For wine collectors, provenance is everything. With as much as 20% of all wine circulating the globe deemed to be fake, it’s hardly surprising. In days past, sniffing out a bogus burgundy required a good nose and an eye for detail. Now, thanks to blockchain technology, the problem is being resolved at its root — or should that be at the vine? Sommeliers, vintners, collectors and other connoisseurs of the red stuff go to great lengths to determine authenticity. From the weight of the bottle to eyeing anomalies in the year of production, right down to inspection of the bottle …

After changing roles several times since its 2009 launch, the current line on Bitcoin (BTC) calls it a store of value comparable to gold — a status with which Abra CEO Bill Barhydt agrees. "Today Bitcoin is best used as a store of value that will become more and more uncorrelated to traditional investing markets over time," Barhydt told Cointelegraph. Bitcoin's role transformation since inception Following Bitcoin's on-chain beginnings in 2009, the asset traversed a staggering price growth journey, going from less than $1 all the way up to nearly $20,000 at its 2017 peak. Along with this price journey …

Gold bug and notorious cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff wonders whether the recent hack of verified profiles on Twitter is “a harbinger of Bitcoin itself being hacked.” In a July 16 tweet, Schiff mentioned yesterday’s mass hack of verified Twitter profiles which were used to promote a Bitcoin scam, further suggesting that it could be a prelude to a hack of the cryptocurrency itself. It looks like all verified Twitter accounts have been hacked by someone running a #Bitcoin scam. For once not being verified has its advantageous. I wonder if this is a harbinger of Bitcoin itself being hacked? Better …

Bitcoin (BTC) has succeeded in trolling infamous skeptic Peter Schiff as another attempt to discredit investors falls flat. In a fresh Twitter survey on July 14, Schiff asked how long BTC/USD should trade at four figures or less for investors to sell their coins. “I’m taking it to the grave” With 18 hours left to run at press time, more than 13,000 people had responded to Schiff, who is now well known for his lack of belief in Bitcoin. “This quiz is for Bitcoin HODLers,” he said, addressing his target audience. “How much longer does the price of #Bitcoin have …

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, said that investments in real estate and gold may not be the future of finance as cryptocurrency comes into focus. In a July 8 interview with Bitcoin bull Anthony Pompliano on Kiyosaki’s radio show, the author said traditional investments like gold and real estate would come second to crypto. “As an old guy, it’s taken me a while to get onto [cryptocurrency], but now I’m buying it,” Kiyosaki said. The author has predicted that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) will reach $75,000 within three years. “I think it’s important, especially for old …

Though Bitcoin’s (BTC) correlation with gold has diminished, the asset’s correlation with the S&P 500 stock market index is on the rise, researchers from Kraken exchange found. Kraken Intelligence, a research arm of major United States cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken, released a “Bitcoin Volatility Report” for June 2020. Bitcoin’s volatility hits a 6-month low Published on July 9, the new report outlines a 31% drop in Bitcoin trading that resulted in a six-month low of Bitcoin’s annualized volatility, which accounted for 51% in June. According to the report, the significant decline in volumes and volatility marked June as the quietest month …

Michael Novogratz, one of the biggest Bitcoin (BTC) bulls in the world, does not recommend investors to put the majority of their funds into Bitcoin. Although Novogratz is confident that Bitcoin “way outperforms” the precious metal, it is still safer to buy more gold than Bitcoin due to the cryptocurrency’s highly volatile nature. Bitcoin is still “early in the adoption cycle,” Novogratz says “My sense is that Bitcoin way outperforms gold, but I would tell people to have a lot less Bitcoin than they have gold, just because of the volatility,” Novogratz said during CNBC’s Fast Money on July 8. …

Bitcoin (BTC) is preparing to copy gold as it aims for all-time highs, according to an exchange amid fresh warnings that a correction is due. In a tweet on July 9, Latoken highlighted the increasingly “correlated” relationship between the precious metal and BTC. Bitcoin-gold correlation increasing? After XAU/USD topped $1,800 for the first time since 2011 this week, BTC/USD should now follow suit, it argued. “#Gold hits 9-year high, while #Bitcoin’s rally has just started. #BTC and gold have been growing correlated in recent times,” it summarized. At press time, gold traded at $1,813, up almost 7% in the last …

As the global economic engine continues to reel from the effects of the slowdown induced by the novel coronavirus, it’s still not clear how much devastation the pandemic has actually caused. For example, due to the restrictions imposed by governments all over the world, such as border lockdowns, trade limitations and import/export reductions, economic movement has almost ceased, causing many businesses, both large and small, to either face up to the losses or shut down completely. Furthermore, traditional financial offerings such as stocks, bonds and equities have also been on the receiving end of a beating since mid-February, with many …

Bloomberg senior commodities strategist Mike McGlone recently released a midyear crypto outlook, which states that Bitcoin volatility should continue to decrease as the asset behaves more like gold. The report also says that primary demand and adoption indicators remain positive. The report concludes that Bitcoin is set for a breakout with a target at the $13,000 resistance. Although this perspective is defensible, the arguments presented in the article seem flawed. Correlation metrics for the past six months have drawn Bitcoin away from gold’s hedge status, as it has been trading in sync with the S&P 500 most of the time. …

Venezuela’s allegedly corrupt leader, Nicolás Maduro, recently lost a court battle involving approximately $1 billion of gold. “The UK High Court has ruled against Venezuela's government in a legal battle over access to $1bn (£820m) of gold stored in the Bank of England,” BBC said in a July 2 article. As a self-sovereign digital asset, Bitcoin lies outside of centralized control. If Maduro stored that value in Bitcoin, he may still have access to those funds. Funds in flux Several months ago U.S. authorities came forward with allegations against Venezuela’s Maduro and 14 of the country’s leaders in March, claiming …

Bitcoin (BTC), in fact, crushed stock markets during the Covid-19 recovery with equity “growth” simply down to inflation, fresh data argues. Charts showing stocks denominated in gold and Bitcoin in 2020 show that far from having their best quarter in ten years, markets had no “recovery” at all. “It’s all inflation” The perspective is starkly different to the message coming from governments and mainstream media about the health of the economy. Central bank intervention, they claim, helped boost stocks to clinch their strongest quarterly growth since 2011 in Q2. But when viewed in BTC, however, Q2 gains from the March …