Dozens of citizens were killed in Kenya as a result of riots seeking to protest the possible signing of a bill that would approve tax hikes on daily services and items, such as internet and fuel, in a plan to raise an additional .7 billion in revenue. The protests, led mostly by young Kenyans who […]
Bitcoin News
Jim Cramer: Bitcoin Can’t Be Killed — It’s a Technological Marvel That Is Here to Stay
Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money show, has made some bullish statements regarding Bitcoin. Noting that the crypto cannot be killed, he emphasized: “It’s a technological marvel, and people have to start recognizing that it’s here to stay.” He further stated that the late Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s former right-hand man, was wrong about bitcoin.
Jim Cramer on Bitcoin: ‘You Can’t Kill It’
Mad Money host Jim Cramer, who has outwardly expressed his skepticism about bitcoin and the crypto industry over the past years, made some bullish statements on CNBC Tuesday regarding bitcoin. Cramer is a former hedge fund manager who co-founded Thestreet.com, a financial news and literacy website.
Commenting on Tuesday’s bitcoin price surge and the looming decision on spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Cramer said:
This thing, you can’t kill it. And the late Charlie Munger, who was so brilliant on so many things, was blind to this … It’s a technological marvel, and people have to start recognizing that it’s here to stay.
While praising BTC’s “remarkable comeback,” Cramer expects that “people who are into [spot bitcoin ETFs] are using this chance to sell.”
Munger, who passed away on Nov. 28, was a well-known critic of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Famous for calling bitcoin “rat poison,” and comparing BTC trading to trading turd, Munger also said the cryptocurrency is a “stink ball” among traditional currencies. He expected most crypto investments to go to zero, noting that it’s “ridiculous” and an “absolute horror” that anybody would buy crypto. He recommended investors avoid crypto “as if it were an open sewer, full of malicious organisms.”
Cramer, once a bitcoin advocate, became increasingly critical of the cryptocurrency over the past years. After recommending putting up to 5% of portfolios in bitcoin in March 2021, he sold his holdings due to ransomware concerns and China’s mining crackdown. In June 2021, he revealed that he bought ether (ETH) after dumping almost all of his BTC. The Mad Money host then became concerned about Binance, FTX, and Tether. In December 2022, he advised investors to get out of crypto now. “I wouldn’t touch crypto in a million years,” he said, adding that he expected the SEC to crack down on non-compliant crypto firms.
What do you think about Jim Cramer saying that bitcoin can’t be killed and people need to understand that it is here to stay? Let us know in the comments section below.
Russian Banker States SWIFT ‘Needs to Be Killed’
Andrei Kostin, head of the VTB Bank, one of the biggest banks in Russia, has stated that the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the standard messaging system for fiat payments, “needs to be killed.” Kostin remarked that the actions of the U.S. and its use of the dollar have awakened fears in other countries that are also seeking alternatives to the system.
Kostin Signals Need for SWIFT to ‘Be Killed’
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a group that provides the standard messaging protocol for making cross-border transactions in the current global banking system, needs to “be killed,” according to recent statements of Andrei Kostin, head of the VTB Bank.
Kostin, who leads the second-largest bank group in Russia, recognized that for this to happen, other countries have to complete a set of actions. At the recent International Banking Forum held in Sochi, Kostin stated:
SWIFT – it needs to be killed for our calculations, this matter is quite simple, but it will require certain actions, including within individual countries.
Kostin was designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April 2018 as a Russian government official who played a “key role in advancing Russia’s malign activities.”
Dollar Weaponization and Alternatives
Kostin referred to the weaponization of the U.S. currency against Russia and other countries as a factor that has caused other nations to diminish their use of the dollar and consider the introduction of alternatives such as national currencies.
Kostin declared:
The fact that the Americans used the dollar so harshly, and the Europeans used the euro, influenced a change in the mentality of many countries. They realized that they could be next.
Since becoming the object of Western sanctions, Russia has begun switching to settling trade in national currencies with friendly nations. Also, the country is actively seeking alternatives to SWIFT, as Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov explained during the Moscow Financial Forum.
Siluanov stated that at the next BRICS summit, the creation of an alternative to the SWIFT system would be discussed. SWIFT has been a tool for isolating the Russian banking system from the world, disconnecting seven Russian banks from the system in March 2022 and then expanding these measures to other credit institutions.
What do you think about Andrei Kostin’s thoughts on SWIFT and its use in applying economic sanctions? Tell us in the comments section below.
Onecoin Cryptoqueen Killed in Greece in 2018, Report Claims
Ruja Ignatova, founder of the crypto pyramid Onecoin, may have been murdered in Greece a year after her disappearance. According to an article, quoting а leaked report from a police informant, the “missing Cryptoqueen” was killed on a yacht in the Ionian Sea more than four years ago.
Murder in the Mediterranean – Another Theory About Onecoin Mastermind’s Fate Circulated
The woman who founded the notorious Ponzi scheme Onecoin has been dead since November, 2018, according to a Bulgarian website called Bureau for Investigative Reporting and Data (Bird.bg). The conclusion is based on evidence obtained during the investigation into last year’s murder of a former top police officer in Sofia.
The ex-head of a criminal police department in the Bulgarian capital was shot in March, 2022. An informant’s report, found in а safe box in his home, suggests that Ruja Ignatova was killed on a yacht in the Ionian Sea, her body dismembered and thrown into the water. The execution was carried out on the order of a drug lord, the publication alleges.
However, in an email responding to a query from Bird, the City Prosecutor’s Office explained that said report does not constitute a document in the context of the Criminal Procedure Code as it’s not signed by a specific person and there is no information about its author.
The correspondence further points out that “the cited sheets of paper” were seized from the residence of a murdered person which makes it impossible to verify the stated circumstances by questioning a witness.
Launched in 2014 as a multi-level-marketing network based on a fake cryptocurrency, Onecoin is believed to have defrauded more than 3 million investors globally of over billion. Ignatova, a Bulgarian-born German national, was last seen on Oct. 25, 2017 at the airport in Athens, where she arrived on a flight from Sofia. This past October, the BBC reported she had been alerted about police investigations.
Dubbed “the missing Cryptoqueen,” Ignatova is wanted by Interpol, Europol, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Previous media reports have also speculated she might have been murdered or that she is still alive and well after changing her appearance through plastic surgery. In July, 2022, the Greek press revealed police had tried to capture Ignatova after receiving information she was in the country.
Her brother and co-founder, Konstantin, was detained in Los Angeles in 2019 and pleaded guilty to Onecoin-related charges while seeking witness protection in the U.S. Karl Sebastian Greenwood, another co-founder who is a citizen of Sweden and the U.K., also pleaded guilty in December 2022. Last week, news came out that Ruja’s former boyfriend, Gilbert Armenta, has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in laundering proceeds from the scam.
Do you believe in this theory about ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova’s fate? Share your thoughts on the case in the comments section below.
Strength In U.S. Dollar May Have Killed Bullish Momentum In Crypto Market?
The crypto market has been losing momentum as the price of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB) start trading in the red. The largest cryptocurrencies by market cap might experience further losses as macro-economic factors keep exercising a negative influence on risk-on assets.
At the time of writing, the crypto total market cap stands at .09 trillion after experiencing rejection at the .2 trillion mark. This has led to minor losses for Bitcoin (2.2%), and Binance Coin (7%), only Ethereum has been able to preserve some of its last week’s gains.
BTC’s price moving sideways on the 4-hour chart. Source: BTCUSDT Tradingview
Analyst Justin Bennett believes the crypto market has been negatively impacted by the uptrend in U.S. dollars. The currency saw a major push to the upside at the start of 2022 on its monthly chart and seems to be attempting to reclaim 2022 levels on higher timeframes.
This could translate into more losses for risk-on assets, such as equities and cryptocurrencies; more economic uncertainty as inflation trends higher in decades; less liquidity across global financial markets. Bennett said the following while sharing the chart below:
Expect #stocks and crypto to struggle while the US dollar is doing this. The $DXY just took out 107 on its way to 107.40. I still think we see 112-113. Be careful out there (…). The trend is your friend…unless it’s the $DXY. 112-113 first, but most likely 120 in the next few months. USD up means risk assets down.
DXY Index (U.S. Dollar) breaking above important resistance on the monthly chart. Source: Justin Bennett
The largest crypto by market cap, Bitcoin, saw a yearly low at around ,600. As NewsBTC reported, Fidelity’s Director of Macro Jurrien Timmer believes this level is on par with the cryptocurrency’s previous bottoms and expects that price point to operate as critical support.
Will Macro Economic Factors Break A Critical Support For Crypto
Using BTC’s Supply and Demand models, Timmer compared ,600 with ,100 and 0, two major support zones for Bitcoin even in persistent downside trends. The expert said the following on BTC’s capacity to see more appreciation in the long term, bullish momentum that will surely push the entire crypto market upwards:
Bitcoin’s price-to-network ratio (my proxy for a valuation multiple) is back to 2014 levels. Meanwhile, its network continues to grow, roughly in line with a power regression curve.
Source: Jurrien Timmer via Twitter
In contrast, Bennett expects more losses for BTC’s price and the crypto market. The first crypto by market cap could bottom between ,500 to ,500.
The expert bearish thesis is based on the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) current monetary policy. The financial institution is set on stopping inflation from going higher and will continue to increase interest rates, Bennett believes, to achieve that goal.
Bear market rallies are easy to identify even without a chart. It comes down to one simple question.
Is the fed easing or tightening?
If easing, dips are for buying
If tightening, rallies are short-lived
The fed just began tightening and isn’t likely to stop anytime soon.
— Justin Bennett (@JustinBennettFX) August 17, 2022
BTC Price Reclaims $10K After US Lawmaker Says Bitcoin Cant Be Killed
n Bitcoin price is back to five figures following downward correction and some bullish comments from U.S. lawmakersn
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Man in Oslo Killed After Selling Large Amount of Bitcoin, Privacy in P2P
A meeting place that could have been about a common peer-to-peer Bitcoin trade turned into a scene of a brutal killing.
A 24-year old Norwegian man was reportedly stabbed to death in his Majorstuen apartment shortly after completing a cash-to-Bitcoin trade with his alleged killer. The local police believe there was a large pile of Krone kept in the studio that could have been the motivation behind the gruesome killing. And then, a tip revealing that the victim was a cryptocurrency trader has determined police to investigate more angles, which it refused to share with media.
“We are familiar with a tip about Bitcoin, but at this time we will not provide more information about the investigation,” said Lien Metlid, Head of Common Unit for Intelligence and Investigations in Oslo Police. “We investigate widely in every way. Economic motives are one of the reasons to which we are open.”
Victim cashed-out Bitcoins before death
The victim, according to one of his roommates, had siphoned off over 0,000 worth of NOK from his Bitcoin investments. He was planning to sell some of his Bitcoin holdings to purchase an apartment, the details of which he had shared with the friends in his circle. Per the report, the suspect must have reached out to the victim in the context of conducting a p2p bitcoin trade after gaining knowledge about the cash in the victim’s apartment.
The Oslo police did not find any cash in the house during their search. They, with the help of their forensic and surveillance experts, have mapped the Majorstuen area to examine all possible movements on the day of the killing.
No arrests have been made yet.
Privacy in P2P
The gruesome incident has once again raised the reason for debate of whether confidentiality in finance is essential. Thousands of people around the world are immersed in p2p transactions in the absence of adequate regulatory frameworks. Marijuana businesses in the US still rely on cash transactions because banks refuse to work with them citing a federal roadblock. Similarly, in the world of cryptocurrencies, people are forced to meet face to face to sell or purchase irreversible crypto-assets, without an escrow, while working in a grey area of law.
A peer-to-peer transaction puts the weight of determining the opposite party solely on the players engaged. And then, in the absence of banking relationships, these strangers need to meet face to face under minimal legal protection. In countries where crypto transactions are banned, the probability of p2p crimes could be more, therefore.
Financial privacy will always be a thing that couldn’t be achieved entirely. Even the players engaged in p2p transactions would need to understand that, at one point or another, they will have to reveal their identity for keeping themselves safe from potential threats – some even life-threatening. On the other hand, governments need to come up with better laws to disbar organizations that sell private financial data and inject more confidence in millenials so they can trust.
The post Man in Oslo Killed After Selling Large Amount of Bitcoin, Privacy in P2P appeared first on NewsBTC.
Cryptocurrency Market Update: ‘Ethereum Killer’ EOS Getting Killed
FOMO Moments
Another red day in crypto land, EOS getting battered and only Tezos is gaining
Hopes of a rally have been dashed as the bears wrestle markets downwards for another day. Total market capitalization has declined once again and fallen back below 0 billion. Bitcoin could not break resistance at ,800 and has fallen back 1.5% on the day to ,675, volume has increased fractionally though.
Likewise with Ethereum, it could not push past 0 and has dropped back a heavy 4.8% to 0 at the time of writing. As expected all altoins are in the red with a few plummeting double figures during the morning’s trading.
EOS has been absolutely trounced over the past 24 hours shedding 12% to trade at .58. From its all-time high of .50 just two and a half months ago it has lost 65%. Over the past week EOS has lost 17% falling from .15 this time last Tuesday. Mainnet, wallet, and centralization woes have taken the shine off what was once dubbed the ‘Ethereum killer’. EOS is no longer the crypto superstar it was hyped to be though it is still early days for the emerging technology.
As usual Cardano is taking a kicking, it has been consistently one of the worst performing altcoins over the past 3 months. Today ADA is down 6.5% to .134, likewise with Iota dropping a similar percentage to trade at a dollar. Neo has also had a rough day plummeting 9.6% to , the lowest levels it has seen since November 2017.
Privacy coins Monero and Dash are both down over 7% on the day as is last month’s top performer, Ethereum Classic. Qtum has taken a hit of over 8% and Ontology and Zilliqa are both down over 11% as bears pummel the markets. Bitcoin Diamond is the biggest loser of the day dropping 37% over the past 24 hours to trade at .30.
Once again the only coin in the green in the top 25 is Tezos posting a gain of 5.6% to trade higher for the fourth consecutive day at .28. XTZ prices have almost doubled since the weekly low of .20 on Friday as the new kid on the block becomes the latest hot crypto.
Total crypto market capitalization has lost almost 3.5% as another billion leaves crypto land. Currently at 4 billion markets could fall back to yearly lows below 0 billion if this bearish momentum intensifies. Trade volume has increased however from billion to billion indicating that a small rally could be imminent.
FOMO Moments is a section that takes a daily look at the top 25 altcoins during the current trading session and analyses the best performing one, looking for trends and possible fundamentals.
The post Cryptocurrency Market Update: ‘Ethereum Killer’ EOS Getting Killed appeared first on NewsBTC.
Economist: Bitcoin Futures Killed the 2017 Bull Run
As the fluctuations in the price and trading volume of Bitcoin continue to flummox the oracles of CNBC, a noted Japanese economist has written an article to explain what he thinks killed off the 2017 bull rally and began this 2018 bear driven roller coaster ride the cryptocurrency has been taking.
Did Futures Kill the 2017 Bitcoin Rally
Japanese economist Yukio Noguchi wrote an article last week for the Japanese periodical Diamond online that is getting a lot of attention among crypto traders. In it he links the start of the Bitcoin futures market with the end of Bitcoin’s meteoric price increases in December 2017.
The CBoE began trading Bitcoin futures on December 10, 2017, that day the price of Bitcoin stumbled, dropping about ,000 in a day. It rallied from there gaining new heights as it hovered at the threshold of ,000 for a few days before bouncing up and down, gaining and losing thousands every other day. By January 6 it fell off a cliff and has never got back up over ,000 in 2018.
In Noguchi’s own words, translated from the original Japanese, “Because it’s now possible to trade on bitcoin futures, you’ll never see a rapid surge again,”
Apparently, Noguchi is not alone in this opinion that the creation of the Bitcoin futures market was key to ending the 2017 bull run. According to Forbes, nearly the same argument was made in May by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco in a paper titled, “How Futures Trading Changed Bitcoin Prices.” The paper reads in part:
“The rapid run-up and subsequent fall in the price after the introduction of futures does not appear to be a coincidence, rather, it is consistent with trading behavior that typically accompanies the introduction of futures markets for an asset.”
Unlike the usual round-up of old-school financiers who seemingly weekly predict the bursting of the Bitcoin bubble like Warren Buffet who has likened the cryptocurrency to rat poison, economists at the Fed compare the price drop to other markets that have experienced rallies and market corrections.
What Doesn’t Kill Bitcoin Should Make it Stronger
Using both the housing market crisis and the Japanese stock market devaluation of the 1990’s as examples the Fed economists point out that new financial instruments have a record of deflating financial bubbles. In this case, as excited investors drove the price of Bitcoin up, the futures market opened and pessimists were able to hedge their money against the cryptocurrency, bringing the value down.
The terrific rise of Bitcoin in 2017 brought along with it widespread public attention to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, which in some ways has been good for the growth of the nascent sector. It also caused a massive amount of alternative currencies to be born into the space. Some analysts have argued that the turbulent market of 2018 will, in the end, be good for the future of cryptocurrencies as weak coins die and vanish, much the same as when the dotcom bubble burst to send weaker web-based businesses into oblivion.
Image from Shutterstock
The post Economist: Bitcoin Futures Killed the 2017 Bull Run appeared first on NewsBTC.
Japan Just Killed The “Bitcoin Will Be Banned” Meme
Japan Just Killed The “Bitcoin Will Be Banned” Meme … Many crypto skeptics claim the U.S. can browbeat adopters of bitcoin into banning cryptos via various threats such as limiting access to U.S. banking. ….. RanSquawk News.
BitNewz.net