Here’s what you need to know on
Markets:
BTC/USD is currently trading at $9,295 (-0.34% on a day-to-day basis). The coin has been moving within a short-term bearish trend amid shrinking volatility. The intraday low is registered at $9,183.
The ETH/USD pair is currently trading at $173.7 (-1.7% on a day-to-day basis). The Ethereum recovered from the intraday low of $170.6; now, it is moving within a short-term bearish trend amid shrinking volatility.
XRP/USD settled at $0.2330, down 2.4% on a day-to-day basis. The coin has been moving within a short-term bearish trend.
Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, the best of the day are KickToken (KICK) $0.00011 (+53.5%), Zcoin (XZC) $7.35 (+32.57%) and ABBC Coin (ABBC) $0.1132 (+21.25%), The day’s losers are, Crypterium (CRPT) $0.3807 (-10.0%), Synthetix Network Token (SNX) $1.3 (-9.42%) and Siacoin (SC) $0.0016 (-8.39%).
Chart of the day:
IOT/USD, 1-hour chart
Market:
Many cryptocurrency experts believe that the current Bitcoin’s recovery was inspired by its safe-haven features as the coin has been growing along with gold and other traditional anti-risk assets. They point put, that increased geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the coronavirus outbreak in China might have attracted the capital to the digital assets market. However, Euro Pacific Capital CEO Peter Schiff does not share this view. He believes that there’s “nothing safe” about Bitcoin, while the price increase was caused by speculations. He wrote on Twitter:
For now Bitcoin may be the best performing asset this year, but it has nothing to do with safe haven buying. Those buying #Bitcoin are merely speculating. Some may be speculating that others will buy it as a safe haven, but none actually are. There is nothing safe about Bitcoin!
Schiff is one of the most vocal Bitcoin critics. Recently he confessed that he had lost access to his Bitcoin wallet because he had mistaken pin for password. The cryptocurrency community made fun of him relentlessly, but he did not change his mind about Bitcoin.
Industry:
A global provider of quantitative research provider, MV Index Solutions (MVIS), and a Japanese provider of consulting services and system solutions, Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI), announced the launch of the crypto-asset index for the financial institution. The new investment tool will allow Japanese institutional investors and global participants to get exposure to the digital assets market. The index will be based on five largest coins: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) и XRP. Their weight will be rebalanced on a monthly basis.
Akihiro Niimi, CEO of Intelligence Unit, commented:
Strong demand from institutional investors is contributing to the growth of crypto-asset funds, and well-diversified products like index funds are attractive as alternative investments. We will bridge the traditional financial world and the crypto-asset world by providing institutional grade crypto-asset benchmarks, further establishing the status of crypto-assets as alternative investments.
Cryptocurrencies are gaining popularity in the darknet, according to the latest research published by Chainanalysis. The experts found out that $790 million worth of cryptocurrency were spent in the darknet in 2019. Thus, after a small decline in 2018, the upside trend resumed and the sales surpassed $60 million for the first time ever. Moreover, the darknet share of all overall incoming cryptocurrency transactions doubled from 0.04% in 2018 to 0.08% in 2019.
While darknet markets’ total share of incoming cryptocurrency activity remains extremely low at 0.08%, the recent increased volume speaks to the resilience of darknet markets in the face of heightened law enforcement scrutiny.
Regulation:
Citizens of a small Swiss town will be able to pay taxes with Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency payment services are provided by one of the oldest Swiss crypto companies. Bitcoin Suisse. The point-of-sale solution has been already installed in the municipal hall; however, those who would like to use this option will have to submit an application to the local tax authority. The announcement says:
The municipality of Zermatt has taken an important step for innovation: it now accepts Bitcoin as official payment! We are very proud to support with our payment solution & applaud the pioneering spirit that lives in the mountains of Zermatt
Quote of the day
The next great Bitcoin battle will be over privacy; the cracks are already starting to show as more companies are closing accounts of people who use privacy preserving services. These companies shall find themselves on the wrong side of history.
Jameson Lopp
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