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Second Bitcoin Auction Wraps Up

The US Marshals Service (USMS) yesterday received more than two dozen bids for 50,000 Bitcoin seized during the FBI’s raid on Silk Road wallets. Lynzey Donahue, a spokesperson of USMS, revealed that that government received 27 bids from a total of 11 bidders. The winning bids will be announced today. Till date, Feds have seized a total of 173,991 BTC, in which 144,336 units belonged to Ross Ulbricht, the alleged owner of Silk Road.

MasterCard Official Goes Harsh on Bitcoin

The MasterCard President for Southeast Asia Matthew Driver played a dirty corporate trick on Bitcoin, when he appeared in a video with an aim to blast out the cryptocurrency from people’s mind. The irresponsible official suggested that cryptocurrencies are too risk to success, whilst also criticized Bitcoin security infrastructure to be severely flawed. He further called Bitcoin’s anonymity “troubling” and said:

“Trust and security, a stable form of value, are incredibly critical if you’re going to be able to gain acceptance for the services you’re looking to provide. The challenge for cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, is that they’re unstable in terms of their intrinsic value.”

US Congressman Introduces Bill to Protect Cryptocurrencies

Steve Stockman, a Republican Congressman from the State of Texas, recently introduced a pro-cryptocurrency bill, known as Cryptocurrency Protocol Protection and Moratorium Act (or CryptPMA). According to the available reports, this bill not only demands an extension in terms of protection but also require government to classify cryptocurrency as a normal currency.


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US stocks dropped after benchmark indexes closed at record highs, with energy shares dropping and the European Central Bank saying that it would wait until the next quarter before considering additional stimulus measures.
Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp dropped around 1.5% for the largest losses in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Microsoft Corp climbed 1.4% and Barnes & Noble Inc said that it would buy back the stake of the company in its Nook business.

According to Bloomberg, the Standard & Poor’s 500 dropped 0.3% to 2,068.42. The Dow dropped 0.3% or 53.67 points to 17,858.95. Trading in the S&P 500 companies was around 10% below the 30-day average for this time of day.
Senior market strategist at Voya Investment Management LLC, Karyn Cavanaugh said, “Draghi’s going to have to start doing some bond-buying if they want to get out of the malaise they’re in. I think it’ll eventually be good news and QE will have to happen. The writing is on the wall.”

Equities dropped as Mario Draghi, ECB president said that policy makers will wait until next quarter before assessing whether additional stimulus measures were required. His comments dampened speculations that the central bank was poised to start a program of the sovereign-debt purchases called quantitative easing or QE.

European stocks were also in the red and the DAX index of Germany erased gains.

Chief market strategist at CMC Markets, Colin Cieszynski was quoted by Market Watch as having said, “Speculation that ECB president Draghi would ride in and save the day was running so high this morning that the DAX touched an all-time high just before the press conference started. Attitudes quickly reversed course.”

Energy companies dropped 1.3% reversing the gains of three days with oil slipping as much as 1.9%. Newfield Exploration Co. and Ensco Plc lost more than 3% and Pioneer Natural Resources dropped 3.5%.


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Last 24 hours in the cryptocurrency market were somewhat good, as both Bitcoin and Litecoin attracted buyers after the closure of USMS auction of 50k BTC. Bitcoin, however, is still moving sideways, attempting to break their respective support/resistance levels. Litecoin, on the other hand, has broken inside the overbought territory, indicating a strong bullish hype

In the meantime, altcoins like Peercoin and Darkcoin are also looking neutral at this point of time, while Dogecoin and NXT have fallen a little around 0.5-1% in over the last 24 hours. MaidSafeCoin, on the other hand, is moving upwards amid wild buying volumes, indicating a hyped pump.

BTC/USD


Based on the current technical readings on 4H BitStamp, the BTC/USD is valued at around 375-375. The price is currently above the 200-, 100 and 20-hours SMA, while is marginally below the 50-hours one. The RSI in the meantime is around 50. This overall indicates a neutral-bullish sentiment in the market.

The price has already remained in a stiff trading range since November 29th, possible because of traders’ eyes on USMS auction. And now when the auction as passed, market is waiting for the announcement of winners. Until then, the BTC/USD is expected to stay inside the sideways range of 365-385.

Any attempts to break the aforesaid support/resistance level will open a near-term bearish or bullish bias, respectively. In case the price manages to break below the 365-support level, the next bounce back will be expected around 350. In case the attempt fails, the BTC/USD will enter into a long-term bearish territory, sighting last month’s bottom of 320 as the key support level.

On the other hand, if price manages to pass through the resistance level of 385-390, the next pullback will be expected around 400. In case the price manages to break this level, the upside risk will fall on last month’s high 450.

LTC/USD


It is pretty visible that traders are currently yawning by seeing the Bitcoin’s sluggish pace. Therefore, a good investment has been made to its alternative Litecoin. Over the last 24 hours, the LTC/USD has surged by over 4%, thanks to one relatively high buying signal.
Based on the current technical readings on 4H BTC-e, the price is currently above the 200-, 100-, 50-hours SMA, while the RSI is around 71. It overall indicates a strong bullish sentiment in the market. As you can see the chart above, the LTC/USD is currently inside the overbought territory and is waiting to meet with some correction. Even then, the pair is way above its previous resistance level of 3.60, and is now sighting the upward risk towards 3.80-3.90 area.

However, a possible pullback cannot be ignore at this point if time. In this case, the price would still want to treat its previous resistance as the key support. Further analysis can only be done once the list of USMS auction winners are out.


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DriveWealth Partners with BitPay, Enables Customers Fund the Accounts with Bitcoin

By Forexminute - Deepak Tiwari | Bitcoin | Dec 7, 2014 9:52PM GMT



Claiming to be an easy to use, goal-oriented investing platform that allows users access their investments anytime, anywhere using the mobile app, DriveWealth*has partnered with leading Bitcoin payment processor BitPay. In the announcement the company says that it wants to bring its customers the ability to fund their accounts with Bitcoin.

Currently, the company helps users check in on their goals, increase their investing knowledge, or ask a question in the Investing Q & A forum. They are also able to get free, unlimited practice accounts to gain confidence and take control of future with DriveWealth. Now, adding up Bitcoin as a payment method, the company is helping them further.

Interestingly, DriveWealth is the first financial services organization to accept the popular digital currency Bitcoin. The company promises that users can check in on their goals, increase investing knowledge, or ask a question in Investing Q & A forum using unlimited practice accounts. Thus, it assures them to take control of their future with DriveWealth.

Nonetheless, as the company aims to expand globally, it raised over $8 million in funding from high-end investors. Now, as it has partnered with one of the biggest Bitcoin payment processor BitPay, it is aiming to give its members greater control over their accounts and shove Bitcoin further into the trading arena as a potential funding method.

The Company Not Responsible for Bitcoin Exchange Rate

The co-founder of BitPay Tony Gallippi believes that trust is a major factor when a company wants to build relationship with its users and according to him providing users with the added security of Bitcoin as a payment method makes the whole process easier, and gives users peace of mind. He says the customers will welcome the decision from DriveWealth.

According to Tony Gallippi with Bitcoin, users will no longer have to wait days or weeks for an account to be funded because this integration will make their deposit process seamless. Though some government agencies doubt the digital currency as they believe that it is being used for illegal activities, a lot of private companies have been promoting it for long.

The official website of the company says that when the users are depositing money through Bitcoin the funds are generally available within 2*business days. Also, there is a minimum $20 deposit. At the same time the company says that it is not responsible for the Bitcoin exchange rates the users receive.


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Boost VC Announces a New Bitcoin Fund

Boost VC, the venture capitalist firm based in California, announced a new fund called Bitcoin Boost Fund 2, which promise to give an additional 300 BTC to each Tribe 5 Bitcoin Startup. This fund, backed by Draper Associates, is one of the many recent announcements by Boost VC. In November, the company closed a funding round in which it generated $6.6 million, led by Mark Andreessen and Ben Davenport.

Tim Draper Wins Only 2000 BTC in USMS Auction

Last week, the USMS held its second auction of the 50k Bitcoins seized from Ross Ulbricht’s cold wallet. Post-auction, famous investor Tim Draper announced to have won only 2,000 BTC out of the entire stash. Ge told the New York Times that he will have to purchase some more Bitcoins in order to fulfill his commitments to Boost VC startups. According to the USMS, a total of eleven bidders participated in the second auction.

California Wants to Regulate Bitcoin

California’s Department of Business Oversight is planning to regulate activities related to cryptocurrency sector, reports the Coin Telegraph. This one state in the US has the largest number of companies that accept Bitcoin, a reason why authorities are taking special interests in regulating it. The department’s spokesperson Tom Dresslar said:

“The consensus among staff is that the department and commissioner could regulate virtual currency, to some extent, under current state law. Consumers would be the prime concern of any regulatory structure we build—making sure they are fully aware of the risks associated with virtual currency and providing effective, reasonable safeguards against those risks.”

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Jonah Dorman Joins GAW Miners as GM and VP of the Company

By Forexminute - Deepak Tiwari | Bitcoin | Dec 8, 2014 8:02PM GMT




Jonah Dorman, a former military intelligence veteran, has joined GAW Miners, one of the world’s foremost Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturers and digital cloud mining providers. Bitcoin is not new for him as he has been following the world of Bitcoin since its inception and even helped successfully launch PayCoin, the new crypto currency from GAW Miners.
Appreciating his efforts, GAW Miners announced the appointment of Jonah Dorman as general manager and vice president of the Company. The company says that Jonah is already proving to be an integral team member and leader and with his experience in running several crypto currency companies, including the recently acquired Lease Rig, company will benefit a lot.

According to the press release from the company Jonah plans to not only build on GAW Miners meteoric success, but also work to solidify and legitimize the industry as a whole. Jonah Dorman admitted that everyone watching this space knows that GAW Miners is a major force with the potential of really changing the way we work with crypto currency.

Nonetheless, Jonah Dorman is of opinion that there is a real need to validate the space and after speaking with the executives at the Company, they quickly realized that the company shares the same philosophies. He says, “Our goals are to grow the business, and also bring regulation, transparency and increase the quality of customer service to stabilize the market.”

Jonah Dorman is Great Asset Says GAW Miners CEO, Josh Garza

He concludes, “I am excited that I have found a home with visionaries looking towards the future for the better good of the industry.” Similar views were shared by Josh Garza, CEO and founder of GAW Miners who admitted that as a Company, GAW Miners is growing exponentially and changing the industry at an incredible pace.

However, according to Josh Garza the company needed to bring on a leader who shared its vision and passion for the space; someone who was willing to make push the boundaries through innovation. He admits that Jonah is a great asset to us and his reputation and experience will his company develop and execute a strategy to change the way of business.
The press release from the company says that Jonah will work closely with the executive team out of corporate headquarters in Bloomfield CT. With the efforts from Jonah Dorman GAW Miners which is the fastest growing Bitcoin mining technology provider, offering a range of world-class Bitcoin mining hardware and cloud-based solutions, will move up further.


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Peter Chasse, President of the Water Project Says Bitcoin Donations Could be Game-Changer

By Forexminute - Deepak Tiwari | Bitcoin | Dec 9, 2014 9:04PM GMT




In a recently held ‘Giving Tuesday’, Peter Chasse, President and Founder of the Water Project, a nonprofit that does work in Africa and accepts Bitcoin for donations, says that Bitcoin could be game-changer. His opinion is adding to the views that show that Bitcoin could play vital role in philanthropy as it can reduce a lot of unnecessary expenses in transactions.

In fact, the Bitcoin Foundation reported about $4.8 million in assets for end of year 2013 despite the fact that it is not engaged directly in philanthropic activities. The organization facilitates a lot of activities that are helping philanthropists collect donations in the digital currency and ‘Giving Tuesday’ was one such event.

At the occasion of ‘Giving Tuesday’ Peter Chasse was optimistic about the role of the digital currency in philanthropic activities and said, “As our supporter’s donations make their way to our partners in Africa, these exchanges have become far more costly than the benefits organizations and individuals actually receive from these arbiters of trade.”
Peter Chasse also admitted that from credit card donation processing fees, to domestic banking fees, to the costly overseas transfer of funds with its concomitant dilution through currency trading arbitrage and trade commissions, and finally to the local bank fees in Kenya or Rwanda, a lot of folks take significant “cuts” along the way.

Overhead Costs of Donations Down to Zero in Bitcoin

According to him most of these fees are obscured and non-negotiable. The authorities also do not tell any solution to make the process short and less expensive; in such a situation it is Bitcoin that is beacon of hope. He says it is a
system this open tends to be harder to manipulate and skew in favor of one population or another.

Peter Chasse says that when Bitcoin is used for donations there are no scopes for manipulation by the banks; the benefits reach directly to the people who the donations are intended for. His opinion seems to be in tune with several not-for-profit organizations in Africa working for elimination of Ebola. Some of them received attractive amounts in Bitcoin.

Looks like Peter Chasse is not alone in admitted that Bitcoin can be the real game-changer in philanthropy, even the venture capitalist Fred Wilson says that the digital currency was bigger deal than current crowdraising platforms as it could bring the overhead costs of donations down to zero.


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Brent prices rose on Tuesday after five consecutive days of losses and a five-year low. US crude rose with players seeking a sustainable oil price in the market that is being haunted by concerns of oversupply.

Light, sweet crude futures for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed 1.2% or 77 cents to $63.82 per barrel.

On London’s ICE Futures exchange, January Brent crude climbed 1% or 65 cents ending at $66.84 per barrel, as reported by Market Watch.

Futures had been swinging in an out of the positive territory before moving higher in the choppy trading day amid concerns on the Chinese economy and Greece’s political turmoil.

Analyst at Schneider Electric, Matt Smith said, “Weakness in the dollar is encouraging a bounce today, as is some brave bargain-hunters trying to catch a falling knife.”

Gene McGillian, senior analyst at Tradition Energy was quoted by Reuters as having said, “We’re just treading water if you ask me. There’s this idea again that we may have over-extended to the downside and that’s why you’re seeing some short covering coming in as people try to find a bottom to the six-month *slide we’ve seen now.”

In the coming months, oil prices will be determined by the supply and demand as reported by an oil official from United Arab Emirates. This is the latest sign that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ Gulf members were ready to weather lower oil prices after deciding not to cut production.

The tumble in US crude futures and Brent has been further fueled by price cuts made by Iraq and Saudi Arabia to exports to the US and Asia since the largest producers in OPEC are trying to get market share.

The latest US projections show that oil production from the largest three US shale plays should increase by more than 100,000 barrels a day by January.


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Cryptocurrency market made a sharp recovery soon after the Microsoft’s announcement of accepting Bitcoin for its digital products in the US. Bitcoin formed a bullish flag after staying inside bearish zone for days; while each and every other top cryptocurrency, such as Litecoin, Darkcoin, NXT and Dogecoin, retreated from their prevailing downward movements as well.

BTC/USD


Even though the Microsoft hype is great, it is still for short-term, indicates the chart above. As you can see, there is a very strong resistance around 363-365 area, which has just incited a pullback towards the current support level of 348-352. Based on current technical readings of 4H BitStamp chart, the BTC/USD is currently trading below 200-, 100-, 50-hours SMA, while the RSI is near 40. At the same time, the price is above 10- and 20-hour SMA.

It overall indicates the market to be bearish, expecting a bounce back from aforementioned support level. In case it happens, 365-370 will hold the price from forming a rally towards the next key resistance in 385-390 area.

However, if the price manages break below 345, there will be a huge pressure on 340 to keep the market from entering a long-term bearish bias. In case this level is broker, the price will test the November lows near 320 as the next support level, with downside risk towards 300.

LTC/USD


Based on the current technical reading of 4H BTC-e charts, the LTC/USD is currently trading below the 200-, 100- and 50-hours SMA, while the RSI is around 38. It overall indicates a strong bearish sentiment in the market amidst a relatively high volatility. The bearish continuations could be possible only if price manages to break below 3.40, while sighting 3.33 as the downside risk.

In case the price manages to climb upwards, it would want to break above the 3.50-resistance level, at least to reduce the market’s bearish sentiment. A strong bullish bias will only come into view if price manages to cross above the 3.70 line, with upside risk towards 4.17 November high.


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CoinJelly, Bitcoin Exchange and Wallet Closes all Users Accounts within 24 Hours



As the ownership of the company changes, CoinJelly’s founder and director Ash King has said that CoinJelly is closing the accounts of users within 24 hours. It has surprised many a users as this has come suddenly as not many of them had thought of any such decision. Interestingly, Ash King does not want to disclose any other facts about the decision.
However, talking to media King said that CoinJelly would not take the wallet down until the company has exhausted all avenues over the coming days to contact users. Also, according to him already, 95% of the Bitcoin owned by the company’s users have been withdrawn, with no one wallet now containing more than 2 BTC.

He also cleared that his company has a small fund to cover any people who may be occupied this week or cannot access their email or phones. CoinJelly, the Australia-based company was launched earlier this year with a lot of fanfare, sent emails to its customers wherein it mentioned that it will need them to remove their coin from their wallet within the next 24 hrs.

The news came to public when a lot of customers started tweeting about the mail and wanted a response from the organization. They showed their concerns about the abrupt decision to stop the services. According to the email sent to existing customers the CoinJelly site would be taken offline at 12:00pm (AEST) on December 12th.

Unprofessional Handling of the Situation

The email further makes it clear that after that point, customers’ coin will not be accessible for anyone including of the company; therefore, they must take the same out. However, at the same time the official website of the company does not display information about the account closures on the home, FAQ or support pages, this is disappointing the users.
Several existing users have complained that they are unhappy about the handling of the situation by the company as according to them giving just 24 hours warning ‘or else lose the Bitcoin’ is not really great and extremely unprofessional. The number of disgruntled customers has gone up as well because a lot of them feel mishandled.

Though CoinJelly marketed itself as “the world’s first insured Bitcoin wallet“, this has proven difficult to verify. After the unprofessional handling of the situation wherein users can lose their Bitcoin, the company says that it may come with any decision regarding future course of action in the next couple of months.


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