Tag: crypto assets

  • The Best Time to Add Crypto Asset to Your Portfolio – BTC breaks $10,000

    The Best Time to Add Crypto Asset to Your Portfolio – BTC breaks $10,000

    The best time to add crypto in your portfolio
    A digital currency similar to bitcoin called crypto-asset could be a good pick to trade

    By Guy Avtalyon

    If you missed getting bitcoin, this is the best time to consider and add this crypto asset to your portfolio. This crypto asset has a  powerful recovery in 2019: Bitcoin.  We can see on the BTC charts and from the market, bitcoin is now one of the best assets since it recovered at $10,000 again in 2019. It happened last month and it looks like it will stay there or climb more. 

    Bitcoin grows approx 163% this year. Most importantly, this time the basics are different. 

    Can you see that frenetic fight among banks, technology, and financial companies? Everyone wants to develop the blockchain. 

    We already wrote about  Facebook, but there are more. Google, Square, Goldman Sacha are also the companies that invested in projects to provide a mass adoption of blockchain.

    Bitcoin’s new rally could be more powerful than ever. How is that possible? The crypto traders and investors already know what creating of own crypto may cause on the market. Twitter is on its way to include bitcoin and other cryptos into its payment, Square. It is the question of the moment. We will not wait so long to see that.

    Facebook announced its plans to introduce its own cryptocurrency, Libra. 

    Fidelity already offers to its traders to trade BTC. Amazon is very close to offering the same possibility but at the same time, they are developing their own crypt asset.

    Moreover, crypto asset-backed ETFs are preparing to enter the market. That will be a really new investment class.

    What is crypto-asset?

    It is a digital currency similar to bitcoin and based on blockchain technology. How things look now, it will enter a bull market. This new asset is getting strong popularity!

    This hype can be compared with the time of Internet adoption.

    In the beginning, it was treated as a fancy freak. Do you remember that time? Okay, someone can, but someone hadn’t been born in that time. The point is that the introduction of the Internet gave a chance to many companies to be created. For example, Google or Amazon, and many others came later. The mentioned companies are among the top market listed firms.

    And now, we are witnesses of the creation of the new crypto-assets based on blockchain technology.

    Maybe this is a chance for you to add crypto assets in your investment portfolio. Yes, the crypto market is volatile. But it is a chance for traders to make a profit.

    Bitcoin is a volatile investment, that the truth. From $20,000 in December 2017, it dropped at a bit above $3,500 next year. It was almost a $17,000 decrease. But this year Bitcoin is doing well. It recorded (and still do) steady climbing in value. Now it is traded around $10,000. Who didn’t sell bitcoin at $3,700 can make a nice profit now.

    How can you as ordinary investors get in on this the most profitable odds? How can you enter the crypto asset market?

    If this is an unknown field for you, you should find some guidance, you have to find some trusted expert to guide you through the market volatility to the possibilities.

    Why is this so important?

    Let’s say, you don’t have a lot of knowledge about crypto assets. So, how could you profit from them without that? You can find more than 2,000 assets in the market whose total value is about $250 billion.

    Which crypto asset to trade? How to pick?

    Wild value fluctuations happen and you may stay confused where to invest. Don’t worry, everything will be more clear very soon.

    The best part is that even the investors with most suspicious can see now that crypto is here to stay. It will not go anywhere or totally disappear. The technology behind digital assets is even more firm.

    Traders-Paradise wants to give a few examples of the crypto assets which you should buy.

    On the top is Bitcoin. BTC should be a central asset in your portfolio. If you still don’t hold it, it is the time to include this asset to generate really high profits because the prices will grow. So, the time to buy is NOW. 

    You have to pick the most future proof coin.  Some will tell you it is Binance Coin, issued by Binance exchange.  The price of BNB tokens will be a good test. Stay informed about it. 

    Some others will suggest it is NEO. It will finally expand to add other cryptos and fiat. It can be one of the most interesting and hopeful purchases. Or Stellar! The guarantee plus is a connection to IBM.  Further, Ethereum. You will never go wrong with Ethereum. And also, there are Litecoin, Dash, Ripple, Monero, Bitcoin cash, etc.

    Bottom line

    If they sound like investments you would like to have in your portfolio, what are you waiting for? 

    Never mind.

    You have to know that some of the biggest world companies are establishing blockchain. But the most important is that the number of companies is increasing. The power of crypto assets to make money is unquestionable. 

    Take your place on time.

     

  • ESMA: European Commission to regulate the crypto space with existing legislation

    ESMA: European Commission to regulate the crypto space with existing legislation

    1 min read

    ESMA: European Commission to regulate the crypto space with existing legislation

    The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)  new report recommends to the European Commission that it regulate the cryptocurrency space with existing legislation.

    Rather than instilling new rules and laws. This the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) wrote in their report.

    According to bitcoinmagazine.com, the report identifies that most crypto assets are covered by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. That regulates unfair business practices in the European Union.  

    Therefore, requires correlated laws. As a result, to incorporate it into each member state’s legal system.

    Questions

    The report asks several questions about payment tokens, utility tokens, and asset tokens. It wants to determine whether they can or should fall under present statutes.

    ‘The SMSG focuses this report on financial regulation in the remit of ESMA. In order to determine what crypto-assets are or should be covered by what regulation, the SMSG has classified crypto-assets on the basis of the following questions (see decision tree below):

    1. Does it give the owner an entitlement against the issuer? If so, is it an entitlement in kind or a monetary entitlement? If it is a monetary entitlement, is it profit sharing, a predetermined entitlement, or undetermined other kinds of entitlement?

    2. Is it transferable?

    3. Is it scarce, and how is scarcity controlled?

    4. Does it give decision power on the project of the issuer?’

    The SMSG concluded that MiFID doesn’t cover payment tokens.

    The report mentions that MiFID doesn’t cover payment tokens like bitcoin.

    This is the EU legislation that regulates companies providing services to clients. Likewise, clients related to stock shares and bonds. 

    The Prospectus Regulation, which rules businesses’ shareholding structures don’t these tokens are not included in. Or the Market Abuse Regulation.  

    The report suggests that these assets carry the same risks as other investment objects. And thus the authors urge the EU to place cryptocurrencies under MiFID II control.

    Speaking about utility tokens

    The report stated they are a completely different ballgame.  ESMA’s report, these currencies did not classify as investments.

    According to the report, they provide investors to access a company’s products and services. ICOs or initial coin offerings are responsible to issue utility tokens.

    To raise capital, a new company or startup usually sell a utility token to investors. In return, they gain access to a new coin. 

    EU financial regulations don’t cover utility tokens.

    Because they are not transferable and are only usable in a relationship between the user and the issuer. Thus, the report says MiFID II should not cover these currencies. Unless they are considered transferable.

    For example Filecoin, which builds and runs data applications and helps build smart contracts. It has the potential to become an investment object in the future. 

    Consequently, it would have many of the same risks as traditional stocks. 

    Tokens

    The report examines asset tokens, which are physical goods. Companies can use it to finance new business projects or transfers of goods. In that case, they are recorded into the blockchain.

    In that way, they provide stronger security measures for both parties,  the receiving, and offers.

    The report examines which assets are financial instruments or transferable securities. If a token offers a user financial entitlement of some kind. In other words, it bears the same features as both bonds and shares. It is thus transferable.

    And the report’s suggestion is it should fall under MiFID II and the Prospectus Regulation.

    Examples include EOS and any other ERC20-based tokens. It is possible to purchase and trade via digital exchanges. They are transferable between rewards programs, compatible wallets, etc.

    ESMA doesn’t have the power to implement new laws and regulations regarding any financial instruments. ESMA can’t change existing laws. The report is intended to advise ESMA on how to discuss such changes with the European Commission.

    Read the whole report here

    Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

  • BANK OF CENTRAL BANKS WANTS TO STOP CREATION OF CRYPTO

    BANK OF CENTRAL BANKS WANTS TO STOP CREATION OF CRYPTO

    3 min read

    When Is The Right Time To Invest In Crypto?

    The rise of Bitcoin and the blockchain industry has been accompanied by criticism, just like any other emerging tech sector. Such criticism was heard during the dawn of the internet, and despite it, the internet is still alive and well today. Industry experts have offered different hot takes on the nature of cryptocurrency in general, calling it everything from a bubble to a Ponzi scheme.

    The latest well-known figure to criticize the cryptocurrency industry, however, is Agustín Carstens, head of the Bank for International Settlements, also known as the central bank for all central banks.

    BANK OF CENTRAL BANKS WANTS TO STOP CREATION OF CRYPTO

    According to Carstens in a recent interview, young people should stop trying to create money in the form of cryptocurrency.

    The Bank for International Settlements’ opinion on cryptocurrency may not gain any traction within the community because things have been improving for cryptocurrency. Banks and large corporations have been warming up to blockchain, the underpinning technology of most cryptocurrencies.

    Corporations like IBM have developed enterprise platforms and partnered with cryptocurrency platforms like Stellar to provide blockchain-based payment solutions. Several significant partnerships have also been made between cryptocurrency platforms and banks. Even with the fear of fraud and theft, banks realize that there is profit to be made from the industry and if their customers decide to trade, they may have no choice but to cooperate.

    During the interview, Agustín Carstens was asked if cryptocurrencies can be described as money. He replied by explicitly stating that cryptocurrencies are not money, rather they are a type of asset that can be invested in. By Carstens’ description, these digital assets can’t assume the functionality of money in the economy due to the way they are created.

    Mostly, cryptocurrencies are produced by a group of people who have either been appointed, elected or allowed to secure the network and receive new cryptocurrency in the form of block rewards. The most incentivized people in a cryptocurrency community are its miners. They make a profit when they create new assets and, in turn, deliver the needed security for the network.

    Carstens has stated that this is a bad model for money and simply does not maximize its usefulness. Money is supposed to be a great store of value, means of payment and unit of account. However, so far, digital assets like cryptocurrency have proven to fail badly at all three things.

    As for the hype surrounding the industry at the moment, mostly due to the peak prices achieved by major cryptocurrencies in 2017, Carstens believes that it is only happening as a result of the knowledge that a lot of money can be made on cryptocurrencies in a short period. He also called crypto assets a Ponzi scheme, bubble and environmental disaster due to the infrastructure needed to keep some of their networks running securely.

    Carstens alluded to the fact that he is sure that cryptocurrency will not have a happy ending. He compared digital assets to the renowned National Bank electronic payment system of Switzerland saying that cryptocurrencies may never exhibit that level of efficiency and trust.

    Central banks, on the other hand, have exhibited that level of trust, which is built on several years of efficient service, a level which Carstens is sure that digital asset networks will never achieve. This is why he believes that young people should be more focused on innovation and creative solutions to problems instead of trying to re-invent money.

    This is not the first time that Carstens has openly criticized Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry. In fact, he gave a talk on the topic at the Goethe University in Germany in early 2018, stating that central banks must work hard to stop the rise of cryptocurrency. This would ensure that the technology does not meddle with the finance industry and affect the financial stability of various world economies.

    He also spoke about the difficulties associated with working with Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) in central banks, including the lack of efficiency, the expensive costs, and the slow speeds. Prior to this, Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, expressed his own opinion on cryptocurrencies calling them risky assets. He also stated that the European Central Bank is continuously working to identify threats and dangers that cryptocurrency may pose so that they are mitigated before any harm can be done.

    In addition to this, Carstens based the enthusiasm within the cryptocurrency industry on speculative mania and their use for illegal transactions. According to the BIS head, authorities are getting closer to finding ways to control and prevent the risks associated with digital asset use, stating that it is alarming that several banks have come up with bitcoin ATM’s where BTC can easily be bought or sold, an easy alternative to a Bitcoin exchange.

    As long as the most prominent use case for cryptocurrencies lies in illegal payments, central banks cannot merge the technology with that of the banking sector, to avoid financial disaster. This is similar to the opinion shared by the U.S. Secret Service concerning the provision of regulations for cryptocurrencies, especially those that provide anonymity to users. These coins are usually misused for illegal transactions and present issues when tracing such payments.

    The BIS has taken this stance on the industry for a long time. In February 2018, they highlighted issues with the scalability model of cryptocurrencies, stating that those with more users and a more extensive network are more likely to break down before others. Again, the bank warned the public to avoid making any risky decisions concerning their investments within the space.

    According to the BIS annual report, due to the fragility, lack of stability and lack of scalability, trust can easily disappear from the network and its capabilities. Such networks are also subject to regular congestion as they grow larger. One example is the Ethereum network congestion that occurred subsequent to the launch of Cryptokitties. Other issues addressed include transaction fees and limits.

    FINAL THOUGHTS

    Many have argued that banks make money and are taking a hypocritical stand by telling others not to. The warning by Carstens will most likely not be taken seriously in light of the continuous flood of investors into the cryptocurrency space. Despite the volatility within the industry, cryptocurrency has come to be recognized as a way to invest and make a lot of money. As a result, demand for digital assets has increased over time and will continue to lead to an increase in supply, not the opposite scenario that Carstens is proposing.

    Despite the bold statements by Carstens, the cryptocurrency industry has seen improvement in the number of projects, investors and the amount of money raised through crowdfunding. Apart from the statements that tell young people to stop trying to make money, he raised some relevant points including the insecurity and expenses associated with running such networks. Another problem lies in the lack of stringent regulations within the industry to govern its many investment and trade practices.

    Carstens continues to be outspoken about the Bank of International Settlements lack of support for cryptocurrency as a whole. Other experts in various financial and technological fields also continue to show mixed opinions on the subject.

    However, the recurring themes are rooted in regulation, theft, illegal activities and profits. Hopefully, cryptocurrency will get to a middle ground that makes security provision for users, regulators, like central banks and even law enforcement, easier.

    The original article was published https://www.markemlickprivateequity.com/

    Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)