July 6, 2020

How Bitcoin Is Becoming Both Resistance Money and a National Security Concern

July 6, 2020 boss

In little more than 10 years, Bitcoin (BTC) grew from a small cypherpunk community to a matter of national security with vast implications for geopolitics. At the Unitize panel titled “From Bitcoin to Fedcoin: The Next Decade of Digital Money,” Meltem Demirors, CSO of CoinShares, and moderated by Andy Bromberg, president of CoinList, actually spent very little time discussing Fedcoin and central bank currencies in general. Instead, they focused heavily on the implications of a changing geopolitical landscape, where Bitcoin is set to play a role in the upcoming war…

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Is Vulnerable to ‘Looting’: New Research Explains

July 6, 2020 boss

Savvy attackers might be able to “loot” bitcoin from others by way of the Lightning Network if users aren’t careful, a new cybersecurity report warns. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem computer scientists Jona Harris and Aviv Zohar have taken a closer look at a “systemic” Lightning Network attack that could lead to loss of funds. The attack, which they describe in their new paper, “Flood & Loot: A Systemic Attack on the Lightning Network,” preys on Bitcoin congestion. The problem with the Bitcoin blockchain is that it’s slow to settle…

Bitcoin Up 27% in First Half of 2020, Beating Gold, Silver and Platinum

July 6, 2020 boss

Bitcoin showed its luster during the first half of 2020 by rallying more than 27% percent amid mediocre returns from precious metals including gold, silver and platinum. Gold underperformed bitcoin by nearly 11 percentage points despite gaining 16 percent in the first half of 2020 and making eight-year highs in late June. Silver and platinum both finished the first half of 2020 with negative gains. Bitcoin’s strong performance is no shock to some analysts, especially in context of the benchmark cryptocurrency’s increasing correlation with equity markets. “Given that equities are…

There’s a Key $12 Million Buy Wall Boosting Bitcoin’s Immediate Outlook

July 6, 2020 boss

After attempting to break below $9,000 on Sunday, Bitcoin has mounted somewhat of a comeback. As of the time of this article’s writing, the cryptocurrency trades at $9,350. This is the highest BTC has traded in over a week. BTC price chart from TradingView.com While some doubt it can make it past the imminent $9,500 resistance, buyers are stepping in en-masse to support price action. This supports the chances that BTC rallies higher in the days ahead. Related Reading: Crypto Tidbits: Bitcoin Stalls at $9k, Cardano Shelley, Elon Musk &…

Blockchain Startups Got $18M+ in US ‘PPP’ Bailout Loans

July 6, 2020 boss

More than 75 companies in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry collected at least $30 million in payroll loans from the U.S. government. Loan recipients included Zcash developer Electric Coin Company, Ethereum venture studio ConsenSys and Rainberry Inc., the U.S. entity acquired by Justin Sun’s Tron Foundation at the time of its BitTorrent acquisition in 2018. Crypto venture firms were also represented on the list, including Polychain Capital and Unchained Capital. The PPP was created by the Trump administration during the COVID-19 outbreak to help businesses pay their employees during the…

Bitcoin Halving | How the Miners are Faring So Far

July 6, 2020 boss

On May 11, 2020, Bitcoin successfully executed its third block reward halving. Bitcoin halving events usually occur every four years, and the first and the second events took place in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Since miners’ rewards for verifying blockchain transactions are usually trimmed by 50% following a halving event, past events have forced miners to adopt numerous changes to cater for the drops in profitability. What about the recent halving event? How have things unfolded for miners this time around? Mining Inefficiencies One obvious impact of a halving event…

World’s Largest Pension Fund Lost the Equivalent of Bitcoin’s Entire Market Cap in Just Three Months

July 6, 2020 boss

The biggest pension fund in the world lost $164.7 billion in the first quarter of 2020. This is equivalent to the entire market capitalization for Bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin didn’t do any better Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, or GPIF, decreased in value by almost 11% to 150.63 trillion yen or $1.4 trillion. This was the fund’s steepest quarterly decline since 2008. Dow Jones & BTC. Source: Yahoo Finance. GPIF was not alone in its poor performance, major stock indexes like Dow Jones posted negative numbers. Interestingly, Bitcoin’s performance was almost…

Bitcoin (BTC) Fell 52% The Last Time Its Volatility Was This Low

July 6, 2020 boss

Quick take: Bitcoin has once again regained a sense of bullishness with a quick move above $9,300. Only time will tell if this move will lead to a retest of $10,000. Bitcoin’s volatility is still low and the last time it was at this level, was November 2018. Back then BTC fell from $6,600 to $3,150: a dip of 52%. Earlier this morning, and around the weekly close, Bitcoin dipped to $8,890 before bouncing hard to a 24-hour high of $9,350. Today’s Bitcoin action has left many traders excited as…

Blockchain Bites: E-Gold Claims, Arca’s New Fund and Generation Z

July 6, 2020 boss

Arca, a Los Angeles-based money manager, launched an innovative new fund on Ethereum, while our columnists look at Generation Z’s impact on investing and a DeFi future where bitcoin and Ethereum work together. Here’s the story. You’re reading Blockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here. Top Shelf Russian DollsA Russian court convicted two men for extortion, but did not force them to return over $900,000 in crypto since crypto…