MicroStrategy's bottom line gets beefier on Bitcoin moves: Bad crypto news of the week

Published at: Oct. 31, 2020

It’s been another strong week for Bitcoin. The dollar price is up about 2.5 percent over the week, although that’s still something of a decline from its recent high above $13,400. At one point, Bitcoin fell 4 percent in 24 hours. But bulls remain optimistic and see the price advancing towards $20,000, possibly as early as March. That future price movement will depend on a number of factors, including whether banks follow Paypal into cryptocurrency acceptance; the size of the stimulus expected to counter the new coronavirus outbreak; and the pattern of the hash rate, among other factors. One point of volatility could come at the end of the month: that’s when the BTC options market reaches a $750 million expiration. In the meantime, large amounts of Bitcoin are on the move. A whale has recently transferred a billion dollars’ worth of Bitcoin. It cost them $3.58.

Despite that volatility, Anthony Pompliano, the co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital, thinks that Bitcoin has broken away from its correlation with the stock market and is now a safe haven for investors. Mike Novogratz agrees. He sees Bitcoin as a kind of digital gold: a good way to store value but not something that will function as a currency in the next five years. That opportunity, though, may only be available for Bitcoin. Altcoins are doing less well; Ethereum, for example, has been looking relatively weak despite Bitcoin’s growing strength.

Some companies have been doing well out of that strength. Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy has made more than $100 million in profit from its Bitcoin investments. That’s more than it’s made analyzing business. Visa might struggle to follow them. The US Department of Justice is now investigating the company’s acquisition of Plaid, a fintech company.

The government has also been investigating social media. A Senate Commerce Committee hearing gave the CEOs of Google, Facebook, and Twitter, a partisan grilling. One solution to the opacity of the companies’ content moderation, though, might be open-source algorithms.

Senators haven’t been alone in engaging in partisan hackery. A group of hackers took over President Trump’s campaign website. The hackers said that they had evidence proving the president’s “criminal involvment and coorperation with foreign actors” (sic)… and asked for funds.

In Japan, a group of companies have come together to create a blockchain-based trade data management system. In Siberia, a new Bitcoin mine will create 100 jobs. Singapore’s biggest bank, DBS, is launching an exchange to swap fiat for cryptocurrencies. And in China, charities are using the blockchain to give donors trust as they raise money for people in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. In the US, though, while Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman has said that machine learning and cloud tech will drive evolution in capital markets, the adoption of the blockchain is “complicated” and “will take longer.”

At least the art world is moving ahead. From art inspired by the blockchain to crypto art and digital marketplaces, artists and auction houses have found new opportunities in blockchain technology. Another reason for optimism.

Check out the audio here:

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Tags
Related Posts
Bitpoint Taiwan Sues Parent Exchange for Overbilling After July Hack
The Taiwan-based subsidiary of hacked crypto exchange Bitpoint Japan will file a $9.4 million damages suit as it claims to have been overbilled by the parent exchange. Overbilling is ‘clearly’ erroneous Bitpoint Taiwan reportedly found that total funds it collected from local clients have been short by 500 million yen ($4.7 million) due to overbilling by parent company Bitpoint Japan, according to a report by Japanese English-language publication The Mainichi on Aug. 22. Citing a prepared lawsuit, The Mainichi reported that the Taiwanese subsidiary discovered the shortage of funds while checking past billings by Bitpoint Japan following a major hack …
Blockchain / Aug. 22, 2019
Japan’s LINE Pay and Visa Partner on New Blockchain, Digital Payments Solutions
LINE Pay Corporation, the operator of fintech services on major Japanese messaging app LINE, is partnering with American payment services firm Visa on new blockchain and digital payments solutions. The news was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on June 6. As of Q4 2018, there were an estimated 1.66 billion Visa debit cards and 781 million credit cards in circulation worldwide. According to today’s press release, LINE counts 187 million global users monthly, with an estimated 50 million users registered its mobile payment service, Line Pay. The two firms’ strategic partnership will reportedly herald cooperation on a …
Adoption / June 6, 2019
Blockchain-based agri-commodity trading to tap world’s largest wheat market
Following two years of pilot testing, a blockchain trade and financing platform for global agricultural trading has seen its commercial rollout from Swiss developer Cerealia SA. The launch follows extensive prelaunch trial implementation with firms from Algeria, Brazil, Dubai, Japan and Ukraine. In November 2018, Cointelegraph reported on the platform’s early use to conduct a pilot transaction of Black Sea wheat from the Russian port city of Novorossiysk. Cerealia told reporters that it has sought to address the need for a fast trading platform in the global Russian wheat market and to combine this with a more reliable, transparent and …
Blockchain / Nov. 10, 2020
Finance Redefined: Alchemy raises $200M, Bunny goes DAO, Feb. 4–11
Welcome to the latest edition of Cointelegraph’s decentralized finance newsletter. As the DeFi space continues its technical resurgence, essential news on funding, innovation and DAOs continues to drive adoption in what remains a nascent industry. For the full version of this newsletter including longer, more descriptive analysis of the top stories this week, subscribe below: Alchemy raises $200M in latest funding, ACH token soars 77% Web3 platform Alchemy announced the launch of a $200-million Series C funding round this week, giving the company a decacorn status and a valuation of $10.2 billion. The seven-investor round was led by two California-based …
Decentralization / Feb. 12, 2022
BNB Chain confirms BSC halt due to 'potential exploit'
BNB Chain (BNB) the blockchain of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was paused on Oct. 6 due to what it states is “irregular activity” on the network with the team having determined a potential exploit. The official Twitter account of the BNB Chain announced the temporary pause, soon after adding it had found a possible exploit. Binance provide an update that the blockchain was “under maintenance” suspending all deposits and withdrawals. To confirm, we have suspended BSC after having determined a potential exploit. All systems are now contained, and we are immediately investigating the potential vulnerability. We know the Community will assist …
Blockchain / Oct. 6, 2022