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Bitcoin Price Analysis: Choppy Market Conditions Lead to Tests of Parabolic Resistance The bitcoin market has been getting chopped to pieces for weeks as the market has faked up, faked down, consolidated and routinely stopped out traders. Last week, we discussed a potential large move due to a consolidated symmetrical triangle. However, the breakout failed to garner any momentum and ultimately flopped as the move upward quickly died down and ultimately reversed. At the time of this article, however, the market is poised in a precarious situation as it tiptoes around historic support/resistance along the parabolic envelope:Figure 1: BTC-USD, 2-Hour Candles, Parabolic Curve Test As noted in previous bitcoin analyses, this parabolic envelope has been the dominating trend for the last three years: Figure 2: BTC-USD, 1-Day Candles, Macro Trend Over Thanksgiving, the parabolic trend that was previously governing much of the three-year bull market broke upward as the market’s parabolic movement accelerated aggressively upward. Since the break to the top of the parabolic envelope, the market has been on shaky ground where, at one point, it even did a massive 50% retracement. Since that aggressive retracement, the market has yet to fully recover and resume any semblance of a bullish continuation. Currently, the once-supportive parabolic curve is now proving to be a point of resistance as the market has made several tests of the upper resistance. To date, this marks the fifth test of the parabolic trend. This time, however, we are testing it from the bottom of the parabola. Previous tests from the top side of the parabola were swiftly rejected causing very little market activity to take place below the parabolic trend. It seems, yet again, bitcoin is at a crossroads as it decides if the upper parabolic resistance is too strong to resume an uptrend. If the market continues downward, we can expect to find support along the low boundaries of the trading range (shown in blue), the linear trend (shown in pink) and the lower parabolic curve (shown in black): Figure 3: BTC-USD, 2-Hour Candles, Next Lines of Support Summary: Choppy market conditions have led bitcoin to test the parabolic support — a previous guiding trend for the last three years. A failure to break the upper parabolic resistance may cause a test of lower values. Support will be found at the lower ranges of the trading range and along the linear and parabolic trend lines. Trading and investing in digital assets like bitcoin and ether is highly speculative and comes with many risks. This analysis is for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Statements and financial information on Bitcoin Magazine and BTC Media related sites do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BTC Media and should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. The post Bitcoin Price Analysis: Choppy Market Conditions Lead to Tests of Parabolic Resistance appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine. from My Bitconnect Journey https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitcoin-price-analysis-choppy-market-conditions-lead-tests-parabolic-resistance/ via Bitcoin News https://fs.bitcoinmagazine.com/img/images/BitcoinPrice3.width-800.jpg REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/goN4bcc

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Telegram’s Privacy-Focused User Base Could Be TON Blockchain’s Killer App In December 2017, an interesting rumor surfaced: According to “sources familiar with the matter,” the messaging app Telegram, very popular among crypto-enthusiasts for its strong encryption and privacy features, would launch its own blockchain platform and cryptocurrency. On January 8, 2018, TechCrunch reported that several unnamed sources had confirmed the news and quoted a secret Telegram white paper. According to TechCrunch, “the potential for a cryptocurrency inside a widely adopted messaging app is enormous.” Of course, a leaked executive summary of the white paper is now available. The document has been shared by Cryptovest, and its authenticity has been independently confirmed by TNW. The 23-page executive summary often refers to an unreleased technical white paper which, according to TechCrunch, has 132 pages. “This paper outlines a vision for a new cryptocurrency and an ecosystem capable of meeting the needs of hundreds of millions of consumers, including 200 million Telegram users,” reads the white paper. “Launching in 2018, this cryptocurrency will be based on a multi-blockchain proof-of-stake system — TON (Telegram Open Network, after 2021 The Open Network) — designed to host a new generation of cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications.” Scaling and Adoption According to Telegram, while cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based technologies have the potential to make the world more secure and self-governed, no consensus-backed currency has been able to appeal to the mass market and reach mainstream adoption. Despite the utility of Bitcoin and Ethereum, “there is no current standard cryptocurrency used for the regular exchange of value in the daily lives of ordinary people.” This is what the TON project wants to change. According to Telegram, the world needs an electronic “decentralized counterpart to everyday money — a truly mass-market cryptocurrency.” Scaling transaction throughput to the tens of thousands of transactions per second supported by major credit card networks such as Visa and Mastercard is an important requirement for a mass-market cryptocurrency. While Bitcoin and Ethereum developers are working toward achieving higher throughput, the Telegram white paper notes that Bitcoin and Ethereum are currently limited to a maximum of only seven transactions per second for Bitcoin and 15 transactions per second for Ethereum, resulting in insufficient speeds and higher transaction costs. The white paper does not seem to take second-layer protocols into account, however. Existing cryptocurrencies face other roadblocks as well, according to Telegram. For example, they are still too complicated for average merchants and consumers, the demand for crypto-assets comes mainly from investors rather than consumers, and there’s no critical mass for the ecosystem to grow and “eventually become adopted by hundreds of millions of users.” “Telegram will use its expertise in encrypted distributed data storage to create TON, a fast and inherently scalable multi-blockchain architecture,” states the white paper. “TON can be regarded as a decentralized supercomputer and value transfer system. By combining minimum transaction time with maximum security, TON can become a VISA/Mastercard alternative for the new decentralized economy.” The Tech Specs The TON blockchain will consist of a master chain and (eventually) a huge number (2**92) of accompanying blockchains (shards) that can dynamically split and merge to accommodate changes in load and achieve optimal throughput. TON will use a proof-of-stake approach based on a variant of the Byzantine Fault Tolerant protocol and instant hypercube routing to partition the workload among shards. Network protocols for storage, TOR-like privacy and micropayments will be released after the TON blockchain core. Of course, TON will be fully integrated in the Telegram messaging network. According to the white paper, this will permit leveraging Telegram’s massive user base and developed ecosystem to provide a clear path to cryptocurrencies for millions of people, with light wallets implemented in Telegram applications. The white paper notes that 84 percent of blockchain-based projects have an active Telegram community, more than all other chat applications combined, which makes Telegram the “cryptocurrency world’s preferred messaging app.” According to the roadmap in the white paper, a Minimal Viable Test Network for TON will be launched in Q2 2018. Then, after a testing phase and a security audit, a stable version of TON and a Telegram wallet will be deployed in Q4 2018. Funding with Grams The TON coins will be called Grams. To fund TON, Telegram will launch a token sale in Q1 2018. Initially, 44 percent of the total supply (2.2 billion) of Grams will be sold at a price that will start at $0.10 per Gram and gradually increase, with each Gram priced one billionth higher than the previous one, reaching $1 per Gram once 2.2 billion tokens have been sold. Based on these projections, it seems that Telegram’s token sale could easily become the biggest in history. Of the total supply of Grams, 52 percent will be retained by the TON Reserve “to protect the nascent cryptocurrency from speculative trading and to maintain flexibility at the early stages of the evolution of the system,” and the remaining 4 percent will be reserved for the development team. According to current plans, the token sale will use a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT), to be converted 1:1 to native TON Grams after the deployment of the TON Blockchain. Telegram wants to serve as a launch pad for TON, but it plans eventually to transfer ownership and governance of the TON system to a non-profit TON Foundation. “By 2021, the initial TON vision and architecture will have been implemented and deployed,” states the white paper. “TON will then let go of the ‘Telegram’ element in its name and become ‘The Open Network.’ From then on, the continuous evolution of the TON Blockchain will be maintained by the TON Foundation.” The TON Killer App: A Privacy-Focused User Base TON’s killer app is Telegram’s ability to leverage the enthusiasm of millions of cryptocurrency fans among the app’s 200 million users. At the same time, however, it’s worth noting that the greater population doesn’t really care much about encryption or cryptocurrencies. Many other messaging apps, such as Facebook’s Messenger and Whatsapp, are much more popular than Telegram. Telegram is independent, self-funded and privacy-focused. The popularity of Telegram among cryptocurrency enthusiasts can be explained by the fact that the messaging app was founded “by libertarians to preserve freedom through encryption.” These features make it more attractive than other platforms, like Messenger or Whatsapp, to users who feel strongly about privacy protection. It’s then interesting to speculate about possible moves of Facebook toward developing a cryptocurrency integrated with its social network and messaging platform. In a recent post, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg notes that, contrary to the once widespread belief that technology could be a decentralizing force that puts more power in people’s hands, it now appears that technology’s net effect is that of centralizing power in the hands of large corporations and governments. “There are important counter-trends to this — like encryption and cryptocurrency — that take power from centralized systems and put it back into people’s hands,” says Zuckerberg. “But they come with the risk of being harder to control. I’m interested to go deeper and study the positive and negative aspects of these technologies and how best to use them in our services.” In as speech by FBI Director Christopher Wray on January 9, 2018, to the International Conference on Cyber Security, he highlighted his concerns over encryption, pointing out that last year, 7,800 devices were rendered inaccessible to law enforcement. “This problem impacts our investigations across the board — human trafficking, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, gangs, organized crime, child exploitation and cyber,” he stated. He called on the private sector to find ways that would allow them to “respond to lawfully issued court orders, in a way that is consistent with both the rule of law and strong cybersecurity.” It is these sorts of access measures that Zuckerberg will probably be considering. While it doesn’t seem plausible that Facebook could become a staunch champion of privacy like Telegram, it will definitely be interesting to watch Facebook’s moves in the cryptocurrency space. The post Telegram’s Privacy-Focused User Base Could Be TON Blockchain’s Killer App appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine. from My Bitconnect Journey https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/telegrams-privacy-focused-user-base-could-be-ton-blockchains-killer-app/ via Bitcoin News https://fs.bitcoinmagazine.com/img/images/telegram_ton.width-800.jpg REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/goN4bcc

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Kodak Gets in on the Blockchain and ICO Picture Kodak, the iconic photography company first established in in the 1880s, has joined the blockchain and ICO age. Today, January 9, 2018, it announced a new blockchain-based platform with WENN Digital to empower and protect image makers, photographers and artists. The new platform, known as KodakOne, will enable users to register their work and license it with the platform. The image rights management platform will utilize the new KODAKCoin cryptocurrency to provide photographers with a new revenue stream and secure platform for protecting their work. The smart contract associated with KODAKCoin will ensure that photographers receive payment immediately upon their work being licensed in addition to receiving a share of the overall platform revenue. The platform will also continually scan the web to monitor and protect the artist’s IP and assist them in dealing with illegal use of their work. “For many in the tech industry, ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’ are hot buzzwords, but for photographers who’ve long struggled to assert control over their work and how it’s used, these buzzwords are the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem,” said Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke in a statement. “Kodak has always sought to democratize photography and make licensing fair to artists. These technologies give the photography community an innovative and easy way to do just that.” The KODAKOne platform and KODAKCoin cryptocurrency were developed for Kodak by WENN Digital. Their ICO will begin on January 31, 2018, and is open to accredited investors from the U.S., U.K., Canada and other select countries. This ICO is issued under SEC guidelines as a security token under Regulation 506 (c) as an exempt offering. The post Kodak Gets in on the Blockchain and ICO Picture appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine. from My Bitconnect Journey https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/kodak-gets-blockchain-and-ico-picture/ via Bitcoin News https://fs.bitcoinmagazine.com/img/images/kodak.width-800.jpg REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/goN4bcc

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How a Hackathon Birthed the CryptoKitties Origin Story “CryptoKitties,” the most popular game ever released on the Ethereum blockchain to date, became an instant success in December of 2018. About 180,000 people have already signed up for CryptoKitties since the cute creatures were introduced to the world just a few months ago. Over $20 million in ether has already been spent, and at least 10 kitties have sold for more than $100,000. Yet while the impressive numbers behind this crypto-phenomenon clearly demonstrate its success, most people remain unaware of how and why CryptoKitties came into being in the first place. Hackathons Breeding Blockchain Innovations The birth of CryptoKitties (Alpha) happened during the ETHWaterloo hackathon, the world’s largest Ethereum hackathon, which took place in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, back in October 2017. The project to bring cats to the Ethereum blockchain had a surprise alpha launch during the 36-hour Ethereum-based hackathon, which attracted hundreds of developers, mentors and sponsors from across the globe. The CryptoKitties team came to the ETHWaterloo hackathon prepared, wearing rainbow-colored cat T-shirts, along with cat-balloons marked as the “CryptoKitties Team.” The four-person team also handed out customized Pokemon business cards and stickers featuring a link to their website. The alpha launch during the hackathon featured different breeding challenges that demonstrated how CryptoKitties could produce offspring. Winners of these challenges were rewarded with ether. According to ETHWaterloo’s organizer, Liam Horne, the CryptoKitties team joined the hackathon with a new and innovative idea for the Ethereum blockchain, along with a truly creative marketing strategy. “The four-person CryptoKitties team was building an entirely new technology on the Ethereum blockchain, but also had the business skills to get the word out,” Horne told Bitcoin Magazine. “For instance, each ETHWaterloo participant was gifted two CryptoKitties. A total of 50 CryptoKitties were given away at the start of the event. From there, users were able to trade and breed hundreds of cute, collectible, digital cats. By the end of the hackathon, hackers, cryptocurrency enthusiasts and other curious users had bred over 1,500 CryptoKitties in just 36 hours.” At the end of the event, the CryptoKitties team was chosen as one of the 8 winners, which opened up several new opportunities, including the chance to meet with some VC firms. Their win also marked the start of a surge of media exposure that expanded to several mainstream media outlets. Hackathons Spark Creativity The idea may have once sounded crazy, but it turns out that putting kitties on the blockchain has become all the rage. Yet none of this would have been possible without the support of the ETHWaterloo hackathon. “People usually perceive hackathons as being competitions,” said Horne, who has been organizing hackathons since his university days. “The ETHWaterloo hackathon, however, was not about this. We framed this as an event where programmers fascinated by Ethereum could be in the same room for 36 hours. The purpose of this was to experiment and have fun with Ethereum-based blockchain technology.” He said that the CryptoKitties team was given advice from mentors, feedback from sponsors and a chance to test out their ideas with other programmers who understood the value of having digital cats on the Ethereum platform. This in mind, Horne believes that hackathons are crucial for sparking new innovations in blockchain technology. The next Ethereum hackathon is set to take place in Denver next month. This event will be supported by Horne’s new initiative called ETHGlobal, which will help hackathon organizers around the world launch their own ETHWaterloo-style hackathons. “Hackathons are simply a place for great minds to come together for a short period of time with the explicit goal of producing something practical and tangible using some kind of technology. It is astonishing how much can be done when you get the right group of people together for a weekend to just have fun and build something they find interesting,” said Horne. “I have seen prototypes be built that have later turned into profitable businesses; projects that were dreamed of, built, launched and used by hundreds of people in the span of 36 hours at hackathons like ETHWaterloo. “The most valuable component, however, is what happens after the hackathon ends. Every now and then a team of hackers will keep working together on their hack and the event will act as a catalyst for a project that could become quite meaningful and interesting to the world, and to investors.” Ultimately, hackathons allow hackers to work together with other people who are interested in the same technology, providing an additional set of ears, eyes and more ideas. In particular, hackathons in emerging tech fields — such as blockchain technology — allow hackers to come up with fresh projects that could eventually turn into something much larger down the road, like CryptoKitties. And with over 500,000 people listed as interested in attending Ethereum Meetups worldwide, blockchain-based hackathons are bound to breed many more unique and clever innovations in the future. The post How a Hackathon Birthed the CryptoKitties Origin Story appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine. from My Bitconnect Journey https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/how-hackathon-birthed-cryptokitties-origin-story1/ via Bitcoin News https://fs.bitcoinmagazine.com/img/images/cryptokitty.width-800.jpg REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/goN4bcc

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Cardano Lists ADA Futures on BitMEX Starting on Monday, January 8, 2018, at 8:00 a.m. GMT, the ADA token from Cardano began to be listed on the futures exchange at BitMEX. This makes BitMEX the fifth exchange to list the ADA token since Bittrex did so in October 2017, followed by Upbit, Binance and Coinnest. Cardano, a project of IOHK, was designed by leading experts in academics and cryptography over the last couple years and draws from various features of existing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum, but uses a proof-of-stake/security model as opposed to proof of work. Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IOHK, said: “As markets evolve, there is an increasing need for liquidity and more sophisticated trading strategies. I’m glad to see BitMEX list ADA and hope this continues to aid our march towards becoming the financial stack for the developing world.” Cardano is a full blockchain, built from scratch in the functional programming language Haskell. At the heart of Cardano lies Ouroboros, a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm. Ouroboros comes with a mathematical proof of security that has undergone a rigorous peer review, resulting in its acceptance and presentation at the major cryptography conference Crypto 2017. News broke last week that GRNET, the national research and education network of Greece, is working on a pilot project to verify student diplomas on Cardano, signifying a first official use case for the Cardano blockchain. The chairman of the Cardano Foundation, Michael Parsons, said: “This new listing is indicative of Cardano becoming a truly global blockchain platform. We are excited to see Cardano list with BitMEX. Adoption of ADA by new trading platforms is reflective of the bright future that Cardano has as a leading blockchain platform.” The BitMEX listing of ADA is a form of fixed-date contract that allows traders to speculate on the changing value of the ADA/XBT exchange rate with a leverage of up to 20 times. It is not required for traders to have ADA to trade the contract; it only requires bitcoin as a margin. Full details are available on the BitMEX site here. The post Cardano Lists ADA Futures on BitMEX appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine. from My Bitconnect Journey https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/cardano-lists-ada-futures-bitmex/ via Bitcoin News https://fs.bitcoinmagazine.com/img/images/ADABitMEX.width-800.jpg REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/goN4bcc

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CFTC to Discuss Digital Currency Futures Certification Process Five weeks ago, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced three exchanges had self-certified Bitcoin derivatives products. Following the subsequent backlash from the Futures Industry Association (FIA), the CFTC has announced two public committee meetings to review the self-certification process, procedures and operational controls for listing and trading digital currency futures. The news comes on the heels of SEC and NASAA independent statements which discussed the concerns both regulators share on cryptocurrencies, ICOs and other, “Cryptocurrency-related Investment Products.” The first meeting, slated for January 23, 2018, is the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting. The topics outlined for discussion include “explor[ing] timely topics and issues involving financial technology in CFTC regulated markets, potentially including blockchain/DLT, data standardization and analytics, algorithmic trading, virtual currencies, cybersecurity, and RegTech.” While the committee meeting will be open to the public and held at the CFTC headquarters in Washington, D.C., a webcast of the meeting will also be available. The second meeting, slated for January 31, 2018, is with the Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC). It, too, is open to the public and will have a webcast for remote viewing. The purpose of this Committee Meeting is to discuss “the statutory and regulatory process for the listing of new and novel products on CFTC-regulated designated contract markets (DCMs) and swap execution facilities (SEFs) through self-certification.” CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam stated: With the rapid development of financial technology products – including cryptocurrencies – and the corresponding demand for new and novel price discovery and risk management tools, the CFTC is poised to utilize its authority and expertise to ensure that the markets we oversee innovate responsibly within an appropriate oversight framework. Behnam added, “I believe this is a perfect time for the MRAC to discuss the application of the CFTC’s self-certification process in today’s quickly evolving, technology driven marketplace.” It remains to be seen if other regulators view these meetings as an attempt by the CFTC to expand its own authority through amending the self-certification process or if they are happy to follow for the lead role the CFTC is attempting to take in guiding cryptocurrencies toward increased oversight. Regardless, it seems that the CFTC has heard the concerns raised from the FIA, the SEC and NASAA and is planning to act swiftly on them. The post CFTC to Discuss Digital Currency Futures Certification Process appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine. from My Bitconnect Journey https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/cftc-discuss-digital-currency-futures-certification-process/ via Bitcoin News https://fs.bitcoinmagazine.com/img/images/CFTCfutures.width-800.jpg REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/goN4bcc

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