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Indian State Ministry Discusses Cryptocurrency Plans With Founders of Crypto Bulls Roadshow

01/04/2020 by Idelto Editor

An Indian state official recently met with the founders of the “India Crypto Bulls” initiative and discussed cryptocurrency development, investment, and innovation in India. News.Bitcoin.com talked to Kumar Gaurav, one of the founders, to find out more about the meeting.

Also read: 2x Bitcoin — Wanna Double Your BTC to the Moon? Forget About It

India Crypto Bulls Founders Meet Rajasthan Official

Amin Pathan, chairman of the Dargah Committee in Ajmer, under the government of India’s Ministry of Minority Affairs, recently met with the founders of the India Crypto Bulls initiative — the team that is organizing a nationwide roadshow in 15 major Indian cities.

News.Bitcoin.com talked to one of the India Crypto Bulls founders, Cashaa CEO Kumar Gaurav, about the meeting. He explained that Pathan is “the president of the Dargah Committee, Ajmer, which is one of the biggest holy pilgrimages of Muslims all over the world. He is exploring blockchain solution to digitize various assets governed by his ministry to finish any corruption due to title unclarity.” Pathan is also chairman of the Rajasthan State Haj Committee (State Minister), former State President BJP Minority Morcha Rajasthan, and the vice president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association.

Indian State Ministry Discusses Cryptocurrency With Founders of Indian Crypto Bulls Roadshow — Left to Right: Kumar Gaurav, Cashaa; Shri. Amin Pathan, minister, the government of India; Mr. Naresh, Bollywood producer; Mr. Narendra Khurana. Image courtesy of Kumar Gaurav.

Pathan discussed his views regarding India’s crypto development, investment, and innovation. He told the India Crypto Bulls founders:

The state is looking to host a conference with participants including Indian administrative service officers who are concerned and relevant with the key affairs relating to bitcoin and other digital asset financial services.

“Moreover, the upcoming conference in the state by Rajasthan minister will also comprise of training sessions on compliance, how cryptocurrency investment can be matured, precautions that an investor has to follow before dealing or planning to invest in cryptocurrency and several other factors,” the team conveyed. “They believed India Crypto Bulls’ roadshow is closely aligned with their vision of hosting upcoming conferences.”

Gaurav Dubey, O1ex CEO and the other founder of India Crypto Bulls, was quoted as saying, “We are sure that India Crypto Bulls will be able to spread the right knowledge on Cryptocurrencies in Rajasthan with tremendous outreach, under his wise guidance.” Cashaa’s CEO further told news.Bitcoin.com:

He [Shri. Pathan] supported the nationwide Indian Crypto Bulls roadshow and will host the event in his city Jaipur, and Udaipur.

India Crypto Bulls is an initiative by Gaurav and Dubey. They had planned to launch a roadshow across about 15 cities in India in early April to prepare the country for the next crypto bull run and educate the public regarding cryptocurrencies. However, due to the current coronavirus pandemic and the directives from the Indian health ministry, the roadshow has been postponed and will be rescheduled for a later date.

Crypto Gaining Traction After Supreme Court Verdict

The cryptocurrency ecosystem in India is rebuilding after the damage done by the April 2018 circular issued by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which banned banks from providing services to crypto businesses. The ban forced several crypto businesses to shut down as a result.

After multiple delays, the Indian supreme court finally ruled that the circular was unconstitutional. The court lifted the ban on March 4. Since then, crypto exchanges have been busy bringing back INR banking support. Several global companies also plan to expand into India and invest in Indian crypto startups. Furthermore, the Indian government is reportedly planning to regulate the crypto space instead of imposing an outright ban as recommended by the interministerial committee (IMC) headed by former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg.

Commenting on his meeting with Shri. Pathan, Gaurav said: “I found Shri. Amin Pathan Ji an inspiration for youth in India and abroad who lost hope from Indian politicians. After meeting Aminji, I feel confident that under his leadership and with the backing of BJP, emerging technologies like blockchain will get the strong support of Indian govt.” Welcoming Pathan onboard the India crypto bulls roadshow, he indicated:

The meeting concluded with a futuristic talk on crypto adoption and development in India. In addition to this, the ministry invited India Crypto Bulls to Rajasthan as a way to emphasize on the crypto discussion.

What do you think of this meeting with Amin Pathan? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Indian State Ministry Discusses Cryptocurrency Plans With Founders of Crypto Bulls Roadshow appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Financial Bazookas Revealed – Market Strategists Believe the Fed Will Purchase Stocks Soon

01/04/2020 by Idelto Editor

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies may be the only free-market assets left not manipulated by central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve. Since the covid-19 outbreak, the Fed has unleashed a massive arsenal of monetary weapons to combat the effects on the economy. After the significant rate cuts, quantitative easing (QE), and buying mortgage-backed securities, analysts believe the Fed could start purchasing stocks in order to quell the economy.

Also read: US Mortgage Industry Could Collapse as Housing Crisis Looms, Experts Say

The Fed Is Deploying More Than Just a Monetary Policy Bazooka, It’s Unleashing the Whole Arsenal

On Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve threw another tool into the financial system by announcing an international repo option in order to curb investors from panic-selling Treasuries. Since the covid-19 outbreak started spreading rapidly throughout the nation, the economy has been hit hard by numerous industry shutdowns across the U.S. After closing borders and shutting down major U.S. industries, the Fed has tried to save the American economy by using a variety of monetary schemes. The Fed has introduced rate cuts, quantitative easing (QE), foreign currency swap lines, discount windows, a Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), a Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), and a Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF). The aforementioned list just scratches the surface when it comes to the newly introduced schemes the Fed has initiated since the covid-19 outbreak.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the bank’s board of directors have unleashed the big guns citing the covid-19 outbreak as the primary reason to throw unlimited amounts of money at private banks. The Federal Reserve said on March 26 that the central bank recognizes that small financial institutions may need additional time to submit “certain regulatory reports in light of staffing priorities and disruptions caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (covid-19).” In order to give Wall Street some leniency, the Fed “will not take action against a financial institution with $5 billion or less in total assets for submitting its March 31, 2020.”

The Fed also invoked a Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMFLF) and bought $185 billion in mortgage-backed securities. However, all these moves have not helped stock and commodity markets and the mortgage-backed securities purchase threatened the U.S. real estate market. After the Fed bought the mortgage securities it caused a massive margin call and put hundreds of lenders at risk and without capital.

To those of you wondering what the US stock market will do on any given day, just remember, the Fed has unlimited purchasing power to buy it all up. They have 100 percent full control over stocks and they will do whatever they please with it. Goodbye price discovery. The end.

— Heidi (@blockchainchick) March 26, 2020

Despite the adverse effects on the housing market, the Fed is still attempting to insulate the American economy with the central bank’s parlor tricks. The Fed’s new international repo is an unprecedented move by the central bank, as it will provide foreign central banks with the ability to get USD in exchange for U.S. Treasuries. In addition to the international repo, the Fed also revealed it established a temporary FIMA Repo Facility (FRF) to “help support the smooth functioning of financial markets.”

Fed has printed trillion of $ to do what?

To purchase financial assets

-They already are largest holders of real estate in the world
-Have already pushed the short term yields into negative
-They will soon buy out stocks

Don’t fall for dead cat bounce#Buyeroflastresort

— Vinay Jaiswal (@vinayjazzi) March 31, 2020

The Fed’s Next Step Could Be Purchasing Large Quantities of Stocks

Now economists and investors think the Fed’s next move will see the central bank purchasing stocks. Because the American economy is in turmoil, market analysts say that the Fed will likely use this approach soon to bolster the financial system. “If there were any major dislocations, it is clear that they will go into whatever nook and cranny in the market that starts to choke,” chief market strategist at Prudential Financial, Quincy Krosby, told the media on Sunday. The Prudential executive further stated:

We know that when you have choking in one part of the market, you have choking in another part of the market that leads to dislocation. As soon as you cross that line, you are now facing something else that you could conceivably buy.

Members of the Federal Reserve and the Shadow Open Market Committee have already discussed the possibility of the Fed buying stocks to help the economy. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren told the committee on March 6 that he thinks the U.S. should “allow the central bank to purchase a broader range of securities or assets.”

The Perfect Storm for Digital Assets Like Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency participants believe that the current economy is the “perfect storm” for censorship-resistant and a mathematically probable financial system. Bitcoin has a lot of benefits to a society that has been having significant problems doing what they want with their own money. In the last six months alone, news.Bitcoin.com has reported on governments and banks in countries like the U.S., Egypt, Lebanon, India, and Germany limiting cash withdrawals. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have better properties than gold during an economic crisis, as analysts have questioned gold’s alleged ‘safe-haven’ status since the 2007-2008 financial catastrophe. It’s a well known that central banks oversaturated bullion markets during those years by using bullion-bank repos just like they do with Treasuries today.

Cryptocurrency markets did decline with everything else under the sun on March 12th, otherwise known as ‘Black Thursday.’ The decline has made people assume that BTC and other digital assets have a strong correlation with stocks and equities right now. However, historical data shows digital asset markets have always been non-correlated with stocks, commodities, and equities. A higher correlation during a black swan event (covid-19) doesn’t equate to both markets being tethered together whenever economic environments change.

As the Fed and central banks worldwide pull out every tool they have in the monetary policy toolbox, bitcoiners understand that digital assets cannot be manipulated as easily as fiat currency, property investments, precious metals, and the stock markets. If you have never read or heard about the positive benefits and economic freedom bitcoin can provide, get started today with some of our educational resources.

What do you think about the Fed possibly buying stocks next? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The post Financial Bazookas Revealed – Market Strategists Believe the Fed Will Purchase Stocks Soon appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitcoin Halving Capitulation: ‘Mining Death Spirals Don’t Happen in Real Life,’ Says Report

31/03/2020 by Idelto Editor

As the bitcoin halving approaches, crypto-mining ‘death spirals’ and miner capitulation have become prominent topics among digital currency enthusiasts. Despite the trending discussions, Coinshares head of research Christopher Bendiksen published a study that says “[bitcoin] mining death spirals do not actually happen in real life” and the speculation is a “highly theoretical edge case.”

Also read: ‘Bull Run May Not Come Immediately After Bitcoin Halving,’ Says Bitmain’s Jihan Wu

Bitcoin Halving, Death Spirals, and Miner Capitulation

After approximately 210,000 blocks are mined on BTC’s blockchain, the network’s block subsidy halves and after May 13, BTC miners will get 6.25 coins instead of 12.5. The halving event happens roughly every four years and the upcoming one, in particular, has caused crypto enthusiasts to speculate on what will happen after the event. Moreover, the recent covid-19 outbreak has caused economic calamity worldwide, as cryptocurrency prices were largely affected by fears of a looming recession.

Because of these two factors combined, crypto speculators and haters think that miners will be “doomed” after the halving and there will be massive miner capitulation. A few individuals and headlines have called the theoretical event a crypto-mining ‘death spiral’ and people assume BTC miners will face catastrophe. However, a recent research study from the firm Coinshares disagrees with this argument and the company’s head of research called the fears “highly theoretical edge cases without any historical real-world precedent.”

In the report called “Why Bitcoin Miners Will Keep Mining,” Christopher Bendiksen talks about how current BTC prices are down more than 50% from the 2020 highs. The researcher details that this means miners have lost 50% of their income and a few “high-cost producers will now be unprofitable.” “When miners turn cashflow negative they will turn off their gear and hashrate will fall,” Bendiksen said. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on how the hashrate had fallen from the 136 exahash per second (EH/s) high at the end of February, to 75EH/s after the market rout on March 12. The close to 45% hashrate reduction caused the network’s difficulty adjustment to drop to the second-lowest point in history. Bendiksen’s report discusses how the difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA) is a key element within the BTC network.

In the death spiral scenario, Bendiksen stressed that some people believe that a big enough hashrate drop would slow down block times and eventually “grind the network to a halt since no new blocks are mined.” “This, in turn, will cause prices to drop further causing more miners to shut down until no one is left mining and the price hits zero,” Bendiksen wrote. The Coinshares head of research, however, doesn’t think this situation is plausible in the real world and thinks it only lives in people’s theoretical discussions. Coinshare’s report is also similar to the question answered by bitcoin researcher and evangelist, Andreas Antonopoulos, who discussed mining death spirals on Youtube. “Part of the reason that’s unlikely to happen is that miners have a much more long-term perspective,” Antonopoulos noted in the video.

Mining Death Spiral and the Network Grinding to a Halt Are Highly Theoretical Edge Cases

The Coinshares researcher also explained how in a rare, edge-case scenario it would take an awful lot of factors like gaming the DAA with precision and dumping on market prices at the same time. “In real life though, markets don’t move like that,” Bendiksen’s report highlights.

“On top of that there are operational concerns on the part of miners that prevent shutdowns on such rapid timelines,” Bendiksen wrote. “Powering down a several hundred-megawatt mine is not a matter of pulling a socket plug — you would risk severely damaging the local grid. Moreover, many miners have offtake agreements that mandate that they continue their draw for as long as they are able to pay their contracted bills. The point is: even when bitcoin prices significantly fall (which happens pretty much every year) or the mining reward is halved (which happens at predetermined time intervals), the physical and operational realities of the mining network are such that drawdowns in hashrate take time,” the report states. Bendiksen’s research further notes:

In practice, hashrate reductions are therefore always smoothly caught by the dynamic difficulty adjustment and block frequencies never get anywhere near ‘crisis levels’ (whatever that even means).

Bendiksen and Coinshares believe that the network was designed to handle these exact situations and they are confident things will be fine going forward. “Because of the design choices we’ve explained above the mining network has never failed to produce blocks. The difficulty has reset downwards many times — sometimes dramatically as the result of a pullback in price (the November/December 2018 is an excellent example to study), but never has the network ground to a halt or even come anywhere close to it,” Bendiksen’s report concludes.

What do you think about the Coinshares mining report and death spirals? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Bitcoin Halving Capitulation: ‘Mining Death Spirals Don’t Happen in Real Life,’ Says Report appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The Crypto Industry’s $400M Cash and Stock Deal – Binance to Acquire Coinmarketcap.com

31/03/2020 by Idelto Editor

The popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance is allegedly in talks with the owners of coinmarketcap.com in hopes of purchasing the website for $400 million. People familiar with the matter explained the acquisition will be announced this week and could be one of the largest procurements in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to-date.

Also read: Bitcoin Mining Roundup: BTC Regains 100 Exahash, Miners Close Shop, Pre-Halving Shake-Up

Binance Will Reportedly Purchase Coinmarketcap.com for $400 Million

Binance has grown quite large since launching in 2017 when the global cryptocurrency exchange was founded by Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Yi He. The following year in 2018, the exchange was considered the largest in the world in terms of cryptocurrency trading volume. The firm has also acquired the Indian exchange Wazirx, the Beijing-based Dappreview, a derivatives exchange called JEX, Mars Finance, and a digital currency mobile wallet branch called Trust Wallet. Now according to people familiar with the matter, Binance is set to announce another acquisition and it might end up being the largest procurement in the crypto industry so far.

The official story floating around crypto-land is that Binance is close to completing a cash and stock deal with the owners of coinmarketcap.com. The website is one of the most popular cryptocurrency data sites and according to Alexa ratings, coinmarketcap.com is ranked 570 worldwide and 819 in the United States. Coinmarketcap (CMC) gets a lot of traffic from countries like the U.S., India, and Brazil as the site sees millions of users visiting the site regularly. The Binance acquisition of coinmarketcap.com is ostensibly a cash-and-stock deal that involves $400 million. Speculators assume that it will be the largest acquisition within the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to date. For instance, the coinmarketcap.com transaction would be well over the capital injected into 21 Inc. ($121 million), otherwise known as earn.com.

CMC’s Data Discrepancies and the Crypto Community’s Commentary Concerning the Binance Takeover

Both Binance and coinmarketcap.com have not spoken to the media about the acquisition, but Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao did hint at some upcoming procurements that he was “very excited” about. Coinmarketcap has an interesting history as the owner Brandon Chez kept his identity unknown, up until he was doxxed by the Wall Street Journal on January 23, 2018. Chez also sat down for a fireside chat with the anonymous Sunny King last year during The Capital conference.

Coinmarketcap has had its share of controversy as well and a number of people do not trust the data that stems from the site. The crypto market cap aggregation website was criticized during the first week of January 2018 for delisting the exchange rates of South Korean crypto trading platforms. When cross-referencing coinmarketcap.com’s data with alternative crypto market valuation sites like messari.io, there’s some discrepancies when it comes to “reported” and “real” or onchain trade volumes.

After the Binance acquisition of coinmarketcap.com (CMC) stories hit social media and crypto forums, a great number of digital asset proponents discussed if it would be “good or bad” for CMC. “I don’t like it at all — I guess I’ll continue to use my favorite CMC alternatives,” one person tweeted after hearing the news.

“CMC has been bad for years — The amount of scams they’ve allowed to advertise on their site has been awful. Hopefully [Changpeng Zhao] changes that,” another crypto proponent added. A great number of the comments on Twitter were negative and many people talked about the relationship between Tron and Binance as well.

“Binance buying [coinmarketcap.com] — How long until BNB and Tron are #1 and #2 and Digibyte is delisted?” the Twitter account @Litecoinfam tweeted on Tuesday.

What do you think about the possibility of Binance acquiring coinmarketcap.com? Let us know in the comments below.

The post The Crypto Industry’s $400M Cash and Stock Deal – Binance to Acquire Coinmarketcap.com appeared first on Bitcoin News.

23 Approved Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Japan — Number Rises Despite Pandemic

31/03/2020 by Idelto Editor

23 Approved Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Japan — Number Rises Amid Pandemic

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, Japan continues to approve more cryptocurrency exchanges to legally operate in the country. The latest one was approved on Monday, bringing the total number of legal crypto exchanges in Japan to 23.

Also read: 2x Bitcoin — Wanna Double Your BTC to the Moon? Forget About It

First Approved Crypto Exchange This Year

Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), registered another cryptocurrency exchange operator on Monday. Japan legalized cryptocurrencies as a means of payment under the amended Payment Services Act back in April 2017 and crypto exchange operators are required to register with the FSA. The agency started registering them in September 2017.

The latest one registered by the FSA was Okcoin Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Ok Group. Founded in September 2017, the Tokyo-based exchange has been approved to trade BCH, BTC, ETH, ETC, and LTC, according to the FSA’s website. The exchange will soon launch; it is currently accepting pre-registrations for account opening.

Okcoin Japan is also a member of the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), a self-regulatory organization approved by the FSA. The agency is closely cooperating and exchanging information with the association. The JVCEA has established some self-regulatory guidelines for crypto exchanges to follow.

All 23 FSA-registered crypto exchanges in Japan are “Class 1” members of the JVCEA. The organization also has “Class 2” members comprising companies that are not yet licensed by the FSA, such as Coinbase, Payward Asia, and Wirex Japan.

23 Approved Crypto Exchanges in Total

Besides Okcoin Japan, there are 22 other registered cryptocurrency exchange operators in the country. In September 2017, 11 of them were registered: Money Partners, Quoine, Bitflyer, Bitbank, SBI VC Trade, GMO Coin, Huobi Japan (formerly Bittrade), Btcbox, Bitpoint Japan, Fisco Cryptocurrency Exchange, and Tech Bureau. Tech Bureau was acquired by Fisco after it was hacked in September 2018. However, the two platforms continue to operate independently and are still listed on the FSA’s website as two separate entities.

On Dec. 1, 2017, DMM Bitcoin, Taotao (formerly Bitarg), Bitgate, and Xtheta were registered. Bitocean followed suit on Dec. 26. In 2018, no crypto exchange operator was registered due to the hack of Coincheck, one of the largest crypto trading platforms in the country. The FSA subsequently tightened its oversight of the industry, conducted on-site inspections of exchanges, and revised its method of approval. After the hack, Coincheck was acquired by Monex Group and was finally registered with the FSA on Jan. 11 last year.

In addition, the agency approved five more crypto exchange operators last year. Rakuten Wallet and Decurret were registered on March 25, LVC on Sept. 6, Lastroots on Nov. 27 and Fxcoin on Dec. 24. LVC is a subsidiary of Line Corp., owner of Japan’s most popular chat app, Line. Soon after it successfully registered with the FSA, the company launched a crypto exchange called Bitmax.

What do you think of the rate at which Japan approves crypto exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below.

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