As the year comes to an end, the focus will shift to the major events that are expected to influence crypto prices next year. China’s launch of a digital yuan is one such event that can influence crypto prices. The People’s Bank of China’s deputy director Mu Changchun said that the digital form of yuan would not have any room to speculate on its value as it would be different from Bitcoin and stablecoins. Though China has been against cryptocurrencies, it has been making major strides in supporting blockchain technology. The Central Bank of China has used blockchain technology to …

Japanese retail giant Rakuten now lets its customers convert its Rakuten Group loyalty points to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). According to an official announcement on Dec. 24, this capability is immediately available for Rakuten users in Japan who have an account with Rakuten Wallet, a crypto exchange subsidiary of Rakuten. The company says its clients can convert their loyalty points to three different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The minimum crypto purchase is $0.90 With one Rakuten Super Point worth one Japanese yen (approximately $0.009), users need to have at least 100 such points to …

Since the start of 2019, the crypto market has been on the receiving end of an insane amount of financial volatility. For example, in January, the total market capitalization of this burgeoning sector was around $130 billion. However, by July, the market at large had witnessed an influx of bullish momentum that pushed the total capitalization value of this space to a whopping $373 billion. Following this period, the aforementioned bull run proceeded to subside quite a bit, with the market now hovering a tad under the $200 billion threshold. A few cryptocurrencies maintained a strong financial standing all year …

Bitcoin is leading the recovery from the front, which is a positive sign. This shows that bulls have used the recent dip to buy. As a result, Bitcoin’s dominance has increased to 68.9%. Former Wall Street trader Tone Vays believes that Bitcoin will increase its dominance further in 2020, perhaps as high as 85%. Although institutional money will enter Bitcoin first, it is unlikely that other altcoins will wither away. After investing in Bitcoin, large investors are likely to diversify into select altcoins. The next bull run is likely to be led by Bitcoin and a handful of altcoins. Hence, …

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) focused firm BitcoinBCH has potentially misled the public into believing that Bitcoin (BTC) double spends can be easily carried out. On Dec. 18, BitcoinBCH’s CEO Hayden Otto published a video on YouTube allegedly showing how TravelByBit’s Bitcoin Point of Sale (PoS) wallet misleads merchants into believing that they were paid before a transaction is actually concluded. Hayden Otto also runs a competing BCH-based PoS solution called Hula. Countering the claims In a recent interview, a TravelByBit representative said that merchants using its service are insured against fraud and will not lose money. The firm’s founder Caleb Yeoh …

Christmas is just around the corner, which means it’s time to get your holiday shopping out of the way for good. And while online retail giants such as Amazon and eBay have made online purchasing wonderfully simple for the average person, they do not really cater to a growing population of individuals who are looking to use their crypto for digital payment purposes. While a number of startups have entered this space over the last three to four years due to issues relating to market volatility, certain remaining setbacks need to be tackled before the sector can really flourish. But …

Though most major cryptocurrencies have broken below their support levels during the most recent fall, Bitcoin, which is inarguably the leader, has held its ground. This is a positive sign as it shows that the stronger hands are not panicking. This week top venture capitalist Tim Draper also reiterated his bullish view on Bitcoin. Draper is confident that the leading currency will hit $250,000 by 2022. Additionally, he believes that if Bitcoin’s price action prior to and after the May 2020 halving resembles the trajectory followed during previous halvings, his target might be achieved by the end of the next …

The motivation driving Bitcoin SV (BSV) miners is non-economic in nature, according to a report released by major cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Dec. 18. Binance Research, the exchange’s research arm, has tried to estimate mining profitability for Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV. Interestingly, the calculations included in the report suggest that BSV miners incurred significant losses and consequently concluded that the miners are not profit-driven. Per the report, from November 2018 to August this year BSV mining profitability was lower than BTC and BCH mining profitability. According to the researchers, this has clear implications: “In summary, the …

The crypto markets are currently held tight in the grasp of the bears. At the moment, there does not seem to be any specific news or event that has triggered the strong decline but one possibility is that some short-term investors who had been holding on to their positions in hopes of a rally are dumping at the current prices. The announcement of the first phase of a trade deal between China and the United States and the likelihood of the US Fed will not raise rates in 2020 appears to have boosted sentiment in the US stock market which …

Bitcoin’s market dominance has been holding above 65% mark since late July of this year. This shows that Bitcoin continues to garner the maximum interest from the market participants. There were periods in the past few months when it looked like an “altseason” was around the corner but it never materialized. Most major cryptocurrencies — led by Bitcoin — topped out in June of this year and have been gradually moving lower since. At the end of the year, in the absence of any major trigger, fresh money is unlikely to enter the space. Most institutional players prefer to park …

Bitcoin.com Exchange, a Bitcoin (BTC)-skeptical trading platform associated with the eponymous website, has sparked fresh controversy after supporting an altcoin widely considered to be a scam. In an article and Twitter post on Dec. 15, officials confirmed that trading of HEX had gone live two days previously. Wild volatility greets HEX traders The move makes Bitcoin.com one of the few recognized trading platforms to forge ties with HEX, which together with founder Richard Heart continues to field widespread accusations of fraud. Explaining the decision, Bitcoin.com claimed it wished to offer security to those looking to trade the coin, which launched …

Tom Jessop, the president of Fidelity Digital Assets, said that the absence of a long track record is one of the main reasons that is keeping the institutional investors at bay from investing in cryptocurrencies. As the asset class is only 10 years old, Jessop said that the institutions question the durability and longevity and are unsure whether it would be around tomorrow. However, he said that these concerns are likely to be resolved with time. Even among the investors, the perception has been that crypto investing is largely male-dominated. Nonetheless, a survey by Bitcoin (BTC) fund operator Grayscale has …