Here’s what you need to know on Friday
Markets:
- The BTC/USD is currently trading at $7,200 (+2.0% since the start of the day). The coin has been moving within a strong bullish trend in Asian amid rising volatility.
- The ETH/USD pair is currently trading at $138.8 (+2.6% since the start of the day). The Ethereum retreated from the intraday high of $139.7, unable to pass through a resistance zone located on the approach to $140.00.
- XRP/USD settled above $0.19 area; however, $0.20 remains unconquered. At the time of writing, the coin has gained 1% since the beginning of the day.
- Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, the best of the day are MaidSafeCoin (MAID) $0.0971 (+19.5%), Dogecoin (DODGE) )$0.0025 (+15.75%) and Beam (BEAM) $0.6076 (+12.3%). The day’s losers are Bytecoin (BCN) $0.002 (-13.25%), ABBC Coin (ABBC) $0.1219 (-13%) and EDUCare (EKT) $0.0329 (-8.5%).
Chart of the day:
BCH/USD, 1-hour chart
Market:
- In 2019, Bitcoin users settled transactions with 92 million BTC worth $673 billion, which is 11% lower from 2018, according to the research results provided by Coinmetrics. However, this figure is still four times as large as in 2009-2016 combined. Meanwhile, the value of ETH transactions amounted to $87.5 billion, which is 13% of BTC transactions settled in 2019.
- Bitcoin’s hash rate hit another all-time high at 119 Exahashes per second (EH/s). Notably, this figure is eight times higher than in December 2018, when BTC price came close to $20,000. Some experts believe that the growing hash rate is a signal to significant price increase; however, the correlation between the price and the hash rate is not apparent.
Industry:
- The co-founder of Bitmain Technologies Micree Zhan Ketuan wrestles its way back to the top position in the company. The former CEO of the world’s largest manufacturer of Bitcoin mining equipment initiated a legal case to regain control over the company. He wants the court to invalidate the vote during an extraordinary general meeting in November 2019 that cost him voting control. Earlier, we reported that Bitmain plans to reduce the number of employees in an attempt to get more efficient ahead of Bitcoin’s halving.
- Brian Armstrong, the head of the US-based cry[tocurrency exchange Coinbase, published a comprehensive forecast for the cryptocurrency industry in the 2020s. He believes in increased privacy and scalability of the mainstream cryptocurrency solutions and mass adoption in emerging markets with crippled economies. Also, according to Armstrong, by the end of the 2020s, nearly all startups will have a crypto component.
Regulation:
- The International Monetary Fund (IFM) is ready to provide technical assistance to the Philippines for the development of the cryptocurrency industry in the country. The Fund has already helped the central bank of the Philippines to establish a regulatory body and provided detailed technical advice to the Bank of the Philippines on crypto assets regulation.
- The Turkish regulator, Capital Markets Board (CMB), is set to speed up its efforts to establish Bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation in 2020. The CMB will focus on surveillance, regulation, and audit of the cryptocurrency industry. Currently, cryptocurrency-related business in Turkey operates in a grey zone as there is no fixed law governing cryptocurrency usage in the country.
Quote of the day:
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