n Messari closes a million funding round led by Uncork Capital, with the participation of other top investors such as Coinbase Venturesn
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Data Provider Messari Closes $4 Million Funding Round
Messari’s funding round was led by Uncork Capital and joined by Coinbase Ventures and Balaji Srinivasan, among others.
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US Govt Sees Libra as a Bigger Threat than Bitcoin: Messari CEO
Facebook is on the wrong end of a political cycle which could weaken the standing of its cryptocurrency project Libra, believes Ryan Selkis of Messari.
The CEO said Libra is a “bonafide threat” to the US dollar because Facebook wonders about structuring the greenback with a basket of international currencies. The move, to the US government, is an effort to decouple a sovereign fiat currency from the influence of its central bank.
2/ Second clip @twobitidiot: Trump was hawkish in the past about inflation, looking at the bitcoin price seems as though he was right! Fed chairman Powell had it right that bitcoin isn't a mainstream currency, but it is competing as gold 2.0. Govt sees Libra as a bigger threat. pic.twitter.com/na2nUHOZaJ
— Pierre Rochard (@pierre_rochard) July 14, 2019
“It seems Libra should continue to draw most of the attention in ire,” Selkis told Bloomberg, adding that Facebook has just reached a billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over privacy violations which makes the US government more doubtful about the firm’s foray into the financial world.
Bitcoin Lesser a Threat
The comments came a day after the US President Donald Trump criticized both Facebook Libra and Bitcoin in the same breath. The world’s most powerful politician tweeted on Thursday that he is not a big fan of either of the cryptocurrencies and that they should not expect special treatment from the US government when it comes to regulations and policymaking.
“If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National and International,” he said.
Trump held back from saying the same about bitcoin, which remains more a protocol than a brick-and-mortar company with an address in the US. His criticism of the cryptocurrency repeated what the bitcoin skeptics have been saying for years: it’s volatile and does not have an intrinsic value. The comments further failed to cause any trouble in the bitcoin market, as the cryptocurrency kept maintaining its grip on the prevailing bullish bias.
“With bitcoin, there is no CEO, there is no headquarters. You cant send a letter and call someone for a hearing,” said Anthony Pompliano, founder & partner with Morgan Creek Digital. “So I think the complete decentralized nature of the asset is what makes it compelling.”
"With Bitcoin, there is no CEO. You can't send a letter or send somebody in for a hearing," @APompliano explained Trump's aversion to crypto. https://t.co/SMf8yFHHGY pic.twitter.com/MzVq0FCoTk
— CNBC (@CNBC) July 12, 2019
That is the same Selkis attempted to explain, hinting that the US government’s hitlist included companies they actually hurt or submit into complying, such as Facebook. He said:
“Libra is a stable store of value that could truly be an alternative to the mass market overnight.”
Schiff: Fed will Come after Bitcoin
Gold bull Peter Schiff believes that Federal legislative bodies would eventually launch a crackdown against bitcoin. He said on Thursday:
“I wonder if Trump’s tweet about his not being a Bitcoin fan, and his specific reference to unlawful behavior, drug trade, and other illegal activity, is a precursor to a Federal legislative crackdown on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? Ignore this risk at your peril!”
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Messari CEO Ethereum 2.0 Proof-of-Stake Transition Not to Happen Until at Least 2021
n The Ethereum 2.0 PoS transition will not happen before the end of 2021, Messari CEO Ryan Selkis predicted at a recent panel of ConsenSys Ethereal Summitn
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Ripple Price Analysis: XRP Market Cap is $6.755 billion, Messari Claims
- Ripple prices consolidating inside Jan 22 high low
- Messari’s report place XRP market cap on the lens
- Transactional volumes low averaging 14 million
An analytic firm is questioning XRP’s market cap. Arguing that its market cap is inflated, Messari is now calling for indices to revise their XRP circulating supply assumptions. Meanwhile, our last XRP trade plans are valid. All in all, for bulls to remain in charge, then we must see sharp gains above 34 cents.
Ripple Price Analysis
Fundamentals
Messari is questioning XRP’s market cap and whether there are 41 billion XRPs in circulation as they claim. In a report, the analytic firm said they “conducted extensive research into the health and legitimacy of the currently quoted XRP $XRP “market cap” available on third-party crypto data services and exchanges.” According to their estimates, the firm believed the actual XRP market cap is inflated by a whopping .1 billion.
In theory, this places the total XRP market cap at .755 billion down from .855 billion. To that end, Messari is urging indices as Bloomberg-Galaxy, MVIS Cryptocompare and Bitwise to downward revise their XRP total circulating supply quotes. They go on and request them not to use Ripple’s API until after there are disclosures from Ripple.
The company as we know has restrictions on XRP resale. By doing so, they will reflect the true liquidity of the network because “more than 99% of XRP trading volume appears to come from overseas, many of which are suspect of wash trading.”
Candlestick Arrangements
There has been no reaction to Messari’s report. Prices are stable and consolidating within Jan 22 high low. Still, our last XRP/USD trade plan is valid. As long as prices range within the 78.6 percent and 50 percent Fibonacci retracement levels off Dec 2018 high low, sellers have an upper hand.
Our emphasis roots for bulls to build momentum and thrust prices above 35 cents. However, this depends on the direction of break-out off this accumulation. If there is a robust and high-volume close recouping losses of the past few days confirming the double bar bull reversal pattern of Jan 13-14, odds are XRP will rally. If not and XRP collapse below 30 cents, we may see panic selling heaping pressure on coin prices.
Technical Indicators
Our buy trigger is at 34 cents. For our trade plan to hold, we must see high- volume driving prices above this level. That means above average volumes exceeding 14 million and even 85 million of Jan 10. Only then will we expect a rally above 34 cents—Jan 14 highs and possibly 40 cents.
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Messari CEO: Killer Use Case For Bitcoin Is Still Money, Digital Gold
To commemorate the one year anniversary of 2017’s Bitcoin (BTC) peak, Bloomberg, who has recently become a topic of controversy in the cryptosphere, hosted a “Bull vs. Bear” panel. On one side was Ryan Selkis, the chief executive of crypto asset research group Messari, and a number of pro-crypto Bloomberg reporters. On the other side was a few skeptics, including Bitcoin at ,500 forecaster Mike McGlone. Although Selkis was seemingly outnumbered, as he was the only industry insider rooting for cryptocurrencies, the former Digital Currency Group executive made it clear why he sees immense value in this budding asset class.
Bitcoin’s Killer Application Is Money — Hard Stop
Caroline Hyde, a host at the outlet, asked Selkis about what cryptocurrencies’ killer application truly is, jabbing at the fact that CryptoKitties — once lauded as the key to global adoption — had seemingly disappeared off Earth’s face.
Related Reading: CryptoKitties Raises m from Venrock, Google, Samsung, and More
Selkis, seemingly taken aback by the question, responded by simply stating that the original use case for blockchain-based assets, namely Bitcoin, is “money.” The startup chief explained that even if cryptocurrencies capture one-quarter of offshore banking and emerging market reserves, this space would swell to a trillion valuation, no questions asked. Selkis even noted that cryptos capturing this demand isn’t out of the realm of possibility, explaining that this use case alone makes it a promising investment, even on a short-term basis.
However, the member of Messari’s top brass made it clear that using BTC as money on the day-to-day isn’t currently feasible. Yet, Selkis noted that this has begun this shift, likely touching on the copious amounts of pro-scalability development on the Lightning Network, coupled with the launch of the Liquid protocol.
Bitcoin A Great Hedge In “Inflationary Recession”
Since the American economy bounced off 2008’s dismal low, assets, namely stocks, have undergone an unprecedented rally. QQQ, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) encompassing the top 100 companies (primarily tech firms) listed on Nasdaq, is up 450% in a decade’s time. The SPDR Homebuilders ETF, which holds large positions in development groups, construction giants, and appliance providers, has also boomed, posting a 300% gain since the collapse of the global housing bubble.
And although hundreds of skeptics crucify cryptocurrencies for being situated in a “bubble,” sentiment has begun to show that the traditional markets’ decade-long boom is breathing its last breaths. Case in point, U.S. Treasury note yields have begun to falter, an evident sign of a slowing economy in the eyes of many analysts. Others critics of centralized markets have looked to the rapid growth in global debt. As noted by Alistar Milne, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a penchant for crypto, worldwide debt has now surpassed 4 trillion, a staggering ,000 per person and 225% of global GDP.
These fears that the end is nigh haven’t even gone unnoticed, as the U.S. stock market has already begun to show signs of uncertainty. Joseph Young, a crypto journalist, recently accentuated the fact that bubbles do exist outside of cryptocurrency, as major stocks have recently undergone strong legs to the downside. This, of course, is contrary to what institutional incumbents want consumers to think.
Oh so now major stocks are falling 20%+ it's "financial" bubbles, not a Bitcoin bubble. So bubbles do exist in markets outside of crypto [obviously]. https://t.co/nWDZpdpeTs
— Joseph Young (@iamjosephyoung) December 18, 2018
Acknowledging all this, the Messari chief, who did a stint at JP Morgan prior to the Great Recession, noted that “at some point” (maybe now), capital markets will undergo an “inflationary recession.” Continuing to paint a foreboding picture for centralized assets, like stocks, government bonds, and fiat, Selkis noted that investors will “flock” to stores of value, like a digital gold, in trying times. As it stands, the digital embodiment of gold is best represented by Bitcoin, and as such, BTC would likely see an influx of buying pressure once consumers lose faith in traditional markets.
Selkis isn’t the only prominent industry participant to have equated cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, to digital stores of value. As reported by NewsBTC previously, Lou Kerner, a co-founder and partner at CryptoOracle, exclaimed that Bitcoin “is the greatest store of value ever created,” adding that the market capitalization of BTC will eventually surpass that of physical gold. Crypto-friendly Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, echoed this sentiment in an interview with CNBC, telling the outlet that Bitcoin is the only “pure digital gold,” due to its unique nature as a scarce and decentralized asset.
Even Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and the creator of HashCash (a Proof of Work system behind Bitcoin’s mining protocol), claimed that BTC could see another parabolic rally on the sole fact that the asset is digital gold. Back explained that BTC is censorship-resistant, unlike gold, and it exists as digital money for the internet.
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Messari Raises Seed Funding for ICO Answer to EDGAR
Blockchain database startup Messari announced an undisclosed number of funds raised through a seed round would go towards building its product.
CoinDesk
A Token to Regulate All Tokens? Messari to Raise ICO in 2018
The entrepreneur behind Messari shares his vision for how the crypto industry could self-regulate ICOs and forestall a regulatory apocalypse.
CoinDesk