Wall Street is slowly recovering from previous week`s slump

Investors are breathing a sigh of relief after the torrid times during previous week. The S&P 500 futures rose 28 points or 1.08% to 2,647.25 as of 6:39 AM ET (11:54 GMT) while Dow futures increased 269 points or 1.10% to 24,436.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was up 66 points or 1.03% to 6,484.0. European stocks too are joining a global rebound as buyers move in following last week’s sharp overall falls, but sustained selling of US Treasuries ahead of inflation data is leaving investors feeling cautious.

The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 is 1.1 per cent higher in opening trade, turning around from a tumble of 5 per cent over the past five sessions. That was the worst performance since the first week of 2016 that was marred by worries over China.

London’s FTSE 100 rose 1 per cent and Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax 30 was up 1.3 per cent. Demand for technology and financial stocks is helping drive the trend.

In Hong Kong the Hang Seng index was 0.7 per cent higher, while in China the CSI 300 rose 1.3 per cent.

Forex

The dollar index is 0.2 per cent lower at 90.240. The euro is 0.3 per cent stronger at $1.2267 and the yen strengthened by 0.2 per cent to ¥108.54 per dollar.

Commodities

Brent crude is up 1.1 per cent at $63.47 a barrel after falling 3.2 per cent on Friday to a two-month low. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate is 1.3 per cent higher at $59.98 after dropping below $60 a barrel for the first time since December on Friday on concerns over higher US production.

Sources:

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/stocks–wall-street-on-track-to-recover-from-last-weeks-slump-1230097

https://www.ft.com/content/a108e1fe-0dec-11e8-8eb7-42f857ea9f09

https://www.ft.com/content/167ba166-0f95-11e8-940e-08320fc2a277

Proof of Stake is coming to cryptocurrencies, and it will change everything

Cyrrently, every single transaction in cryptocurrency blockchain needs to be ‘mined’ by powerful computers solving complex mathematical problems. The process ensures the security of the network, preventing double spends and other malicious actions. The process is known as a “Proof of Work” mining (the protocol underpinning Bitcoin and many others) uses as much energy as the nation Denmark. It’s a costly and lengthy process, and with the user base increasing everyday, traditional blockchains are sufferening increased workload.

With each transaction needing a lengthy confirmation process, the blockchain cannot scale easily as more and more users join the network. For example, Bitcoin transactions are now slow and expensive, with long backlogs of transactions waiting their turn.

Not only Bitcoin is under scrutiny. Ethereum is suffering also from the lenght of the process. Although the network can currently handle around fifteen transactions per second, significantly more than Bitcoin, we need only look at the recent Cryptokitties mania to see the crippling effect of high network load.

With the severe limitations proof of work seen, it seems impossible for real-world use cases to succeed. VISA and other non-blockchains handle thousands of transactions per second, and if the many projects emerging in the crypto space are to compete, something needs to change.

Proof-of-Stake game changer

Now, as we enter a new upgraded era of blockchains, the new system of transaction confirmation will be introduced. Instead of powerful miners verifying transactions on the network, users will be able to ‘stake’ their Cryptocurrency. If the stakers act honestly, confirming legitimate transactions, they will be rewarded with interest proportional to their stake. If the stakers act maliciously and try to cheat the system, their stake will be lost. One of the first blockchain platforms to implement this feature is known to be Ardor Blockchain Platform

Major Cryptonews 02 – 06 February 2018

Bitcoin Dips Below $7k Amidst News of China’s Full Ban of Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new multi-month low on Monday, Feb. 5, dropping below $7,000 for the first time since the middle of November 2017. According to Cointelegraph’s price index, BTC reached as low as $ 6,661.51 on Monday, losing at least 11 percent of value in the 24 hours to press time, and about 60 percent over the last 30 days. The latest cryptocurrency market decline has likely been caused in large part by the recent news from China that all foreign cryptocurrency exchanges are to be banned by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC): (see next headline)

Ban Complete: China Blocks Foreign Crypto Exchanges To Counter ‘Financial Risks’

China will add offshore cryptocurrency exchanges and ICO websites to its Great Firewall, the South China Morning Post reported Monday, reported Feb. 5, quoting a publication affiliated with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). Regulators in China reportedly voiced dissatisfaction with current measures restricting trading on domestic exchange sites, coming to a decision to block foreign sites as well to counter “financial risks”.

In January, a fresh crackdown from Beijing saw fringe trading platforms such as P2P and over-the-counter resources banned, adding to a blanket embargo on crypto-to-fiat trading and ICOs in place since September 2017.

Japanese Airline Confirms Future BTC Payment Option In The Works

Peach Aviation, a low-cost airline in Japan, has confirmed that their plan to allow Bitcoin (BTC) as payment is only delayed, not cancelled. Peach Aviation had initially announced in May 2017 that customers would be able to use Bitcoin as a payment method by the end of the year. However, in December 2017, the plan was postponed until March 2018.

Traditional Markets Nosedive, Following Bitcoin’s Own Slump Below $7k

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,100 points Monday, Feb. 5 experiencing its largest intraday drop since 2011, while Bitcoin (BTC) also dipped below
$7000 for the first time since November. The market dive took place around 2:40 pm EST, with reported trading volume at almost double the 30-day average, according to Bloomberg. The crypto market experienced a similar sharp decline, with 98 out of the top 100 coins listed on CoinMarketCap in the red at press time. The crypto markets had been relatively steadily falling ever since BTC’s December 2017 high of $20,000, but big proponents like John McAfee had been maintaining confidence in both Bitcoin and altcoins. During today’s more drastic dip of both the traditional and crypto markets, McAfee tweeted a graph of the past January dips of Bitcoin, writing that “Bitcoin does this every year at this time”:

What’s Causing The Bitcoin Crash?

A whole slew of bad news has led to a huge downturn in the crypto economy. Bitfinex is drawing the ire of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission because the exchange site offers users an option to tether their currency to the American dollar. The suspicious thing about that is neither Bitfinex nor Tether can necessarily prove they have enough money in bank accounts to back up the USDT token.
Overseas, India is cracking down on traders. The country’s government is surveying transactions on multiple exchanges in order to try and collect tax revenue. Estimates hint that $3.5 billion in transactions has found its way through India in the last 17 months leading into 2018.

And then there is South Korea. The country has no intention to ban cryptocurrency trading outright. But the government has taken steps to remove anonymity from the equation. South Korean traders must now use their real names.

All of this has contributed to the crypto bloodbath.

How Today’s Stock Markets Crash Will Affect Cryptocurrency Markets

As fear in markets decreases bitcoins price increase. Conversely, as fear increases bitcoins prices decrease. This makes Bitcoin a risk-on investment as opposed to more conservative investments like gold which are considered risk-off investments. It also tells us that in a longer-term bear stock market cryptocurrencies will likely fare even more poorly than their stock counterparts. Conversely, in a bullish market, they will likely fair better. As we now know: market sentiment, more than anything else, drives the price of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Price Falls to 80-Day Low

The downturn reduced the Bitcoin price by another 12 percent, bringing the most prominent cryptocurrency to an 80-day low. At present, the Bitcoin price is valued at just $7,660, which translates into a $130 billion market cap.

Altcoin Markets Plunge

On the whole, altcoins declined to a greater degree than Bitcoin, demonstrating that diversifying into altcoins will not necessarily provide investors with a hedge against major market declines. Both the Ripple price and Bitcoin Cash price declined by 13 percent, reducing the third- and fourth-largest cryptocurrencies to present values of $0.75 and
$1,017, respectively. Fifth-ranked Cardano posted the worst performance of any top 10- cryptocurrenecy, plunging 18 percent to $0.34. EOS and Litecoin, meanwhile, returned single-day declines of 12 percent. Stellar, ranked eighth, declined nine percent for the day, which — demonstrating the severity of the downturn — was the best performance of any cryptocurrency ranked in the top 50, excluding the USD-pegged Tether. NEO and NEM rounded out the top 10 with 24-hour declines of 14 percent and 17 percent, respectively, reducing their prices to $95 and $0.49.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-dips-below-7k-amidst-news-of-chinas-full-ban-of- cryptocurrency-exchanges

https://cointelegraph.com/news/ban-complete-china-blocks-foreign-crypto-exchanges-to- counter-financial-risks

https://cointelegraph.com/news/japanese-airline-confirms-future-btc-payment-option-in-the- works

https://cointelegraph.com/news/traditional-markets-nosedive-following-bitcoins-own-slump- below-7k

A History Of Bitcoin Price Collapses Over the Years

How Today’s Stock Markets Crash Will Affect Cryptocurrency Markets

Cryptocurrency Market Cap Retreats Below $400 Billion

https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/02/06/bitcoin-price-watch-heres-trade-mornings-levels/

https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/02/06/alt-coin-analysis-neo-eos-ltc-nem-lumens-2/

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-ethereum-bitcoin-cash-ripple-stellar-litecoin-nem- neo-eos-price-analysis-feb-05

Major Cryptonews 29 January – 01 February 2018

South Korea Finance Minister Confirms ‘No Ban’ On Cryptocurrency

South Korea Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon has reaffirmed that the government will not ban or otherwise “suppress” cryptocurrency in the country, according to a statement reported by Reuters on Jan. 31. In the latest update to the country’s ongoing regulatory overhaul of cryptocurrency exchange, Kim firmly distanced Seoul from previous comments about a potential outright ban, which had caused public outrage earlier this month. “There is no intention to ban or suppress cryptocurrency (market),” he said in the statement.

South Korea: $600 Million Uncovered in Illegal Cryptocurrency Forex Trading

The Korea Customs Service (KCS) has revealed an investigation into illicit Forex trading practices, and uncovered $600 million (637.5 billion won) worth cryptocurrencies that were exchanged illegally in South Korea.

Venezuela Says Crypto Mining Now ‘Perfectly Legal,’ Announces Petro Presale

Venezuela’s government has said cryptocurrency mining is now “completely legal” as it plans the presale of its Petro coin for next month. In comments during a TV address quoted by local news outlet TeleSur, the country’s newly-dubbed ‘cryptocurrency superintendent’ Carlos Vargas confirmed that citizens mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were not breaking the law. Petro is designed to be backed by Venezuela’s oil reserves, with one token equalling one barrel. This would give the entire 100 million supply of Petro a market value of almost $6 bln.

Samsung Enters Crypto Mining Market

Samsung announced a deal on Monday, Jan. 29 to manufacture ASIC mining hardware with Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC. “Mass production” of the ASIC chip has already begun in January, according to Korean news outlet The Bell. An ASIC chip, which stands for Application-Specific Integrated Circuit, is a specialized piece of hardware designed to only mine cryptocurrencies based on a specific hashing algorithm

India Signals Crackdown on Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency Usage

In presenting the country’s budget plan for 2018 today, Indian finance Minister doubled down on refusing to recognize cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as legal tender amid talk of a wider crackdown on their usage. “The Government does not consider cryptocurrencies as legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payments system” – India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley said

“Crypto Nation”: Switzerland Embraces Cryptocurrencies as an ICO Haven

The Swiss are bucking an otherwise resistant trend among the world’s regulators toward cryptocurrencies. Instead, Switzerland is embracing the culture of cryptocurrencies, as evidenced by a leadership role for the domiciling of upcoming ICOs, as reported in the FT. According to the FT, Switzerland-based ICOs attracted $550 million to their coffers between January and October 2017, compared to $580 million in the United States — the two top countries for token sales. All told, ICOs last year raised about $4 billion. The appeal of Switzerland is clear, as evidenced by wealthy local investors coupled with high-quality tech talent.

Souces

https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-finance-minister-confirms-no-ban-on- cryptocurrency

https://cointelegraph.com/news/venezuela-says-crypto-mining-now-perfectly-legal- announces-petro-presale

https://cointelegraph.com/news/samsung-enters-crypto-mining-market-mass-producing- asic-chips-for-china

India Signals Crackdown on Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency Usage

South Korea: $600 Million Uncovered in Illegal Cryptocurrency Forex Trading

“Crypto Nation”: Switzerland Embraces Cryptocurrencies as an ICO Haven

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-ethereum-bitcoin-cash-ripple-stellar-litecoin-nem- neo-eos-price-analysis-jan-31;

https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/02/01/bitcoin-price-technical- analysis-02-01-2018-bearish-pullback-opportunity/;

https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/02/01/ripple-price-technical-analysis-xrp-usd-recovery- fading/;

https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/02/01/ethereum-price-technical-analysis-eth-usd- resume-uptrend/

Largest monthly decline in 4 years recorded by Bitcoin and other Cryptos

Not a good month for Cryptocurrencies, not at all indeed. Short traders are profiting, obviously, but those who were betting for the rise are having hard times watching all major cryptocurrencies drop in value. Bitcoin slumped 6.3% at $10,199 by 5:58AM ET (11:58GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange. Prices are down around 25% so far this month, the worst monthly performance since December 2013. Ethereum ETH/USD the world’s second largest cryptocurrency lost 5.3% to $1,101.00 on the Bitfinex exchange, while Ripple’s XRP token was trading down 7.8% at $1.1231 on the Poloniex exchange.

Source

https://www.investing.com/analysis/crypto-bloodbath-amid-widespread-equity-and-bond- carnage-vix-breakout-200285203

https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-drops-on-track-for-largest- monthly-decline-in-four-years-1174647

https://www.investing.com/currencies/btc-usd

https://www.investing.com/currencies/eth-usd

https://www.investing.com/currencies/xrp-usd

Russian Sanctions to follow the publishing of Kremlin Oligarch Report

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Tuesday that New U.S. sanctions will follow the publication of a list of Russian billionaires and top Russian officials. Many experts have criticized the content of the report, dubbing it as a “Kremlin telephone book” packed with the of billionaires published by the Russian edition of Forbes magazine from last year. The sanctions could easily harm many of the Russian-linked companies, seriously impacting their financial records. But there is more to it. There is a classified part of the report, which was not released, and it is expected to include details on lower profile individuals and how close they are to Mr Putin and his ruling elite, and any information outlining their involvement in corrupt activities.

Sources

https://www.investing.com/news/economy-news/mnuchin-says-russia-sanctions-coming- after-oligarch-report-1171827

https://www.ft.com/content/1d3d7f24-057c-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5