Catherine Raw, the North America COO of the largest gold mining firm in the world, Barrick Gold, said that she does not think cryptocurrencies are competitive with gold, Fortune reported on Sept. 18.

Raw made her remarks yesterday at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women International Summit, where she stated:

     “The very tangible nature of gold is what keeps a special place for it. So it will always have value, whatever the price is, I don’t
     know, but it will not be zero. Whereas cryptocurrency could be zero — that’s the difference.”

The report points out that — so long as gold is being used for jewelry and electronics — it is guaranteed to have some value. That said, Raw also admits that “the phenomenon of cryptocurrency is here to stay.”

Hopes to bring young investors back to gold
Raw hopes that the gold industry will be able to win back young investors between the ages of 20 and 40 that ended up preferring crypto assets to gold. Raw admitted that currently, parties buying gold are mostly the Indian and Chinese markets, institutions and central banks.

She added that among young investors, there is an impression that the only people buying gold are “old fogies who are buying it because they’re scared of the world.” She said:

     “What I would like is actually to see gold harness that. [...] I think the gold industry has got its head in the sand by not taking
     advantage of a changing demographic. [...] My ambition over time is actually to see how as a gold industry we can harness that
     younger demographic.”

Earlier this month, Turkey's Istanbul Clearing, Settlement and Custody Bank (Takasbank) announced a blockchain-based platform for trading gold. Takasbank’s new project aims to enable people to transfer physical gold stored at the Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange.


source:  https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-not-competitive-with-gold-barrick-gold-exec

Relying solely on having a good product cannot really guarantee the success of a certain project but having a credible, competitive and committed set of team with the high level of necessary skills to properly sell the product in the market will.
The presence of such team behind the project attracts the attention of most investors. With more investors - the probability of the projects success is highly.



 

Bitcoin (BTC) price continued to fluctuate around $10,500 on Sept. 5 as the largest cryptocurrency stopped short of breaking $11,000.


                                   Market visualization. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin simmers after latest $11K moonshot
Data from Coin360 showed less volatile action for BTC/USD on Thursday, following the pair’s sudden rise of over $1,000 in the first half of the week.

At press time, Bitcoin traded at $10,620, compared with just $9,350 at the same point last week.


                                   Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360

The 12% seven-day gains excited analysts, who abandoned bearish sentiment to forecast a continuation of upward momentum. A subsequent slowdown in growth has tempered those aspirations, however, with markets now waiting for outside events to sway the mood.

For Filb Filb, a popular Bitcoin trader, the launch of institutional trading platform Bakkt later in September is the closest such deciding moment.

“Bitcoin continues to consolidate above $10k,” he summarized in private comments, adding:

     “A lot of people are hoping to get bids filled below $9k; the market rarely gets what it wants and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are
     forced to buy higher. But let’s see what happens with the launch of Bakkt.”

While opinions suggest demand for Bakkt’s physical Bitcoin futures will be high, activity has yet to kick off, with client deposits beginning on Friday this week.

Altcoins continue to bite the dust
Bitcoin’s latest consolidation meanwhile continues to pile pressure on altcoin markets. Most major tokens lost several percentage points in U.S. dollar terms on Thursday, having failed to rally in line with Bitcoin.

Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market cap, fared worse than any in the top twenty, dropping 3.4% to hit $171.

As trader Nick Cote warned on Thursday, a further dip below $160 could even have a knock-on effect for Bitcoin.

“A break below the $160 handle would spell disaster for the bulls. I'd assume most /USD pairs, including Bitcoin would dump as well,” he wrote.


                                   Ether 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360

Others lost between 1% and 3% on the day, while only Monero (XMR) noticeably bucked the trend, delivering 3.2% gains.

Bitcoin’s share of the $267 billion crypto market cap stood at 71% on Thursday, continuing to expand on highs not seen in over two years.


source:  https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-rejected-at-108k-as-crypto-market-braces-for-bakkt

Bakkt has been approved, and starting Sept. 6, clients will be able to deposit their funds into the Bakkt Warehouse, in anticipation of trading beginning on Sept. 23.

Is this time different or will the market reaction to this latest institutional product launch echo that of the CBOE futures launch in December 2017 — which resulted in Bitcoin (BTC) price dropping 85% over the following twelve months.

Institutional investors to trade actual Bitcoin on Bakkt
A key difference between the CBOE and CME future products and Bakkt’s, is that the futures contract through Bakkt is settled in Bitcoin, not cash. This will be significant, as it means that clients who trade that product will receive actual Bitcoin in their accounts upon settlement, instead of dollars.

The continued development of institutional grade products for both trading and custodianship should be perceived as bullish for the asset class, as it allows for greater access to these markets for investors, as well as increasing general liquidity.



Let’s take a look at several key indicators to see how Bitcoin price is currently behaving in the run up to the Bakkt launch date.

BTC/USD volatility dropping off
While the Bitcoin market has been dropping in volatility quite substantially over the past month, this had lead to a very clear consolidation pattern to form with the $9,000 marker serving as immediate support, and a downwards sloping resistance, which is currently sitting at $11,000.

Typically, when volatility drops off to this degree, it is an indicator that the next move will be a large and explosive one.



Hash rate keeps hitting new all-time highs
If an increasing hash rate is a sign of confidence in the network, as well as an indicator of the underlying health and interest in that network, then the Bitcoin network is the strongest.

The Bitcoin hash rate has been steadily rising this year as new batches of miners and mining operations come online at a quickening pace, ahead of the block reward halving next May.

Keeping a close eye on the volatility index, as well as the hash rate can be used as leading indicators to determine when a large move is likely to occur, as well as giving insight into the health and interest from investors at a network level.



Consolidation continues, but a large move is on the horizon
The market conditions over the past week have been low volume and choppy, and not advisable to trade in. Given all the factors listed above, a high value trading opportunity is rapidly approaching, with resolution to likely take place in late September or early October.

As price hovers above the major support at $9,100, the key level to watch for an early signal of a trend reversal for the bulls will be a breach and close above $9,900, which is currently the level of the bearish throwback. (If you’re not familiar with that term, I invite you to check out the material on Wyckoff theory.)



Bullish scenario
The macro case for Bitcoin as well as network fundamentals make a strong case for continued strength for the asset class.

But let’s zoom in our perspective and lower our time frames to the near term to map out where price could be headed in a bullish scenario.

As previously stated, price needs to breach the bearish throwback level at $9,900 to confirm a trend reversal for the bulls, which would paint an immediate target at $10,200, and $11,000.

Both targets serve as strong order blocks. These previously acted as pivot points in price action. Price often targets these order blocks as that is where resting liquidity is, and they usually act as stopping points.



Bearish scenario
The bearish case is a simple one: a descending triangle and a trend continuation from what we have seen this month. The price has seen a 350% rise this year without any major correction since carving out high time frame support at $9,000. So failure to break this critical throwback level at $9,900 would spell disaster for the bulls, and likely see price fall back to test the $9,000 level.

If that is broken, BTC/USD could see a price pull back to the previous large daily and weekly levels at $8,300 and in a deep sell-off, back to the $7,500 level.



Short-term traders should be cautious
Given the strong network health and growth of the Bitcoin network, as well as increased interest and accessibility for institutional involvement, whether it be through Bakkt, the CME or activity in the OTC markets, all things point to continued upside performance for Bitcoin in the long run.

That’s not to say Bitcoin doesn't have its challenges to overcome, which include scaling and addressing privacy concerns. But history has shown that as problems present themselves, the rapidly growing community of developers have consistently risen to these challenges and put forward viable solutions.

The short term traders should always keep aware of the macro factors, as you don’t want to be fighting the prevailing trend for long, or you risk blowing out your trading account.

Setting alarms, reducing the frequency of trading, and only taking the high risk/reward trades at the order blocks will yield the best results and reduce your risk substantially.

A good rule to live by is that capital preservation is just as productive as growth when you aren’t sure of the direction or have an edge in your trading. Given the macro trend, strong fundamentals, and keeping the 2020 having in mind, pull backs should be seen as a dip buying opportunity with at least a one year outlook.

source:  https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-will-bakkts-launch-this-month-take-btc-to-new-highs

Australian software programmer and Bitcoin’s (BTC) Lightning Network coder Rusty Russell warned users that “security issues have been found in various Lightning projects which could cause loss of funds.”

Urgent update recommended
On Aug. 30, Russell published a tweet urging LN nodes operators to update their software as soon as possible. According to the message, his warning concerns all versions of c-lightning prior to 0.7.1, lnd older than 0.7, and eclair up to version 0.3.

Notably, just earlier this month blockchain development company Blockstream announced the release of the version 0.7.2 of its BTC scalability software c-lightning.

Details to be released
In a PGP-signed message published on Linux Foundation’s domain Russell explicitly warns users of security issues and promises that more details will be released in the future:

   “Full details will be released in 4 weeks (2019-09-27), please upgrade well before then.”

Lightning Network is a second-layer off-chain Bitcoin scalability solution meant to enable instant and near-free BTC payments. Blockstream’s chief strategy officer Samson Mow recently said that Bitcoin is bad for payments, but Lightning Network could solve this.

As Cointelegraph reported earlier this month, Andreas Antonopoulos announced his new “Mastering Lightning Network” book, co-authored by René Pickhardt and Lightning Labs CTO Olaoluwa Osuntokun.


source:  https://cointelegraph.com/news/australian-coder-warns-users-of-lightning-networks-vulnerabilities

Who wouldn't be attracted to a new wave of technology that boasts of being private, untraceable and independent to third parties? But most especially, something that promises enormous gains. Cryptocurrencies offered all that. With news on ordinary individuals breakthrough when they trusted and invested early on.
Frankly speaking, my nephews were the biggest proof to me that cryptocurrencies can really changed someone's lives. They were so lucky enough to have experienced when Bitcoin smashed other assets on December 2017. And so here i am.



 

 

Neil Wals, chief of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Cybercrime Program, warned that cryptocurrencies have made combating money laundering significantly harder.

Australian news outlet ABC reported on Aug. 29 that Wals said cryptocurrencies make fighting cybercrime, money laundering and financing of terrorism harder.

Wals expressed the idea that criminals using crypto assets include global child sexual exploitation networks, which he says are more widespread than much of the public understands.

Crypto adds a layer of secrecy
He believes that cryptocurrencies add a layer of secrecy, which can facilitate crime. The news comes after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in July that government agencies will be preventing Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies from becoming an “equivalent of Swiss-numbered bank accounts.”

Also in July, Danny Scott, CEO of Isle of Man-based Bitcoin exchange CoinCorner said that the sentencing of the CEO of the now-defunct darknet marketplace Silk Road shows that Bitcoin usage by criminals is in the past, suggesting that it is not the right tool for illegal transactions.

Furthermore, the latest research conducted by New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis shows that only 8.1% of all crypto assets sent to cryptocurrency mixers tied to illicit activity, while only 2.7% comes from darknet markets.


source:  https://cointelegraph.com/news/un-official-cryptocurrency-makes-criminals-harder-to-catch

True. This remarkable phenomenon called Bitcoin surely opened a wide window of opportunities for everyone to improve the quality of  their lives. For some who have the means[money], they just have to buy bitcoin as an investment and wait. But for unemployed individuals [like me] who clearly lacks the means, this forum is the appropriate alternative to gain bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies that will escalate the level of our lives. We just have to be very perceptive to everything around here and act.