Some US Citizens Look to Be Splashing Their Stimulus Cash on Cryptocurrency - CoinDesk

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• Some US Citizens Look to Be Splashing Their Stimulus Cash on Cryptocurrency - CoinDesk
• Cryptocurrency in the Time of Crisis: What to Expect - hackernoon.com
• Facebook Still Wants a Piece of the Cryptocurrency Market - Motley Fool
• Cryptocurrency predictions: what coins to choose in 2020? - Capital.com

Some US Citizens Look to Be Splashing Their Stimulus Cash on Cryptocurrency - CoinDesk Posted: 20 Apr 2020 02:58 AM PDT Nothing screams confidence in the U.S. economy more than swapping Federal Reserve-issued money for a digital hedge against the mainstream financial system. The U.S. government issued more than 80 million stimulus checks, each for $1,200, last week. To be deposited directly into bank accounts, the payment is intended to give citizens affected by the coronavirus a few extra dollars to pay for essentials, things such as food and utility bills. But it appears some proportion of Americans instead of spending their stimulus check at Walmart, Amazon or wherever, may have decided to swap their dollars for crypto. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted earlier on Friday his exchange had experienced a sudden spike in the number of buys and deposits worth $1,200. Up until mid-April, around 0.1 percent of total buys and deposits had been for $1,200, then it suddenly spiked nearly 0.4 percent this week, around the time many Americans started receiving their stimulus checks. Of course, it's impossible to say for certain if all these deposits were U.S. citizens looking for a new home for their government-issued money. The graph doesn't specify what the split was between buys and deposits, so it's possible some customers may have simply parked their money in the exchange. We can't tell if these deposits even came from the U.S. But despite a soaring unemployment rate, most in the U.S. are still working and still getting paid. Many who are financially secure may have decided to invest, rather than spend, their stimulus checks. Investors aren't just heading over to Coinbase with their stimulus money. Speaking to CoinDesk, a Binance US spokesperson confirmed they had also seen a spike in $1,200 deposits. "People do seem to have deposited exactly $1,200 into Binance US in the past couple of days," the firm said. Adding to the evidence, last Thursday was also the single largest day for USD deposits into Binance US for more than a month, the spokesperson added, but declined to go into the specifics of how many deposits that would be. Crypto prices took a hit when COVID-19 outbreak fears peaked in March but they have since rebounded. With interest rates at record lows and other assets, like equities, reporting lackluster returns, some U.S. investors may see this is as an opportunity to try a new asset class. CoinDesk reached out to Coinbase and other exchanges for further comment, but hadn't received a response by press time. Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Cryptocurrency in the Time of Crisis: What to Expect - hackernoon.com Posted: 19 Apr 2020 12:32 PM PDT Start Writing Start Writing Top Stories0 AI Artificial Intelligence Data Data Science Deep Fakes Deep Learning Hierarchy of Needs Machine Learning Myth Busting Neural Networks Thing Label-er What AI Sees The Future of AI As a Service In 5 Years In 50 Years In 500 Years Bots Chatbots Digital Marketing Media Showdown vs. Humans Ways in Which Machines Learn Crypto Blockchain Adoption Application By 2027 Chainsplaining Decentralization Development In Ten Years Learn by Building Mind Blowing Invention Security Token Thesis Smart Contracts Technology Top Stories WTF is Blockchain WTF (2 Min Version) Bitcoin All Bitcoin Stories Beyond Capitalism Bitcoin Spotlight Bear Market Diaries Bull Market Diaries Bitcoin Manifesto Ensuing Pineapples Environmental Damage Gathering Storm HODL Backstory In 20 Years Less than $1k Road to $100k What is Bitcoin? Why Bitcoin Matters More Coins Altcoins Binance Bitcoin Bitcoin Cash Bitcoin SV Cardano EOS Ethereum Libra Litecoin Ripple Stellar Tether TRON More Coding Engineering Agile Architecture MVP Programming Engineering Management Open Source Software Development Startup Engineering Killers Scrum Test Driven Development Voight-Kampff Test What is a Computer? Languages C Java Javascript New Language NodeJS PHP Python React Ruby SQL Swift Vim Security Backend Behind Popular VPNs Cybersecurity Data Breaches Encryption Fake Any Email Frontend Hacked 40 Sites in 7 Min. Hacked Vending Machine Info Sec Non-Technical Co-workers Privacy Wifi Crimes Unencrypted Traffic Startups Evolution Beware the Next Big Thing Brief History of Women in Computing Data-Driven? Think Again Design Failed Algorithms 50 That Started w/ $0 Growth Hack into Startup Indie Startups Open Startups Remote Top Startup Stories Venture Capital Education Don't Test Entrepreneurship For Dummies Founders Funding Management Marketing Pitching Product Management Scaling Strategy User Experience FAAGM As Simpsons Characters Amazon Apple Facebook Google Growing Blockchain Interest Life After Google Microsoft Netflix Taming Big Tech Tech Hiring Culture User Data Violations Coronavirus0 Learn Web Development Angular Complete Javascript Course 2020 Cyber Security Web Developer Bootcamp Web Developer Zero to Mastery Data Science Data science course 2020 Deep learning A-Z Machine Learning, Data Science, Deep Learning Python Python for Machine Learning Statistics for Data Science and Business Analysis Languages HTML & CSS Javascript Java Python SQL In Partnership With Udemy Future Effect of Tech Automation ICO Bubble Big Data Biohack Your Intelligence Economics Futurism Humans vs. Internet Iot Publishing Platform Robotics Self-Driving Cars Space Surveillance Capitalism Framing Realities APIs Augmented Reality In Math We Trust Mixed Reality One Hundred X Engineers Open Tech Letters Rick & Morty & The Meaning of Life Social Media Time Hacker Method Virtual Reality WTF Your Truth vs. The Truth About About About Our New Software CEO COO CPO Everipedia Page Equity Crowdfundraise Extended Network In Six Words or Less Meet the Team On the Gram Our Podcast Some Tech GIFs Some Tech MEMEs Voice of Hackers Start Writing Become Contributing Writer Complete Help Section Complete Writing Guide Connect Medium to Hackernoon Create Your Own Call To Action Get Published Submit a Story Support Troubleshooting Account Creation Write Better Headlines Sponsor Sponsorship Options Become a Sponsor Brand As Author Program Sitewide Billboard Job Postings Newsletters Green-est Sponsors 100+ Brands Publishing Here How We Publish0 Top Stories AI Artificial Intelligence Data Data Science

Facebook Still Wants a Piece of the Cryptocurrency Market - Motley Fool Posted: 20 Apr 2020 09:30 AM PDT Last year, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) assembled a consortium of companies to create an open-source cryptocurrency called Libra. Facebook planned to offer Libra as a payment option in a digital wallet called Calibra, then integrate those payments into Messenger and WhatsApp. But shortly afterwards, leading members of the consortium -- including Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) -- abandoned Libra after government regulators expressed concerns about money laundering, tax evasion, and other illegal transactions. Critics also argued that Facebook's spotty track record with privacy and security issues made it an unsafe platform for financial transactions. Image source: Getty Images. For a while, it seemed like Facebook would abandon Libra. However, the Libra consortium recently revised its plans to address some of the biggest concerns. Let's see if those changes will help Facebook finally launch its digital currency. A less disruptive approach: Libra 2.0 Unlike bitcoin, which isn't pinned to any fiat currencies, Facebook planned to pin Libra's value to a broad mixture of currencies and government debt. That approach prevented Libra's value from being pinned to a single currency and stabilized its price. Image source: Getty Images. It would also turn Libra into an independent digital currency that could freely move across national borders -- and that freedom made governments and banks uneasy. Facebook serves 2.5 billion monthly active users, more than the population of any single country on Earth, and a unified currency for all those users could undermine national currencies. In response, the Libra Association recently decided to issue different versions of Libra directly pinned to individual currencies. It would also issue a "composite" version of Libra, which is pegged to several stable currencies, to facilitate cross-border transactions and serve countries that lack a currency-pegged version of Libra. For example, Libra would be pegged to the U.S. dollar in the United States, and it must be converted to the composite version for overseas transfers. Boxing in Libra prevents it from overwhelming national currencies and upending the banking system. Meanwhile, Libra can still accomplish Facebook's previous goals: to serve the 1.7 billion adults worldwide who lack bank accounts, to enhance Messenger and WhatsApp with new payment features, and to boost the stickiness of its ecosystem. The consortium also scrapped its plans to turn Libra into a completely open platform, which would have prevented a single authority from controlling the currency. Lastly, the consortium pledged to vet any digital wallet app that wanted to provide Libra payments, instead of leaving those approvals to local regulators. Those changes indicate the consortium would bear more responsibility governing Libra, and would proactively address its privacy and security issues. But did Facebook turn Libra into another PayPal? The Libra Association clearly hopes to gain regulatory approvals with its concessions, but they also narrow its moat against widely used platforms like PayPal. PayPal is already available in over 200 countries and regions worldwide, with support for 25 currencies. However, PayPal requires users to link a bank account or credit card before they can send or receive money. The Libra Association will allow users to directly buy coins, presumably via methods which don't require bank or credit card accounts, then use them for purchases and peer-to-peer payments. That's an interesting idea, but many individuals are currently "unbanked" because they lack enough cash to meet the minimum requirements for opening a new account. Many of those lower-income individuals might not buy Libra coins instead of using cash -- even if there's an overlap between unbanked individuals and Facebook users. Meanwhile, users who have bank accounts and credit cards will likely stick with established payment platforms like PayPal, which isn't tightly tethered to a data-mining tech giant like Facebook. Don't expect much near-term progress The Libra Association originally planned to launch its digital currency by the end of June, but it's now targeting a launch by the end of the year. Regulators in certain countries, including France and Germany, are still trying to block its launch, while countries like India are tightening their restrictions for digital currencies. In short, Libra still faces a long uphill battle before it can be integrated into Facebook's apps and other digital wallets. This struggle won't move the needle for Facebook anytime soon, but it could set the foundations for a digital payment ecosystem that could eventually expand its social platform into the fintech and e-commerce markets.

Cryptocurrency predictions: what coins to choose in 2020? - Capital.com Posted: 20 Apr 2020 11:01 AM PDT Overview  The cryptocurrency sector has been in existence since 2009, the year Bitcoin (BTC), the top crypto based on market capitalisation, came into being.  Eleven years down the line, cryptocurrencies are now a part of modern society, with their number surpassing 3,000.  Cryptocurrency projections are crucial in distinguishing the profitable cryptocurrencies, based on optimal return on investment (ROI). As a result, cryptocurrency prices predictions are fundamental in determining what crypto coins to invest in 2020.   The coronavirus pandemic has been wreaking havoc so far this year, and this has triggered shocks in the financial markets. On March 12, commonly referred to as Black Thursday, the global markets nosedived, and cryptocurrencies were not spared.  For instance, Bitcoin lost 50 per cent of its value as its price reached $3,800. Since, it has witnessed a steady increase as it is currently trading at $6,856.  2020, therefore, seems to be a bright year for cryptocurrencies based on the strides being made by Bitcoin. For instance, payment giant Visa (V) recently partnered with Fold, a crypto startup, to provide a credit card where consumers will be rewarded with Bitcoin for spending in major companies and outlets like Uber (UBER), Amazon (AMZN), Airbnb, Nike (NKE), Domino's (DPZ) and Starbucks (SBUX). This move seeks to propel Bitcoin's mainstream adoption. The best crypto performers in 2019 and so far in 2020 Cryptocurrency forecasts have been rife, and 2019 proved to be a great year in the crypto space. For instance, cryptocurrency adoption skyrocketed as compared to the previous year.  Despite cryptocurrencies performing commendably in 2019, some stood out as better compared to others, and their bullish run continues in 2020. Bitcoin (BTC) Bitcoin continued its dominance as one of the best crypto performers in 2019. It started the year at $3,742 and reached an all-time high of $12,407 in June 2019. Its overall performance was outstanding because it closed the year at $7,293, up by 95 per cent. One of the factors that prompted Bitcoin's commendable performance was that crypto exchanges boosted its adoption through margin trading. As a result, BTC's trading volume was elevated.  At the time of writing Bitcoin's price stood at $7,161.  Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Bitcoin Cash proved to be another significant player in the crypto space in 2019. BCH is a hard fork of Bitcoin meaning; it was crafted out of the leading cryptocurrency. Its price stood at $135 in mid-January 2019, and an all-time high of $480 was witnessed on June 26. By the end of December 2019, BCH was hovering around $210, representing a 55.5 per cent hike. Presently, Bitcoin Cash is trading at $233.  NEO (NEO) Being one of the best crypto performers in 2019, NEO acts as both a cryptocurrency and an open-source platform that developers use to create decentralised applications or Dapps. Neo is currently ranked at position twenty-two among the leading cryptocurrencies according to CoinMarketCap. NEO emerged as one of the best performing crypto based on the blockchain ecosystem it offers developers. During the start of 2019, it was trading at $7.5, but it closed the year at $9, up by 20%. Presently, its price stands at $7.45. Where to invest today: cryptocurrency predictions for 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has compromised the start of 2020 as it has necessitated measures such as lockdowns, social distancing, and quarantines for it to be curbed.  There is no doubt that the Covid pandemic has made the global economy plummet, as many sectors have halted to a standstill. As a result, governments have found themselves being forced to incorporate solutions such as quantitative easing and zeroing interest rates. Cryptocurrency predictions show that this may be an advantage for the crypto space as typically printing money devalues a currency, and inflation becomes inevitable. Cryptocurrency predictions 2020 have quite a positive spirit, in spite of the terrible circumstances. Now, you may be asking yourself what crypto coins to invest in 2020 amid the tough times being witnessed across the globe. To answer this question, below, we have compiled a list of digital coins with the best cryptocurrency forecasts. Saudi vs Russia oil price war Bitcoin (BTC) Bitcoin has been setting the ball rolling in the crypto space as it has proven to be one of the best crypto performers over the years. A BTC bullish run is expected in 2020 based on the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving event that is approximately four weeks away. This is an occasion that happens after every four years, and mining rewards are reduced by 50 per cent, hence decreasing the rate of the supply of Bitcoin.  Trade Bitcoin to US Dollar - BTC/USD CFD During this year's halving event, the mining reward will be reduced from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. Judging from the previous two halving events that happened in 2012 and 2016, Bitcoin's price is speculated to increase because supply reduces and demand rises. Following the Bitcoin halving in 2016, a bull run was experienced, and BTC set a new record in December 2017 after hitting $20,000. Investors are optimistic a similar trend will be witnessed in 2020.  One of the bedrocks of any asset is scarcity, and this is presented by Bitcoin halving events as supply is slashed. It is the reason why pundits are betting for BTC's price to skyrocket in 2020.  Additionally, some analysts are optimistic that the decision by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to print more dollars to the tune of $6 trillion to enable the American economy to stay afloat will be advantageous to Bitcoin as it will attract more interest from people as the dollar will depreciate.  These cryptocurrency projections seem to make Bitcoin an ideal investment vehicle in 2020.  Ethereum (ETH) Over the years, Ethereum has almost played catch-up with Bitcoin. Along with Bitcoin, ETH is one of the best crypto performers. After all, it is favoured for its blockchain ecosystem that enables developers to create smart contracts and dapps.  Currently, the price of ETH stands at $170, and it has witnessed a spike in the first quarter of 2020, hitting a high of $281 in February. Based on the latest cryptocurrency prices predictions, Ethereum will be among the best performing crypto in 2020, as investors are staking on its transition from the Proof of Work (PoW) network to a Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain that will make generation of the currency less cumbersome.  Ripple (XRP) Ripple, the third cryptocurrency standing at $0.1875, is a notable investment in 2020 because of its robust network. It has emerged to be a formidable force in payment, banking, and international commerce systems.  Ripple funded MoneyGram, a remittance guru, a whopping $11 million in 2019, for it to utilise its blockchain-based payment network. Cryptocurrency forecasts show Ripple services are being sought after by reputable companies making it an ideal investment asset in 2020.  NEO (NEO) NEO breaks many stereotypes as it is the first open-source cryptocurrency. As a result, it has the capability of transforming existing financial networks by intertwining real and digital assets.  These cryptocurrency projections place it as one of the best crypto performers of 2020.  Bottom Line When you ask yourself what crypto coins to invest in 2020, cryptocurrency price predictions can be part of the research you do to make your decision. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Neo are touted to be among the best performing crypto this year. If you think you are not ready to make long-term investment commitments, but still want to try to profit from the crypto volatility, you can do so through contracts for difference (CFD). You can learn more about CFD trading with free online courses and find out how to trade crypto CFDs by reading our comprehensive guide.  Join Capital.com to always stay up to date with the latest crypto price news and spot the best trading opportunities. Ready to get started? Download Capital.com Share Article

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