Bitcoin’s Market Cap Surpasses the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights Reserves



Twenty-four hours ago the decentralized cryptocurrency bitcoin and its US$300Bn market capitalization just surpassed the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Drawing Rights market (SDR $291Bn).

Bitcoin's Market Valuation Outpaces the IMF's Special Drawing Rights Reserves
Bitcoin's value has grown immensely in 2017 outperforming nearly every world currency, stock, and commodity this year. With a global average of over $18,000 per BTC and a $300Bn+ market valuation bitcoin has surpassed the IMF's international reserve assets ($291Bn). The SDR is comprised of a 'basket of legal tender' from five nation-states. The value of the SDR, also known as XDRs, is based off a percentage of Chinese renminbi, U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen, the euro, and the British pound sterling. The SDR was created in 1969 using the Bretton Woods exchange system, and before 1973 it contained the value of 0.8 grams of gold.

The SDR Gains Traction This Year As the U.S. Loses Ground, and Countries Decouple from the USD
Bitcoin's Market Cap Surpasses the IMF's Special Drawing Rights ReservesThe IMF's Special Drawing Rights market has always been controversial since the day it was introduced. Essentially, the basket of currencies are allocated to countries by the IMF and a nation participating in the exchange market has to have reserves. Many skeptics believe the IMF is creating a "globalist one world currency" so it can continue to keep the central banking system in power. This year has been an interesting year for the SDR, as the reserve has gained in value in comparison to other solitary nation-state currencies. The trend has seen an uptick due to a few nations decoupling from the USD, as the IMF revealed this past summer that America was no longer the top economic powerhouse. These days other countries like Germany, Russia, and China are making monetary moves on their own.

Bitcoin's Black Swan Event and the Next Transfer of Wealth
Bitcoin's Market Cap Surpasses the IMF's Special Drawing Rights ReservesHowever, the citizens of the world, the ones without borders, are riding the lightning growth of a different kind of currency. Bitcoin has become the censorship-resistant black swan economy that's not issued by a nation state or corporation. In fact, the decentralized currency came from an anonymous creator, and it's a software made up of digits and code that millions of people trust. Bitcoin has become an internet-infused 'people's money,' and the technology is shifting a lot of wealth into the hands of individuals in a way that's not been seen since the oil rush back in 1859. Even the International Monetary Fund's Christine Lagarde says bitcoin will cause "massive disruptions" to the existing financial system.

"In many ways, virtual currencies might just give existing currencies and monetary policy a run for their money. The best response by central bankers is to continue running effective monetary policy, while being open to fresh ideas and new demands, as economies evolve," explains Lagarde this September. 

The currency was born in 2009 and bitcoin has come along way since 10,000 BTC happened to be traded for two Papa Johns pizzas in 2010. A year later the currency reached parity with the U.S. dollar and rose to thirty dollars during its first "bubble." The reason it was called a bubble is because, shortly after, markets dipped to a low of $2. For a while, the price remained stable, but slowly rose to $13 in December of 2012. Then in the spring of 2013, the price jumped to $266 and rallied to a high of $1,242 across global exchanges. Again the high didn't last long as the price took a bearish dive all year after the Mt Gox exchange lost 800,000 BTC, and went bankrupt. That year economic pundits and financial publications called bitcoin the "worst currency of the year."

Bitcoin's Value Matures Greatly In 2017
In 2015 bitcoin started gradually rising once again and captured the top performing currency in 2015 and 2016. After the new year and into 2017 bitcoin once again surpassed $1,000 per BTC. It started its phenomenal rise that has stayed consistent every month since then. In March of 2017 bitcoin proponents thought it was a big deal when the decentralized currency surpassed the spot price of one troy ounce of .999 gold. However, bitcoin's capitalization even today is tiny in comparison to the gold market's 9 trillion annual valuation. Still, bitcoin is bigger than many of the capitalizations tethered to corporate entities and stocks. For instance, bitcoin's market cap is larger than Paypal, IBM, Disney, General Electric, McDonalds, and even the global fine arts market.

NEO Receives Its First ICO Template


NEO Receives Its First ICO Template JP Buntinx  December 15, 2017  Crypto, News TheMerkle NEO Price Supply Increase
It is only a matter of time until we see more ICO projects run on top of the NEO infrastructure. Like Ethereum, NEO wants to cater to this crowd. Whether or not it can do so without legal repercussions remains a big question. For now, there is a NEO ICO template for people to check out, which seemingly checks all of the right boxes for running a successful campaign.

It is always interesting to see how people create templates for raising money, which can then be used and modified by others to fit their needs. Ethereum has such ICO templates and there are even dedicated "guides" on how to create and issue tokens. Smart contracts are valuable tools in this regard, especially considering that both Ethereum and NEO have this technology at their disposal. In a way, it seems inevitable we will see another ICO boom involving the NEO ecosystem in the future.

With the new template unveiled to the public, it will become a lot easier for most companies and projects to host their ICO on the NEO network. Although most people will still prefer to run an ICO on the Ethereum network, it is evident that infrastructure can't always cope with the growing demand for such tokens. Every time a very popular initial coin offering happens on the Ethereum blockchain, it is only a matter of time until the network clogs up and causes a lot of issues.

Whether or not NEO will run into similar problems in the future remains to be determined, though. It is certainly possible its infrastructure may not fare much better, of course. This open-sourced template will certainly attract a lot of attention in the future, although NEO may still face repercussions for allowing ICOs to be organized in the first place. The team claims it is free from scrutiny by the Chinese government, but this has not been confirmed in any official capacity.

As one would expect, this ICO template touches upon some critical aspects of creating an initial coin offering. The contract has built-in refund capabilities and it can even reject transactions if needed. More specifically, if a crowdsale is over and someone tries to send money, their transaction will be rejected and the funds will not leave their wallet. It is an integral part of creating a proper ICO infrastructure, to say the very least.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this template is how it enforces KYC regulations. Any NEO address participating in an ICO must be verified through a KYC service. Once such addresses are verified, they will automatically be eligible to partake in the initial coin offering. Any address not officially verified will be disallowed. Although the contract template doesn't provide the KYC framework necessary to verify the addresses themselves, it's an interesting addition nonetheless.

Whether or not we will see any major interest in NEO-based ICOs remains to be seen. Some projects are already in existence, although there's still a very long way to go in this regard. Initial coin offerings will remain popular for quite some time to come, despite opposition from regulators and governments around the world. NEO may become the new go-to solution for initial coin offerings, although nothing has been set in stone just yet.

The intelligent investors guide to Particl (PART): Part 3 - How will Particl succeed in gaining price appreciation, adoption and network effect where centralised anonymous marketplaces fail?


How will Particl succeed in gaining price appreciation, adoption and network effect where centralised anonymous marketplaces fail?

It's real simple. Particl is not a centralised marketplace so you would need to take the majority of the nodes down to compromise the network.

 

Contrast this with tradtional centralised marketplaces where taking down a handful of servers can shut down the entire service leading to loss of any funds held there.

  • The Particl nodes can be run on the tor network for added security thus the network is inherently more resistant to tradtional hacks, takedowns and DDOS attacks.

  • Integration of the currency into the platform means that the value of the PART token will increase rapidly as use of the marketplace increases.

  • This is because although Particl can accept multiple cryptocurrencies, these will all be converted in the Particl client into PART token via integration of shapeshift exchange and other decentralized exchanges into the Particl client before being used to transact on the Particl network.

  • Thus there is a constant buy pressure on the PART token to raise its daily trading volume, attract speculators who will then promote the platform further (after learning about it) and thus speading the network effect and awareness about the marketplace.

  • Integration of the currency into the platform also makes it easier to use as it reduces the number of additional trusted third party services required to zero, thus the service is more accessible, secure, safer and convenient.

  • XMR and DNM's are currently the way with regards to anonymous, private commerce but the Particl network provides all their services integrated and avoids all their inherent problems.

  • A design which encourages convenience (integration of the currency exchange/converter, marketplace listings, escrow service, currency, communications, security features and any additional services required under one client operating on a separate chain).


Compare with centralized marketplace's which have a number of distinct disadvantages:

  • Have far higher fees

  • Are governed by centralized authorities which can delist or prevent you from listing products for any reason whatsoever without any recourse; this also prevents buyers from being able to purchase things they want

  • Contain your sensitive data (credit card information, purchase/sell history, personal information) on centralized servers which means your information can be sold to third-parties, governments or leaked during hacks (Equifax anyone?)

  • Have zero network effects -- unless you own stock in Amazon.com you couldn't give two shits about how it operates

 

In contrast decentralized privacy centric MP's do not require personal information, can benefit from leveraging the network effects of speculation (Bitcoin circa 2013 is a perfect example), can have low or zero transaction fee's and protect sellers from premature, unfair or even illegal delisting i.e. protect buyers and sellers from censorship where none is required or where censorship is questionable.

 

  • Furthermore the tax implications of cryptocurrency have yet to be determined. PART wouldn't qualify as just a currency as it has features that make it more in keeping with a bond and a share simultaneously (as the token confers governance rights, generates passive income if staked and is used to secure the network + act as bond in it's escrow service). Tax laws specific to an asset class like PART have yet to be clearly defined. I think a large amount of legal white market commerce could run through Particl simply because it potentially represents a more legally tax efficient solution.

  • Following on from this I think a large amount of wealth that has moved into cryptocurrency wants to stay there. Thus the general market for legal goods acquired tax efficiently through multiple cryptocurrencies is potentially untapped and could explode as crypto marketcap continues to grow. I think this represents a case for all decentralised marketplaces.

 

This argument in general is the case for decentralization of marketplace technologies and is the main use case for District0x, Openbazaar, Syscoin etc.


By: Joske

Bitcoin Cash: The Birth of Satoshi's Real Model?



Blockstream trying to take over Bitcoin 
BlockstreamLocated in San Francisco, is perhaps the most important and at the same time, the least comprehensive company in the community of Bitcoin-World. 

Bitcoin is an open source software project where everyone can view the code and propose changes, but only a small group of people accompanying the project can approve the changes and run them into the implementation. Blockstreamhas gathered under its wing many of the most experienced and productive developers of the Bitcoin Core team, including Gregory Maxwell, Peter Will, and Matt Corallo, who over the past year together made more than 1,212 contributions to the Bitcoin code on GitHub. For this reason, people working in Blockstream may have the deepest knowledge of crypto protocols and have the greatest impact in the crypto world. 

While the positive influence of many people in the company on Bitcoin is obvious, some people blame the company for the lack of an experimental approach to Bitcoin's development, for the lack of rapid progress at the protocol level over the past few years. 
Bitcoin Core is slow to take risks when it comes to making changes to Bitcoin's code. In particular, Core does not support increasing the block size as fast as some would like. Some in the community are afraid that very soon, the bandwidth of the network will become a bottleneck that hinders the growth of user acceptance, which even led to the emergence of offers of alternative customers and development teams (for example, Bitcoin Unlimited, so ardently supported by Roger Vero). 

Most of these moods stem from the misunderstanding of Bitcoin's governance structure. Bitcoin was described as democratic, but in reality, it does not represent a democratic structure, where government representatives are elected, receiving the right to make decisions. Instead, Bitcoin is a user-controlled system where the code is associated with all network members (developers, miners, users, exchanges). Not any of the groups are able to make significant changes to the protocol. In fact, this requires an absolute majority of votes. This can be considered as a gift, and as a curse at the same time and this makes Bitcoin one of the most invulnerable means of accumulation that ever existed, but this same feature makes it difficult to make changes at the protocol level. 

So what is the role of Blockstream in the ecosystem? 
When the company attracted investments at the zero round of financing, the main idea was that Blockstream would be for Bitcoin that Mozilla was for the Internet: a commercial organization that supports the basic values of the protocol. 
Since the launch of Blockstream, it has passed more than two years now, and it seems that the company has safely forgotten about it The popular opinion is that Blockstream is using its influence on Bitcoin Core to push out the solutions that are beneficial for the company, and not for the Bitcoin ecosystem as a whole. 

The main mission of Blockstream 
The founder of the block stream Adam Back says that he believes in the future, where users are given the right to control their own assets. The mission is to take Bitcoin's core peer security and expand it to other digital assets. 
Back also says that Bitcoin is the most secure and reliable decentralized value transfer network. It runs smoothly for eight years and is based on computing power, larger than the world's largest supercomputer. The network is based on a simple scripting language with the smallest "surface" for potential attacks. Other blockades, such as the Etherium, are interesting experiments, but they do not compare with Bitcoin in terms of reliability, security, and decentralization. 

10 of the Biggest Lies Told About Bitcoin



As British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once averred, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Bitcoin is frequently on the receiving end of them all, whether it's exaggerated statistics about energy consumption or damned lies conflating it with terrorism. We've rounded up 10 of the most pervasive mistruths and endeavored to set the record straight. The next time someone brings one up, send them here.

1. Bitcoin Funds Terrorism
We'll start with the most asinine assertion, although all of the entries in this list are pretty dumb. You know what funds terrorism? Terrorists and terrorist sympathisers. If you want to blame a currency though, try the U.S. dollar which has been used to fund more wars, proxy wars, bombings, hijackings, and insurgencies than any other.

In 2016, Europol found no evidence that terrorists were using cryptocurrencies to fund their activities. That's not to say it hasn't happened and won't happen. It's telling however that the only people linking bitcoin with terrorism are governments seeking to crackdown on digital currencies. If a major terrorist attack funded by bitcoin were to occur, we'd never hear the end of it. So far there's been a lot of noise but nothing to substantiate this claim.

Yaya Fanusie of the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance had this to say:

There are examples of terrorists using virtual currencies, but probably are not indicative of a major push. Right now, virtual currencies are harder to acquire and spend than, say, prepaid cards, or the most anonymous way to fund terrorism – cash. And most terrorists operate in a world where fiat, or government-backed, currency is needed for their expenditures, so a virtual currency where one has to figure out how to cash out without tipping off authorities only complicates a funding scheme.
 
2. Bitcoin is a Bubble
Where do we even start with this one? No, bitcoin is not a bubble. It's not going to come crashing down to earth and it's certainly not going to return to zero. We've long passed the point of no return for that to happen. That won't stop the B-word being trotted out every time bitcoin gains or sheds another $2,000 however. There will be corrections along the way – no asset in history has ever ascended in a straight line – but bitcoin is not about to pop. It wasn't a bubble at $3,000, it's not a bubble at $11,000, and it still won't be next week after a dozen more op-eds have posed this question.

3. Bitcoin is Volatile
For those who don't relish risk, there are certainly less exciting assets to invest in. Nevertheless, the notion that bitcoin is volatile and needs to be "tamed" is misguided. Hugely respected crypto assets expert Chris Burniske broke this down in a recent slidedeck, showing that bitcoin's volatility is now lower than Twitter stock. There are still roller-coaster days, but for the most part the digital currency is blissfully calm.

4. Bitcoin is Tulip Mania All Over Again
If you're not familiar with the much-cited case of tulip mania which swept 17th century Holland, your search engine of choice will furnish you with the backstory. The craze culminated in the price of a particular bulb reaching 4,600 florins. From there, the only way was down.

It turns out that tulips lack any sort of intrinsic value and make a rubbish commodity, just like seashells and pretty stones. Bitcoins, on the other hand, are easy to divide, imperishable, transportable and scarcer than tulips.

5. Bitcoin is Used by Hate Groups
We could launch into a lengthy explanation as to why it's ridiculous to blame a currency for the actions of a tiny subset of its users, but sometimes the simplest responses are best:

6. Bitcoin is Mostly Used for Illegal Purposes
That claim might have been true in 2013, but today the vast majority of bitcoin transactions are for legitimate purposes. Chris Burniske also provided further evidence of this in his slidedeck which was cited earlier. Still, that won't stop benighted hacks from the mainstream media trotting out this old chestnut whenever they can, usually accompanied by some variation of this image:

7. Bitcoin is a Ponzi Scheme
A Ponzi or pyramid scheme involves older investors being paid back through the capital from new investors, until eventually the racket becomes unsustainable and the whole thing collapses on itself. The workings of bitcoin are completely transparent and its adoption and growth cannot be controlled by anyone. The price of bitcoin is determined solely by what the market is willing to pay for it, not by a necessity to pay back previous investors. Bitcoin is certainly not a pyramid scheme. Bitconnect, on the other hand…

8. Bitcoin Can Be Hacked
Bitcoin exchanges and cloud-based wallets can theoretically be hacked, just like anything else connected to the internet. The underlying code powering the bitcoin blockchain cannot be hacked however. Bitcoin has been stress-tested more thoroughly than possibly any other piece of code ever written. If you're worried about having your coins stolen, take our advice and use a wallet which you own the keys to rather than trusting a third party.

9. Bitcoin is a Fad
You know what else was a fad? The internet and cell phones.

10 of the Biggest Lies Told About Bitcoin
We've debunked this loads of times, most recently here, and Wired have also explored the matter at length. Yes, bitcoin mining uses a lot of energy – though not nearly as much as reported – and yet every watt is worth it. Rather than delve into lengthy technical explanations, here are a couple of pertinent facts to mull over: bitcoin mining uses a third less energy than is expended on Christmas lights in the U.S. each year. One study estimates bitcoin to use between 0.8 and 4.4 TWh per year. Compare this with the 138TWh per year spent on mining and recycling gold or the 650TWh expended by the global banking system annually and bitcoin looks like a model in efficiency.

To invoke an apposite quote, a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on. The next time fake news defames your favorite digital currency, drop in this link and set the record straight. Bitcoin is many things but it's none of the above.

The intelligent investors guide to Particl (PART): Part 2 - Why am I bullish on the price of Particl (PART) long term?


Currently Particl trades in the $5-10 range on Bittrex with a relatively low market cap. Present valuations are determined solely by market speculators (mostly accumulators aware about the project potential).

 

However on release of their decentralised marketplace module in Q1 2018, provided its released with full atomic swaps and shapeshift/exchange integration, it's buy side dynamics will change significantly.

 

This will be driven by the fact that whilst multiple cryptocurrencies will be accepted on the Particl network to automatically convert to the native PART token via in-client integration of shapeshift, decentralized exchanges and widget implementation of atomic swaps (direct conversion of other cryptocurrencies to the native PART token without intermediary if they possess atomic swap functionality), all buying and selling transactions on the marketplace and other Particl modules will be conducted solely via the native PART token.

 

At this stage I estimate a 5x to 20x (conservative is 5x) rise in price purely on a hype cycle alone. Longer term however I view it very differently to other assets due to it's liquidity characteristics which resemble DASH but with actual utility to self perpetuate it. This is because: 

  • People decide to use the Particl marketplace.
  • People sent their crypto to the Particl client.
  • This converts to PART: Buy pressure on PART.
  • People buy PART in the Particl client to transact.
  • People use PART escrow: PARTs get locked into escrow contract.
  • Circulating supply of PART gets further restricted.
  • Successful buying/selling of goods = repeat custom exclusively in PART token.
  • Repeat custom = regular repeat buy pressure on PART per individual.
  • Repeat custom = word of mouth = more new customers on Particl marketplace. This perpetuates first step.
  • Buy pressure increases. More escrows. Further liquidity lockup.

 

  • More dApps (beyond market place) release as PART hype & awareness increases = more buy pressure on PART.

  • Staking locks away PART also restricting circulating supply.

  • As value of PART increases incentive to stake increases (as stakers earn tx fees). As PART value increases and tx frequency increases, stakers earn more rewards perpetuating further staking.

  • More PART gets locked in staking. Lower circulating supply.

  • Rapidly escalating PART price.

 

So provided it is released as described and people use it as a marketplace non-speculatively, with time it's price should rise exponentially independent of traditional exchange dependent model.

...

I hope this makes it super clear why I rank Particl on par with Ethereum and Bitcoin in terms of price growth potential.


By: Joske

CME Group Is Pleased to Bring Bitcoin Futures to the Market on December 18




On November 20 the firm CME Group published an error on the company's bitcoin futures web page stating that its new bitcoin derivatives products would launch on December 10. Later that day, the company announced it was a mistake, and that the date was incorrect. Now on December 1, the exchange has announced its bitcoin-based self-certified initial listings will be available on December 18. Terry Duffy, CME Group's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer explains;   

We are pleased to bring Bitcoin futures to the market after working closely with the CFTC and market participants to design a regulated offering that will provide investors with transparency, price discovery, and risk transfer capabilities.
CME Group to Launch Bitcoin Futures December 18

A Continued Collaboration With U.S. Regulators and  Reputable Cryptocurrency Trading Platforms
CME Group's bitcoin futures products will be available for trade on the CME Globex electronic trading platform. Alongside this, the futures have been submitted for the CME Clearport on Sunday, December 17 and trading will begin the following day. The bitcoin futures provided by CME will be cash-settled by referencing the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR). The rate is based on a daily rate utilizing the USD price of bitcoin across multiple spot exchanges.     

"Though we have worked through a lengthy, comprehensive process with the CFTC to get to this point, we recognize bitcoin is a new, uncharted market that will continue to evolve, requiring continued collaboration with the Commission and our clients going forward," CME's CEO details.

At launch, our new Bitcoin futures contract will be subject to a variety of risk management tools, including an initial margin of 35 percent, position and intraday price limits, and a number of other risk and credit controls that CME Group offers on all of its products.
The options exchange has been calculating and publishing the BRR with the help of Crypto Facilities Ltd. The calculation window for the aggregated trade flow ends at 4:00 pm London time. Further, CME details the BRR utilizes the "IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks," alongside leveraging well-known cryptocurrency exchange spot prices from Kraken, Itbit, GDAX, and Bitstamp. The news also follows JP Morgan and Nasdaq revealing they plan to offer bitcoin futures contracts as well. 
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