Major US-based crypto exchange Kraken says Bitcoin (BTC) could be about to surge up to 200% in the coming months.

In a new volatility report, Kraken predicts that BTC could rally between 50% and 200% within months, citing several key indicators. These include the fact that BTC volatility hit a 21-month low of 23% on 24 July – something that has historically been followed by rallies averaging 140%. 

The Kraken report also notes some unusual behaviour, indicating something different could be about to happen. For example, though July is usually the third-weakest month for BTC, last July was the second strongest in terms of performance since 2011 – with 44% of the month’s trade volume happening in its last seven days.

Immediately prior to July’s rally, the month saw what Kraken describes as a “suppressed pocket” of weak volatility – with the exchange noting that 10 out of 12 previous similar circumstances have been followed by gains topping 196%.  

Perhaps most interesting of all, given the state of the world, Kraken points out that BTC’s rolling 30-day correlation with gold hit a 12-month high on 31 July, reaching 0.93. Just weeks before, on 2 July, it had fallen to a 10-month low of -0.66. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Kraken’s prediction of a major Bitcoin bull run can be added to numerous similar predictions from a growing list of experts, ranging from Willy Woo and Robert Kiyosaki, to Raoul Paul and Dan Morehead. Some businesses are also starting to bet big on Bitcoin, with Grayscale recently going on a BTC buying spree and, as we reported only yesterday, Virginia-based business intelligence software company MicroStrategy, purchasing $250m of the cryptocurrency. 

So, what’s going on? Weren’t the predictions that Bitcoin would be the new ‘safe haven’ during the COVID-19 crisis proven wrong already? Well, not really. In reality, if you look back and business news reports from the early days of the crisis, it becomes clear that the vast majority of commentators thought this would be a short-lived crisis. Hence, most investors, traders and businesses weren’t going to change their fundamental views.

However, now it is becoming clear that there’s no end in sight to the crisis, we’re starting to see just how much damage the lockdowns have already done to the global economy and society, and tensions are rising around the world from the South China Sea and Indo-Chinese border, to eastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, more people are realising the gravity of the situation. 

Maybe it’s just taking people a while to get over their normalcy bias, and Bitcoin really will, as deVere Group’s Nigel Green recently speculated, replace gold as the ultimate safe haven asset?

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Virginia-based business intelligence software company, MicroStrategy, has bet big on Bitcoin with a $250 million USD purchase. 

Though many companies invest surplus capital in bonds and other assets as part of their treasury management strategies, purchasing this amount of Bitcoin is almost unheard of for a publicly-traded firm.

Founded in 1989, NASDAQ-listed MicroStrategy now counts household names like Pepsi and Adidas as clients, has a market cap of around $1.2 billion, and reported a profit of $34 million in 2019. 

Discussing the move Chief Investment Officer at secure enterprise blockchain NEM, Dave Hodgson, said:

“This move by the largest publicly traded business intelligence company marks an inflection point. MicroStrategy’s CEO Michael J. Saylor has explicitly stated it represents the company’s belief in BTC as a store of value that has superior long term appreciation prospects than FIAT.

“This is the latest in a series of moves that indicates the wider spread adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, including the US government validating that national banks can custody cryptocurrency alongside other asset classes, Goldman Sachs performing a u-turn and becoming pro-cryptocurrency and of course, the first Central Bank Digital Currency being issued by an EU state bank (Bank of Lithuania).

“These are all important milestones towards wider institutional and enterprise adoption of a global deflationary currency and monetary system. They also come against a backdrop of many national governments utilising vast “Quantitative Easing” or more simply stated — inflation, to devalue their own national currencies. 

“The USD, for example, has printed the same number of dollars added to circulation in the past 4 months as it had in the preceding 200 years. This marks the first of many moves to seek a more reliable treasury baseline currency than those currently utilised. BTC, by comparison, has a known maximum supply and a known rate of supply increase, that cannot be changed.”

While CEO and Founder of Blockdaemon, Konstantin Richter, added:

“2020 has been a pivotal year for crypto. MicroStrategy, a $1.2 billion firm, bought $250m worth of Bitcoin viewing the asset as a superior to cash. In 2020, we have seen VISA, Mastercard, JPMorgan and now MicroStrategy — a myriad of multi-billion dollar corporate behemoths not only opening up to but embracing crypto. 

“More institutions will follow suit as the markets witness a surge in Bitcoin tied to the flood of money printed by central bankers in recent months as countries try to forestall the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic. Unlike national currencies, Bitcoin has a finite supply of 21 million, which makes it a hedge against inflation akin to gold. 

“We are moving to an exciting phase for the markets as the foundation for digital asset markets moves from the fringes to become a core offering of financial markets. Overall it is great news for the crypto asset class and portends a major transformation of the crypto landscape.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Though many traditionally-minded commentators can’t seem to shake their unwavering belief in fiat currencies, and despite something of a “boy who cried wolf” effect over the last few years, with multiple pundits declaring the imminent death of the old system, only to be proved wrong, there are signs the COVID-19 crisis has changed everything.

Only today the UK government conceded it had officially entered the worst recession in recorded history and, as Dave Hodgson pointed out, money printing has gone into the realms of Never Never Land in the United States. 

And, with the COVID-19 crisis showing no signs of ending, plus international tensions ratcheting up around the world (China seemingly poised to strike Taiwan and India, Russia menacing eastern Europe, and Turkey and Greece on the brink), maybe Nigel Green, CEO and founder of financial consultancy firm deVere Group, will prove to be right when he said Bitcoin (BTC) could be poised to replace gold as the ultimate safe haven asset. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are facing a class-action lawsuit for “cartel-like” behaviour intended to kill off crypto competition.

The social media and search giants are the target of a class-action lawsuit, led by Australian lawyer and CEO of JPB Liberty, Andrew Hamilton, which could be worth as much as $300 billion.

According to Cointelegraph, Hamilton believes the companies engaged in “cartel-like” behaviour in a coordinated effort to kill off the nascent virtual currency sector in 2018, by introducing blanket bans on the advertising and promotion of crypto assets and initial coin offerings (ICOs). 

Hamilton is convinced that, under Australian competition law, it will be “pretty easy” to prove the social and search behemoths were acting as a cartel, and has spent two-and-a-half years preparing the case against them. 

In addition to Hamilton’s time preparing the case, a “major law firm” has also contributed “hundreds of hours off the clock,” which he says is a sure sign they believe the case is winnable. 

Anyone holding cryptos or involved in crypto space can participate

JPB Liberty says anyone holding cryptocurrencies, or “involved in the Cryptocosm” can join the Class Action as a Class Member, on an anonymous, no win, no fee basis. The deadline for claimants to sign-up to the lawsuit is 21 August. If successful, claimants will receive 70% of any settlement, while the suit’s funders will get 30%. 

It seems only fitting that, in addition to seeking institutional litigation funding, JPB Liberty is also offering Web 3.0 Litigation Funding – which raises funding via a token sale. 25% of damages awarded by the Class Action will be paid to token holders, with 5% going to JBP, and the tokens will be listed on crypto exchanges to provide liquidity for token holders during the lengthy litigation process. 

The law firm also says it is investigating other potential Class Actions, including against banks with banned cryptocurrency purchases by credit cards, against banks which improperly froze customer accounts due to legitimate cryptocurrency transactions, and against regulators who exceeded their legal and constitutional authority in attempting to regulate crypto. 

AYO.NEWS says:

This is very interesting indeed. Though we’re sure the social media and search companies will argue they introduced the bans to “protect consumers” from being misled, it’s hard to believe that was the real reason for such sweeping action.

After all, at the same time as the companies were banning the promotion of crypto assets and ICOs, they were themselves working furiously on their own crypto projects! 

For example, though Twitter banned crypto advertising, Jack Dorsey’s own financial firm Square was allowed to promote its crypto-friendly Cash App. And, lets not forget, when Facebook banned all crypto promotion, it was hard at work on its own Libra project! 

Only yesterday we reported that Facebook has launched a dedicated fintech division, Facebook Financial, or ‘F2’, to promote “payments and commerce opportunities,” despite its Libra stablecoin project appearing to be dead in the water. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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iGaming cryptocurrency and blockchain solutions provider DAOGroup has unveiled what it says is the industry’s fastest blockchain-based platform. 

According to the Singapore-based company, its platform, which offers transaction times as short as a second, has been designed to “revolutionise” mainstream blockchain-based gaming.

DAO’s platform is available as a white label solution, enabling operators to offer no-deposit gaming and real-time payouts in what it says is the industry’s “first workable format.” 

By making use of super-fast finality to determine a provably fair outcome almost instantaneously, DAO’s platform eliminates the need for players to deposit funds ahead of playing. Instead, winnings and losses are taken or added to players’ digital wallets via the use of smart contracts.

DAO’s hyper-fast solution overcomes the problems stopping other blockchains from being used effectively for iGaming – for example, Ethereum can take over 15 minutes to reach any level of probabilistic finality. 

Discussing the news DAOGroup CCO, Glen Bullen, said:

“We’re dedicated to transforming the iGaming industry’s understanding and use of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, with the launch of our platform coming at a pivotal time when that conversation is returning to the mainstream. 

“Crypto-based gaming has proved bullish in the last few months and we’re here to start bringing its benefits into the mainstream for operators. 

“As well as offering an entire ecosystem for the development and migration of blockchain-based games, we’re able to offer the industry’s fastest and most reliable platform with no-deposit mechanics and real-time pay outs.”

Earlier this year, the company also unveiled its DAOWallet, which delivers an advanced cryptocurrency-fiat gateway, enabling operators to offer third-party crypto transactions without the need for additional AML and compliance procedures. 

AYO.NEWS says:

If DAOGroup’s blockchain platform lives up to its promises, it clearly has the potential to catalyse the mainstream adoption of blockchain and smart contract tech in the iGaming space. 

Staying with DAOGroup, in June the company announced it had entered a referral agreement with PartnerMatrix. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Despite the lack of progress on its Libra stablecoin project, Facebook has doubled down on its fintech efforts, launching a new product group. 

According to Bloomberg, Facebook Financial, or ‘F2’, will be headed by David Marcus, Libra’s co-creator, and will be tasked with promoting “payments and commerce opportunities.”

F2 looks set to bring all of Facebook’s existing fintech projects, such as the Novi wallet (formerly known as ‘Calibra’), and WhatsApp payments, under one command.

Stephane Kasriel, former CEO of Upwork, has been appointed payments vice president, reporting to Marcus. 

With Facebook’s blockchain-based currency efforts currently stalled, it seems the new division’s immediate focus will be to roll out WhatsApp payments in developing markets like India and Brazil. 

Staying with Facebook and Libra, only last month UC Berkeley professor, economic historian, and former IMF policy adviser, Barry Eichengreen, said that the project will likely encounter too many “insoluble” problems and roadblocks from national governments to ever launch properly. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though Eichengreen may well be right about Libra, Facebook’s massive reach through Facebook itself, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp mean there’s still enormous opportunities to integrate payments services, and in the process create a dominante new force in financial services. 

However, what does seem likely now is that those financial services will take far longer to roll out, will be much more piecemeal, and a little more traditional in nature. At least for the time being. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has published a greenlist of 8 cryptocurrencies approved for sale and trade.

According to an official update, the currencies approved are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Binance USD (BUSD), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Pax Gold (PAXG), and Paxos Standard Token (PAX).

The same cryptos, plus XRP and Ethereum Classic (ETC), have also been approved for custody by licensed entities. 

The NYDFS noted that it reserves the right to remove tokens from the list, add restrictions to specific coins, or even discontinue the list. It also reminded licensed entities that they need to inform the regulator before they use any of the greenlisted cryptos. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s not the most dramatic news in the world, but it does reaffirm the NYDFS as one of the United States’ leading regulatory agencies when it comes to cryptocurrency businesses. 

The state already issues a crypto business license called the BitLicense, and in June announced it would be introducing a conditional type of license aimed at helping smaller businesses regulate, by letting them partner with larger already-licensed ‘Guardians.’

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020