Category: Crypto News

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Bitcoin Crypto News Markets

Important Price Indicator Provides the Fifth “Buy Signal” in Bitcoin’s History

For the fifth time, the “Puell Multiple” indicator has signalled another buying opportunity for Bitcoin, which raises traders’ hopes that the leading cryptocurrency may be set for another rally.

The Puell Multiple indicator calculates the ratio of daily coin issuance (in USD) and the 365 moving average of daily coin issuance. It examines the fundamentals of mining profitability on the view that the revenue miners generate can influence price over time.

Puell Multiple Flags a “Buy Signal”

Puell Multiple chart. Source: LookIntoBitcoin

As seen in the chart, this is the fifth time “the value of Bitcoins issued on a daily basis has historically been extremely low” . This indicates a buying opportunity for Bitcoin investors and traders. The indicator may be another bullish signal to hold on this week; however, the creator of the indicator, analyst David Puell, also warns investors to be wary due to the Bitcoin hashrate.

The last time the Puell Multiple signalled investors to buy Bitcoin was after the Covid 19-led market crash last year. 

More Factors Suggesting Bitcoin Recovery

Bitcoin has shed a lot of value since hitting an all-time high in April. This is bearish to the extent that this current quarter will be the worst ever recorded over the past eight years. However, there have been factors that suggest the leading crypto won’t be in this state for long.

Crypto News Australia recently reported that the number of stablecoins on all exchanges has been increasing, which suggests investors may be positioning themselves for another pump. These bullish indicators are becoming easier to believe, as Bitcoin has been holding on pretty well since the beginning of this week.

Bitcoin was trading at US$36,258 on CoinMarketCap, which accounts for a 5.87 percent hike over the past 24 hours leading up to time of publication. This is the highest level Bitcoin has reached in the past seven days.

Bitcoin Price Chart. Source: CoinMarketCap
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Bitcoin Crypto News

RIP: Bitcoin Billionaire Mircea Popescu Dies at 41

Mircea Popescu, Bitcoin billionaire and controversial Bitcoin blogger, has drowned at Playa Hermosa, a popular beach in the Central American country of Costa Rica.

Popescu claimed that he owned 1 million Bitcoin, but that number is heavily disputed. More realistic estimates put the number closer to 30,000, worth just over $US1 billion at the current price, or around $US1.9 billion at its all-time high in April. Some sources believe Popescu’s was one of the top 20 largest Bitcoin holdings in the world.

A young Mircea Popescu. Source: CoinFlex

Investor Anthony Pompliano, one of Bitcoin’s most prominent advocates, noted that Popescu’s death might have a positive effect on everyone else’s Bitcoin holdings due to scarcity. Several people in the crypto community criticised him for being heartless and Pompliano deleted the tweet after six minutes.

A Polarising Figure

Popescu, 41, was a deeply polarising figure. Some in the crypto community worshipped him as a god, describing him as “the greatest man who ever lived”. Others said he was “thoroughly unlikable” and “not a nice man”, but conceded he was also a Bitcoin visionary.

I like Bitcoin because I like freedom. Simple as that.

Mircea Popescu

There were also those who detested Popescu because of his deeply problematic behaviour and dangerous views, which he would publish regularly on his personal blog.

Another Bitcoin Celebrity Dead

Popescu is not the only Bitcoin celebrity to have died this month. John McAfee was found dead in a Spanish prison just hours after his extradition to the US had been approved.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News Cryptocurrency Law

Australian “Bitcoin Inventor” Wins Lawsuit Over Bitcoin Whitepaper Copyright Claim

Australian businessman Dr Craig Wright is a much derided figure within the Bitcoin community who infamously claims he is the creator of Bitcoin. Following his lawsuit filed earlier this year, the London High Court has granted default judgment for copyright infringement against “Cøbra”, the pseudonymous operator and publisher of the bitcoin.org website.

Did “Cøbra” lose the case on the merits? Not quite; he didn’t even bother defending it.

Wright Sues for Copyright Infringement

Earlier this year, Wright obtained permission to sue “Cøbra” for copyright infringement for unlawfully publishing the Bitcoin Whitepaper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”.

Dr Craig Wright. Source: Coindesk

In his claim, the self-described student, researcher, lawyer, banker, economist, pastor, coder, investor and mathematician argued that he owned the copyright to the seminal document under the moniker “Satoshi Nakamoto”. Although he currently claims that Bitcoin is a ponzi, his legal team was quick to point out that:

Dr Wright does not wish to restrict access to his White Paper [which is freely accessible on his blog, https://craigwright.net/bitcoin-white-paper.pdf] but does not agree that it should be used by supporters and developers of alternative assets, such as Bitcoin Core, to promote or otherwise misrepresent those assets as being Bitcoin, given that they do not support or align with the vision for Bitcoin as he set out in his White Paper.

Ontier LLP, Source: https://www.ontier.net/ia/wright-v-cobra-ontier-press-release.pdf

Wright Claims a “Win” in His Lawsuit

In legal proceedings, there are two types of quick wins – summary judgment and default judgment. Summary judgment is awarded when the defendant has filed a defence but the court finds there is no prospect of success. Default judgment, however, is when the defendant doesn’t file a defence in the first place.

In the case against “Cøbra”, default judgment was awarded together with legal costs in the amount of £35,000 (US$48,400). In other words, the defendant didn’t even try to mount a defence, as it was considered “a waste of time”.

Aside from legal costs, the order also required that “Cøbra” remove the Whitepaper and put a notice on the website informing visitors of the default judgment for a period of six months.

In an underhand jibe directed at Wright, “Cøbra” issued the following statement on Twitter:

In a post, “Cøbra” noted that the Bitcoin Whitepaper located at https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf wouldn’t be accessible to UK-based visitors, but that ultimately, he hoped that the truth would prevail.

What Are the Odds That Wright Created Bitcoin?

Most Bitcoiners will tell you “no chance”, but if you were feeling charitable, you could argue the odds are marginally higher than zero.

Despite his credentials, Wright is largely discredited in crypto circles. Entire websites have been created to disprove his claim that he created Bitcoin, and even the otherwise reserved Ethereum founder, Vitalik Buterin, has called Wright a “fraud“. Most recently, he commented:

I view Craig Wright as being kind of like a Donald Trump figure and that, like, he’s not very intellectual. I think he gets a big audience because he says things that like to play to the resentments that people have.

Vitalik Buterin on the Lex Friedman Podcast

It’s not often that proponents of Bitcoin and Ethereum agree. The fact that they agree on the topic of Dr Wright is in itself revealing.

Wright’s litigious nature suggests the saga is not likely over. At the time of writing, he was still embroiled in court proceedings demanding access to 111,000 bitcoins held in two addresses which he claims were “stolen”.

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Australia Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs

Australia’s Most Valuable Historic Photo Collection to be Auctioned as NFTs

A treasure trove of more than 100,000 original photographs dating back to the 1880s and spanning five generations has been found in the spare bedroom of a Melbourne family home, hidden under some kids’ bunk beds. The entire catalogue, estimated to be worth millions, will be auctioned by Lloyds Australia.

From Ned Kelly to Phar Lap … and the Queen

The collection includes original glass plate negatives of some rare historical gems, including pictures of Ned Kelly’s armour taken during his trial in 1800, the 1915 Gallipoli landing, Queen Elizabeth II (when she was just a princess), and famous racehorse Phar Lap winning the Melbourne Cup in  1930.

Lloyds Auctions Australia

The Rose Stereograph Company Collection, described by Lloyds as “one of the most important photographic collections in Australia if not the world“, is to be auctioned online, complete with NFTs to offer blockchain proof of ownership.

According to Lee Hames, Chief Operations Officer for Lloyds Auctions, “This has to be one of the most important photographic collections in Australia, if not the world.”

There are original glass negatives in this collection that capture the very first moments of not only Australian but world history and some that may even change the course of history. We believe this to be a world first to offer these tangible original glass plates which rival any modern photographic resolution.

Lee Hames, Lloyds Auctions CEO
M.V. Duntroon & Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1 of 1, Glass Plate Negative 1:1, NFT 1:1, original size: 8.8 x 13.9cm. Original negative & minted NFT are both included in this auction. Lloyds Auctions Australia

Collections Viewable Online

M.V. Duntroon & Sydney Harbour Bridge (above) is just one moment in time from the prestigious collection. Collections such as this one will be viewable online as the art world continues to adopt NFTs and digital gallery exhibitions.

Customers will be able to bid for ownership on both the Lloyds platform and in cryptocurrency on leading NFT marketplaces for rare digital collectibles. Winning bidders will receive the minted NFT along with a tangible one-of-one original glass plate negative.

Just last week, Lloyds announced it would accept major cryptocurrencies as payment for collector or sports cars.

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Bitcoin Crime Crypto News United Kingdom

UK Police’s Biggest Ever Crypto Seizure: £114 Million

London’s Metropolitan Police have impounded the equivalent of US$160 million in cryptocurrency as part of a money-laundering investigation, to date the largest haul of its kind in Britain and one of the largest in the world.

Police would not specify which cryptocurrencies were intercepted, but revealed the operation was carried out by its Economic Crime Command team in connection with money-laundering offences.

The Met’s Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Graham McNulty spoke to Britain’s Sky News of the link between money and violence and how the latter is used to protect criminal profits and maintain control of territories.

Cash remains king, but as technology and online platforms [continue to] develop, some [criminals] are moving to more sophisticated methods of laundering their profits. But we have highly trained officers and specialist units working day and night to remain one step ahead.

Graham McNulty, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, London Metropolitan Police

Detective Constable Joe Ryan added: “Criminals need to legitimise their money, otherwise it risks being seized by law enforcement.”

The proceeds of crime are almost always laundered to hide the origin, but by disrupting the flow of funds before they are reinvested, we can make London an incredibly difficult place for criminals to operate.

Det. Const. Joe Ryan, London Metropolitan Police

New Record in Crypto Misappropriations

The global record in crypto seizures once belonged to dark web marketplace Silk Road and its founder Ross Ulbricht when in 2020 the US Department of Justice recovered US$1 billion in stolen Bitcoin. But that amount is dwarfed by the US$3.6 billion in Bitcoin that’s gone missing following the disappearance earlier this month of the Cajee brothers who founded a cryptocurrency investment platform in South Africa.

Closer to home, in February, NSW Police arrested the head of a multimillion-dollar money-laundering syndicate after stopping his car in Sydney’s inner west and finding AU$1 million cash on board.

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Binance Crypto News Education Gemini Jobs

Crypto Recruitment Shortage: Exchanges are Competing with Banks For Top Talent

If you’ve ever thought of working in crypto, now is the time to reskill and get hired. The crypto industry is growing at such a rapid pace it can’t keep up with the demand for new employees to fill hundreds of open positions.

There are employment opportunities everywhere right now in crypto, with the world’s biggest exchanges posting new positions daily.

“We are hiring aggressively,” Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said by email this week.

We see the industry growing exponentially on a year-to-year basis, and we need to scale our team to cope with it. We are a geo-equal-opportunity employer. We don’t mind where people are, as long as they produce results.

CZ, Binance CEO

Binance Has 800 Positions Up For Grabs

Binance is the biggest exchange and currently has over 800 positions advertised worldwide through its LinkedIn employment portal. Winklevoss twins-led Gemini plans to expand its Singapore team from 30 to 50 by December. Hong Kong-based Crypto.com currently lists more than 200 openings, more than half of them based in Asia.

According to Neil Dundon, founder of recruitment agency Crypto Recruit, curiosity regarding jobs in crypto has expanded about five to 10 times in the past nine months. Despite that popular interest, however, finding candidates with relevant experience is proving difficult, resulting in some companies being forced to lower their expectations.

A single job posting can attract hundreds of applicants. In terms of length of experience, one or two years is good enough these days. The skills shortage is so bad at the moment that companies are casting a wider net.

Neil Dundon, Crypto Recruit

Just as the best NFL or EPL football players are snapped up by teams with the deepest pockets, highly skilled crypto candidates are being poached by the banks with the biggest wallets: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are now offering crypto and trading services to their clients and have scouted top talent to fill these positions.

While investment banks are recruiting the best in the business to come and work for them, smaller companies are having a hard time competing, finding it difficult to source people with crypto experience.

Gemini Job Benefits Include Unlimited Vacation Leave and a Profit-Sharing Program

To sweeten the deal and entice the best employees, Gemini’s APAC managing director Jeremy Ng said the company is considering offering benefits including unlimited vacation leave and a profit-sharing program to attract talent globally.

Even big tech companies such as Facebook and online retail giant Amazon have big plans to expand into crypto. While Facebook works on its Diem token (formerly known as Libra), Amazon recently posted a blockchain job listing for a Head of Product.

The long and the short of it:

  • There are hundreds of new jobs in crypto being listed every day
  • There are not enough job candidates with crypto credentials to meet the demand for these positions
  • Big banks are scooping up all the top talent for themselves
  • Crypto exchange Gemini is sweetening the deal by offering unlimited vacation leave and a profit-sharing program to attract talent globally
  • Roles for developers and customer support are areas of high demand.

Blockchain Collective, an educational body for blockchain learning, plans to meet the high demand for crypto job candidates by partnering with TAFE Queensland to offer an advanced diploma in Applied Blockchain.

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Banking Bitcoin Crypto News

Billionaire Salinas is “Working with his Bank in Mexico” to Accept Bitcoin

With an estimated fortune of US$15.2 billion, Ricardo Salinas recently dipped his toe into the world of Bitcoin in a big way – to the tune of 10% of his net worth. This has since been followed by an unexpected announcement via Twitter where he revealed he is working with his bank to be the first in Mexico to accept Bitcoin.

Salinas’ View of Bitcoin: ‘No Stinky Fiat in My Portfolio’

In a short video doing the rounds on Twitter, Salinas talked about Bitcoin and his view that all fiat currencies are “a fraud”. When asked how he would invest over the next 30 years, he named Bitcoin and, with a smile, indicated he would not have any “stinky fiat” in his portfolio.

Salinas further argued that Bitcoin’s liquidity and global value alone justified inclusion in every investor’s portfolio. To him, the most important aspect of Bitcoin was the 21 million hardcap that stood in direct contrast to the limitless abundance of fiat currency.

#Bitcoin @RicardoBSalinas on Twitter

Bitcoin Billionaires Banter on Twitter

Shortly after the Salinas video was published, Michael Saylor shared it and had this to say:

Soon after, the 65-year-old Mexican mogul responded:

Financial Institutions are Increasingly Changing Their Tune

Salinas’ sentiments reflect a growing recognition within financial institutions such as banks that the digital asset space is here to stay. This remarkable turnaround started with the establishment of trading desks, which has since progressed into retail banking.

To illustrate this dramatic shift, NYDIG recently reported that by the end of 2021, up to 300 million US citizens would be able to buy Bitcoin natively through their online banking.

It’s difficult to see this trend slowing down in the long run, particularly in light of El Salvador’s recent adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, with a host of Latin American countries looking to follow suit.

Notwithstanding these positive developments, at this stage it remains unclear whether Salinas will succeed in his quest to get his bank to accept Bitcoin.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Trading

ASIC Boosts Consumer Protection Around CFD Crypto Trading in Australia

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has further tightened up regulations for crypto exchanges in the country. This follows recent news of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposing certain conditions on Binance, such as reducing leveraged trading, to protect retail traders.

FCA Tames Crypto Trading in the UK

On 26 June, the UK’s FCA ordered crypto exchange Binance to halt all regulated services and stop the promotion of certain products and trading services for British citizens.

On 29 June, ASIC reduced CFD (Contracts for Difference) leveraged trading available to retail traders from 30:1 to 2:1, following earlier pronouncements of the FCA.

Of late, ASIC has been prompted to regulate trading services due to the number of Aussie crypto investors who have been defrauded by scammers posing as crypto exchanges in the country.

We are also paying careful attention to changes in CFD providers’ reported holdings of retail client money and any misclassification of retail clients as wholesale clients, which would risk denying them important rights and protections. Protecting retail investors from harm, particularly at a time of heightened vulnerability, is a priority for ASIC.

Cathie Armour, ASIC Commissioner

While the trading of cryptoassets per se isn’t regulated by financial watchdogs in Australia and the UK, CFDs do fall into that category, and crypto exchanges must abide by certain conditions to promote CFD crypto trading and other products.

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Australia Crypto News Cryptocurrencies Investing

Approximately 3.3 Million Aussies Own Crypto, According to Research

A recent survey shows an estimated 3.3 million Australians own crypto and 40% of Aussies are still likely to buy in 2021.

According to a survey conducted by Savvy, one of Australia’s largest online financial brokers, 40% of Australians range from “likely” to “extremely likely” to buy cryptocurrency in 2021.

Savvy Survey

With 17% of respondents saying they currently own crypto, 35% stated that they would like to own some cryptocurrency in the future.

Savvy Survey

The biggest barrier, according to 79.8% of Australians, it that they feel there should be more safeguards in place and that crypto should be more regulated to protect the consumer.

Younger Generations More Interested in Crypto

Close to a third of Australian crypto owners are Gen Z and 24% are Millennials. Younger generations show much more interest in digital assets and believe they have value. In comparison to traditional assets, 40% of Australian Millennials and 31% of Gen Zs would prefer to invest in crypto rather than property.

This month’s Millionaire Survey conducted by CNBC showed that nearly half of millennial millionaires put at least 25% of their wealth into crypto.

Female respondents expressed a higher interest in learning about the technology compared to men. However, more men than women claimed exceptional or average understanding of cryptocurrencies. Altogether, 71% of Australians either understand or are interested in learning more about cryptocurrency.

How Much are Aussies Investing in Crypto?

Savvy found 15% of Aussies had invested up to $5,000 in cryptocurrency, 2.5% had thrown in $5,000 to $10,000, and the 1% in the upper echelons had invested between $10,000 and $20,000.

This could mean more than 500,000 Australians have sunk at least $5,000 to $10,000 into cryptocurrency. With such heavy investing going on down under, the Australian Tax Office is bound to make sure Aussies are paying taxes.

Cryptocurrency may very well be the currency of the future. It’s time for the wider finance sector to embrace it rather than treat it as a fad, or they’ll be left behind.

Bill Tsouvalas, Savvy Managing Director
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Crypto News Tokens

ICP Coin Crashes 95% Amid Claims the Development Team Have Dumped Their Coins

ICP Coin Crashes 95% Amidst Claims That The Development Team Have Dumped Their Coins

The price of ICP coin, the native cryptocurrency of the Internet Computer blockchain, has been nosediving since reaching an all-time high of over US$700 in the past month. 

Some ICP holders still believe in the tech, and they are ready to HODL regardless of claims that the development team might have caused it to drop over 95 percent from ATH by dumping a huge amount of the coin.  

ICP Coin Hits All-Time Low of US$20.08

A day after the ICP coin launched in May, it spiked to as high as US$737, according to CoinMarketCap. This momentum couldn’t last as ICP began declining soon after the ATH price, reaching an all-time low of US$20.08 per coin. 

The Internet Computer was designed by the Dfinity Foundation to serve as a decentralised layer of web infrastructure. The downtrend of ICP coins was quite disappointing, given that the network had an intriguing tech proposition and it attracted major VC companies.

Is Dfinity Behind ICP Coin Crash?

Many people have relayed several claims concerning the declining value of ICP coins. For the most part, the development team was blamed for reportedly dumping as much as 90 million ICP coins since its inception – nearly two months ago. 

Meanwhile, some prefer not to sell their holdings but accumulate more via dollar-cost averaging. This is mostly to do with the proposed tech of the Internet Computer. 

The head of research at Synergia Capital, Denis Vinokourov, thinks the Internet Computer still has a long way to go in proving its tech.  

As great as the tech is on paper, it is, to a large extent, unproven. Also, there is little evidence of teams actively building on the Internet Computer. 

Denis Vinokourov, Synergia Capital

At the time of writing, the ICP coin was trading at $43.73.