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Miners earned $5 billion in 2019, there is a drop of interest to bitcoin as the price rises, and Peter Schiff lost his coins

 Miners made an estimated $5 billion in revenue during 2019

As the specialists of The Block counted. Of that figure, $4.89 billion was in the form of block rewards and the rest – some $147 million – was made via transaction fees. The calculations were made based on bitcoin’s price at the time of mining.

For comparison, in 2018 miners got $5,26 billion in revenue, and in 2017 – $3,19 billion. The block reward will be 12,5 BTC until May 2020, and will drop to 6,25 BTC after halving.

 Interest to bitcoin is dropping as the price rises

Google Trends is considered as one of the main
metrics of interest in cryptocurrencies among the masses. Almost all the time the number for “bitcoin” searches was growing after the price’s growth, however now the tendency is broken.

This was brought to attention by Twitter user Haejin. Since the beginning of January, BTC has risen in price by $ 2’000, and altcoin capitalization has grown by 50%, while the number of Bitcoin searches in Google has decreased.

 Crypto skeptic lost access to his bitcoin wallet

Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, famous for his negative feedback about cryptocurrencies, said that he had lost access to his wallet. Interestingly, he blames the wallets software in the loss of the coins.

“I just lost all theBitcoin I have ever owned. My wallet got corrupted somehow and my password is no longer valid. So now not only is my Bitcoin intrinsically worthless; it has no market value either. I knew owning Bitcoin was a bad idea, I just never realized it was this bad!”, -Schiff tweeted.

Crypto community suggested that the businessman simply forgot his password and does not want to admit it.

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Bitcoin options trading volumes rise and why Ethereum will rise in price

The trading volumes of bitcoin options on CME doubled

On January 13, bitcoin options trading started on the website of CME platform. On the first day, traders exchanged 55 contracts (about $ 2.37 million), and by the end of the week volumes had grown up to 122 contracts (about $ 5.27 million).

These figures significantly exceed the trade turnover of the competing trading platform Bakkt, which launched Bitcoin options for a month. According to the Skew Analytics platform, Bakkt’s trading volumes account for a small fraction of the CME figures. In terms of turnover of BTC futures, Bakkt is also behind CME Group.

Ethereum correlates with the market better than other cryptocurrencies

According to Binance Research, the correlation of cryptocurrencies continues to increase. Ethereum has the highest coefficient (0.75), followed by Litecoin and EOS (0.74). Analysts emphasized that the trend towards the joint movement of the cryptocurrency exchange rate is intensifying in the bear market.

The top three leaders in price growth for 2019 among the TOP 10 cryptocurrencies are: Binance Coin (+ 127.56%), Bitcoin (+ 86.78%) and Litecoin (+ 29.50%). Researchers added that the altcoin season never happened, since the bitcoin dominance index for 2019 rose from 52% to 68%.

Why Ethereum will rise in price

The Ethereum network is the leader in the number of deployed decentralized applications (DApps), analysts at the SPAM - please report ! D platform say.
According to them, the largest number of applications appeared on the Ethereum blockchain in 2019 - 1.2 million users registered in them.

“Ethereum has more than 1.4 million DApps users, including 1.28 million new users, as well as 137,000 old users, which makes up 10% of the total number of active application users,” the study said.

SPAM - please report ! D analysts believe that the growing popularity of DApps on Ethereum will contribute to the long-term increase in the value of cryptocurrency. Experts say that the market for financial decentralized applications (DeFi) will make the greatest contribution in the near future.

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Tether issues token backed by gold, Ripple considers IPO, and Musk speaks about cryptocurrencies

Tether issues a gold-backed token

Tether, the creator of the popular stablecoin USDT, announced the launch of a new token baked by gold. Tether Gold (XAUT) represents one troy ounce within the gold bars.

The bars themselves will be kept in a Swiss vault, and Tether will pay for the storage.

“Tether Gold provides the combined benefits of both physical and digital assets, removing the drawbacks of holding gold in more traditional ways, such as high storage costs and restricted access”, — Paolo Ardoino, the CTO at Tether, said.

Elon Musk: cryptocurrencies will not replace cash

The famous businessman Elon Musk contemplated on cryptocurrencies and stated that he was neither their supporter nor the opponent, however finding bitcoin’s White Paper to be “pretty clever”.

Musk also noted that digital currencies are often used in illegal transactions, although the crypto community does not like to mention this.

“This sort of gets the crypto people angry, but there are transactions that are not within the balance of the law. And, normally, cash is used for these transactions. But, in order for illegal transactions to occur, cash must also be used for legal transactions. You need an illegal to legal bridge. That’s where crypto comes in,” — the entrepreneur said.

He added that cryptocurrencies have found their niche due to the fact that cash cannot be used everywhere, but the role of digital currencies is secondary.

Ripple CEO announces his wish to hold IPO

And this can seriously affect the price of XRP. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO at Ripple, mentioned the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO) of the company during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“In the next 12 months, you’ll see IPOs in the crypto/blockchain space. We’re not going to be the first and we’re not going to be the last, but I expect us to be on the leading side… it’s a natural evolution for our company,” — he said.

In the comments to the post, Twitter users expressed the hope that the IPO would attract funds from institutional investors and positively affect the XRP price.

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Interest in the bitcoin halving has reached its maximum since 2016, and has dropped for IEO

Interest in bitcoin halving has reached its maximum since 2016

People’s interest in halving is growing - according to Google Trends, the number of “bitcoin halving” searches has grown to its highest level since 2016.

The last halving of the bitcoin block mining reward took place in July 2016, it was then when Google Trends recorded the largest number of related searches. Over the past two months, this figure has increased from 11% to 40%. The upcoming halving will take place in May 2020 - traders have high hopes for it, since previously bitcoin’s price surged some time after the event.

Larry Cermak: IEOs are dead

Initial exchange offerings (IEOs) return is near to zero, The Block analyst Larry Chermak points out. He analyzed the most popular platform and came to the conclusion that the IEO era has passed.

“IEOs are dead. There appears to be a clear relationship between the return and the number of days since the IEO. The average return of IEOs approaches 0% in 200 days. In other words, nearly no one wants to hold IEOs long term,” — he wrote in his twitter-account.

In Q III of 2019, 64% of projects showed positive returns; in Q IV their number dropped to 43%. Now only 23% of companies are in positive territory.

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Due to coronavirus, ASIC deliveries from China are delayed, and litecoin surges 17% in 24 hours

Deliveries of ASIC from China are delayed due to coronavirus

Chinese manufacturers of ASIC miners have postponed delivery of equipment due to the coronavirus outbreak. All offices and plants in the country were quarantined at least until February 10, according to Zodd Zverev, the CTO of the mining pool 1Thash & 58COIN.

“Internal logistics is almost completely paralyzed in the country, deliveries of food and strategic goods to fight the virus are in priority. Since it is forbidden to go to work and the police strictly controls this, the delivery and installation of new ASICs is practically impossible, ” he said.

In addition, the top management of mining companies, including Bitmain and Canaan Creative, left the country. They should return no earlier than the end of February — the beginning of March. Zverev believes that the slowdown in the introduction of new equipment will help miners stay in the profitable zone on the eve of halving.

Litecoin surged 17% in 24 hours and approached $70

The world’s seventh cryptocurrency by market capitalization went up by more than $10 in price and came close to $70.

LTC rises in price amid the general growth of the cryptocurrency market, but at a faster pace than bitcoin: in January, the BTC price grew by 30%, whereas litecoin strengthened by 65%.

It is worth noting that the first half of last year was very successful for LTC. Over the period from January to June, the coin added 350% in price - this was due to the halving of the block mining reward which took place in August.

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Cryptocurrency hedge funds were the most profitable asset in 2019, and how to earn BTC in Minecraft

Cryptocurrency hedge funds were the most profitable asset in 2019

Hedge funds through bitcoin as their primary asset were the most profitable for the year 2019, according to a study conducted by Eurekahedge.

The profitability of hedge funds with cryptocurrency was around 16% on average, whereas traditional hedge funds only received a profit of 10,4%.

Steve Kurtz, CEO of the Galaxy Digital cryptocurrency fund said that the investors interested in Bitcoin are “getting bigger” as the profitability of bitcoin in a duration of 1-, 3- and 10 years is looking impressive.

The revenue of ethereum miners fell by 75%

In 2019, Ethereum miners have generated $936 million in coins, down 75% in 2018, The Block reports.

ETH hash rate reached peak levels in August 2018 at around 292 TH/s, after which the capacity decreased by 43% and now it stands at about 165 TH/s. Mining was most profitable in January 2018, when ethereum was trading near a historic high of $ 1,400.

For comparison, the total income of bitcoin miners in 2019 was over 5 times higher than that of ethereum miners.

You can earn bitcoins in Minecraft

In Minecraft, the popular multiplayer game, the SatoshiQuest server has been launched, which allows players to receive prizes in bitcoins.

Each player pays $1 in BTC that goes to the treasure fund. A player who finds the loot on the vast landscape receives 85% of the fund, with 15% going back into the next round’s loot pot.

The first round of SatoshiQuest took place on January 26 and it starts over every time someone finds the treasure.

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The price of ASIC miners to rise because of coronavirus, and ethereum surpasses the $200 mark

The number of transactions in the BTC blockchain has reached 500 million

The number of confirmed transactions in the bitcoin network has exceeded 500 million. This was announced by Jameson Lopp, the developer of Bitcoin Core, in his Twitter account.

“Today, as of block 616064, Bitcoin surpassed 500 million transactions confirmed on the blockchain,” Lopp tweeted.

It is worth noting that the network is growing with great acceleration: in 2017, the number of transactions did not exceed 250 million. At the current growth rate, in two years the blockchain can surpass the 1 billion transaction mark.

The price of ASIC miners to rise because of coronavirus

That’s what Chen Feng, Sales Director of
Canaan, Chinese mining manufacturer, thinks. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the country declared quarantine and closed down all enterprises, which forces miner manufacturers to postpone the delivery of equipment.

According to Feng, companies will resume work after February 10-15, and ASIC miners will start rising in price in February-March simply because of short supply. Moreover, he points out that it is not clear at the moment it is not clear when cheap logistics will resume in the country.

Ethereum has surged 10% in 24 hrs and surpassed the mark of $200

The world’s second cryptocurrency by market capitalization continues to strengthen — its price has grown by more than 10% to $210 in 24 hours.

Analysts believe that the price of ETH will continue to rise. Trader GalaxyBTC points out that the ETH/USD pair has approached the two-year resistance line, after breaking which "it’s showtime." And according to analyst Josh Rager, in two years, many will regret that they did not buy ethereum at the price of $ 200.

The majority of crypto assets from the TOP-100 show the positive dynamics over the past 24 hours. Thus, bitcoin has updated the maximum of 2020, having risen in price to the level of $ 9,700.

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Cyber criminals netted $ 4.3 billion in 2019, and Japan plans to launch its own cryptocurrency

Japan plans to launch its own cryptocurrency

The country should have its digital currency in two-to-three years, according to Kozo Yamamoto, the head of the commission for the study of banking and financial systems of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

He noted that the government will include this question in the list of medium-term tasks and attach the paramount importance to it.

“The sooner the better. We’ll draft proposals to be included in government’s policy guidelines, and hopefully make it happen in two-to-three years,” Yamamoto said.

He thinks that each country should create a digital platform to control cash flow. This will help better handle crises and stabilize the economy.

Cyber criminals stole $4.3 billion in 2019

Threat actors stole at least $4.3 billion in cryptocurrency in 2019, according to a study by Chainalysis. In 2018, the amount consituted $3 billion.

The dramatic increase of fraud was caused by the spread of financial pyramids, with 90% of the funds stolen through six schemes. The Plus Token platform was among the most notorious ones, it promised customers daily income for storing coins. The creators of the pyramid managed to raise $2 billion, they are currently under investigation.

In 2017, most cryptocurrencies were stolen through ICOs, and in 2018, through hacker attacks.

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Tether to track USDT transactions, and US authorities want to strengthen control over the crypto sphere

 Tether to track USDT transactions

The company will implement a compliance tool to track suspicious transactions in USDT tokens. The goal is to meet the requirements of regulators in various countries. To do this, Tether will use the Know Your Transaction software created by firm Chainalysis.

“Know Your Transaction (KYT) is a real-time AML compliance solution for montiroinga token’s full lifecycle, from issuance to redemption, ” Chainalysis said.

According to the Tether company, the privacy of USDT owners will not be affected. Earlier, the British regulator suspended ePayments system due to non-compliance with the requirements of the anti-money laundering law.

 Trading volumes on cryptocurrency exchanges increase by 70%

Since the beginning of 2020, trade on spot cryptocurrency exchanges has increased by 70% and reached a six-month peak.

More than half of the volume falls on the Binance exchange, whose share in the total turnover has also grown, according to a research by The Block. Regulated platforms of derivatives also see an increase of activity. Open interest at Bakkt reached a record $ 12 million at the end of January, and the average trading volume went up to $26.45 million.

Things are going well on CME too — in January the average trade turnover increased by 144% to $458 million. BitMEX is also not far behind — the level of trading in perpetual BTC swaps increased by 55% in the first month of 2020.

 USA to release new cryptocurrency regulation rules

The US Department of the Treasury and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are developing new requirements related to cryptocurrency. This was stated by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

He did not disclose the details but noted that departments are paying great attention to working out this issue and are working closely with other watchdogs. Mnuchin also added that he shares the concerns of Congress over the use of digital currencies in illegal operations.

Earlier, the administration of US President Donald Trump proposed budget proposal for 2021, which includes strengthening control over cryptocurrency transactions.

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Best days of the week to trade BTC, and Craig Wright says he owns rights to Bitcoin network

 What days of the week it is best to buy and sell bitcoin

Longhash, data analytics platform, conducted a study: which days and hours are the most profitable to buy and sell.

For this study, experts analyzed two years of hourly bitcoin price data for each day of the week, having calculated the average prices of opening, closing, as well as maximum and minimum.

It turned out that bitcoin’s price had a tendency to be at its lowest point of the week on Fridays at around 6 AM UTC, and Monday evening/Tuesday morning at midnight UTC the price is on average $170 higher than on Friday morning.

The researchers note that Monday to Tuesday night institutional traders from Asia, America and Europe open long positions. On Friday, market participants seek to take profits before the weekend.

 Craig Wright says he owns rights to Bitcoin

Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator, demanded that Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash networks stop using the distributed registry, which, he said, belongs to him.

Wright said he would protect his intellectual rights to the first cryptocurrency’s blockchain in court.

“As the creator of Bitcoin, I maintain the sui generis rights to any copy of the database created from Genesis in January 2009. I shall not be relinquishing the ownership. I will be licensing it, and have already engaged in a process.”

He pointed out that only Bitcoin SV has a right to use a distributed registry, while Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash do it illegally.

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Whales buy bitcoin, and Binance can not cope with the influx of customers

 Research: whales are buying bitcoin

Analysts at the Kraken exchange found that in February, major holders of bitcoin (100-1,000 BTC) became much more active. According to the report, the previous phase of the accumulation of coins by whales led to an increase in the exchange rate in January of this year. A similar relationship was observed in 2018-2019.

“We anticipate accumulation to conclude in the weeks/months ahead and volatility to re-emerge”, experts say.

There are also“smaller” investors who own amounts between 0.1-1 BTC - over the year their number increased by around 10%. However, the largest coin holders (over 1,000 BTC) are still employing “wait-and-see” tactics, analysts say.

 Binance performance issues caused by an influx of users

Last week, customers of one of the largest cryptocurrency websites Binance encountered the website’s performance issues.

CEO Changpeng Zhao said that the problems were caused by an influx of users an increased load on the system. Zhao links the influx of customers with bitcoin’s price returning to $10,000.

“The difference between BTC at $10,000 this time around and the previous times is, there are a lot more users now. While this is a solid sign of strong recovery for the crypto market, it also puts on significant load for our systems,” the Binance CEO wrote.

 CelticGold encourages investing in bitcoin

Another major investment company recommends its customers to invest part of their funds in bitcoin.

CelticGold specializes in precious metals trading. The company’s analysts published a report in which they had revealed the advantages of cryptocurrencies and recommended that investors allocate 1-5% of their portfolio into bitcoin.

“If you are very familiar with cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin, you can individually allocate higher percentages to Bitcoin. For the average investor, who is also invested in equities and real estate, 5% in the highly speculative and highly volatile Bitcoin is already a lot!”

CelticGold experts add that BTC is a safe haven asset, as it is not managed by central banks and governments. In addition, the number of coins is limited, and regulators cannot print new ones.

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Ripple gets in the top 100 payment systems, and oil prices are more volatile than bitcoin

 Ripple got in the top 100 international payment systems

The payment system based on the Ripple company blockchain was included in the list of the 100 largest cross-border payment systems. This is the only blockchain project in the list.

The TOP-100 was compiled by the analytic company FXC Intelligence, along with Ripple, the list included Visa, Bank of America and PayPal. In addition, it contains MoneyGram, TransferGo and other payment systems that have partnered up with the blockchain project.

 Oil prices are more volatile than bitcoin

Cryptocurrencies are usually blamed for considerable price fluctuations, but as it turned out, at the moment bitcoin is far from being the most unstable asset.
At the end of January, The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price's one-month realized amounted to 119.6%, while that of BTC - 54.5%. For comparison, in gold this indicator is 17.3%, the S&P 500 - 11.6%.

This is not the first time that the oil rate exceeds bitcoin in the range of fluctuations. For example, in the fall of 2019, WTI volatility increased to 133%, when BTC did not exceed 50%. Realized volatility is the standard deviation of daily price fluctuations in percentage.

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BCH, BCV and Tron dip by 20% in two days, and Morgan Creek founder urges not to trust Buffett

Founder of Morgan Creek: “I would not trust Buffett”

One shouldn’t listen to Warren Buffet’s advice regarding cryptocurrency, Anthony Pompiliano, Founder of Morgan Creek, thinks. According to him, Buffet is a great investor but knows nothing about technology.

“People will listen to Warren Buffett’s opinion because he is one of the best investors of all time. When it comes to technology, though, I think there are better people to listen to. I don’t take technology advice from someone who uses a flip phone or doesn't use email, ” Pompliano said.

He also added that Bitcoin will become the
will be the global reserve currency in the future, and national digital currencies will not be able to compete with it, since they are controlled by states and are subject to inflation.

 Bitcoin Cash, Tron, and Bitcoin SV collapse by 20% in two days

Cryptocurrency market is in the red: at the moment, all TOP-20 assets, excluding the USDT stable coin, are showing a decline.

Over the past two days, the currencies that lost the most in price are BCH (−22%), BCV (−23%) and Tron (−21%) The average market price of Bitcoin fell from $9,950 to $9,158, Ethereum fell from $275 to $236, the price of XRP fell from $0.2831 to $0.2396.

The total market capitalization dropped by $31 billion: from $290.074 to $259.161. According to analysts, the reason lies in the fact that the price of bitcoin failed to gain a foothold above the strong level of $10,000.

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China suggests banning cryptocurrencies, and Craig Wright seriously plans to seize all BTC

 China proposes to ban cryptocurrencies and ICOs

Chinese authorities must tighten control over the crypto sphere after the launch of the digital yuan, Chen Weigang, former Vice President of China Insurance Regulatory Commission of the Communist Party, said.

According to him, the cryptocurrency circulation and ICO should be banned.

“I always believe that speculation in cryptocurrency and ICO is not the direction of financial development and must be resolutely banned. They must be completely banned,” — the ex-official said.

He added that banks need to be prohibited from the opportunity to conduct any transactions with cryptocurrency.

 Craig Wright plans to seize bitcoins through miners

Craig Wright, an Australian scientist and self-proclaimed creator of Bitcoin, is serious about seizing all existing coins through the courts.

Podcaster Peter McCormack published screenshots of Slack messages where Wright writes that the first BTC seizures will begin as early as 2020. Private keys won’t be required for this, since the court will order the nodes to return the bitcoins to their rightful owner, that is, Craig Wright.

“Without keys, BTC will be confiscated. Code is law, and courts can mandate patching code. Bitcoin is not encrypted. It is economic,” — the scientist writes.

He also requested data from companies including MtGox, that lost coins. Wright promised them to "return the money starting this year."

 13,000 ATM’s in South Korea to support Litecoin withdrawal

Litecoin Foundation has partnered up with MeconCash, to enable Litecoin withdrawals to Korean Wonat over 13,000 ATM’s across South Korea.

Cryptocurrency will be integrated into the M.Pay platform, which allows to make transfers around the country, buy goods, pay for mobile applications and other services.

Litecoin Foundation Director Alan Austin noted that the partnership will contribute to the spread of cryptocurrency in South Korea:

“The ability to access cash through Litecoin at over 13,000 ATM’s opens the door to new opportunities within the Korean market and globally. With billions in remittances sent each year to South Korea, Litecoin (through its speed, security, and low transaction fees) offers significant advantages over traditional methods of sending money overseas,” — he said.

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Why institutional investors avoid cryptocurrencies and Google Play removes crypto news apps

 KPMG: Institutional investors do not embrace the cryptocurrency market because of hackers

An audit company from the Big Four conducted an analysis of the cryptocurrency market and explained why institutional investors have not been embracing it yet.

Hackers have stolen $9.8 billion worth of crypto since 2017 due to security and code issues, the report said. A low level of security is the main reason holding large investors back, KPMG experts say.

“Institutional investors especially will not risk owning crypto assets if their value cannot be safeguarded in the same way their cash, stocks and bonds are,” Sal Ternullo, co-leader of KPMG’s crypto-asset services, said.

 Google Play removes cryptocurrency news apps

Cryptocurrency news resources apps have started to disappear from Google’s Play Store for Android smartphone apps, Cointelegraph writes.

At the moment, the store has neither the application of Cointelegraph nor of the popular portal CoinDesk. According to Cointelegraph, they were not contacted by Google Play regarding. The media reached out to the company but has not yet received a response.

In December 2019, the MetaMask Ethereum wallet disappeared from Google Play, after the owners contacted the store, it was returned.

 Bitfinex Exchange to delist 46 trading pairs

On March 6, the Bitfinex cryptocurrency platform will conduct mass delisting. 46 trading pairs with Ethereum, Bitcoin, DAI and Japanese Yen will be removed due to low liquidity on the platform.

Such pairs as XVG/ETH, XVG/JPY, OMG/DAI, ZRX/DAI will be delisted.

“The removal of these trading pairs is a common measure that serves to consolidate and improve liquidity on Bitfinex, leading to a more streamlined and optimised trading experience for our users,” the exchange said.