Predictions for Bitcoin, the Year Ahead, and More

The year ahead

The new year brings about many predictions, many that are positive and a few that are negative. The naysayers are those like Robert Shiller and politicians from countries like France and Germany. The gainsayers are those that have had a change of heart like Jamie Dimon and analysts in finance and various other business leaders. Despite the various predictions that have happened over the past few years, there are a few truths. Bitcoin was launched in the year of 2009 and flew under the radar for most until quite recently. Over the course of time, the price of Bitcoin has appreciated. The price has not only appreciated, but a variety of transactions have been conducted through their code base. The virtual currency has gone through many phases that could be called as booms and busts, yet, it still is present and has birthed a whole new industry of cryptocurrencies and tokens. A whole industry is growing around the asset class, and quite a few nations are already invested in furthering the industry.

There are reasons for great caution, the most primary is that of regulatory woes from governments in France, Germany, China, Russia and other areas. The second one is the aspect of hacking, and the third is, for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to take action and implement ways to scale. The fourth aspect that should happen this year, as Vitalik Buterin pointed out, is to be able to progress toward meeting end goals that were written down in roadmaps. Progress has to be made each quarter so that users and the general community can see the early stages of what the blockchain is capable of.

A gloomy prediction

A CIO of an investment firm called the Bleakley Advisory Group has a grim forecast for the pioneer virtual currency, Bitcoin The lead investment officer of the financial firm has glanced into his crystal ball and has seen the future.

What does the future look like? To him, the future for Bitcoin seems very bleak. The Chief Investment Officer believes that the cryptocurrency will be around for a while but sees that the price will receive a significant hit due to the bubble and its inevitable burst.

Boockvar, the CIO, thinks that the price of Bitcoin will plummet from its current price to about the cost of an Amazon share, $1,000.

He stated:

“Over the next year I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s [BTC] down to $1,000 to $3,000.”

In response to the inquiry of how the stock market would react if the Bitcoin Bubble were to burst, he noted that there shouldn’t be too much of an effect, due to the value of the current economy being more than 15 million dollars.

He did warn that those who are speculating with money that they don’t have will be taking a big hit if the Bitcoin Bubble were to burst.

He then went on to repeat similar things heard in the past such as the rise of crypto has been due to the way that the central banks have been controlling the money supply via low-interest rates, thus providing easy money and propping up booms such as the one in the cryptomarkets.

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The South Korean Government Is Now Planning on Levying Taxes on Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Another day, another event in South Korea. This time it’s the fact that the government will be levying taxes on the emerging market of cryptocurrency exchanges. A local news publication in South Korea noted on January 22 that the government of South Korea will now be taxing these cryptocurrency exchanges at twenty-two percent corporate tax rate, authorities will also be laying down a 2.2% local income tax as well. This new event brings a prominent question to mind, If the government seeks to tax the emerging market, is it not implicitly stating that it is accepting the world of cryptocurrencies within South Korea? They see the speculation taking place, they see the money flow, they see that it will continue, so why not tax it? The emerging market could serve as a revenue generator in multiple ways for the government and quickly shun it or stunt the growth of the market would be detrimental to the government regarding lost revenues.

Assumptions that could be drawn from this event is that the government doesn’t tax concepts that it deems illegal, it prohibits and actively takes actions to police it, it would receive the same treatment as drugs, prostitution and other items that are considered to be illegal.

Connected Events

This announcement from the government comes at a time when there has been a wave of events in this space. The most recent events have been that there has been a focus on the aspect of money laundering. The government seems to have conducted this because it seems that a substantial portion of the revenues of South Korean banks have been derived from their involvement in the world cryptocurrency trading. The banks have increased their revenues by a factor of thirty-six, solely from commissions received in this virtual currency space. A division of the government, the FSS, has conducted a significant probe into many of the big banks in South Korea, they intended to make sure that the banks were keeping in line with the policies in regards to anti-money laundering. The money that is being derived from virtual accounts is causing great concern for the government in the matter of money laundering.

Follow the money

Local news has reported that the South Korean exchange Bithum has derived an excess of ($290,000,000) from their activities in the space and thus, are required to pay about 20 percent plus the 2.2 percent for local taxes if they were to abide by the tax percentages issued by the government.

The banks would have to pay regular corporate taxes on these gains if they fall into the category of making over 18 million dollars.

It’s all about the money

The official implications seem to be that the government doesn’t want the money to flow into the wrong hands, hence the anti-money laundering stance, and, as always, the government wants a piece of the action.

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The CEO of Bitstamp Addresses Current Issues

In the past few days, there have been numerous complaints about missing deposits on Bitstamp. The customers have been creating support tickets with delayed response times and have taken to social media to register their frustration.

The SubReddit for the exchange is rife with complaints of missing deposits along with a slew of other issues, and there have been so many complaints that a Reddit thread is now dedicated only to register them within the community.

The Bitstamp team has reportedly been responding to these complaints and resolving them, but the main concern for these issues’ existence remains as it is.

While any reported transactions that have been in limbo see their execution against a customer’s complaint, most of the missing transactions that have gone unreported remain uncompleted as a result.

The past few days have been difficult for Bitstamp’s customers, and the exchange acknowledges that fact in the form of a lengthy message by its CEO.

The message discusses the causes behind reported issues

Nejc Kodric, co-founder and CEO of the Slovenian exchange, published a detailed statement on their website that addressed the issues and the reasons that led to them.

According to the statement, Bitstamp saw an overwhelming amount of customer registrations in the past year, and while Kodric states that the exchange had implemented timely solutions for any further scaling issues last year, nothing could have prepared it for the number of customers that now use it for everyday cryptocurrency trading.

To put matters in perspective, Kodric mentioned that the market cap for cryptocurrencies now stands at around $700 billion, which was half the amount as compared to November 2017.

Kodric further told customers to consider that “we are living in unprecedented times.” He elaborated that understanding the reasons would explain the backlog issues.

He was quick to mention that the Bitstamp team is aware of the issues and their severity and that he is not explaining the statistics as an excuse.

“I want to be clear here. This is not an excuse. My team and I know the situation is not good enough and we are nowhere near where we want to be. However, this gives background to what is happening, and it is important to explain that properly.”

Kodric then mentioned that the Bitstamp team is actively looking into resolving scaling issues and is also adding more people to its team as soon as possible. He mentioned that the hiring and training process was being looked into promptly and that the Bitstamp team is conducting training sessions to get their new staff to contribute towards resolving these issues as well.

It was also announced through the statement that Bitstamp is currently in the process of setting up a fully-operational call center with over 100 customer care employees so that customers’ issues could be handled promptly. The statement also mentioned that the ticketing system will see an upgrade for active resolution of such complaints and that the verification system and will also be improved for the convenience of customers.

After explaining the benefits of these efforts, Kodric closed the statement by thanking the exchange’s customers and requested them to stick with the exchange as it continues to make improvements to its system.

“Thank you for your continued patience – it really does mean a lot to us at this time. I know these delays are frustrating, especially if this rapidly growing market is new to you. But don’t give up on us. I promise you that the efforts we are making will soon show results.”

Compared with Coinbase, this was handled effectively

Coinbase, one of the largest U. S. based cryptocurrency exchanges, faced similar issues a few weeks ago.

However, instead of responding to customer complaints through Reddit, Twitter, or a statement, the company was silent on all fronts.

It was not until days later that Coinbase started responding to customer complaints and a short statement from its CEO came to light from the social media platform of Twitter.

The complaints against Coinbase are still being registered over social media, and it is yet to be seen how the company will be executing the solutions needed to resolve the reported issues.

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Blockchain.com Is Expanding Its Services to the U.S.

Blockchain.com, a popular digital wallet provider, is now planning to launch a cryptocurrency exchange service in the U. S.

The announcement was made through a post on the U. K. based company’s website. It explained that the widely popular service provider would be starting its new operations by offering a Bitcoin selling service in the country through its platform. The company then plans to add a Bitcoin buying service before adding support for multiple currencies in the future.

Speaking to CNBC, Blockchain’s CEO Peter Smith explained that the company is not looking for short-term benefits but wants to ensure that it starts by taking simple steps.

Smith said,

“If we are prioritizing short-term gains, we would prioritize buy — that is what most people have done. But it’s really time to make sure we nail that experience.”

Smith’s comments are understandable when you analyze them with the company’s status in mind. Blockchain is one of the most popular cryptocurrency wallets in the world and is widely cited as being the best in the business by hundreds of thousands of its users.

By focusing on one thing at a time in this new capacity, the company will be able to provide its customers with an experience that they expect from a firm of Blockchain’s stature.

The company already provides its users in the U. K. with the facility to buy and sell Bitcoin through its platform. The customer base in U. K. has so far been satisfied with the service, which would explain why Blockchain chose this time to test the waters in the U. S. and slowly fulfilling its long-term plan of launching a cryptocurrency exchange.

Challenging Coinbase

Coinbase’s name is now synonymous with cryptocurrency trading in the U. S.

Arguably the most popular exchange in the country, it has seen a record number of customers in the past two years, and that trend would have grown further if it was not for the significant dip in service levels that users from all over the country started to register throughout social media.

The clients of Coinbase kept registering their complaints to the company about issues ranging from delayed transactions to unposted requests.

When there were no answers from the company’s conventional channels, the clients took to sites such as Twitter and Reddit to register their grievances, but it seemed that Coinbase had gone silent for a while.

This caused credibility and trust issues from Coinbase’s clients, and it was only after a few online petitions and hundreds of frustrated comments all over social media that the company started to acknowledge and address the issues by sharing statements on Twitter and other relevant platforms.

Nonetheless, the damage was done, and the clients have evidently not been happy with Coinbase as of late.

Therefore, it seems like an excellent opportunity for a service provider like Blockchain.com to swoop in and see how people in the U. S. would react to the services that it is planning to offer.

With a significant portion of the cryptocurrency holders already using Blockchain’s digital wallet services, it certainly seems like the company has the user base that it requires to launch its operations. Now we just need to wait and see how Blockchain.com decides to establish its new services in the country.

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Blockstream Rolls out ‘Lightning Charge’

Blockstream recently announced another update to its implementation of Lightning Network, this time in the form of rolling out “Lightning Charge” on a test site.

According to Blockstream, the Lightning Charge will be catering to developers’ needs to create Lightning-powered Bitcoin applications.

What is the lightning network?

The Lightning Network is meant to improve transaction speeds and scalability, which in turn will work towards resolving the issue of high transaction fees on the Bitcoin network.

By the usage of this implementation and resolving these issues, users of the Bitcoin network will be able to perform transactions with ease. It will also address the long-debated problem of transferring smaller amounts, or micropayments, through the Bitcoin network to another user.

Furthermore, the Lightning Network will be decentralized just like the main blockchain. This is to ensure that no online payment or credit card vendor can ever hold the users’ funds without their permission. It also eliminates the need for a third party to be involved, since users can create multiple modes of payments according to their convenience to perform transactions.

Further Details about Lightning Charge

A part of the Elements Project, Lightning Charge enables developers to build apps on top of Lightning through its complementary package for c-lightning.

Lightning Charge is written in node.js, and its REST API is accessible through PHP and JavaScript libraries (these libraries are also available through the Elements Project).

This ensures that c-lightning and associated work is easy enough for any web developer to work with and to integrate the functionality within any site. It is being explained by Blockstream that c-lightning can be used to create independent online-payment structures.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of Lightning Charge, the test site has the implementation and full integration of the technology. The test site, which works like any other regular e-commerce site, allows any users to purchase small items such as t-shirts and stickers to test micropayments through this initiative.

It was explained by the company that by bringing this technology to life and demonstrating it to its global users, it hopes to strengthen the trust that the community puts in it to deliver cutting-edge technology.

However, since the Lightning Network is still being tested, Blockstream advises its users to use the store at their own risk.

The response has been mixed so far

The Bitcoin community’s response to this development and offering has been torn at best. While some users are commending this as a demonstration of tangible improvements on the initiative, others are slamming it by stating that it was too early to deploy even as a test, citing how unsuccessful attempts on a half-baked product could draw enthusiasts away and towards other networks and cryptocurrencies.

While the reception to this has evidently been varied, the need for Lightning Network has been increasing by each day due to how Bitcoin transaction speeds are now being compared against faster cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, which could affect Bitcoin’s dependability and credibility in the long run.

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Blockchain-Based Content Sharing Platform Clout Was Listed on a Cryptocurrency Exchange

A blockchain-based content sharing platform called Clout has recently been listed on its very first cryptocurrency exchange.

Clout is being listed on Coinbene, a Singaporean exchange that offers its trade in pairings of BTC and ETH.

This is big news for the relatively unique platform, not just because it marks the very first time that its token has been listed on an exchange, but also because it is just a month after its initial coin offering (ICO) was completed, showing that they the project leaders are interested in providing liquidity for token holders.

It was mentioned by the company that it would be listed on more exchanges by February 1.

What is clout?

Clout is a distinctive initiative as it is one of the very first blockchain based platform that revolves around content generation and sharing.

The platform aims to serve as the starting base for information about everything related to the cryptocurrency industry. It will focus on content management through the community, which will be able to decide what kind of content the platform’s users will be interested in.

The content’s contributors will also be rewarded through one of the platform’s tokens. This is to ensure that the platform would garner the attention of high-quality content contributors which will also enhance the possibility of higher user retention in the long run.

For now, the cryptocurrency community discusses daily updates, issues and suggestions through various platforms, the most popular and mainstream of them being Reddit, Twitter, individual telegrams and Steem. However, Clout is aiming to change this and bring those segregated sections of the community together by offering them one platform that provides them with everyday insight like Reddit while also connecting them to experts like Twitter.

Adding the motivation of the contributors’ efforts being rewarded tangibly, Clout could set a threshold by being the very first company that revolutionizes how information is shared over the internet.

Clout has two tokens

The first token, CLOUT, is the one that was distributed through the platform’s ICO and this the token which is currently being listed on exchanges for now.

The second token, CLC, is going to be used to incentivize the usage of the Clout platform. Holders of CLOUT will be provided with CLC over time, and additional CLC could be obtained by Clout platform users by generating content for the community. The higher quality the content is – depending on the feedback received from the community – the more chances there would be of the creator getting more CLC tokens.

Users will be rewarded with CLC by participating in other content related activities, such as sharing content created by other users and providing their feedback on the content. These activities are supposed to contribute towards the maintenance of high-quality content throughout the platform.

Clout wants to be the central hub for cryptocurrency news as well

Clout will have dedicated sections sharing the latest news from the community as well as users’ comments on it. For instance, if there is news about a new ICO, then users’ will be given the opportunity to share their thoughts about it so others could be wary of any potential scams and chances for beneficial investments.

On another note, if there is news about a particular country having a specific situation in it related to cryptocurrency, then other users could be notified about it firsthand without having to wait for an online publication to cover the story.

Ambitious & interesting

Since it is a community-based platform, only with active user interaction could we come to know of all of its benefits as well as finding out potential use cases? We’ll watch and see if it rolls out for mass usage soon so everyone could experience it and learn for themselves, the potential benefits of the platform.

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HitBTC Is the Second Exchange to List Electroneum

HitBTC is now going to be the second exchange to list Electroneum, announced Electroneum’s founder and director, Richard Ells.

“We are happy to announce that Electroneum will soon be listed on the exchange HitBTC,” Ells wrote in a Facebook post. “We have listened to our community and recognized that more exchanges are necessary as we continue to grow and aim become the first cryptocurrency to achieve real-world mass adoption.”

Ells’ plans about Electroneum’s adoption by masses all over the world might sound farfetched even for a cryptocurrency, but if you have been following how Electroneum works, you would know that it might well be very achievable by this digital currency.

What’s so special about Electroneum?

This one of a kind cryptocurrency has been making waves ever since it was announced and ran a successful initial coin offering (ICO) of $40 million.

The success of the initial coin offering did not come about because of an endorsement by a celebrity or association with other cryptocurrencies. Instead, it has been getting attention because it is the first truly mobile-based cryptocurrency.

Even though it is based on a decentralized, blockchain-based network, the way that Electroneum functions is vastly different from its counterparts, especially when it comes to its accessibility and mining processes.

The Electroneum token is completely accessible through its mobile app, which is a highly secured but at the same time easily available way of managing the cryptocurrency.

Through the app, Electroneum holders can send and receive payments right from their phone by using a QR code scanning functionality. This makes it very easy for everyday use as compared to the more conventional cryptocurrencies.

Another functionality that sets Electroneum apart from its competition is the way that its mining works.

Using the app, any ordinary cellphone user can take part in “mining” the cryptocurrency. All they have to do is to simply have the app run in the background, which will keep mining and will earn the cellphone’s owner mining rewards in the form of new Electroneum coins.

These features make Electroneum a strong contender for its goal of mass adoption throughout the world. The very notion of earning new tokens just by downloading an app is very enticing for the everyday user. This enthusiasm is evidenced by large numbers of registered users, the app has registered more than 700,000 users since its launch in late 2017.

It was also reported by Ells that despite only listing on one exchange, Cryptopia, over $513 million of Electroneum has been traded so far in just around three months.

During Electroneum’s launch, Ells had expressed his intention of creating a cryptocurrency that would be easily accessible by the everyday user.

“I realized that what the world needs is a cryptocurrency that is genuinely easy to access and use” he had said at the time. “We’ve developed Electroneum with the ordinary mobile user in mind.”

It seems that the objective of keeping this in mind has started paying off for Electroneum and the community associated with it. This will be one of the cryptocurrencies to watch this year to determine how fast it gets adopted by its target audience.

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The Co-Founder of Blockstream Greg Maxwell Has Announced His Departure from the Company

Greg Maxwell, who co-founded Blockstream and served as the company’s CTO, recently announced that he has resigned from the company.

He further mentioned that he had formally resigned from Blockstream in November 2016, but it took until December 2016 to ensure the smooth transfer of responsibilities.

“In order to spend more time working independently on deep protocol work, especially new cryptographic privacy and security technology for Bitcoin, I resigned from Blockstream last November.” Maxwell wrote. “It took until the end of December to wind down my involvement there.”

He further mentioned that his intention in founding Blockstream was to work towards getting funding for the development of Bitcoin Core that at the time did not have enough resources, causing the developers that were devoted to the cause of research and development of the network to split their time between their full time jobs, families, education, and Bitcoin Core itself.

Maxwell explained in his statement that this objective was very successfully managed by Blockstream and was later supplemented by other significant backers that now provide regular funding to Bitcoin Core. He mentioned that now he doesn’t have to “worry that Bitcoin development could be left with inadequate financial support.”

He stated that this, coupled with the volunteer community that Bitcoin Core now has, makes it safe for him to deduce that even if Blockstream stopped its plans to contribute to Bitcoin, the prime cryptocurrency network would be efficiently managed.

He wrote:

“From what I’ve been told, Blockstream plans to continue to contribute to awesome technology in Bitcoin—as demonstrated by their Lightning webstore this week–but if they didn’t, that wouldn’t be a problem for Bitcoin.” 

He then mentioned that the developments above now allow him to work on his priorities without having to worry about managing operations for non-Bitcoin applications that are currently important to Blockstream.

He mentioned that he will be working on future technologies but will no longer be associated with Blockstream.

His resignation was met with mixed responses

Some people from the community were quick to point how they had “called it,” referring to incidents of Maxwell being allegedly involved in manipulating Bitcoin subreddits (allegations which Maxwell had vehemently denied at the time).

Others blamed Blockstream and how it has strayed away from its objective of developing the Bitcoin network into something that could evolve along with the technological advances of the future.

What is Blockstream?

Blockstream is a blockchain technology company that was founded in 2014. Based in San Francisco, Blockstream is one of the companies which provide funding for further development of Bitcoin Core, the reference implementation client of Bitcoin.

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A Resident of Hong Kong Was Robbed of 175K After Being Promised ‘Discounted’ Bitcoins

A Hong Kong citizen was robbed of over 1.4 million Hong Kong Dollars ($175,000) when he went into a meeting with the intention to buy Bitcoin.

Local news publications reported that Lee, a 34-year-old man, was interested in purchasing Bitcoin and ran into a few problems while researching the price of cryptocurrency. While conducting his research, he ran into a couple of individuals who told him that they could sell it to him for a reasonable price.

Lee was immediately lured into their offer of selling Bitcoin, particularly because they were selling their Bitcoins at a “discounted” price. There was just one stipulation, and it seemed very simple – even if shady – to follow: the deal had to be executed in cash.

Lee had been communicating with these individuals through WeChat, and once he was told that he would get a 5 percent discount on his purchase of 5 Bitcoins, they seemingly made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

The meeting for five bitcoins

After learning of the discounted Bitcoins, Lee was quick to arrange the meeting with the individuals, who told him that he could come to a local Starbucks to complete the transaction. Since it was a busy street, Lee did not think much of it and went on to make arrangements for cash.

He then carried about 450,000 HKD (more than $57,000) to purchase those 5 Bitcoins and went to the specified Starbucks at their scheduled time in the evening, which was around 5 PM.

Lee was able to meet with the two individuals, but they never got to make the exchange at that time. Why? They wanted to sell more Bitcoins to Lee. Lee, for his part,  was more than happy to buy them and avail the discount on even more Bitcoins.

The next meeting with more proposed Bitcoins from the perpetrators and even more cash by Lee was scheduled after 9 PM the same day, this time at a more fulfilling setting of McDonald’s.

And the one where no bitcoins were found

As per his agreement with the individuals, Lee went to the new location with a bigger bag of cash that now held 1.4 million HKD (around $175,000). However, when he went to McDonald’s, he couldn’t find them there.

Lee waited for a few minutes and received a call by one of these perpetrators, innocently asking him about directions since they were lost, and who then directed Lee to meet them a block’s distance from McDonald’s.

Lee agreed right away and went to their mentioned place. However, instead of finding those men with Bitcoins for him, he was attacked from behind by three masked individuals who took no time in pushing Lee to the floor. It was immediately after this that they made off with Lee’s bag of cash and his cellphone.

The perpetrators then ran away and could not be found.

According to local authorities, Lee suffered minor injuries in the incident. While the physical harm seems to be next to nothing, Lee did get to part ways with more than $175,000 in a few minutes’ time, and that psychological wound might take some time to heal.

This not the first incident of this kind

And not even in the same region.

Last month, it was reported that a man in Manhattan was robbed of $1.8 million in Ether.

The victim first met the alleged robber and after the meeting was kidnapped and robbed by an unidentified individual who took his keys along with valuable items. The alleged robber then broke into the victim’s place using the apartment keys, stole his digital wallet and transferred $1.8 million in Ether to his account.

These incidents just go on to show that with the growing usage of cryptocurrency, anyone who wants to trade or holds these digital assets needs to be very careful. Whether digital wallets or bags full of cash, constant vigilance needs to be maintained to do one’s best to protect themselves and their assets.

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Renowned Economist and Nobel Prize Winner Robert Shiller Becomes the Next Bitcoin Critic

Bitcoin has been around for a while now, and by “a while,” we mean that it had officially launched nine years ago. That’s right, nine years, of which, most were spent in varying levels of obscurity.

However, it was only recently, that the cryptocurrency started to get mainstream attention, mostly due to its unprecedented rise in value which finally prompted the world to take notice.

From financial markets to political institutions, from economic analysts to technological experts, everyone seems to be talking about Bitcoin these days.

However, not all attention and comments have been positive, and the list of Bitcoin critics keeps growing.

The latest name added to that category is Robert Shiller, a renowned Economist and Nobel Prize winner.

Bitcoin could collapse

Speaking to CNBC, Shiller shared his views about him not being able to see what to make of Bitcoin due to how it does not hold a value of its own.

He stated that this would remain the case “unless there is some common consensus” about the cryptocurrency’s value, unlike gold, an asset class that would still be valuable even if people stop investing in it.

Similarly to many others before him, Shiller was also quick to compare the current Bitcoin situation to the Dutch “tulip mania” from the 1600s.

To elaborate on the tulip mania, it originated from a frenzied demand of the flowers, in turn, it surged the prices to never-before-seen levels until the demand died down which caused the bubble to burst.

Shiller, however, had a more realistic view of the situation than people who say that Bitcoin will vanish completely.

He stated that the world still has tulips which sell at regular prices, and that could be the same case with Bitcoin, something which could go on for a century.

“We still pay for tulips even now and sometimes they get expensive.” He stated before adding that Bitcoin itself “might totally collapse and be forgotten and I think that’s a good likely outcome but it could linger on for a good long time, it could be here in 100 years.”

Shiller has the credentials to get his comments taken seriously

Along with his Nobel Prize for his work on asset prices, Shiller also has his past analysis to provide weight to his current comments.

In 2007, Shiller shared his opinion on the economic market conditions at the time, and he deduced that the situation could lead to bankruptcy within the country.

An excerpt from Shiller’s analysis explains:

“The decline in US home prices closely resembles a bank run, which occurs when people, worried that their deposits will not be honored, hastily withdraw their money, thereby creating the very bankruptcy that they feared.”

A year later, Lehman Brothers Holdings, a leading financial institution, declared bankruptcy in 2008.

Does this mean that what Shiller says might come true?

While Shiller has the experience and the accolades to have these comments received with somberness by the Bitcoin community, it should be noted that this is not the first time that a famous figure has provided negative remarks about Bitcoin.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase had also compared Bitcoin to the tulip mania and had even gone as far as to call it “fraud,” but then backed down from his statement in a more recent interview by stating that the blockchain and the concept of cryptocurrency are very real. He further mentioned that he is not just that interested in the subject.

On the other hand, propagators of Bitcoin have a positive outlook on the subject, where the most notable comments came from Kay Van-Petersen, the same expert who had predicted Bitcoin’s significant increase in 2017.

In his recent comments, Van-Petersen had stated that Bitcoin could see a rise to $100,000 this year.

Another industry expert, Trace Mayer, had also shared a similar analysis of his own.

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OKCoin Is Now Expanding Its Operations to South Korea

OKCoin is now expanding its operations to South Korea.

Who was OKCoin?

 One of China’s most significant cryptocurrency exchanges, well, at least, one of the most significant right before the country decided to clampdown against the cryptocurrency industry.

To make this decision turn into a success, OKCoin has joined hands with a local game developer, NHN Entertainment.

The exchange has received an overwhelmingly positive response in the new territory.

It has already received 150,000 requests for registration

Through the website that OKCoin launched for its operations in South Korea, the exchange had started a round of pre-launch registration on January 19.

The cryptocurrency exchange received 150,000 registration requests within two days, and OKCoin will now plan to start its second round of pre-launch registration shortly.

In celebration of its launch, OKCoin will be giving away cryptocurrencies to up to 1,000 customers that register themselves through the pre-launch program.

Winners will be selected and announced once the pre-launch program has been completed.

The exchange plans to start its operations within this month

It was also announced that OKCoin along with NHN Entertainment plans to start its operations within this month and looks forward to providing full-fledged cryptocurrency exchange services.

The exchange’s headquarters will be based in Seoul, and it will be using its applications and systems for trading services.  NHN Entertainment will be providing support with domestic operations in regards such as server and customer management.

It was further mentioned by NHN Entertainment, that it is yet to finalize the finer details of its involvement in the exchange’s operations. It was reported that operating the joint venture as a subsidiary was one of the options being considered.

Current South Korean exchanges will face significant competition

OKCoin will be offering trading services for 60 cryptocurrencies.

Bithumb, one of the country’s largest exchanges in trading volume, trades in 12 cryptocurrencies at the moment.

It was also mentioned that OKCoin would be supporting transactions in South Korean Won for these listed currencies. Most of the exchanges usually have trading pairs with Bitcoin and Ethereum, which causes an additional hassle for cryptocurrency customers.

By providing direct access for trading, OKCoin wants to establish itself in the new market as a serious competitor.

Other Chinese exchanges would also follow

OKCoin’s decision to start its operations in South Korea is largely influenced by the precarious situation that cryptocurrency handlers have to face in China.

Last year, the Chinese government had decided to shut down cryptocurrency exchanges within its territory. Recent news reports suggest that the government is now looking into blocking access to cryptocurrency trading websites and mobile apps as well, essentially eradicating cryptocurrency trading within its borders.

Since the Chinese government has taken similar actions in the past, the local cryptocurrency community does not take these reports lightly. It will not be a surprise if other cryptocurrency exchanges follow OKCoin’s footsteps to South Korea soon.

Even though the environment in South Korea regarding cryptocurrency has been rife with rumors lately, it does seem that the country will not be banning any cryptocurrency exchanges soon, reports suggest.

It is being hinted that South Korea might impose some regulations on cryptocurrency exchanges rather than shutting them down altogether, but there has been no confirmation on that front so far.

The post OKCoin Is Now Expanding Its Operations to South Korea appeared first on Getting Started With Cryptocurrencies & Bitcoin - bitGuru.

DASH Sponsors Rory MacDonald, the Champion of the Bellator Welterweight

Rory MacDonald, the very recent current champion of the Bellator welterweight title, sported branded Dash gear during his fighting event against now-former champion Douglas Lima.

MacDonald wore Dash gear throughout the event and wore a white and turquoise themed trucker hat with the Dash logo on it even as he posed with his belt: a picture that is now circulating all over the web with the news of his victory.

However, MacDonald had not just randomly worn the cryptocurrency branded clothes for just some compensation without knowing the meaning behind them. If you have been following MacDonald on social media, you would know that he is very interested in cryptocurrency and makes frequent comments about this new yet powerful phenomenon that has lately taken the world by storm.

The decision to wear Dash branded clothing was very well thought out on MacDonald’s part, who put forth this idea by presenting a proposal to the Dash masternodes by the name of “Dash for the Belt” last month.

The proposal explained how MacDonald was willing to work towards gaining exposure for Dash by wearing branded gear through his appearances relating to the fight and during the fighting event itself.

It had also been stated that MacDonald would be tweeting about Dash and mention it during his interviews, whenever possible.

An excerpt from the proposal read:

“Rory will be tweeting about Dash and possibly mention it during interviews. During the walk-out, Dash-branded attire will be seen front and center on the t-shirt and shorts. During the fight, Dash will be visible on the shorts and after the fight with a Dash ‘trucker’ hat. A representative from GC will be at the event to insure Dash has maximum exposure.”

MacDonald had also specified a onetime payment for this deal as 330 DASH – which is around $285,000 at press time.

Voting then began by the masternodes, all of whom presented their thoughts on signing MacDonald for this arrangement. During the start, it seemed as though it was a close competition, with even MacDonald weighing in from Twitter:

“the past few days ive been watchin my @Dashpay proposal voteing pg an let me tell u its been an emotional roller coaster. 1minute i think im closing in and the next i get set back another 40 votes, thx2 all the masternodes taking their time 2consider me [sic]”

However, at the end, 885 out of 1,130 votes were cast in MacDonald’s favor, which resulted in him wearing the Dash branded gear during the event.

Now that MacDonald has won the title, it is a possibility that other MMA fighters from Bellator and UFC could also join the cryptocurrency world after learning of his experience with Dash.

Previously speaking to Forbes, MacDonald had also shared his comments about Dash and the potential benefits that both the MMA world and Dash itself could explore together.

“I think this could be a big disruptor in the MMA market,” MacDonald had said at the time. “The scale of partnerships that Dash is able to do, compared to other companies, when it comes to sponsoring fighters [are a factor]. They have a large budget and if the community supports it, and if they continue to go after the MMA market, it should be very interesting.”

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