Find the best latest news about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in this daily post. Good read!
Bitcoin Price Remains Above $6,700 as Crypto Market Stabilizes; Another Fall Inevitable?
The bitcoin price has remained above the $6,700 mark over the past 24 hours, as major digital assets like ether, Ripple (XRP), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) demonstrated stability.
Is Another Fall to Low $6,000 Inevitable?
Previous reports of CCN noted that bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market will likely experience a movement to the downside than a spike over the $7,000 mark due to the lack of volume and momentum, despite the stability in the market.
Over the past 10 days, the price trend of bitcoin replicated its movement from May 29 to June 9, experiencing stability for over a week with relatively low volatility. In early June, after bitcoin maintained stability in the $7,300 to $7,700 range for around 11 days, it experienced a sell-off from $7,600 to $5,755, triggered by consecutive large sell orders that overpowered investors.
If bitcoin can sustain its current momentum and achieve $7,000 in the upcoming days, a short-term rally to the mid-$7,000 region is a possibility. But, if bitcoin falls back to mid-$6,000, a fall below the $6,000 mark is still highly likely.
Previously, BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes said that the price of bitcoin will likely bottom out in the range of $3,000 to $5,000 before initiating a large rally back to its all-time high and eventually, to $50,000.
Read more on : ccn
Block.One Is Taking a Bigger Role With EOS (And That's a Big Deal)
Block.One has decided to start voting with its hoard of EOS tokens.
Announced last week, the decision finds the startup that created the EOS software, now powered by the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency, breaking with precedent in a move that may have come as a surprise to those following the project's decentralized launch.
That's because since going live on June 14, the company has largely declined to exercise its influence over the code, preferring to encourage its users to unite, even in sometimes messy decision-making.
And there's a good reason for that. For one, Block.One controls 10 percent of the 1 billion tokens set aside for developers prior to the network's launch. Further, since decision-making on the platform corresponds to token holdings, the change could put the company in an extraordinarily powerful position, enabling them to decide who can determine truth on the ledger.
As of now, each wallet can vote to up to 30 candidates to serve as block producers, however, it's worth noting that block producers with the most support on the network have less than 3 percent of the current token supply backing them.
This means that Block.One controls so many tokens, that the field of potential block producers could effectively narrow to the 30 it picked, if and when it decides to finally enter a vote.
It's no surprise then, that the move has left some alarmed.
"I find it problematic that Block.one is now involved in selecting block producers, as it undermines their role as a neutral third party, and affords them a significant amount of influence over the network," Arianna Simpson of Autonomous Partners told CoinDesk via email. (Simpson is not an investor in EOS.)
But others believe the decision is in line with necessity of innovation.
Christian Catalini of MIT's Cryptoeconomics Lab argued that each new approach to crypto governance deserves a chance to be tested so the wider crypto world can benefit from its lessons, saying, "In general when you experiment you may land on solutions that may look appealing but don't stand the test of time."
That said, the EOS community has largely expressed excitement about the company taking an active role in governance.
On a Reddit thread about the news, this reaction was fairly representative:
"I have been waiting for this. I think this is a good thing, and will continue to align interests ... If Block.One makes money, I will make money as well most likely."
But intermixed with the positive reactions, there were also observations like this one:
"I think EOS will do great things, but this makes it Ripple 2.0. It's essentially a blockchain that is owned and run by Block.One. I'm not even saying that's a bad thing, but let's not kid ourselves either."
Read more on : coindesk
McAfee on Bitcoin (BTC) Predictions
Source
In a surprising turn of events, Tom Lee has decided to alter his price predictions for Bitcoin (BTC) and has explained this change on CNBC’s Fast Money. After gaining quite a bullish reputation for stating that Bitcoin will reach $25,000 before the year ends, he reduced that number to $22,500.
Tom Lee changes his BTC price prediction
Tom Lee has become well-known for his bullish stance towards Bitcoin and its future price. He is the only strategist from Wall Street to do so. However, an earlier statement that Bitcoin would be at $20,000 by the end of the year, considering its historical trade is around 2.5 times the mining cost has left crypto enthusiasts thinking that he might be going bearish on BTC.
Many critics pointed out that the new prediction is up to 20% lower than what he was predicting last year, which did not sit well with them. However, while attending Fast Money, Lee corrected himself by saying that he may have misspoken earlier. According to his statement, what he wanted to say is that the mining costs were usually a relatively safe way to calculate Bitcoin’s future price.
The price was usually 2.5 times higher than the cost of the mining operations. Considering the expected growth of the costs over time, the price of BTC would certainly go over $20,000. According to his new rough estimate, he sees Bitcoin’s price reaching around $22,000. He then returned to his original statement and said that it is not impossible for BTC to go as high up as $25,000 per coin by the end of the year.
He also made a point that, whether the price goes to $20,000 or it reaches $25,000, it will still be a 200% gain when compared to where the coin is today. According to his explanation, the mining cost of BTC, as well as its difficulty, are rising constantly. The cost is currently at $7,000, but he believes that it will reach $9,000 by the end of the year, which will, in turn, increase the coin’s price by 2.5 times.
If he is right, then the increase of the mining cost will effectively put Bitcoin’s end-year price to around $22,500 per coin..
Read more on : globalcoinreport
Bitcoin Cash (BCH): 3 Reasons the Price Has Stalled
Source
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) peaked at over $3,500 for a brief spell after getting listed on Coinbase, but then the digital coin gradually lost its positions, sinking way below the $1,000 mark. BCH has now stalled at around 0.1 BTC, its value fluctuating up and down but remaining stagnant. The price range of $750 to $800 is still higher compared to the post-launch days.
!Bitcoin Cash!
Here are three reasons why BCH has stalled:
- Mining is a losing business
- The trading profile has changed
- BCH is an altcoin
- Mining is a losing business
Since the launch of an emergency difficulty algorithm for the BCH network, there have been no new periods of excessively high difficulty followed by easy mining and one-minute blocks. However, the chart shows that the profitability of BCH mining has been lower than that of Bitcoin for longer stretches of time. Even during periods when mining BCH was more profitable, the margin was very slim. For months, BCH has been mined by pools related to Bitmain, which may be a form of altruistic mining carried out despite the lower profitability. The influence of Bitmain has further eroded the credibility of BCH, which has always had its critics.
Read more on : investing
Bitcoin Trading in Chinese Currency Falls Sharply - Central Bank
If the People’s Bank of China is to be believed, the Bitcoin market in the country has been obliterated without any significant fallout in the economy.
“The timely moves by regulators effectively fended off the impact of sharp ups and downs in virtual currency prices and led the global regulatory trend,” said Zhang Yifeng, a blockchain analyst for the Zhongchao credit card development company.
The Chinese central bank reported that the trading of Bitcoin in Chinese renminbi has fallen to less than 1% of the global trade, compared to a whopping 90%. This may be a result of the country’s drive to get rid of cryptocurrency activity, a bold move by the government that has resulted in the exodus of some multi-billion-dollar exchanges.
Binance and OKCoin - now known as OKEx - packed their bags and shipped off to Hong Kong, later opening shops in Malta, a small European nation that aims to be a blockchain hub for the world.
There’s also Huobi, a crypto exchange founded in 2013 that quickly became the third-largest in the world. It has found refuge in Singapore, another small nation that shares Malta’s aspirations, but for Asia.
Read more on : investing
Ethereum Clog Inflates Gas Prices, Raises Transaction Costs
On Tuesday, MyCrypto, self-described as an "open-source interface for the blockchain that eases the process of storing, sending, and receiving cryptocurrency," accused an unnamed cryptocurrency exchange over Twitter of contributing to the Ethereum network's recent clog. A commenter on the thread later revealed the exchange to be China-based FCoin.
FCoin was launched by the former CTO of Huobi, Zhang Jian. Last month, Huobi announced plans to create its own blockchain.
MyCrypto said that FCoin "has come up with a mind-numbingly despicable voting mechanism that, quite literally, incentivizes Sybil attacks." Essentially, users on the exchange vote for token listings via a "cumulative deposit number ranking," which means one deposit equals one vote. MyCrypto contends that individuals with financial incentive to list their tokens on the exchange have been "sending out these tokens en masse to separate accounts on the blockchain and then to separate accounts on [FCoin]." The result, according to MyCrypto, is the Ethereum network's current congested state and higher transaction fees.
Read more on : ethnews
Blockchain-Based Charity Is No Replacement For Welfare
Amid Americans’ growing mistrust in government, some see the potential for blockchain-based peer-to-peer and crowd-funded charity to replace government welfare. Have we learned nothing from the well-publicized onslaught of data privacy breaches and the growing economic divide?
For those who distrust the government's ability to make ethical and efficient economic decisions on their behalf, blockchain technology offers a lot of promise. It's no surprise that blockchain is particularly appealing to the Libertarian crowd; who needs taxes and government when technology allows individuals to fund causes they care about without middlemen?
These days, trust seems to be in short supply. According to an Atlantic article earlier this year, "only a third of Americans now trust their government 'to do what is right.'" It is also true that individualism is baked deeply into the soul of this country, and with it, the idea that pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps is the moral imperative of the poor.
It follows that there would be a high level of distrust of the welfare state.
The National Review recently published an article written by Phil Haunschild and Janae Wilkerson of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a libertarian think tank, suggesting a blockchain solution to welfare. In it, the authors offer blockchain as the answer to our distrust; citizens could donate peer to peer (P2P) and articulate the conditions of their donations through EDCCs (aka smart contracts), guaranteeing that their money is spent exactly as intended. Such a system could build relationships between donors and recipients, create greater efficiency, and generally "promote better outcomes for all." In short, there would be no more need for a bureaucratic government to dole out tax dollars through welfare programs.
It sounds great, and there is a lot of promise to what the article suggests: Anyone who has witnessed the fundraising power of P2P and crowdfunding campaigns on Facebook knows there are plenty of people eager to lend financial support to causes and people they love. These campaigns answer a thousand previously unaddressed needs, revealing gaps in the government's ability to safeguard its citizens just as much as they reveal the generosity of Americans, despite our reticence to pay taxes.
Regardless of your politics, there are undoubtedly things that the government funds that you do not support, and other things you reckon the government could be spending money more wisely on. What better way to rectify the system than to allow individuals to vote with their dollars?
Read more on : ethnews
Australia’s Tax Agency Will Target Cryptocurrency Investors’ Trading Beyond Borders
Source
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) will chase citizens hiding their cryptocurrency trading gains offshore to remind them of their tax obligations using data sharing agreements with other nations.
Australia’s tax authority will use advanced data-matching techniques through existing data sharing agreements with other nations to target crypto investors trading on offshore exchanges at a time when CPA Australia – the country’s accounting body – estimates ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Australian taxpayers to file crypto-related declarations for the first time ever.
Speaking to the Australian Financial Review ($), ATO acting deputy commissioner Martin Jacobs revealed the authority is “not really alarmed” by potential crypto-specific tax compliance risks. However, he added:
“Where people attempt to deliberately avoid these obligations we will attempt to take action. We have a range of existing powers that are designed to address unexplained wealth and conspicuous consumption that may arise through profits derived through cryptocurrency investment.”
As reported previously, the ATO is using a 100-point identification check system using advanced data-matching techniques to investigate cryptocurrency investors after classifying cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as an ‘asset’ liable for capital gains taxes (CGT) under its official guidance published earlier this year.
Read more on : ccn
Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice.
Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.
All the best
Simo
PROMOTE
bitcoin life cryptocurrency simobnr steemit