Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies

A strong rally over the last seven days sent Bitcoin prices firmly above the $7,000. Ethereum and XRP registered double-digit gains. Most gains came in the last forty-eight hours, following positive comments by Goldman Sachs’ incoming CEO about the digital currency.

In research underway with my student Greg Giordano, we applied two econometric models to estimate Bitcoin’s intrinsic value over the last two years. The first model is the Hayes' cost production model, which estimates Bitcoin based on a number of supply or cost factors -- and places the intrinsic value of Bitcoin at $7,185.26.

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A number of cryptocurrency luminaries dominate Fortune's New "Ledger 40 Under 40 List" - a supplementary honor roll of the most impressive, young superstars under the age of 40, who are transforming business at the leading edge of finance and technology. Every year, Fortune prepares a list of "40 Under 40", ranking the most influential young people in business. This year, for the first time ever

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The price of bitcoin surged above $8,000 last Tuesday for the first time since May after the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Argentina concluded with little urgency to take regulatory action on cryptocurrencies. In a communiqué, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors expressed confidence that the technology underlying alt-coins “can deliver significant benefits to the financial system and the broader economy.”

Keep in mind, though, that we’re still very early in crypto investing. It was only 10 years ago that the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto wrote the now-famous whitepaper that led to the creation of bitcoin. Volatility is still roughly six times as high as large-cap stocks and gold in a single trading session, and 11 times as high in the 10-day period. As I told Market One Media recently, the space remains speculative, but there are opportunities for tremendous upside.

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Gibraltar United Football Club is going to pay its players in cryptocurrency. Football teams have previously embraced cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, but Gibraltar United F.C. will be the world's first football team to introduce cryptocurrency as payment for players.

The club's owner, Pablo Dana, announced that Gibraltar United F.C. started a sponsorship partnership with blockchain-based platform Quantocoin. UK's Guardian newspaper quoted him as saying all player contracts will include payment agreements in cryptocurrency by next season.
Dana is an investor in Quantocoin.

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Bitcoin price volatility is just “noise” which makes it hard to see the position the digital currency will be in, let’s say, years from now. To figure that out, my student Greg Giordano and I have been doing some econometric work lately. Greg ran two econometric models, the Haye’s model and the Wheatley models—see table 3. On the one side, the Haye’s model predicts a price of $55,931.60.

That’s a very bullish forecast. For a good reason: it focuses on the supply side of the Bitcoin market, which is expected to grow at an ever-slower pace, as it gets closer to the limit.

On the other side, the Wheatley model predicts a price of $2352.03. That’s a very bearish forecast -- for a good reason, too. The model focuses on the Bitcoin use, that is, on the demand side of the Bitcoin market. And Bitcoin demand has been growing slowly, as evidenced by a recent Gallup survey.

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Wall Street is working on a new platform which will ease the trading, storing and spending digital assets. That’s bullish for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It will help them gain acceptance among investors, merchants and consumers.

Last week, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced plans to form a new company, Bakkt, with the purpose to create an open and regulated global ecosystem for digital assets. The new company is expected to work with a marquee group of organizations that includes BCG, Microsoft, Starbucks and others to come up with an integrated platform that will ease the trading, storing and spending of digital assets.

That’s good news for bitcoin bulls, as an “epidemic” means higher bitcoin prices, especially since bitcoin is in limited supply, provided that big governments, big banks, and hackers do not spoil the party.

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Will this latest proposed ETF succeed where others have failed?

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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have very little to no correlation to other asset classes. They could be a worthwhile investment in a turbulent market if all of them move in a downward direction. However, digital currencies are very risky so conduct very detailed due diligence.

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Bitcoin has given up its support above $6,000 and fallen below the waterline for the second time in 2018...

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Bitcoin (BTC) significantly improved its position when the Chinese government revised its official cryptocurrency rankings.

Bitcoin, which had dropped to 16th place in July, jumped to No. 10 this month making it to the top 10 list for the first time.

China's Center for Information Industry Development (CCID), under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, released the second edition of its state-endorsed cryptocurrency and Blockchain ratings.

The index was launched in May, with 28 projects listed in it. Five more cryptocurrencies were added to the list since then. NULS and Tezos were added in the August edition.

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