to see some of our specific 2021 price predictions for specific coins, simply head on over to this page.

Altcoin Season Basics

An altcoin season is also a term used for a season in which an altcoin is outperforming the price of the original: Bitcoin. There are three stages to an altcoin season. The first stage is when there is a profiting trend on an altcoin that is very new, or a trend that is new to a particular altcoin. The second stage is when the profiting trend dies down, and there is no longer any substantial profit potential from the altcoin in question.

In the third phase, after the profiting trend has died down, the altcoin season starts to see a new influx of traders who are looking to make a long position in the market. By this stage, the profitability potential in trading on any altcoin is significantly reduced. During the second phase, the price movement of all-time high prices of bitcoin continues on its upward trek.

One of the factors that makes the altcoin season so interesting to follow is the fact that there is considerable amount of volatility in the market. The large increase in volatility is what allows an investor to profit from the trading of ether and another high valued alternative currency. Volatility is usually considered a good thing for experienced traders because it increases the opportunities to profit from price movement – both UP and DOWN.

For investors and holders, however, the volatility can be nerve wracking.

lastly, it’s important to remember that the altcoin season doesn’t last forever. In fact, most (statistically it’s over 90%!) investors lose money during the bearish period. However, if you find several profitable altcoins during this time, it can be literally, life-changing.

Come the end of 2021, just remember one fact: trees don’t grow to the sky.

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It’s Not Just Institutional Thirst, Retail Demand For Crypto Reaches ‘Unprecedented’ Levels

There’s just not enough Bitcoin to meet demand.

That’s not just some hopium-based fantasy by the leader of a fringe crypto cult.

No, it’s simple fact from tallying just a couple places where Bitcoin can be bought.

We’ve reported that institutional money is moving into cryptocurrency assets, and that institutional demand is higher than it has ever been.

Retail demand is also currently at “unprecedented levels.”

Unprecedented levels

Israeli trading and investing platform Etoro warned customers in Europe on Friday of possible limitations on crypto purchasing over the weekend. In an email, the exchange said: “The unprecedented demand for crypto, coupled with limited liquidity, presents challenges to our ability to support buy orders over the weekend. In light of this, it may be necessary for us to place limitations on crypto buy orders.”

eToro’s statement acknowledging unprecedented demand is just one of many that point to the fact that there isn’t enough Bitcoin available at today’s prices to meet demand.

Pantera Capital’s recent monthly letter to investors states that:

In last month’s investor letter we discussed that after 30 months of operation, Square’s Cash App is estimated to be buying around 40% of all newly-issued bitcoin.

PayPal just launched their new service that enables customers to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrency directly from their PayPal accounts. It’s already having a huge impact.

The bitcoin community is proud to have grown to 100 million users over twelve years. PayPal has 300 million active users. As we’ve argued — and will argue more fully in our December investor letter — this rally is much more sustainable than 2017. One of the main differences is the ease of investing in bitcoin now — via PayPal, Cash App, Robinhood, etc.

Previously the friction to buy bitcoin was pretty onerous: take a selfie with your passport, wait days to a week to get activated, daily limits.

Three hundred million people just got instant access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies.

BOOM! The results are already apparent.

PayPal’s crypto infrastructure provider is Paxos. Prior to PayPal’s integration of crypto, itBit, the Paxos-run exchange, was doing a fairly constant amount of trading volume — the white line in the chart below.

When PayPal went live, volume started exploding. The increase in itBit volume implies that within four weeks of going live, PayPal is already buying almost 70% of the new supply of bitcoins.

PayPal and Cash App are already buying more than 100% of all newly-issued bitcoins.

Only 900 New Bitcoins Created Each Day

Bitcoin supply is growing daily. Literally, it’s growing by 6.25 newly created Bitcoins with each new block mined. By design, one Bitcoin block is mined every 10 minutes, resulting in an average of 144 new blocks every day. 144 x 6.25 equals 900 new Bitcoins created each day.

Genuine Bitcoin Investor Demand

As we reported above, just Paypal and Cash App are responsible for buying more than 900 Bitcoin per day.

Let’s look at another rather obscure place to buy Bitcoin: LocalBitcoins.com. This is a site outside of the massive mainstream crypto exchanges. It is sort of a peer-to-peer classified ad site that matches buyers with sellers on an individual level.

Compared to the big exchanges, such as Coinbase, this site is tiny. For instance, Binance alone had a Bitcoin trading volume in the past 24 hours of $2.77 billion at press time.

Contrast that to the average daily trading of Bitcoin at localbitcoins.com which is a mere $6 million. The difference in size is staggering. The point being, trading volume at localbitcoins.com is a tiny, extremely tiny, amount of Bitcoin being bought each day.

Now, be aware that most of the trading volume on Binance and other big exchanges is just that: trading, not investing. A trader can buy and sell multiple times per day with each of those trades adding into the cumulative total trading volume.

On localbitcoins.com it is definitely not “traders” doing the trading, it is mom and pop type of people buying Bitcoin to hold as an investment.

So let’s look at the numbers. $6 million worth of Bitcoin are being bought right now every day on localbitcoins.com.

How many Bitcoin is that?

$6,000,000/$37,000 each equals 162 Bitcoin.

Remember, there’s only 900 being created. And this tiniest little peer-to-peer exchange is responsible for its users buying up almost 1/5 of all newly created Bitcoin each and every day. This is purely Bitcoin volume, and does not include other cryptos such as XRP and Litecoin.

Paypal and Cash App are already buying more Bitcoin than are being created each day. This tiny little site is facilitating the buying of nearly 20% of all new Bitcoin being create. What about the customers of Binance? What about demand from the customers of Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, Bittrex, Bitstamp, Huobi, Bitfinex, and hundreds of other exchanges are are many times lager than localbitcoins? Where will all the Bitcoin come from for those buyers to be able to purchase?

Only Existing Holders Can Supply Bitcoin To Match Soaring Demand

One thing is certain, there is no way to increase the supply of new Bitcoin being created each day and available on the market. With demand absolutely overwhelming new supply, that only leaves existing holders willing to sell in order to satiate buyer demand.

Which means only one thing: prices will continue to be bid higher.

There’s good reason for the crypto fear and greed index to be pegged on greed.

How high is high? Here’s our Bitcoin forecast for this year and beyond.

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Gemini Unveils Plans For Credit Card With Crypto Rewards

Gemini, a crypto exchange and custodian, today announced that it will launch the Gemini Credit Card, a credit card with cryptocurrency rewards. This effort has been accelerated by the acquisition of Blockrize, a fintech startup that has been building a credit card with cryptocurrency rewards. In preparation for launch later this year, Gemini has opened the Gemini Credit Card waitlist — providing Gemini customers, and those already on the Blockrize waitlist, with early access.

By combining Gemini’s simple, reliable, and safe platform with Blockrize’s rewards program, card holders will be able to seamlessly earn up to 3 percent back in bitcoin, or other cryptos, on every purchase they make with the Gemini Credit Card.

“The Gemini Credit Card will make it easier for any consumer to invest in bitcoin and other cryptos without changing their existing behavior, ” said Tyler Winklevoss, CEO of Gemini. “Rather than deciding how and when to buy crypto, customers can do so when making their everyday purchases. We’re excited to welcome the Blockrize team to Gemini and work together to continue to mainstream crypto.”

Those who join the waitlist, and the more than 10,000 people already on the Blockrize waitlist, will get early access. The Gemini Credit Card will work like a traditional credit card. It will be available to U.S. residents in every state and will be widely accepted wherever major cards are accepted. Rewards will be automatically deposited into a cardholder’s Gemini account.

For Gemini users or others interested in signing up to the waitlist, please visit: https://gemini.com/credit-card/waitlist. To sign up for a Gemini account visit: https://exchange.gemini.com/register.

This is Gemini’s second acquisition, following its acquisition of Nifty Gateway in November of 2019. Gemini continues to look for companies that align with its values and mission to empower the individual through crypto.

About Gemini

Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, and store more than 30 cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin, and Zcash. Gemini is a New York trust company that is subject to the capital reserve requirements, cybersecurity requirements, and banking compliance standards set forth by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the New York Banking Law. Gemini was founded in 2014 by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to empower the individual through crypto.

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Flare Networks Announces Smart Contracts For Litecoin

Ripple’s late 2020 rise was due partly to a massive airdrop of Flare (FLR) tokens. Now, the smart contract solution is actually adding support for Litecoin (LTC). An FLR airdrop to Litecoin users is actually in the works.

XRP wallets included in the December snapshot will receive a Flare tokens (worth a great amount of money, potentially).

In a Jan. 8, 2020 tweet, Flare says that they will “reduce” the number of Flare tokens for the project’s founders by five billion. This extra will be distributed to “Litecoin participants.” The Tweet promises clarification in the coming week.

A Flare for airdrops Tokens on the Flare network, known as Spark, will be used for governance and as collateral following the expected token drop in Q2, 2021. The business plans to bring smart contracts to Ripple’s XRP. Previously, Ripple was seen as a vehicle for funds transfer, and Flare claims that Spark tokens will add value.

With this tweet, the company is actually announcing what was somewhat unexpected: that the network will support other cryptocurrencies besides XRP, namely Litecoin.

Flare received a large amount of hype and press before the December snapshot for the airdrop to XRP holders.

For what it is worth, the company is naming their FLR tokens XFLR tokens (for XRP) on their site. There can probably be LFLR tokens for Litecoin. But it may not stop there. Flare could add support for other cryptos.

The rationale for choosing to integrate with Litecoin, over some other similarly sized digital assets, may have come right down to the fact that after XRP, LTC was the next biggest asset currently with no smart contract capabilities.

The Litecoin Foundation has stated it is “very excited to see the capability of smart contracts and interoperability coming for Litecoin through Flare.”

This also opens up the possibility of more such integrations that would bring the DeFi ecosystem to all non-ETH coins in the near future.

Flare has said it may support other networks in the future, but this was given little attention. Support for, say, the Bitcoin network could have implications that are huge and give ETH a run for its money.

Smart contracts and Ethereum competition? The short version of the purpose of Flare is actually to facilitate smart contracts on protocols that don’t have them built in. Flare is backed by XRP, and the airdrop to most XRP-hodling wallets cast Flare into the spotlight.

The very last several weeks have seen insane interest in Ethereum, and as the time tested and secure smart-contract chain, that is no surprise. The #2 crypto may have new investors interested in case they feel like they “missed the boat” with Bitcoin.

But the tech backing Ethereum’s value is the smart contracts. Though there are actually lots of other similar protocols that are potential rivals (DOT, EOS), ADA, Ethereum still reigns supreme.

Nevertheless, if other networks (like XRP or LTC) could support smart contracts, that would widen their appeal. In case these protocols could be interoperable via the Flare network, that would be a coup for Spark tokens (Flare hasn’t suggested they’ve plans for this).

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World’s Oldest Operating Crypto Exchange Forecasts Trends For 2021

At the beginning of 2021, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has seen an all-time high of over $40,000 on 8 January 2021, which is not surprising, since institutional investors as well as high-net-worth individuals consider BTC as a hedge against extraordinary fiscal stimulus programs. Here is an AMA summary from Chief Research Officer, Dan at BTCC.

ETH Price Prediction in 2021

The world’s largest financial derivatives exchange, CME Group, announces its ETH derivative product will go live on February 2021, following the launch of Bitcoin derivative product. It means Ethereum will be considered as a financial product, and will be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). We expect that the launch of ETH derivative product next year will bring more institutional funds into the market, thus the price of ETH is very likely to see a massive rise.

Growing Number of Institutional Players Entering the Crypto Market

The year of 2020 also has seen numerous examples of institutional investors turning their attention to the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. For example, one of the largest insurance firms, MassMutual, has purchased $100 million of Bitcoin on December 2020.

We expected to see the crypto market to rise from the end of 2020 to 2021. The difference between the bull run this year to the one in 2017 is that previous bull was driven by individual investors and some whales. However, the bull run this year is mainly driven by institutional investors pushing the price up.

Top 10 Cryptocurrencies to Look Out for in 2021

The major theme of crypto market next year will be around DeFi, Polkadot, and ETH 2.0, therefore we will expect ETH remain unchanged at the top 2. While XRP, BCH, LTC and EOS are not what the market needs for next year, we expect to see these coins fall out of their current ranking.

Here is a prediction of crypto ranking in 2021 by Dan: BTC, ETH, USDT, LTC, XRP, BNB, LINK, UNI, DOT, BCH.

BTCC currently offer 9 major cryptocurrency trading pairs including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), EOS (EOS), Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), Dash (DASH), and Cardano (ADA). Users can trade Bitcoin with leverage.

About BTCC

Founded in 2011, BTCC is the world’s longest-running crypto exchange and currently headquartered in the UK. With nearly 10 years of operating history, BTCC is known for its safe and stable, top-end market depth, and as well as faster transaction speed. 

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Cryptocurrency Market Cap Blows Through $1 Trillion

A wave of recent institutional buying has propelled the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies to exceed the $1 Trillion level for the first time ever.

The price of bitcoin hit another all-time high Wednesday. Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $36,868 as of 7 p.m. ET, Gaining 6.5% over the previous 24 hours, and easily surpassing Jan. 2’s previous record high of $34,366.

According to the latest data, the $1 trillion cryptocurrency economy has gained significant value in the last 24 hours. The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is topping the list with a market cap exceeding $680 billion.

Best Performing Cryptocurrency Assets

Ethereum is the best performing asset among major cryptocurrencies, the total market cap of Ethereum jumped nearly 60% in the last 7 days to reach a market cap of $137 billion. As of writing, the price of Ethereum is hovering around $1,211, within striking distance of its all time high.

The world’s top cryptocurrencies have gained the limelight in recent days due to a significant increase in market value, but other crypto-assets like Cardano and Stellar have actually performed better than Bitcoin and Ethereum in the last few weeks in terms of percentage gain. Stellar (XLM) has gained more than 60% in the last 24 hours, and 159% in the last 7 days as the total market cap of the cryptocurrency reached $7.4 billion. Further, XLM posted strong gains after an announcement by the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation to work with Stellar Development Foundation to introduce virtual assets in the country.

Furthermore, Litecoin, Polkadot, Chainlink and Bitcoin Cash posted strong gains in the last few days as all the mentioned cryptocurrency assets gained more than 30% in the last 7 days. Institutional adoption is pushing the cryptocurrency economy beyond the $1 trillion market cap much quicker than most observers had anticipated.

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Bitcoin News Cryptocurrency News Litecoin News Ripple News

Litecoin and XRP Battle It Out For Spot In Top 5 Cryptocurrencies

Litecoin (LTC) and XRP traded places in market capitalization rankings over the weekend, highlighting the impact of the recent lawsuit against Ripple filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

The so-called “flippening” happened early Sunday when Litecoin’s market cap hit $9.95 billion following a more than 11% surge in price. XRP, meanwhile, had declined in excess of 40% over a 24-hour trading period

The battle for a spot in the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market cap continues to rage on.

As of yesterday, XRP was back in the fourth position with a market cap of $10.5 billion. Litecoin, meanwhile, was worth just over $10 billion. In the last week, Litecoin’s price has gained more than 30% while XRP during the same time period has only risen by about 8%.

Litecoin’s price has more than doubled since mid-December, climbing to $163 at the time of this writing from a low of about $70 on December 11, 2020. XRP was also on a tear before the SEC announced a lawsuit against Ripple for allegedly violating securities laws. From its peak to its low, XRP price tumbled more than 73%, according to CoinMarketCap data. XRP has only recovered a portion of what it lost.

XRP’s road to recovery is likely to be a bumpy one as investors await the outcome of the litigation — a process that legal experts say could take several years to play out. We do have the opion – just our opinion – that a settlement will be reached sooner rather than later. Without a settlement with the SEC, the value of XRP could struggle to regain momentum. A wave of delistings at major exchanges has also dampened enthusiasm for XRP.

Meanwhile, Litecoin’s ascendancy likely has more to do with Bitcoin than any change in the project’s underlying fundamentals. Being the oldest of the cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has assumed the role of the leader. Where Bitcoin goes, the altcoins follow.

The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies rose to all-time high today, surging past $950 billion.

Litecoin vs XRP


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More Signs That Institutional Money Is Flowing Into Cryptocurrency

Bitwise Asset Management, a leading provider of crypto index funds, became the most recent example of the influx of institutional money into cryptocurrency by announcing today that it recently surpassed $500 million in assets under management (AUM), up $400 million from its previous report of $100 million in AUM on October 28, 2020.

The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (OTCQX: BITW), which seeks to track an index of the 10 largest cryptoassets—including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin—has seen the strongest demand, recently crossing over $400M in AUM.

The Bitwise Bitcoin Fund and Bitwise Ethereum Fund—which provide low-cost, professionally managed exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively—have seen increased demand as well.

“The speed at which professional investors are moving into crypto right now is remarkable,” said Hunter Horsley, cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Bitwise. “While adoption of crypto as an asset class and conviction around its role in portfolios rapidly expands, we continue to urge all investors to consider the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies in general and the Bitwise Funds in particular.”

Bitwise saw record inflows into its funds during Q4 2020, surpassing the total cumulative inflows of 2018 and 2019 combined. The increased demand came primarily from Bitwise’s core audience, investment professionals, including financial advisors, hedge funds, corporate balance sheets, and other institutional investors.

Bitwise specializes in educating and supporting professional investors, with a senior team and staff from firms like BlackRock, Fidelity, Eaton Vance, Wealthfront, Facebook, J.P. Morgan, and iCapital. The Bitwise Funds offer ongoing private placements to accredited investors via www.bitwiseinvestments.com.

About Bitwise Asset Management

Bitwise Asset Management is a leading provider of index and beta crypto funds. Based in San Francisco, Bitwise’s team combines expertise in technology with decades of experience in traditional asset management and indexing—coming from firms including Facebook, Google, Wealthfront, BlackRock, Fidelity, Deutsche Bank, IndexIQ, and ETF.com.

Bitwise is backed by leading institutional investors and asset management executives, and is a frequent commentator on crypto in the press. It has been profiled in Institutional Investor, CNBC, Barron’s, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many other leading publications. The firm is a trusted partner to financial advisors, RIAs, multifamily offices, hedge funds, and other professional investors as they navigate the crypto space

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Cryptocurrency News Ethereum News Litecoin News

Bittrex Announces Delisting 3 Privacy Coins

Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex announced impending delistings of three privacy cryptocurrencies as of Jan. 15.

As privacy coins, the three fit into a category that is increasingly under threat from government regulators worldwide.

A not-so-Happy New Year for privacy enthusiasts?

On Jan. 1, the Bittrex cryptocurrency exchange posted a notice on their website that effective Jan. 15, Monero, Dash, and ZCash would be removed from their trading platform. These three are privacy tokens, which anonymize transactions.

The notice states:

You must perform any trades with these tokens no later than Friday, January 15, 2021, 23:00 UTC.

After the markets are removed, Bittrex generally seeks to provide users up to 30 days to withdraw any delisted tokens, but in certain instances the withdrawal period may be shortened. Users should withdraw any tokens before the posted withdrawal deadline.

Privacy tokens, as the name suggests, are relatively difficult for investigators to track. Their use is rising, and some tokens have been in regulators’ sights for a while.

Back in November, Bittrex announced the delisting of 23 tokens for a variety of performance or regulatory issues. The exchange also singled out Grin at that time as a possible target for future delisting. Readers should note that Bittrex also pointed to MEME and VRC for possible delisting.

Bounty program

 In Sep. 2020,  the Internal Revenue Service of the US government offered  up to $625,000 to the team(s) that could crack Monero’s or the Lightning Network’s encryption. The announcement carried a sense of urgency, considering that tight time frames were included in the rules. In particular, Monero seems to be a thorn in the regulators’ side. The request for proposals specified that a Lightning Network on Bitcoin monitoring tool already existed. However, tools for Lightning on Litecoin and on Ethereum were needed. 

Europe is seriously determined to thwart privacy.

In October, EUROPOL, the EU’s united policing body, released the Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) for 2020. Privacy coins ranked among the top threats. Mixing services and anonymization are evolving, the report noted. Moreover, crypto-enabled crime adapts quickly to the changing landscape.

Communications encryption 

Governments focused their attention on more than privacy coins in 2020. They turned to encrypted communication as well, and saw a threat. The European Union emphasized this in early November. The EU Council of Ministers issued a proposal regarding a resolution forbidding end-to-end encryption of communications. This proposal affected What’s App and Signal in particular. 

While the proposal was non-binding, it shows where the EU is heading in terms of privacy. The rest of the world is following close behind.