The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns to contain the disease have created an unprecedented economic scenario.

Central banks around the world, led by the U.S. Federal Reserve, have pumped unprecedented stimulus measures into the system in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, far outpacing the response to the 2008 global financial crisis and adding trillions of dollars to central bank balance sheets.

Now, as the world braces for the economic fallout from widespread coronavirus lockdowns, a rising hedge fund star has warned of “holes within traditional financial systems” and backed a bitcoin brokerage that has seen its clients double each month since January.

The coronavirus pandemic has sent shock waves around the world, with the financial system rocked by … [+] unprecedented stimulus measures and some turning to alternatives such as bitcoin.

“The evolution of finance is only happening faster in the wake of the current global economic crisis, which has illuminated holes within traditional financial systems that can potentially be filled by bitcoin,” said 30-year-old Olaf Carlson-Wee, multimillionaire founder of hedge fund Polychain Capital.

Polychain Capital this week led a $5.7 million funding round in San Francisco-based River Financial, a startup bitcoin brokerage and financial services firm that has seen its client base double every month this year, fueled by a new wave of cryptocurrency investors who are buying “significant” amounts of bitcoin to “hedge against potential inflation caused by the Fed’s ongoing quantitative easing.”

These bitcoin buyers, who are predominantly over the age of 55, have been called “bitcoin boomers” by River and could signal the notoriously young bitcoin and crypto space is beginning to mature.

Bitcoin boomers accounted for 77% of River’s volume growth since March.

Meanwhile, River’s average monthly volume of bitcoin transactions has increased 80% this year, the company said, echoing other bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges that have reported soaring volumes in recent months.

“The surging activity we’ve seen since the beginning of 2020 has been in part inspired by the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented monetary intervention,” said River chief executive and co-founder Alex Leishman, who added growing interest in bitcoin from “seasoned macro investors” like Paul Tudor Jones, Dan Tapiero and Raoul Pal is legitimizing bitcoin “within the mainstream finance community.”

Congress has allocated almost $3 trillion for coronavirus-related economic aid and the Fed has pumped trillions of dollars into the U.S. economy to soften the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic—with more on the way.

“We at the Fed need to keep our foot on the gas until we are really sure we are through this, and that’s our intention,” Fed chair Jerome Powell told the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, adding Congress “may find that there’s more for [it] to do as well.”

The bitcoin price exploded in 2017 only to crash back the following year. Now, some think the global … [+] economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic could see bitcoin return to its all-time highs of around $20,000 per bitcoin.

Alongside high-profile investors who have taken an interest in bitcoin, the traditional financial industry has also been slowly coming around to cryptocurrencies.

JPMorgan, which has been described as bitcoin’s “biggest enemy” and whose chief executive once called bitcoin a “fraud,” has recently added its first crypto exchange customers.

Wall Streets biggest banks are very much playing catch up, however.

River, which eschews so-called altcoins in favor of the original cryptocurrency, has recently rolled out a private client service for investors who want to purchase up to $250 million worth of bitcoin.

“We believe that bitcoin will play a key role in the world’s monetary systems over the coming years, and incumbent institutions are not culturally or technologically prepared for this future,” said Andrew Benson, River co-founder and chief operating officer.

The bitcoin price is up around 30% so far this year.

While its recent rally has faultered, some have predicted it will end 2020 as one of the year’s best performing assets.

Source: www.forbes.com

Author: Billy Bambrough

Daily Network Fees on Ethereum Reached $500,000, Leaving Bitcoin Way Behind

The daily network fees on the Ethereum network have reached almost $500,000 on Jun. 7 for the fourth time in the network’s history. The huge uptick in-network fees now mean that Ethereum has surpassed Bitcoin, whose network fees on the same date reached only $308,000.

The Ethereum network had a pretty good day yesterday, both in terms of network activity and network fees.

According to the latest data from cryptocurrency analytics company Glassnode, the daily network fees on Ethereum surpassed those on Bitcoin by almost $200,000. The uptick in network activity on Ethereum pushed the total amount of fees recorded on Jun. 8 to reach almost $500,000. Yesterday was the fourth time this year that Ethereum miners earned that much money.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, had a rather disappointing performance yesterday, as it recorded only $308,000 in daily network fees.

Data from Glassnode has shown that the network fees on Ethereum have rarely outperformed the network fees on Bitcoin. Despite the abundance of DeFi projects and various dApps, this has only happened on 141 days so far, meaning that during the existence of both networks, miners on Ethereum earned more only 8% of the time.

The last time this year Ethereum miners saw much higher profits than Bitcoin miners was in mid-March, right around the time when the crypto market took a heavy hit caused by the coronavirus pandemic and stock market crash. The massive sell-off of various altcoins could have resulted in a congested network, with traders racing to pay the biggest transaction fees in order to liquidate their holdings faster.

On the other hand, the transaction fees on Bitcoin skyrocketed in the first half of May, with the biggest spike in network fees coinciding with the Bitcoin halving. With the block mining reward reduced from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC, transaction fees skyrocketed in order to keep miners profitable. However, as the network recovered from the immediate impact of the halving, the transaction fees reduced, which explains the sharp drop in fees the Bitcoin network has seen since May 18.

Ethereum fees majorly were primarily contributed by Tether with the last 30 USD value at $2.3 million, followed by MMM which is a scam project at $782k according to Eth Gas Station.

Priyeshu is a software engineer who is passionate about machine learning and blockchain technology. He built his first digital marketing startup as a teenager and worked with multiple Fortune 500 companies. He's an alumnus from mass-transit app Ola and holds a degree in computer science engineering. He likes to write bots in his free time.

Source: www.newsbtc.com

Priyeshu Garg

Bitcoin mining difficulty goes up, pushing old machines out

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is up by 14.95% bringing the level to its fourth-most difficult in history

Bitcoin’s latest mining difficulty adjustment is the biggest in over two years, as the level increased by 14.95% to 15.78T. The upward adjustment comes after the Bitcoin network experienced consecutive downward adjustments since its third halving on May 11.

The last time the network experienced such a jump in mining difficulty level was in January 2018, after Bitcoin rallied to its all-time high price in December 2017.

In January 2018, Bitcoin’s network difficulty rose by 16.84%. The increase to 15.78T brings the difficulty close to hitting 16T, which has only been reached twice in 2020: in March and early May in the build-up to the block rewards halving.

The increase means that miners now face a difficulty level for the next two weeks that is the fourth most difficult since Bitcoin’s launch in 2009.

This week’s adjustment sees more miners returning to the network, increasing the network hash rate following a decline in the weeks after halving. With block rewards cut from 12.5 bitcoins to 6.25 bitcoins, some miners switched off their machines, with hash rate declining alongside the difficulty.

However, Bitcoin’s hash rate has increased gradually and is up by about 8% in the past seven days. The 14-day moving average has gone up consecutively since the last adjustments on May 20 and on June 4.

A return of miners with old or inefficient rigs and the release of new ASICs by Chinese companies have seen hashing power increase from 98 terahashes (TH/s) to 113 exahashes per second (EH/s).

Miners now need 1 TH/s to generate 0.000008 bitcoin in a day, worth about $0.08, going by current prices. The jump in difficulty adjustment is thus set to reduce miners’ profit margins, and if more efficient machines, such as the Antminer S19 developed by Bitmain, flood the market, then less efficient miners will have to switch off if they are no longer profitable.

Recently, the crypto derivative platform, FTX, launched a futures contract that allows investors to bet against Bitcoin’s difficulty. As of press time, the exchange’s Q3 and Q4 contracts are at $17.3, which means traders expect Bitcoin’s hash rate and mining difficulty to surge heading into the next two quarters.

Source: www.bitcoindicate.com

Author: admin

95,000 ETH of Winnings, New Providers, and Live Casino at the Fairspin Blockchain Casino

The Fairspin blockchain casino is the first online casino to combine classic gambling and blockchain. With the integration of the TruePlay platform, Fairspin stores all gaming transactions in TPLAY tokens of the ERC20 standard. Players can check all deposits and withdrawals in blockchain explorers with the anonymity being saved.

In May, Fairspin added new providers, launched tournaments by Booongo and Playson, reported top winnings, and shared a profile of an average blockchain casino player.

Quickspin, Pragmatic Casino, and Pragmatic Live have been added to the list of Fairspin providers. Currently, players can choose among 12 providers and over 2000 games. All gaming transactions are still stored in smart contracts and can be checked by anyone in blockchain explorers.

Thanks to TPLAY tokens, players can check:

• The casino’s balance, which is 2468 ETH in TPLAY tokens ($577,512) at the time of publication
• Payout history: every win is forever saved on the Ethereum blockchain
• Payout percentage of every game displayed on the Fairspin website and in smart contracts

Fairspin’s biggest one-time payouts in May:

May 28 – 37.89 ETH ($9,090)

The user started playing Warlords: Crystals of Power by NetEnt (mobile version) with a balance of 1.54 ETH. A bet of $15 brought a big win of $6,924.

The game’s payout percentage: 96%.

May 30 – 29.74 ETH ($7,244)

The user started playing Dragon Legend by PGSoft with a balance of 7 ETH. A bet of $54 brought a big win of $4,020.

The game’s payout percentage: 117%.

May 14 – 0.48 BTC ($4,683)

The user started playing Book Of Gold: Symbol Choice by Playson with a balance of 0.16 BTC. The player used bonus spins to make a bet of $5 and won $1,645.

2.5 BTC ($22,000 at the time of the transaction) remains the record-breaking one-time win and payout in the Fairspin’s history. The casino reported about it in March 2020.

At the time of publication, the amount of all winnings on Fairspin exceeds 95,486 ETH ($22.3 million).

Top Fairspin games by winnings

The hottest games on Fairspin by the sum of winnings are:

Claws vs Paws – $16,555, payout percentage – 96%
Hip Hop Panda – $13,381, payout percentage – 97%
Double Bonus Poker – $11,864, payout percentage – 98%
Warlords: Crystals of Power – $10,183, payout percentage – 96%

Google Analytics data showed that Fairspin users played more during the quarantine. Fairspin team compared player activity in February and April:

• an average number of visits increased by 57%;
• an average session time increased by 20 seconds;
• the share of visits from mobile devices increased by 11%.

Current promotions at Fairspin

The casino continues to expand its bonus program, gives away free spins on its social media channels, and launches tournaments by Booongo and Playson with prize pools between €20,000 and €50,000.

Every week, players receive a 20%-40% deposit bonus. New users are gifted 100%-200% bonuses and up to 50 free spins on their first deposits. The casino pampers players with 5%-25% cashback.

Fairspin regularly gives away free spins and bonuses on its Telegram channel.

Fairspin on social media:

Facebook
Twitter

Source: www.livebitcoinnews.com

Author: Live Bitcoin News ·

Bitcoin News Roundup for June 18, 2020

Bitcoin (BTC) · Blockchain · Coronavirus · Cryptocurrency

(Bloomberg) — Justin Trudeau said the Canadian government will work with people from Shopify Inc. and Blackberry Ltd. to develop a contact tracing application for those who test positive for Covid-19. The prime minister, who announced the partnership with the Canadian technology firms at a briefing outside his Ottawa residence, said users will be able […]

Turkey has dramatically increased resources into blockchain and cryptocurrency technology.

U.S. supermarket chain Kroger Co stopped short of raising its annual forecasts on Thursday, saying a coronavirus-driven surge in demand for essential goods was fading as American households reconsider what they have on their shelves.

Galaxy Digital is working on a project that may lead to institutions adopting crypto as an asset class. And the firm needs it, Mike Novogratz says.

It’s hard to pick just one stunning fact about the market suddenly created by the issuance of Compound’s COMP token.

Alphabet has lagged its mega-cap peers in reaching all-time highs following the coronavirus selloff. Let’s look at the charts for the stock.

Despite relatively high volatility over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin continues to remain anchored in the mid-$9,000s. On a slightly longer time scale, it appears that the alpha-crypto has been consolidating sideways in a roughly $1,500 range since early May 2020. At $9,411 as of this writing, the price is facing stiff resistance from both […]

The post Bitcoin Braces for Breakout, IOTA Signals Long-Term Reversal, & More: Crypto News Roundup appeared first on BeInCrypto.

A contractor has been assembling Covid-19 testing materials in unsterile condition s in a Texas warehouse where workers only intermittently wear protective gear, according to several former employees.

A recovery in demand for gasoline in the United States, the world’s largest market for the motor fuel, hit a plateau last week as coronavirus cases surged in some states, undercutting refiners’ efforts to ramp up low fuel production.

Cryptocurrencies should be regulated more stringently, a VMWare security executive told U.S. lawmakers, citing a rise in cybercrime during the pandemic.

Who watches the watchdogs? President Trump reportedly told his Treasury Secretary to go after Bitcoin while the DEA failed to properly oversee crypto investigations.

Oil prices rose slightly Thursday as a panel of OPEC and its allies met to review record oil supply cuts, even as the market remained concerned about additional coronavirus cases reported in parts of the United States and China.

Jobless claims in the United States performing worse than initial forecasts expected has caused the Dow and other stock indices to slide pre-market. With Bitcoin‘s uptrend hanging by a thread, how will the first-ever cryptocurrency respond to the negative news and falling equities market? Jobless Claims Worst Than Forecasted Sends Dow Plunging Pre-Market When the […]

The S&P 500 and the Dow were largely unchanged on Thursday as investors stayed on the sidelines amid an uptick in coronavirus infections in parts of the United States and an elevated level of weekly jobless claims.

Crypto.com has announced plans to launch derivatives and margin trading for users by the end of the year.

<p xmlns=”https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml”><span class=”xn-location”>NEW YORK, <span class=”xn-chron”>June 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Fruit Street Health, a leading telehealth company funded and g…

Wirecard admitted the accounting hole was roughly a quarter of the company’s total balance sheet.

McDonald’s Corp. plans to keep dozens of items off U.S. menus for the foreseeable future, after sparer operations implemented during the coronavirus pandemic led to improved service times and better margins.

Flying in the coronavirus era will mean obsessive sanitation regimes, reduced entertainment options and limited access to food and refreshments. But many of us will think that’s a price worth paying…

The airline has some new momentum, but COVID-19 infections among staff rattled Delta’s shares.

Arizona is a hotspot for coronavirus now

New York’s library saw a 200% increase.

Global stock markets drifted lower on Thursday as an increase in new coronavirus cases in some U.S. states and China crushed hopes of a swift economic comeback from the pandemic, underpinning demand for safe-haven currencies such as the dollar and Japa…

submitted by /u/KeturahLongmore [link] [comments]

The popular and first Singapore-based carpooling platform, Ryde has revealed that customers will soon be able to pay with bitcoin. The feature will be available after the bitcoin support is incorporated into the company’s payment app on June 22. Ryde has approximately 29,000 drivers, tens of thousands of customers, and millions of trips have been […]

The post Singapore-Based Carpooling Platform Ryde Plans to Support Bitcoin Payments appeared first on Bitcoin News.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco started laying off hundreds of employees this month, two sources familiar with the matter said, as global energy companies reduce their workforces in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Based on the performance of recent World Major Indices, it seems Asian & European investors are more confident in their economies & in their abilities to fight Coronavirus. Most of their businesses are already open & operating in almost ful…

NEW YORK — U.S. Treasury yields fell on Thursday after cases of the novel coronavirus rose in several U.S. states, raising concerns that the economy may not bounce back as quickly as hoped. Several U.S. states reported a surge in new coronavirus infections on Wednesday and the daily count of infections also hit a new […]

Ebang International, one of the largest bitcoin mining machine makers, has disclosed more details of its initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S.

The post Bitcoin miner maker Ebang selects Nasdaq for its IPO, in which it plans to raise more than $100 million appeared first on The Block.

The coronavirus crisis has forced carmakers to speed up layoffs that must be matched with hefty payouts and deft negotiation to retain the support of powerful trade unions vital if Europe’s auto industry is to manage a shift to low-emission vehicles.

NEW YORK/LONDON — Global stock markets drifted lower on Thursday as an increase in new coronavirus cases in some U.S. states and China crushed hopes of a swift economic comeback from the pandemic, underpinning demand for safe-haven currencies such as the dollar and Japanese yen. The daily count of infections hit a new milestone in […]

Dr. Fauci warned of a second wave of coronavirus infections in the fall that could be exacerbated by the flu season.

Last week, Air Canada Chief Executive Officer Calin Rovinescu called the restrictions ‘disproportionate’ as the coronavirus outbreak improves

(Bloomberg) — Canada’s plans for record-setting population growth are being sidelined by the coronavirus. The country’s population rose by 76,221 to 37.97 million during the first three months of 2020, the smallest increase in a first quarter since 2015, Statistics Canada said Thursday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made immigration a major plank in Canada’s […]

By Andy Hoffman and Jacqueline Poh (Bloomberg) — Energy trader Gunvor Group Ltd. is expanding its sustainability-linked debt portfolio even as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for oil products. Gunvor agreed to a 450 million euro ($505 million) one-year loan with a consortium of banks to fund operations at its Ingolstadt, Germany refinery. The so-called […]

The latest hospitalization numbers in Texas
Texas hospitalizations rose % in past 24 hours  vs +11% a day ago
The total is 2947 now, up 218 from yesterday.

Digital asset management company CoinShares has launched a new custody business for investors. 

The post Nomura and Ledger launch digital asset custodian for institutional investors appeared first on The Block.

The quick rebound in global emissions as countries and states reopen is a grim reminder that the world is still grappling with accelerating climate change.

Speculation has been mounting around the upcoming protocol upgrade that Ethereum will go through. However, the price of the smart contracts giant seems to have leveled off as it continues consolidation within a $25 trading range for over the past few weeks. The ongoing stagnation phase is forcing the Bollinger bands to squeeze on ETH’s […]

TORONTO — Ford’s conservatives continue to fail parents during COVID-19. More than a week after the announced child care re-opening, no new funding to support child care centres during the pandemic has been introduced. “Ford’s plan to reopen child care centres is risky—he’s taking a gamble on the health and safety of children, parents, and […]

DUBAI — State oil giant Saudi Aramco started laying off hundreds of employees this month, two sources familiar with the matter said, as global energy companies reduce their workforces in response to the coronavirus crisis. Like other top oil firms, Aramco has cut capital spending for 2020 after the pandemic brought an unprecedented drop in […]

After showing strong signs of a long-term reversal, the LOOM price has broken out from a major resistance. This could be the first step of a more significant move upwards. RLC has already broken out from a long-term descending wedge and has begun to move upwards. Loom Network (LOOM) The daily chart for LOOM shows […]

The post These Two Altcoins Are Showing Strong Reversal Signs appeared first on BeInCrypto.

The industry has lost millions of jobs as the pandemic forced shutdowns and restrictions on in-person dining.

Blockchain technology may offer a solution for countries looking to get rid of corruption while increasing transparency in their governments, a recently published report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) suggests.
According to the report, titled E…

Source: marketinsider.net

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