John Waldron, the chief operating officer (COO) of Goldman Sachs, says the financial services giant is seeing rising customer demand to own and invest in bitcoin. Nevertheless, the COO explained that his organization was still exploring ways of satisfying this demand without running afoul of regulators.

In remarks made during an interview, Waldron, who is also the banking giant’s president, adds that Goldman Sachs “is in discussions with regulators and central banks about how banks should be regulated when dealing with digital money.” Meanwhile, in explaining the financial giant’s unique approach towards satisfying customer demand, Waldron said:

We are regulated on what we can do. We continue to evaluate it … and engage on it.

In addition to looking for ways of satisfying the growing consumer demand for cryptos, the Reuters report also reveals that “Goldman is also exploring a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and has issued a request for information to explore digital asset custody.”

In the meantime, Waldron is quoted in the same report explaining how the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an “explosion in online commerce” and how this trend is unlikely to change going forward. He said:

The pandemic has been a significant accelerant. There is no question in our mind there will be more digital commerce … and (use of) digital money.

Meanwhile, as Waldron reveals Goldman Sachs’ cautious crypto approach, recent reports, however, indicate that the banking giant has already”restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk.” Additionally, the banking giant also “started dealing in bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards for clients.”

Do you agree with Waldron’s assertion that the use of digital currency will explode? You can tell us what you think in the comments section below.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Source: news.bitcoin.com

Author: Finance

by
Terence Zimwara

Bitcoin Cash Price Prediction: BCH/USD Now Swings Tightly for a Recovery Closer Below a $600 Mark

BCH Price Prediction – March 13
There appears to be a tight-increasing effort in the market value of BCH as paired with the US Dollar’s worth. It is recalled that the crypto’s value dropped recently to locate support almost half point between $500 and $400 levels.

BCH/USD Market
Key Levels:
Resistance levels: $650, $750, $850
Support levels: $450, $400, $350

BCH/USD – Daily Chart
The BCH/USD trading chart shows that the crypto-market value is getting set for another upsurge on a slow-moving outlook. As at the time of writing, a real-body bullish candlestick is forming a bit away from the smaller SMA trading indicator. The bullish trend-line has drawn to place at a support line of $500 mark. The 50-day SMA trend-line is located nearer underneath the point mentioned earlier as the 14-day SMA trading indicator is positioned above them with a small distance. The Stochastic Oscillators have moved into the overbought region to close the hairs within it. That could mean a feature of getting to see a kind of price consolidation moves soon in the crypto-market.

Do the BCH/USD bulls now have the energy to push northwardly?
The potential of the BCH/USD bulls breaking past a near resistance value of $600 seems not to have completely lost as there appears to be a promising bullish formation of a trading candlestick currently in the market. In what may look as also having a price consolidation moving mode in a near time, the bulls are expected to push further northward even there could be little falls towards the support line of $500.

On the downside, the BCH/USD bears have to mount a pressure between the levels of $600 and $700 to resist a smooth journey of the crypto-market to the north afterward. Meanwhile, a line of some price rejection around $800 and $900 points will lead to another decline which may, in turn, termed a retracement move of the market. However, all that said, those assumed scenarios may not easily come by in near trading conditions.

BCH/BTC Price Analysis
As regards weighing or valuing the market trading position between BCH and BTC, it still shows that the counter-instrument has stronger purchasing power than its base-tool. However, the counter-crypto’s power appears getting exhausted as final downward pressures are seemingly staging from the lower bearish trend-line very soon. The 14-day SMA and the 50-day SMA trading indicators are located above the market price level. The Stochastic Oscillators have dipped into the oversold region to cross the hairs within it briefly to the north. That suggests that there may soon be a rebound or rally movement featuring between the two trade instruments.

Remember, all trading carries risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Source: insidebitcoins.com

Author: FOLLOW ON

Not Just MicroStrategy: The Story of a Small Pizza Business that Bought Bitcoin Worth $200K

Numerous large corporations and institutions entered the bitcoin space in the last year or so with substantial purchases worth billions of dollars in total. Keeping in mind that some of those names were giants like Tesla, MicroStrategy, Ruffer Investment, and MassMutual, it’s quite normal that they all made the news more than once.

But what about the so-called little guy? Being considered as a highly-volatile and risky asset with a little over a decade-long history, BTC doesn’t sound like the preferable asset for smaller businesses to put on their balance sheets, right?

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case for a small husband-and-wife-owned pizza business with two joints in Alabama, the US, called Sam & Greg’s Pizzeria/Gelateria.

Greg Hathorn, the co-owner (also known as the husband), recently commented on a Michael Saylor endorsement of Square’s $170 million BTC purchase that they had moved $200,000 off their business’ balance sheet into the primary cryptocurrency.

CryptoPotato reached out to the Hathorns to find out more about their decision, thoughts on bitcoin, exit strategy, and everything in between.

Arguably the most profound question for every (new) investor is why he or she has decided to allocate funds in a certain asset – or as a popular US-British author wrote once – “it all starts with the why.”

Greg shared with us that his background was in IT, despite his ongoing restauranteur endeavors, and said that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have been in his sights for quite some time.

While admitting that he was late to the party with his “ah-ha moment”, he believes that “these technologies represent the smartest use of the Internet to date, creating a positive disruption that will shake traditional finance to its core.”

“So, why bitcoin for my business? The simple answer is that I have worked hard to save money, and I don’t like seeing it disrespected and devalued. I also do not appreciate politicians and central banks reducing the value of the American worker to the speed of a printer. Bitcoin solves these problems.

The simple forces of a fixed supply and unlimited demand are in play, making bitcoin the obvious choice as the go-to store of value for those simply needing a place to preserve capital, no matter what size business.”

Greg revealed that the catalyst for this decision came in April 2020 – quite the decisive moment for the cryptocurrency industry as well as the entire financial field. The COVID-19 outburst had just been recognized as a global pandemic and the consequences spread through all financial markets, causing massive nosedives.

Bitcoin was not excluded, as it plummeted by 50% in a day to below $4,000 in mid-March, 2020. However, the Hathorns seem to have taken the Paul Tudor Jones III approach and go into bitcoin as the asset began its recovery.

Nevertheless, BTC didn’t stop with just a mere recovery and went on to new heights in the next eleven months. It’s not a surprise that the Hathorns’ bitcoin investment is “approximately 350% up since we started investing last April.”

Greg noted that he chose to go with Grayscale instead of the “crypto-exchange route because I just didn’t want to deal with maintaining a digital wallet, cold storage/hot storage, keys, etc.” He believes that the GBTC trust is among the most convenient tools for people wanting to receive BTC exposure at the moment but believes that the potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF could be a game-changer.

On the question of their overall strategy going into bitcoin, Greg told us that he’s not actively managing the cryptocurrency position. Instead, he prefers HODLing for now.

However, he plans to treat his “prudent” BTC investment slightly differently in the future – “I will take profits on the way up, and then reinvest on future dips.”

While it’s still not a common practice among larger or smaller businesses, Greg believes that every owner or executive should “at the very least, educate themselves on bitcoin” before making a conscious decision on whether or not to buy BTC as well.

“Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency in general, is not going away, so it should not be ignored as being just a fad that will fade.” – he asserted.

Although he acknowledged the asset’s enhanced volatility, Greg doesn’t feel it’s risky – “or at least not riskier than investing in stocks, market ETFs, or just sitting on cash.” He and his wife have invested in BTC funds that are “over and above the operating capital that stays in the business to meet ongoing cash flow needs.”

As such, he’s prepared to face the short-term volatility, despite the “stomach-churning that occurs when bitcoin dips and consolidates,” to “capture massive long-term gains.” Additionally, he feels privileged to participate as an early adopter of this “new Digital Monetary Network – an opportunity I can’t pass up.”

Greg also noted that the company’s BTC investment could ultimately benefit their staff, too, as it suggests job security and potential bonuses. He said that “they were excited” the first time he and his wife announced the bitcoin purchase.

“They felt that if we were able to do that, then the business must be doing well, which translates into job security. But, more importantly, I do plan to incorporate a portion of any Bitcoin profits into our annual bonus pool, which is shared by all employees. So, in a manner of speaking, you could say that our staff is invested in Bitcoin.” – he concluded.

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Source: cryptopotato.com

Cost of a single Bitcoin exceeds $60k for first time ever

Bitcoin crossed the $60,000 (€50 195) mark for the first time in its history on Saturday with analysts linking the cryptocurrency’s rapid climb in part to the passing of the US stimulus plan.

According to the specialist site CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency rose above $60,000 on Saturday and continued to oscillate around that threshold throughout the afternoon.

Bitcoin passed the $50,000 (€41,829) threshold just last month and has tripled in value over the last three months.

It was worth around $20,000 (€16,731) in mid-December.

Neil Wilson of Markets.com said that Bitcoin climbed amid the passing of the $1.9 trillion (€1.58 trillion) stimulus plan passed by the Biden administration on Thursday.

Americans should receive checks and transfers of $1,400 (€1,171) per person this weekend.

“The American stimulus checks will allow small investors to put part of their funds in Bitcoin,” said Naeem Aslam, an analyst at AvaTrade, who says he expects the progression to continue “given that buying Bitcoins just got a lot easier now.”

The exponential growth of cryptocurrency worries some market observers, however, who say it could fuel a sharp correction or the explosion of a bubble.

But others believe that the situation is very different from 2017, when prices climbed with even greater vigour before crashing in early 2018.

In addition to investment funds and companies like the American automaker Tesla, which invested $1.5 billion (€1.25 billion) in cryptocurrency, many individuals are buying fractions of bitcoin.

Source: www.euronews.com

Crypto Whales Pounce on Bitcoin, Mount One of the Strongest Accumulation Periods in History

Crypto whales are accumulating Bitcoin at an astounding pace as the flagship cryptocurrency renews its battle to record a fresh all-time high.

On March 9th, on-chain analytics tracker Material Indicators revealed that the number of crypto whales placing orders for $100,000-$1 million BTC is poised to hit a new all-time high.

“The $100k – $1M class is now also about to make a new ATH. Meaning, they bought the dip.”

Not only is on-chain action skyrocketing for Bitcoin, analyst Lex Mokovski points out that huge troves of BTC have been leaving centralized exchanges in the past couple of weeks, preempting a huge price surge.

“Another huge batch of 11,554 Bitcoin has left Coinbase. That happened just before the recent surge in price. Nice coincidence.”

When taking a look at historical Bitcoin volumes at various price levels, Cameron Batt of Crypto Daily highlights data from Glassnode that shows the amount of on-chain action of late is massive.

“I assure you this is mind blowing… We spent just days at these price levels. The fact that this much movement was recorded on-chain is staggering.”

Batt asserts that coupled with the data showing that Bitcoin is leaving exchanges where it can be sold on the open market, the whale action of late demonstrates that the high $40,000 range registered one of the largest BTC accumulation zones in its history.

“…Technically if people were all taking their Bitcoin out of their hardware wallets to sell on exchanges it would produce a similar result on this chart (price would drop while on-chain volume spiked), but that’s not what we’re seeing. In fact, we’re seeing the exact opposite. A literal mass exodus of Bitcoin from exchanges to personal wallets.

In addition, we can clearly see that it is whales behind the bulk of this activity as orders for Bitcoin over $100,000 at a time or Bitcoin orders over $1 million orders recently hit an all-time high.

We can say that the $48,000 level was one of the very biggest accumulation zones in the entirety of Bitcoin history. I’ve never seen something so crazy happening on-chain in all my years of analyzing.”

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Source: dailyhodl.com

Bitcoin tops the $60,000 mark

New York (CNN Business)Bitcoin prices continue to skyrocket. The cryptocurrency surpassed $60,000 on Saturday to hit a new high, just a few weeks after it topped $50,000.

Bitcoin (XBT) smashed through the $30,000 and $40,000 levels over a few days in January. Bitcoins in circulation are worth more than $1 trillion.

Bitcoin prices have more than doubled so far this year, up 107% from the December 31 closing price of $28,987.60. Investors are excited that Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) said in February it owns $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin on its balance sheet. Tesla also has said it was looking at letting consumers use bitcoin to buy its cars and SUVs.

That sparked speculation that other big companies may soon add bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to their balance sheets, since bitcoin is generating a significantly higher return than bonds and cash. Software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR) has been actively buying bitcoin.

Top financial firms are helping to validate bitcoin. Payments giants Square (SQ) and PayPal (PYPL) let their users buy and sell it. Credit card processing behemoths Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) are also embracing cryptocurrencies.

BlackRock (BLK) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK) have started to dabble in bitcoin, as well.

Investors have been flocking to bitcoin because of the perception that it could be a good hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar if bond yields continue to rise.

Bitcoin bulls argue that the cryptocurrency is like “digital gold” and could even replace the yellow metal as the inflation antidote of choice. To that end, bitcoin has surged this year while gold has fallen.

Inflation fears have returned now that President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package. There are concerns about whether that much money is really needed.

Some worry that stimulus may cause the economy to overheat and lead to much higher inflation. After all, there are now multiple Covid-19 vaccines and more people are returning to work, which should boost the economy — and bitcoin prices.

Bitcoin has benefited from investors’ recognition that the cryptocurrency is scarcer than gold or other precious metals.

That’s because there is a cap of just 21 million bitcoins built into the cryptocurrency’s source code available to be mined — the process of using computers or servers to solve complex math problems to generate bitcoin. Roughly 18.6 million bitcoins are in circulation.

Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency getting a boost. Smaller digital currencies such as ethereum, litecoin and stellar have soared in 2021.

The optimism about cryptocurrencies has boosted shares of publicly traded crypto mining companies such as Riot Blockchain (RIOT), Marathon Patent Group (MARA) and Hive (HVBTF).

And cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which has filed to list its shares directly later this year, is one of 2021’s most eagerly awaited stock market debuts.

Source: www.cnn.com

Author: Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business

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