Although Bitcoin has rallied about 33% year-to-date, its dominance has dipped to 64.40%, its lowest level since July 2019. This shows that altcoins have continued to outperform Bitcoin. However, with the Bitcoin halving fast approaching, the digital asset’s volatility is likely to pick up. Tom Lee, co-founder at Fundstrat Global Advisors, has again turned ultra bullish on Bitcoin and expects a rally to about 200% in the next six months. According to him, historically, whenever Bitcoin has broken above its 200-day moving average, it has recorded an average six month gain of 197%. Lee expects halving to act as a …

Bitcoin SV (BSV) performed a scheduled upgrade named Genesis on Feb. 3. As most nodes have not yet updated, this resulted in a minor chain split where two versions of BSV exist. As reported by BitMEX Research, the upgrade occurred at block height 620,538, or about 8:30 PM EST. The subsequent block was considered invalid by old rules, signaling the hard fork. About one quarter of all blockchain nodes are still on the old version, meaning that these cannot synchronize to the main chain. Furthermore, a chain split occurred several hours later. The old chain was extended by one block, …

The recovery in cryptocurrency prices has ignited interest among institutional investors. In 2019, dedicated crypto funds returned more than 16% according to Eurekahedge while traditional hedge fund strategies returned 10.4% according to Hedge Fund Research, Inc. Several hedge funds and large trading firms use speed to their advantage by benefitting from pricing inefficiencies. Others profit from the spreads between bids and offers. While such entrants will improve the liquidity and provide depth to the markets, the crypto space will benefit more from investors who are in it for the long-term. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 Bitcoin futures open interest …

Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko believes that Bitcoin should be a part of every investment portfolio. The performance analysis of the past five years shows that even portfolios that only held 1% of their total investments in Bitcoin managed to outperform their competitors. Bitcoin offers a ten-to-one downside capture, which makes it one of the most asymmetric assets that Yusko has ever seen. The growing popularity of crypto derivatives indicates institutional players are gradually entering the space. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange group Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Index Alternative Investment Products, Tim McCourt, said: “CME Bitcoin futures …

Japanese consulting firm Nomura Research Institute, which is an affiliate of financial services giant Nomura Holdings, has launched a tradable cryptocurrency index in partnership with cryptocurrency investment solution provider Intelligence Unit. The index, which is meant for financial institutions, will track a basket of cryptocurrencies and can be traded in US dollars and yen. Though several financial companies have launched services for institutional investors, the inflow of money into the crypto space has been slow. Bitcoin options trading on Intercontinental Exchange’s digital asset platform Bakkt has been lackluster with nil volume reported for the past few days. Daily cryptocurrency market …

Investors are rushing into various safe haven assets as the coronavirus death toll in China rises and the virus spreads in various Asian countries, the US, parts of Europe and Australia. Usually, the initial reaction to any crisis is to dump all asset classes but gradually, the investors start to differentiate between asset classes as they analyze the effect the crisis can have on them. After the initial sell-off in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies due to the coronavirus scare, the crypto markets have stabilized and are rising once again. The total market capitalization of the crypto universe has risen from …

The coronavirus outbreak that started in China has gradually spread to a number of countries across the world. This is creating panic among investors as the death toll continues to rise. As a result, global equity markets and crude tumbled last week. Though cryptocurrencies also gave up some ground, they are currently attempting a relief rally and most major cryptocurrencies are trading in the green. Previously, such unforeseen events did not offer large investors a cost-effective way to hedge their crypto portfolio. However, with the recent launch of Bitcoin options, institutional investors can now protect their portfolios using various options …

The International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath said in a panel discussion at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that Facebook’s Libra was a major trigger that made people reconsider the status of the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, who was also a part of the panel, said that “the Libra episode is just evoking a future digital currency.” In order to help policymakers understand the central bank digital currency (CBDC) better, the WEF in collaboration with some of the world's major central banks and experts from over 40 …

Recently Hiromi Yamaoka, the former head of payments and settlements at the Bank of Japan, said that Facebook’s Libra has forced central banks to research and consider issuing central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Currently China is leading the race in developing a CBDC but it appears that other nations are now attempting to play catch up. In a press release, the Bank of England said that the central banks of Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union, Sweden and Switzerland have joined hands with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to form a working group tasked with researching CBDCs. …

It has been over a year since Australian computer scientist Craig Wright proclaimed himself as the inventor of Bitcoin (BTC), and the estate of his late business partner, Dave Kleiman, became clinched in litigation over the fruits of the duo’s collaboration in the inaugural years of the cryptocurrency era. The stakes include billions worth of Bitcoin as well as ownership of blockchain-related intellectual property. Mainly because of what the magistrate judge overseeing the case called Wright’s “willful and bad faith pattern of obstructive behavior,” the pretrial process devolved into a messy barrage of mutual admonitions and complaints where even the …

The total market capitalization of the crypto space rallied from about $184 billion on Jan. 3 to a high of $250 billion on Jan. 19. That is a 35% gain within a short span of time. Usually, fast-paced rallies do not last long, hence, for the long-term health of the markets, it is better to have rallies with intermittent corrections. Bitcoin has been following the Stock-to-Flow model fairly accurately. The model’s creator, an analyst known as PlanB, believes that the price of Bitcoin is likely to average around $8,200 until the halving event in May of this year. Thereafter, the …

Speaking with Cointelegraph’s video team on Jan. 20, Satoshi-claimant Craig Wright remained confident that he will get access to the Bitcoin fortune he famously claims to be locked up in the Tulip Trust. Access to the Tulip Trust Regarding the controversial Tulip Trust, and his ultimate ability to access his reported bitcoin fortune, Wright told Cointelegraph: “I’m 99.9999 and a few more 9s percent certain that I will be taking control of my BTC and whatever else.” Craig Wright is one of the more famous of the many people to claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous author (or authors) …