Tag: Cryptocurrencies

All cryptocurrencies related articles are found here. Educative, informative and written clearly.

EU Banks Welcome Bitcoin

From next year banks in EU banks will offer their customers cryptocurrencies in online banking
The German lawmaker is the leader in the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

By G. Gligorijevic

EU banks welcome Bitcoin??? Yes. In the ever-running war of governments against money laundering and terrorism financing new regulations are being enacted and implemented in many countries on almost regular yearly levels. And the approaching deadline for implementing one such regulation in the EU is good news for all investors and potential investors in cryptocurrencies from this supranational block. The governments of EU member states have until January 10, 2020, time to implement the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5th AMLD) which brings a sorely needed legal framework for trading and investing in cryptos. Until recently, among the EU legislators existed a strong negative attitude towards the cryptocurrencies. Most often justified by a lack of proper legal framework and the potential for a sinister use of the advantages they are lauded for. But from January next year, such obstacles shall be removed, and crypto trading will be available along with the more conventional banking and investment products.

What does 5th AMLD bring?

While most of the public and media is putting the focus on the parts of the new regulations which tighten the AML rules concerning the regulation of real estate agents and precious metals dealers, on the sidelines are left novelties regarding the cryptocurrencies.

The most important novelty is the implementation of a definition of what is a cryptocurrency. Even though the general public knows what it is and what it is not, this was a crucial moment for making investment and trading with cryptos through traditional institutions possible in the EU. Now the commercial and investment banks will have a precise legal language of what cryptocurrencies are.

The second crucial part of legal regulations is the definition of a waller provider. This will have the effect of allowing all of the existing financial regulations to be applicable to cryptocurrencies. And such applicability will legally equalize the traditional investment vehicles with the cryptocurrencies.

The impact on traders, investors and common people

That would be the legal language of it, but what does it mean in simple terms. In the most simple terms, it means that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Etherum, and others; will be equal to the fiat currencies. Banks will be able to provide all of the traditional banking products to their customers in cryptocurrencies. People and institutions will be able to hold them in their accounts, exchange them for other fiat or cryptocurrencies. But also they will be able to use cryptocurrencies to purchase other financial assets with cryptocurrencies. Bonds, stocks, derivatives, and the likes will be available for purchase.

Implementation still lagging

The deadline for implementation of new AML regulation is fast approaching, but many member states are well behind is this regard. On November 14 this year, Geman’s Bundestag has passed a new bill which now awaits the passage in the upper house of German Parliament, after which ratification by all 16 federal states must follow.

After this new financial regulation bill becomes the law of the land, Germany will join the likes of Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Finland, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, and Luxembourg; as another country that has implemented new rules and made cryptocurrency investing and trading possible. But, Germany is an economic powerhouse and one of the financial centers of the EU, thus this move has a higher significance than meets the eye. Germany is not just another country. It is a country with a GDP amounting to 22% of the whole block, and its financial regulations and market trends are closely watched and often copied by other member states.

The public reaction on how EU banks welcome Bitcoin

The public reaction to the new bill was somewhat as expected, some have welcomed it while others decided to criticize less novel potential impacts.

The Association of German Banks has reacted positively to the news that EU banks welcome Bitcoin. This comes as no surprise bearing in mind how much this institution was expressing support for regulating cryptocurrencies, and thus bringing it into a legitimate system of banking in Germany out from the grey zone it existed till now. The criticism can be boiled down to repeated yelling “banks are crooked”. And these concerns do have merit. In the past, commercial and investment banks did, and often still do, behave in a predatory way. But that is not the reason to fight against bringing the cryptos into the world of traditional banking. It is a reason to better regulate traditional banks, and protect their customers. After all, decreasing the power of banks over common people was one of the philosophical reasons for the invention of cryptocurrencies.

In the end, a long time considered as an obsession of pimpled geeky libertarians cryptocurrencies is about to enter the game after January 10, when the second-largest economy per GDP makes them part of its regulated financial system.

29th November 2019
Christine Lagarde as an EBC head: Good or bad for cryptocurrencies future?

2 min read

Christine Lagarde, a new ECB head is remarkably pro-crypto.

Investors and advocates of Bitcoin and the crypto markets have long held that the zenith of adoption the crypto would come when authorities and central banks started becoming friendly towards the new technologies.

The new head of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde is pro-crypto. Can it be good or bad for cryptocurrencies?

Previously, she has shown a huge interest in crypto and how the new tech can help develop tomorrow’s overall economy.

Will this help to promote acceptance of cryptocurrencies?

Christine Lagarde has promoted for state-backed digital currencies.

She said it could improve the capability of such state’s economy.

“I believe we should consider the possibility to issue digital currency. There may be a role for the state to supply money to the digital economy,” she told at the Singapore Fintech Festival Nov. 14.

If done correctly, central bank-issued digital currencies could “could satisfy public policy goals,” she noticed, specifically “financial inclusion,” “security and consumer protection,” and “privacy in payments.”

During the speech in Singapore, Lagarde meantime persisted on the “downsides” of CBDCs, too

“I would also like to highlight the risks of stifling innovation — the last thing you want. My main point will be that we should face these risks creatively.”

We must be honest, the new ECB boss is more open to centralized crypto selections than to decentralized ones, like Bitcoin. She has supported already for state-backed cryptocurrencies and tokens like XRP and JPM coin. Maybe, she just needs more encouragement. We will see. It isn’t possible for any traditional bank to support the crypto, but to embrace its existence and allow using in transactions would be very useful, both for the bankers and crypto-owners.

Lagarde supports

Last year, in February, Lagarde in an interview for CNNMoney said that “the trend showed a “herd mentality” of those looking for high yield products as well as an element of speculation.”

Lagarde continued that this trend was also fired by “dark activity.” That was explained by the potential for cryptocurrencies to be “used for money laundering and other illegal online activities due to their anonymous nature.”

We can’t argue with this opinion because it is true. But, also, the regulation would be helpful. The difficult part, someone can think, is how to provide for crypto to remain anonymous and regulated. Well, it isn’t too hard. The hard part is how to avoid dark activity. Fiat showed less capability.

Lagarde has said that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could develop financial markets. She especially pointed to the speed and security of transactions.

We are sure that Lagarde’s main interest will not be the adoption of cryptocurrencies. She will have some bigger difficulties in the EU monetary system and economy. But, also, we have to notice that Lagarde is opened toward new technologies such as blockchain and it is very good. It can be promising for the crypto in the future. Christine Lagarde on the head of the ECB can have a very positive influence on the crypto industry and market in whole.

For now, for those of us who truly believe that the future for cryptos is coming, it is good news that Christine Lagarde’s opinions about Bitcoin are positive.

8th July 2019
Bitcoin rose and hit One-Year High

2 min read

Bitcoin rose and hit over $9,000. This is its highest since May 2018.

This new high is perhaps caused by Facebook’s reveals to launch its crypto. Such an event added more optimism and confidence about the future of cryptocurrencies in general because it showed that digital money is going to be adopted by big companies.

The biggest cryptocurrency climbed as much as 9.4%. Other crypto coins also rose: Litecoin for 4.4% and Ethereum for 4%.

Cryptocurrencies price chart

Let’s stay with Bitcoin.

Bitcoin rose more than 130% in 2019 and has almost doubled in value. How did it happen?

The big companies like Facebook expanded or revealed that have plans, to their offering of cryptocurrency services.

It seems that Facebook’s plan to launch a digital currency is pushing people toward Bitcoin.

June 18th is tomorrow ( the date that Facebook planned to reveal more details about new digital asset) and we will have full public information. Previously, Facebook announced the plan to release a white paper for “Libra” or “Globalcoin”. This should be on June 18th as they said.

FOMO effect

Jeremy Allaire, the chief executive of Circle, tweeted the launch of Libra (whitepaper) will be a “massive inflection point in the global adoption of cryptocurrency.”

This entrepreneur said that by June 21st, he expects for Bitcoin to be valued at $10,000, “marking [the] start of Crypto Summer.”

Yes, $10,000 is a fine number, but many see it as a pivotal level for the Bitcoin price.

When Bitcoin rose to this level, and that time isn’t so far, FOMO will favor the crypto market.

Bitcoin chart

If you can recall the time when BTC went over $4,500 you know what we are talking about. This means that the price of Bitcoin and other cryptos will go higher, more above $10,000 and they will do it very fast.

For proponents, this is great news and event worth waiting for. There are so many emotions in the game. Just try to read everything on Twitter. Bitcoiners will be glad to see the opponents frustrated and to see FOMO from those who celebrated when BTC dropped about 90 %.

What will they feel about those who believed that Bitcoin is dead forever?

The Wall Street analysts stated that once $10,000 is broken trough, there will be a “fast and furious” progress to $20,000. Taking that new value as the new position, it looks more obvious that Bitcoin can double the price in the following several months.

The price of $40,000 sounds pretty good, don’t you think?

Some have a different opinion

However, there are some that deny this pleasant emotion about Libra and bright influence on Bitcoin.

Peter Schiff, investor, and libertarian-leaning economist speculated that Facebook’s Libra project will be “bad news” for Bitcoin.

This famous cryptocurrency critic, who claims that BTC has no intrinsic value and thus is not better than hard gold (Schiff is a prominent gold investor), calculates that Libra will be much stabler, cheaper, and more easy-to-use than Bitcoin.

And yes, that is exactly what Facebook promised about Libra,

low fees, fast transfer and a level of stability not seen with Bitcoin.

Behind this promise is the idea that the new cryptocurrency will be secured with traditional currencies and other ‘steady’ assets.

The bottom line

All is math. Bitcoin was $2,634 on June 16, 2017. Say you bought some BTC at that time. Now, you have an almost tripled return after 2 years. Bad investment? Never dare to say that. Sudden and fast ups and downs, yes. That’s the nature of Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency.

And speaking about Bitcoin’s future, as Nelson Mandela said: “It always seems impossible until is done.”

risk disclosure

17th June 2019
Initiative Q – What is It?
3 min read
- Initiative Q has adopted some of the worst elements of scammy altcoins
If you google Initiative Q and head to its website, you will find a giant page posture “tomorrow’s payment network”.

Social media’s got itself a new trend, it asks you to sign up to a new financial network called Initiative Q.

To attract signups, Initiative Q is using pyramid-style recruiting, aggressive social marketing. And it’s working: The project has been public since early summer, Google searches for “Initiative Q” have exploded since October 14.

You may have already been addressed by friends on Facebook or Twitter. And they told you there are only a limited amount of invites to join in on the next crypto, future bitcoin, that will potentially get you rich quickly. Despite that great interest, there is a concern that the operation might be a scam.

Initiative Q is a project led by veteran payments entrepreneur Saar Wilf, who contributed technology to Paypal, and George Mason University economics professor Lawrence H. White. They want to launch a digital currency but they’re very noisy about the fact that it’s not a cryptocurrency.

Initiative Q says it will be “tomorrow’s payment network.”

Wilf has started a viral social media campaign with this:

“Interested in a free $130,000 lottery ticket, which I estimate has a better than 1% chance to win?”

And below

It is evident they need to encourage mass adoption if they want success.

But, let’s put aside absurd and arrogant claims of their made-up “currency” being worth $2 trillion USD in the future. For now, they have a nice landing page. Anything can go in the world of marketing. But there are some reasonable questions we have to ask.

How could free units of a new digital currency end up being worth thousands or billions of dollars?

This is where things get interesting.

If you read through Initiative Q’s website and try to find how they got to their absurd $40,000 airdrop value you will find a long description, but here’s the summary of how they got there:

As you can see Initiative Q is different as it doesn’t ask you to invest any money. The free offering promises to collect a better financial reward if you secure one of the free slots. That means there should be no financial risk to you to join.

They are offering to set up a new payment network utilizing the very newest technology and then run a private currency ‘Q’ on that network, with a base of 2 trillion Q, which will be worth $1 per Q. This may make you think of a pyramid or Ponzi scheme, whereby a scammer will trick new investors, but no money has changed hands. Yet.

That, however, doesn’t change the fact that Initiative Q is in our opinion, a really bad idea. Initiative Q has adopted some of the worst elements of scammy altcoins, without even small simulations of technological innovation. It’s connected in general with risks.

Why does it look like a scam?

It’s premised on the hype

Initiative Q most resembles a crypto scam while active promoting of FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. Its own marketing materials compare it to “getting free bitcoin seven years ago.”

Promoters spin estimates of the currency’s future value and they’ve built their marketing on “the earlier you join, the higher your reward.”

This rhetoric is created to attract the naive audience, and get them caught up in the excitement of easy money earning. Take a look at their Facebook profile. It also doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Initiative Q sounds like QAnon. It is a dangerous viral conspiracy theory that has taken over certain corners of social media in the past few years.

Let’s say, prop up scammers.

It’s not anonymous

Initiative Q is pointing out that they’re not selling anything. They’re just asking for your name and email address. They just want to keep you in the loop when the currency is launched. But, this trove of names and emails is a giant tank for hackers at the same time. A list of people interested in get-rich-quick schemes that could be extremely lucrative for more opened scammers. Where is the anonymity? The essence of crypto, P2P and blockchain!

Initiative Q seems to have missed the core source of the cryptocurrency enthusiasm they’re trying to use to leverage their really weird non-crypto. Data is valuable, and advertising companies will gladly pay heaps of money for access to good lists. Yes, they say in their privacy policy that they don’t sell our data! So does Facebook. That didn’t stop Cambridge Analytica from scraping illicit data and using it to advertise during the US 2016 election. If Initiative Q is sold to another company, they have every right to change the privacy policy. There’s no guarantee that your data is private. If there is no possibility of anonymous digital transactions what they are looking for in the world of crypto? Without the possibility of anonymous digital transactions, nobody would give a damn about cryptocurrency.

It has no technology

Initiative Q doesn’t have anything as yet, except the notion of ‘build a payment network and it’ll be awesome. Frankly, many of the things Q is promising to build already exist in the form of Apple Pay, Google Pay, AI fraud prevention, and smart card systems. What’s new? It looks like another payment app, just another payment processor. It’s utterly unclear what unsolved problem Q is meant to address. Keyword ‘unclear’! Fog! They have no idea but they want you to sign up. Smart! The most interesting thing about Initiative Q is its creators’ decision to pitch it as “sort of like a cryptocurrency, but definitely not a cryptocurrency.” So, what it is?

They have no product. Most ICOs or cryptocurrencies will explain how they plan to build their network. They ’ll draw up a whitepaper, going deep into the technical details.

What about Initiative Q? Nothing! No product, no details, no descriptions. There are some indications, signs but all unclear and obscured.

There’s an endless well of frustrated greed in the world. For a while, cryptocurrency was the vehicle and object for that greed. What Initiative Q’s creators seem to have missed is that there’s a lot more to it than that. Greed isn’t the main subject.

Its marketing is scary

Initiative Q’s authors have presented their plans to the world with all the aspects of a scam. Where’s the evidence for this?

Here! You can only join Initiative Q if you’re recruited, and each new joiner gets five invites to send out to friends. Recruiting others rewards you with more Q currency in the future. OK, there is no buy-in price, but that’s literally a pyramid scheme.

Initiative Q has been aggressive in using barrel-scraping content marketing tactics like MLM. But, unlike the MLM businesses, Initiative Q isn’t asking you to buy anything. They’re just making incredible promises about the value of the free coins they’re handing out.

Our concern is that when “get rich quick” schemes like this go viral on social media, they rust the image of cryptocurrency. They can cause confusion among the general audience. Even if Initiative Q does work out as a new system of payment, their marketing has been misleading. That “by invite, only” system for early adoption makes a false sense of exclusivity. At the same time, it can encourage people to spam their social media feeds with the Initiative Q saga.

Initiative Q is centralized

Initiative Q is a digital currency that’s not blockchain-based. According to creators, it is a payment network with a smartphone app, instant payments, and better fraud prevention than credit card companies. In fact, it links its fraud prevention specifically to the idea that it’s centralized.

They are establishing “patterns of appropriate and inappropriate behavior,” and Initiative Q will build “more reliable fraud assessment.”

What does it mean?

It is just an enhanced version of what banks and credit cards do. And that’s exactly the problem: Q isn’t an actual innovation. Initiative Q creators really just want to build a centralized payment network. And they want to take their piece of cake.

Q will be a private currency and you won’t control the money you receive. The network could shut down, the admins could move your money into someone else’s account. There is no guarantee the Q would avoid legal intervention that destroyed earlier centralized digital currencies.

Should you sign up to Initiative Q?

We won’t tell you what to do with your money. But be very cautious when it comes to Initiative Q and online promises of quick wealth.

It’s possible that Initiative Q is not a scam. It’s possible that they’re just a company orchestrating a brilliant viral marketing campaign. Nothing is wrong with that. PayPal, CashApp, Payoneer, offer referral programs to attract new users.

So, where the problem lies? There are so many ways to make money, especially in the crypto area. People are wasting their time on gambles like this.

Initiative Q’s affiliates promote this possible scam instead to do something that’s actually profitable. True wealth never comes by waiting for random internet companies to hand deliver you $40,000.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)
7th November 2018
How To Make Money With Blockchain Technology?
The 21st century is all about technology, a new addition to the pack is Blockchain technology.
There are many ways you to make money with Blockchain

2 min read

The Blockchain is the revolutionary technology impacting different industries miraculously was introduced in the markets with its very first modern application Bitcoin. Bitcoin is nothing but a form of digital currency (cryptocurrency) which can be used instead of fiat money for trading. And the underlying technology behind the success of cryptocurrencies is termed as the Blockchain technology.

With the increasing need for modernization in our everyday lives, people need to accept new technologies. From using a remote for controlling devices to using voice notes for giving commands; modern technology has made space in our regular lives. Technology like augmented IoT that have gained tread in the past decade and now there’s a new addition to the pack i.e. Blockchain technology.

Actually, the 21st century is all about technology.

There’s a misconception that Bitcoin and Blockchain are one and the same, however, that is not the case. Creating cryptocurrencies is one of the applications of blockchain technology and other than Bitcoin, there are numerous applications that are being developed on the basis of blockchain technology. The blockchain is just a public ledger of transactions on the bitcoin network.

Before we tell you how to make money with blockchain technology, there are several things you have to know.

Though blockchain technology has evolved to many levels since inception, there are two broad categories in which blockchains can be classified majorly i.e. Public and Private blockchains.

At first, let’s keep a check on the similarities that both public and private blockchain have:
- Both Public and Private blockchain have peer-to-peer decentralized networks.
- All the participants of the network maintain the copy of the shared ledger with them.
- The network maintains copies of the ledger and synchronizes the latest update with the help of consensus.
- The rules for immutability and safety of the ledger are decided and applied on the network so as to avoid malicious attacks.
And let’s see the differences between them.

Public Blockchain – It is a permissionless ledger and can be accessed by any and everyone. Anyone who has access to the internet is eligible to download and access it, can check the overall history of the blockchain along with making any transactions through it. Public blockchains usually reward their network participants for performing the mining process and maintaining the immutability of the ledger. An example of the public blockchain is the Bitcoin Blockchain.

Public blockchains allow communities all over the world to exchange information openly and securely. However, an obvious disadvantage of this type of blockchain is that it can be compromised if the rules around it are not executed strictly. The rules decided and applied initially have very little scope of modification in the later stages.

Private Blockchain – Opposite to the public blockchain, private blockchains are shared only among the trusted participants. The overall control of the network is in the hands of the owners. The rules of a private blockchain can be changed according to different levels of permissions, exposure, number of members, authorization, etc.

Private blockchains can run alone or can be integrated with other blockchains too. These are usually used by enterprises and organizations. So we can say, the level of trust required amongst the participants is higher in private blockchains.

Ways to make money with Blockchain technology

Though Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies are the first popular application of Blockchain technology, they are not the only ones. The nature of Blockchain technology has led businesses, industries, and entrepreneurs from all around the world to explore the technology’s potential and make revolutionary changes in different sectors. The variety of blockchain technology-based businesses with paths to profitability is striking. Here are four that illustrate the width of innovation the blockchain marketplace is bringing to potentially profitable business ideas. While Millennials are certainly moving towards “alternative career paths” more often than their Generation X or Baby Boomer counterparts, there are countless ways for absolutely anyone to capitalize on the new wave of oncoming technology. Here, you’ll find an awesome starting point for making money and freelancing with blockchain technology.

Let’s see how Blockchain technology can be useful in actual implementation.

Mining

Mining cryptocurrency is considered the granddaddy of making bank on blockchain technology. Here’s a quick rundown of how the blockchain technology works in this example. Multiple transactions make up a block. Miners verify blocks through a process. They apply a mathematical formula to each block, turning it into something make money blockchain called a “hash.” Essentially, a hash is an alphanumeric sequence. The hash is then stored at the end of the blockchain. When each block’s hash is created, it uses the previous block’s hash. More or less, this is the digital version of a wax seal.

So, once a block has been “sealed off,” a flurry of activity happens. The first miner to produce the hash receives a reward. As more of the cryptocurrency is mined, the rewards are halved. The process itself is pretty straightforward. What’s not straightforward, though, is actually making it happen.

Since so many people have computers strong enough to mine, it’s far more difficult to make it a lucrative endeavor. Instead, mining pools have popped up. Mining pools are just groups of people working together to mine. If the pool wins, everyone in the pool has distributed a portion of that winning. That’s not to say, though, that mining smaller altcoins on your own isn’t a possibility.

Trading

This is definitely a lucrative way to make money with blockchain technology.

Cryptocurrencies reside on exchanges, just like fiat money. However, they have much more in common with stocks. Because cryptocurrency markets are so volatile, they can feel like more of a risk than they’re worth. But, to make money with them you just need to be aware of trends and do your research. Know the specific risks associated with trading. There are literally thousands of cryptocurrencies on the market.

On the flip side, if you choose to hold on to certain cryptocurrencies, you are considered a hodler.

Do your research. Read up on the market. Trading crypto is crazy fun, regardless of if you make money.

Freelancing

The models are different but one thing is consistent – the freelance marketplace is growing rapidly. For entrepreneurs looking to build startups on the blockchain technology, companies looking to find reliable, qualified freelancers looking for a fair and transparent platform with quick payments and low fees, the boom of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology is the new holy grail in freelance work exchange.

There are other ways you can make money with blockchain technology.
- Build your own blockchain
- Build something useful on top of someone else’s blockchain and sell it as a service
- Help someone who is building a blockchain or blockchain application to find a customer or sell their blockchain technology
- Invest in a business doing the above
- Learn more about blockchain technology and teach/run courses or webinars about blockchain
- Look for problems or businesses that have an urgent or important problem that could use a blockchain type solution and build a business case
- Get involved in an event – like a hackathon, conferences or workshop – in related industries like fintech, cryptocurrency, etc
- Volunteer or get experience working for various blockchain companies
- Download, install or register for a blockchain app and play around with it, see if there’s anything you could do with it
- Go online and explore blockchain forums, discussion groups or communities and see what opportunities may be available or advertised and speak with those groups/companies
Choose how big a wave you want to ride. If you are still learning, don’t go for that massive wave, it will kill you. You can have fun and make money from the smaller waves. Don’t let media hype distract you from this. Media make money talking about the megastars – such as Bezos and Zuckerberg – who are riding the mega waves. The story of somebody making a life-changing amount of money in a tiny niche market won’t sell page views, but yet there are millions of these stories and one of them can be you.

Bottom line: The blockchain technology seems to be growing with each passing day. Although, many claim this to be a bubble that will soon burst. However, the pace of improvement and increasing application in different fields shows that it is here to stay. There is no domain which in untouched with the impact of Blockchain technology. Companies in healthcare, medical, transportation, retail, etc. are eyeing towards this technology as a probable solution to the issue of safety. This has made more and more companies invest money in Blockchain companies. Hence, we have them earning more and more money.

Many companies are also investing in blockchain technology, and thus, it is garnering the attention of many. Blockchain came into existence in 2009, and since then it has never looked back. It is here to stay.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)
24th October 2018
Blockchain ‘Interesting’ But Hyped

Blockchain not the best technology for every considered use, says Australian government report.

2 min read

What a change!

In May, Australia’s Department of Home Affairs revealed a plan to investigate blockchain’s potential to bring secure and transparent international trade and supply chain management.

The chief digital officer of Digital Transformation Agency (DTA), Peter Alexander said: “Blockchain: Interesting technology but early on in its development, it’s kind of at the top of a hype cycle.” Alexander said at a parliamentary committee meeting on Tuesday, as reported by ZDNet.

He was further quoted as saying that most of the hype comes from companies seeking to make profits in this area.

“It’s not that we don’t trust any of the vendors – that would be an unfair characterization – we trust the vendors, but note that the motivation is general sales and making revenue.”

He said standardization of blockchain might open up more opportunities for its use in providing government services.

“We’re not saying that blockchain doesn’t have potential but today, without standardization, there is the challenge of blockchain becoming a little fragmented. When we get to the standardized blockchain then the opportunities for it will grow.”

There is better technology?

Alexander continued, saying that, “for every use of blockchain you would consider today, there is a better technology.”
According to InnovationAus.com. Alexander said that one of the defining features of the blockchain, the potential for anonymity, is among the biggest stumbling blocks.

“Generally speaking when the government is engaging with someone, we want to have a trusted relationship with them. We want to know who they are and give them a personalized service,” he said. “Blockchain is good for low-trust engagement. You don’t know who you’re dealing with but have a series of ledgers that can give some validation and support.”

Peter Alexander, the CDO at DTA said the technology is worth keeping an eye on but is not yet mature enough.

According to Alexander, blockchain is at the “top of the hype cycle”, with demand driven by the industry.

“It would be fair to say that a lot of the big vendors are pushing blockchain very hard. And internationally most of the hype around blockchain is coming from vendors and companies. Not from governments and users and deliverers of services,” he said.

Interesting timing

It is indicated to this opinion was arrived at after the Australian government’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) received AU$700,000 (about US$500,000) from the government in May. That amount came to explore blockchain applications within government services.

The Australian government’s DTA has cast doubts over the validity of blockchains for governmental purposes. The agency has been working with a number of government agencies. They wanted to develop prototypes for the use of blockchain to deliver services. Including with the Department of Human Services for welfare payments and cargo settlement.

On the other side is Australia’s new prime minister, Scott Morrison. He is a fan of fintech, open banking and technologies such as blockchain that will drive Australia’s future.

As treasurer, Morrison urged attendees at the Australian Fintech Awards in early August 2018. He wanted to take advantage of the disruption wave sweeping through the global economy.

“I am frankly counting on you not to stuff this up. You need to make this work…In today’s global economy, the ability for economies to become more productive is not being done the old way: the biggest transformer of productivity [will be] innovation,” he told attendees at the awards, as reported by the Australian Financial Review.

Unfortunately, Australia is not an isolated case.

China is another nation that finds blockchain’s anonymity a problem. Earlier this year Chinese students encoded allegations of sexual harassment against a prominent professor on the Ethereum blockchain. They wanted to evade the country’s censors. All social media posts on the issue having been blocked. The same technique was used to spread the news about low quality and counterfeit vaccines, another scandal the government sought to cover up.

China banned crypto

But the Chinese government has drafted a new regulation. That ordinance would require users to provide their real names and national ID card numbers when registering for a blockchain service. The policy would also demand that blockchain services remove ‘illegal information’. And before it can be spread among users. Also under the proposed legislation. Service providers would also have obligation to retain backups of user data for six months. Of course, and to hand it over to the police on request.

China also banned cryptocurrency trading earlier this year, although. Apparently, this has been less than effective. The Ethereum Hotel recently opened in the country, accepting payment in cryptocurrencies.

One note to remember. Without the possibility of anonymity, a permanent ledger could also be a powerful tool in the authoritarian regime’s surveillance and control systems.

Unlike Australia and China, UK leads the way in blockchain deployments for the supply chain.

There is some survey conducted by consultancy Capgemini. They researched 450 organizations implementing blockchain in their supply chain. And the result wasn’t surprising. Only three percent so far took initial experiments into production at scale. Well, the adoption and the technology itself are at an early stage. The Capgemini report identifies a number of current use cases. They are in the range from low complexity/high adoption scenarios. Like the prevention of counterfeits and tracking asset maintenance, for instance. But also more ambitious and complex uses. Like customer loyalty programs, contract labor procurement, and regulatory compliance, for example.

United Kingdom example

The UK currently leads the way with production and pilot implementations of blockchain projects in the supply chain. At the same time, the USA leads in terms of funding blockchain initiatives.

In the UK specifically, the consumer products vertical is the biggest adopter among those surveyed. It is followed by manufacturing and then retail. However, globally manufacturing is in the leads in adopting this technology.

Capgemini has been working with blockchain technology since 2016. Then it began developing solutions for the financial services industry. The report predicts that experimenting with blockchain will peak in 2020. But it will enter mainstream supply chain usage by 2025.

While throughout the history there were numerous cases of unfounded fears of new technology. For many potential uses, the blockchain is not mature enough. Or lacks the functionality. Or there is the issue of the anonymity of users.

On the other hand, this anonymity could inhibit the nefarious motives and actions of less savory governments against their own citizens.

We will see in which direction the further development of blockchain will go. There is one solid fact: blockchain will survive.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

23rd October 2018
Why now Bitcoin (end of 2018, after major drops)?

The simplest answer is why not, but here is a more complex one.

By Guy Avtalyon

Why now Bitcoin? Honestly, I did not meet statistics and exact figures on this topic. But in 2017 the number of searches in the Google search engine on the topic bitcoin – increased by 450%, compared with the previous year.

The last time such a large survey was conducted in the USA, back in 2013 by the firm On Device in preparation for a London conference. At that time bitcoin awareness by Americans was about 25%.

By 2018 bitcoin awareness has jumped by more than twice that number according to Survey Monkey and Global Blockchain Business Council. And though bitcoin acknowledgment is growing, actual participation seems somewhat low.

Nearly six in ten respondents revealed they’d at heard of bitcoin. That up some 33 points from 2013’s measure. The two surveys are not linked. More than 5,000 people participated in the current questionnaire.

More about survey

According to the same survey, only 5% hold a digital asset. But 21 percent of that number claim to be “considering adding it to their portfolios.” The majority of holders are male, under 34 years of age (58%), white.

The results basically show ten percent of millennials own bitcoin while older Americans barely break one percent. Bitcoin holders’ politics are politically independent by half. Less than 20% trust their government more than the Bitcoin network (almost a quarter).

That’s the reason why now bitcoin!

Asked about possible 2018 asset crashes, 38 percent of all Americans (and 41% of owners) see BTC as a bubble poised to pop this year. Still, the survey did note that almost 70 percent expect BTC to increase in value over the coming half of a decade.

A little more than 10 percent believe it will die out.

According to data compiled by Bitinfocharts.com, there are almost 22 million bitcoin wallets. However, most bitcoin users have several BTC wallets and use multiple wallet addresses to increase their financial privacy when transacting in bitcoin. Therefore, the number of bitcoin users is likely less than 22 million.

Anonymity

A 2017 study by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance suggests that the “current number of unique active users of cryptocurrency wallets is estimated to be between 2.9 and 5.8 million.”

It is important to note that this study focuses on active users as opposed to bitcoin holders or ‘hodlers’. This gives us insight into how many individuals are actual users as opposed to buy-and-hold investors.

This surveys also show that the end of 2018 is the right time is the time to get to know BTC. So, let start!

What is Bitcoin?

For the majority, it is still an open question. The first step to understanding Bitcoin is admitting you don’t understand Bitcoin.

Let’s say, Bitcoin is a protocol. But, honestly, the protocol itself is just our best try to describe what BTC actually is. No one can be sure of the protocol’s final form.

Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 by a mysterious figure using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. You can use it to buy or sell from people and companies that accept bitcoin as payment. But it differs in several key ways from traditional currencies.

Most obviously, bitcoin doesn’t exist as a physical currency. There are no actual coins or notes. It exists only online.

Interesting explanations about what Bitcoin:

Mental construct – Because value is subjective and we feel value for Bitcoin units.
Social construct – people feel value for Bitcoin units. And they become an intermediate commodity suitable for exchange, accounting, and store of value.
Legal construct – As an intermediate commodity it serves to cancel formal agreements such as debts, purchases, and pay taxes.
Economic construct – As it may be used to cancel debts and pay taxes it may be used as money facilitating commerce between untrusting strangers in different incompatible jurisdictions.
Technical construct – It is just software that enables a network. But that network organically emerges as a useful system or technical tool for the other constructs.

More…

Protocol construct – The technical system is actually the system of rules imagined and designed to maintain a highly secure Nash Equilibrium between node operators and users.
Mechanical construct – Although many see Bitcoin as a social construct only, it is as much of an objective mechanical system as it is subjective. Although people design and run it, it is immutable, just like the laws of physics in nature.
Physical construct – Bitcoin is designed to mimic gold in nature, but in a computer system and transferable thru communication channels. This is why we call it “digital commodity”.
Natural construct – All of the above emerge from nature. They are not imaginary or magical things, they are as natural as energy, matter, or living organisms.

We can play with semantics here, you can say that it’s a protocol. And also the open-source project that implements the software needed to fit the protocol. Or you can try to call Bitcoin as a kid in the adults’ world.

Bitcoin has no central bank and isn’t linked to or regulated by any state. The supply of the cryptocurrency is decentralized. And can only be increased by a process known as “mining”. For each BTC transaction, a computer owned by a bitcoin “miner” must solve a difficult mathematical problem.

The miner then receives a fraction of a bitcoin as a reward. At present, the mining power of Bitcoin’s network is 300 times more powerful than the world’s top 5 supercomputers combined

Anonymity matters

A record of each transaction, using anonymized strings of numbers to identify it, is stored on a huge public ledger – blockchain. This is necessary to ensure the integrity of the currency.

For most people, it is strange that bitcoin doesn’t exist as a physical currency. There are no actual coins or notes. It exists only online. And it is hard for the majority to imagine such a thing.

But can you imagine the internet?

We all use the internet in every segment of our lives but we can’t point out the finger and say “Here! This is the internet!”

Or how some understand the universe is infinite and how they understand the meaning of infinite, you would be surprised by the answers.

Do you exactly know how your mobile device works? Maybe some of you, but the majority don’t.

Frankly, for me is a total mystery how my dishwasher works but it will not stop me to use it.

“Writing a description for this thing for general audiences is bloody hard. There’s nothing to relate it to.” wrote Satoshi, July 5, 2010.

Fiat money is managed by a central bank, which manages the money supply to keep prices steady. They can print more money or withdraw some from circulation. Yes, if they think it’s needed, as well as using other monetary policy controls such as adjusting interest rates.

My teachers taught me how interest was compounded. The reasons may not be so clear. If we would learn banking history and monetary theory in schools, no one would use the fiat system. It is so obvious.

On the other hand, BTC is a lot simpler than the fiat system. And people are legally compelled to adopt fiat.

The people teaching youngsters these days have grown up under Keynesian economic theory. Also called Keynesianism. So, they strongly believe that money is defined as money only if you can touch it, smell it or hear the sound of counting money.

Number of users

The most popular BTC wallet and exchange provider, Coinbase, reportedly has over 13 million users. This would suggest that the number of bitcoin users is between 13 million and 22 million.

We can assume that the number of bitcoin users outside of the 32 countries that Coinbase services, will be several million. But this data doesn’t include major bitcoin economies in Asia.

So we can conclude that around 20 million bitcoin users globally can be considered as a fair estimate.

Why use bitcoin?

With Bitcoin people get the liberty to exchange value. Without intermediaries which translate to greater control of funds and lower fees. It’s faster, cheaper, more secure, and immutable.

The banks control the cash while bitcoin has owners.

Bitcoin is very useful as a service for fast remittances for an international system of payments, for example. It can help us do online shopping. It’s like an e-wallet which makes blockchain technology to store, track, and spend digital money.

BTC has a global acceptance and is less volatile than cash / local currency.

Due to this feature, it becomes easier to conduct transactions across boundaries and online. You can use this crypto all over the world without going through a conversion process. It is par with Gold and combines the best of cash and gold.

By providing an open market and no restrictions imposed by banks or governments. Bitcoin is peer-to-peer and open, but secure.

Bitcoin is making the biggest revolution in the finance industry in the last 200 years. Leading all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is at the forefront of the bleeding edge of blockchain innovation. I think it is necessary to stay patient and witness history first hand.

Nothing can stop that!

16th October 2018
What causes cryptocurrencies to plunge these two days? Is it temporary?

2 min read

Cryptocurrencies plunge in the past two days. Financial markets around the world saw big declines over Thursday and Friday. Over $6 billion of value was wiped off global cryptocurrency markets in 24 hours led by XRP and ethereum as prices of digital coins continued to fall.

According to Coinmarketcap.com, the entire market capitalization or value of cryptocurrencies had plunged $6.72 billion in 24 hours as of about 11:32 a.m. HK/SIN time on Friday.

On Thursday it was noticed that something is happening. A sharp sell-off across the board erased billions of dollars of value in a matter of hours.

The cryptocurrencies plunge was led by XRP, which was trading at around 39.13 cents at 11.32 a.m. HK/SIN time, marking a 7.9 percent drop from the day before. It fell as low as 37.89 cents. Ethereum also fell to around $191.07, dropping 7.4 percent from the day before.

But, bitcoin largely stabilized at around $6,278.61, falling just under 0.8 percent on the day.

What happened?

Bithumb, currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea by trading volume, confirmed it has sold more than 38 percent of its total ownership to a blockchain consortium based in Singapore, for 400 billion won, or $350 million.

According to CoinDesk Korea, Bithumb confirmed the deal was signed on Oct. 11 with BK Global Consortium. It is a blockchain investment firm formed by BK Global, a plastic surgery medical group in Singapore.

Could it jeopardize the value of other cryptos?

Well, we should consider other reasons for cryptocurrencies plunge too.

Regulators across the world have been looking at how to deal with the growth of crypto assets with diverging views emerging. Countries like Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates are looking to become hubs for cryptocurrency businesses. While other nations like China have come down hard on the industry.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expanded its crackdown on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), putting “hundreds” of projects at risk. This is according to a recent joint investigation by Yahoo Finance and Decrypt Media published Oct. 10.

The authors of the report, as the example, stressed that hundreds of crypto and blockchain startups that conducted token sales. They have eventually found that they had violated securities laws despite their endeavors to comply with regulations.

In response to SEC pressure, dozens of firms have reportedly “quietly agreed” to refund investors’ money and pay fines. Rather than attempt to reach legal compliance.

A hearing before the US Senate Banking Committee is expected to feature heavy criticism of the crypto sector.

For optimistic novices, those pitfalls and flaws were often glossed over. But with the bear market, the hearing may further sour retail sentiment. Two different viewpoints on the topic of cryptocurrency collided before a group of U.S senators on Thursday.

Economist Nouriel Roubini: “Crypto is the mother and father of all scams …blockchain is the most overhyped technology ever and is no better than a glorified database,” Roubini said in his opening statement.

But Van Valkenburgh said the committee that while blockchain and cryptocurrencies are not perfect or even fully complete at present. But they are a significant step in improving the financial situation for many.:

“Bitcoin is the world’s first globally accessible public money. Is it perfect? No. Neither was email when it was invented in 1972. Bitcoin’s not the best money on every margin. It’s not yet accepted everywhere. It’s not used often to quote prices and it’s not a stable store of value. But it is working, and the fact that it works without intermediaries is amazing.” said Van Valkenburgh.

The relationship between Tether and Bitfinex has come out with some interesting developments over the past few days.

After showing signs of trouble, Noble Bank halted its services for Bitfinex and Tether. This led to a potential loss of trust in the exchange and a stablecoin leading to funding withdrawals. The past month saw a half of the Bitcoin deposited in the Bitfinex cold wallet flowing out. And an additional 100 million USDT leaving circulation. Someone tried to sell millions of USDT for dollars on Kraken, depressing the price to $0.98.

The Bitcoin mining economy is also at a crossroads.

Competition and farm building peaked in the first half of 2018. It is possible that miners will attempt to sell BTC to recoup costs. In the past days, peak hashing power has coincided with falling rewards for existing miners.

One possible reason is that Bitmain has activated ASIC Boost for its mining rigs, making it more difficult for other miners to obtain rewards.

Philip Nunn said on Twitter:

“As of June 2018, over 80% of #Bitcoin mining is performed by six mining pools and five of those six pools are managed by individuals or organizations located in China.So this is really worrying. And $BTC maximalists must look at this as a huge threat. China controlling BTC”

But there are some optimistic words:

“I’m surprised people think bitcoin can never reach its old highs. We have to remember today that not even 50 million wallets that use crypto today, but there are four and a half billion Visa cards, so you know this is the early stage for crypto, I don’t think $12,000 will be a problem in the future,” Fundstrat’s Tom Lee told CNBC last week.

It is true the top three cryptocurrencies by market capitalization: bitcoin, ethereum, and XRP are all notably off their record high prices. They were hit at the end of last year and the beginning of 2018.

Bottom line

Many people in the cryptosphere love to speculate on just how high the prices of their favorite cryptocurrencies may rise. We have to say that does not matter because the cryptocurrency market is incredibly volatile, so cryptocurrencies can plunge.

Only time will tell us who predicted correctly if anyone!

The most important value of cryptocurrencies and assets are the future of transactions and value storage. And Bitcoin is leading this revolution. But this doesn’t make it easy to guarantee a specific price down the road.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

12th October 2018
Bitcoin goes high – How Much?

2 min read

Bitcoin is the future, Fiat is past!

Why not start with these words? Popular VC Tim Draper said it. And we all know how good he is in his predictions. In 2014 with bitcoin at only $413, popular VC, Tim Draper predicted bitcoin to reach $10,000 in three years. This was fulfilled a month earlier. This prediction brought him a great reputation among crypto fans and followers. He also predicts a $100k Bitcoin in 2018, not categorically but anyway.

Let assume this growth happens at the same tempo as the 3-year journey to $10k. But that’s precisely how Draper feels about Bitcoin prospects and he understands a lot about bitcoin’s foundation.

WOW, then we’re in for six digits.

Many of the investors are actually currently worried due to the high volatility in cryptocurrencies.

Is there any reason for that?

A cryptocurrency portfolio manager Jeet Singh, stated at World Economic Forum in Davos, that the current volatility is completely normal when it comes to the cryptocurrencies field. He stated that it is normal for cryptocurrencies to fluctuate by 70% to 80% and that is the main reason why the current volatility does not worry him at all.

Is there a fear of volatility?

But, according to him, long-term investors need not fear the volatility at all. Because they are here to stay for a longer period of time, they would not have a problem to hold the cryptocurrencies for a longer period of time.

Jeet Singh compared cryptocurrencies with current leading companies like Microsoft and Apple. In the beginning, their stocks were also volatile. But, as the companies develop their business model, the stocks not only rose but they become much more stable.

Prediction

He further added that Bitcoin would reach as high as $ 50,000 this year. That means, If the current price of Bitcoin being around just $ 10,000, that would be a fivefold increase once again.

What is really happening on the markets?

The world’s largest crypto brokerage Coinbase is reportedly close to finalizing a $500 million funding round at a valuation of $8 billion. And Binance has started to become more active in the investment sector, funding blockchain startups internationally.

While major cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and BitMEX are seeing their businesses flourish with lucrative business models and high-profit margins, minor exchanges are struggling in the bear market.

Bear market

This week, the UK’s oldest exchange, Coinfloor, has slashed the number of its employees. After recording a decline in its revenues as a consequence of the drop in the daily trading volume of major cryptocurrencies.

Also, the emergence of many cryptocurrency exchanges in the local market causes this.

But Coinbase entered the local cryptocurrency exchange market of the UK. This has stagnated over the years due to the lack of infrastructure and user demand. It was eliminating exchange rates and appealing to local users that have been awaiting a reliable cryptocurrency exchange in the region.

In South Korea, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by the country’s biggest commercial banks. Internet conglomerates, and technology corporations such as Upbit, Gopax, and Korbit have imposed dominance over the local market throughout the past two years.

The fact that an exchange in the size of Coinfloor cannot sustain high-cost operations demonstrates that they need strong infrastructure and backing from major investors and conglomerates.

On Monday, 8. October, practically all the top 100 cryptocurrencies are seeing reliable growth on the day.

Ups and Downs

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a strong boost, by press time growing almost 2 percent on the day to trade solidly above the $6,600 mark at $6,664.

The breakthrough to a higher price point comes after several days of sideways trading. One crypto trader joked just a few days before, he said that bitcoin decided to be the ultimate stablecoin.

That same day, a Bloomberg pointed up the top coin’s marked price stability, proclaiming that Bitcoin had “hit an inflection point with volatility at a 17-month low.” The flipside to such steadiness, the Bloomberg noted, is lower trading volumes, due to lower “speculative involvement.”

On its weekly chart, Bitcoin is now just over one percent in the green, with monthly growth a strong 8 percent.
Ethereum is around 0.6 percent in the red; monthly growth is close to 17 percent.

Ripple had however tapered off throughout most of early October: the token remains a stark 14.5 percent in the red on its weekly chart. But on the monthly base, its gains are, an astonishing almost 70 percent.

About other

The remaining top ten coins on CoinMarketCap are all in the green, almost all-seeing between 2 and 4 percent growth: Cardano (ADA) is uprising almost 5%. Firmly in the green: EOS (EOS) is up close to 4 percent on the day at $5.92, Stellar (XLM) and Litecoin (LTC) both up just over 2 percent.

Most of the investors are keeping away from the cryptocurrency boom for now. Many of them are just holding their holdings in order to find out whether the cryptocurrencies resume their uptrend or not.

We may say it is still too doubtful for most of the investors to take a call.

But the fact is, institutions are increasing their presence in the cryptocurrencies field. That would add value and credibility to the cryptocurrencies in the future. That’s why we can’t see further falling. The main point is that regulatory hurdles have to be sorted.

After that, we all can be sure that the value of cryptocurrencies would again more.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

9th October 2018
Is Zulutrade scam?

Trading conditions:
Tradable assets: more than 100
Option profitability: up to -%
Minimum deposit: $300
Minimum trade amount: $10
Demo account: yes
Online registration: yes
Call support: no
Chat with support: yes

ZuluTrade is a very unique and innovative online social and copy trading platform. It brings traders from over 50 trading brokers together on one single platform- ZuluTrade. It allows traders to connect with one another and copy their every trade automatically in a safe and secure environment.

ZuluTrade was founded in 2007 by Leon Yohai and Kosta Eleftheriou. Leon Yohai wanted to build software that allowed him to copy the trades of the best traders. By 2009, the company has over 4,500 ‘expert’ traders (signal providers), and it was their portfolios who users could copy to make money.

What’s new about their site?

By the time 2014 rolled around, ZuluTrade had re-designed their website. They added a number of features, such as ZuluGuard, and had 120 employees, 40 of whom were in customer support.

In May of that year, the company announced a partnership with SpotOption, to create a social trading platform for binary options.

2015 brought with it a success as the platform was awarded an EU Portfolio Management License from the European Union. The resulted in the company becoming both legitimate and respected in the trading world.

Platform

Leon Yohai had the vision to create a web-based platform that could connect traders, enabling them to share their strategies while at the same time auditing traders globally.

Therefore, ZuluTrade is not your traditional trading brokerage as it is primarily a platform enabling traders to collaborate and copy one another.

Essentially, it allows traders to copy the trades of experienced traders in the forex and financial markets to achieve a level of automated trading.

However, the social element also enables traders to leave feedback and share ideas. Today it boasts around one million users and executes a trading volume in excess of $800 billion.

With the popularity and publicity around ZuluTrade and social trading at the moment, we’ve seen the question on whether ZuluTrade is a scam or whether it’s “real” raised a few times. Based on vast amounts of experience with other social trading networks and Forex trading in general, we thought it might be useful to share our point on view the ‘scam or not’ debate.

The regulation

The ZuluTrade platform is regulated in two regulatory jurisdictions; Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) and Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA).

As well, they have obtained a Portfolio Management License from the European Union and are partnered with over 50 online trading brokerages, many of which are regulated from regulatory agencies from around the world.

In addition to being a highly regulated investment service, ZuluTrade has also won various awards for their proficiency in online copy trading services and customer service.

Today the company continues to innovate and strives. It wants to reach its goal of becoming the world’s largest financial community. They to provide customer-focused investment solutions and the largest social trading community in the world.

Minimum Initial Deposit

ZuluTrade has a relatively low minimum deposit requirement. Certain brokers available with ZuluTrade require a minimum deposit of just $1, others may require more.

You can sign up for their demo simulation account for free.

Spreads and Commissions

The spread will vary between brokers. The currency pair and time of the day can also influence the spread. For instance, brokers often widen spreads during periods of high volatility.

A commission is charged per trade by the brokers, in addition to the normal spread, for linking your account to ZuluTrade. This can be as low as 0 with ZuluTrade’s own broker, AAAFx, and up to three pips elsewhere.

Leverage

Most people are aware that leverage can be used to increase potential earnings.

But before you download an account, you should also note trading on leverage can amplify losses and open you up to margin calls.

However, the higher the leverage, such as 1:1000, the lower the used margin. This means an increase in the free margin and margin level. However, this can lead to overtrading and with a high drawdown, your account may strike a stop out level.

It’s recommended to use 1:100 leverage in order to avoid risk.

Other trading fees

You can be charged an overnight rollover/swap fee. The amount will depend on the currency pair you are trading. While these costs can cut into profits over a considerable time period, intraday traders shouldn’t encounter these fees.

Besides that, we didn’t find any other additional costs. ZuluTrade explained on their website that the traders you copy are paid directly by ZuluTrade. As part of the commission.

Also, when you visit their website, you may find deposits bonuses and promotions.

From the point of investors, we found ZuluTrade is very transparent about all the data they share with investors.

We found they share:

Every single trade with time and date stamp a trader has done in the past. Most other networks only supply a sub-set.

Only ZuluTrade currently provides information on how many actual investors (followers) have made per trader and in total.

Only ZuluTrade shares average historical spread per broker and per trader.

The other networks remove traders from their listings because they blew their accounts.

Only ZuluTrade gives us their full profiles and trade data

As far as we know, ZuluTrade is the only network trying to identify and show when the trader sends signals from multiple accounts. They all are linked and displayed, so it is easy to detect traders who tried multiple failing systems in the past.

ZuluTrade provides you with all the data to recalculate any of the statistics they provide in the trader profile screens. In addition, they’re not hiding accounts from traders who lost money or remove negative feedback from followers.

In our experience, there’s no other major social trading network as transparent as ZuluTrade in terms of the data and information they share with their customers.

To call it a scam because of the very poor quality of some of the traders/signal providers on their social trading network would be unjustified.

Would you call the DOW, NASDAQ, DAX or LSE a scam because they listed companies which went out of business or who’s share prices dropped significantly?

No, we don’t think you would, since the stock exchange is the enabler. But it’s the investor’s responsibility to understand the risk when buying shares.

The same goes for ZuluTrade. No one can predict which traders will be successful and which ones won’t.

If you think that historical trades are not real and are manipulated, you have to compare the results you see from copying the trades on your live account with the results displayed in the ZuluTrade interface.

And you will see.

They offer a fully functioning demo account which anyone can try. There are no limitations on the functionality of the demo account. It is very important before investing, the possibility to try and copy some traders and see what the results would be after a few weeks or months.

The trading platform currently provides trading for stocks, forex, binary options, commodities, such as oil. And indices, such as the NASDAQ. The platform allows you to clone the strategies of top traders.

The user base is split into two essential categories:

Signal providers – traders who are willing to share and be copied by their followers. Their compensation fees are determined by the success of their strategies.

Followers – users who copy the strategies of the signal providers. They can also copy strategies of the portfolios created by other followers.

The ZuluTrade platform is fully compatible with all mobile devices such as Apple, Android, Windows, and Blackberry. The platform features full functionality with a tweaked but similar interface to allow for a seamless experience on mobile.

Main features

Margin Call-o-Meter – This estimates the chance your account will run out of money, for example, if you get a margin call. This helps you establish how much of your capital you are actually risking. However, this is just an indicator and should not replace an effective money management system.

ZuluScript – This enables you to create scripts that form the parameters for trading bots. These are also commonly known as expert advisors (EA). This gives you trade automation, allowing you to execute far more trades than you ever could manually.

Cryptocurrencies – Traders can take a view on whether cryptos are the next big thing or a bubble.

ZuluGuard – A unique feature that protects Copy Traders if erratic trades are opened by traders they are following. An excellent risk management addition.

Lock Trade – This allows you to verify the execution of a trade after the signal has been received.

Automator – 2016 saw the introduction of ‘The Automator’. This notifies you by email or automatically executes actions when events occur. This function acts on rules that you add. For instance, if profit and loss from Trader X are more than $1,500, then lock the current profit. This can all help you to minimize risk and free up time.

You can use the ZuluRank calculation too.

This proprietary algorithm ranks traders by a number of different factors, including:

Sharp ratio
Low drawdowns, high profits
Age of signal provider
Amount of trade activity
The Frequency that trader logs in
Length of time trade stays open

ZuluTrade has a clean interface design. The operating system allows users to understand everything.

The great user experience.

You can open the account with a low entry fee of only $300. This is much lower than many other social trading platforms.

We don’t believe ZuluTrade should be labeled as a scam.

They’re probably the most transparent of all major social trading networks in terms of sharing the historical trade information of the traders on their network. They also don’t censor negative comments or feedback on their own website.

There’s a free demo to try and anyone wanting to invest ZuluTrade with real money can do so from $300.

You can try everything first and no one will force you to make massive investments (which is what serious scams or frauds are often about).

The bottom line

True is that the quality of plenty of the traders may be poor. But it’s up to the investor to decide who to copy.

And to understand the risk. It’s also up to the investor to decide whether this type of investing is right for them and if unsure to contact a financial advisor.

No, Zulutrade is not a scam. Actually, we can highly recommend ZuluTrade.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

20th September 2018