The State of Cryptocurrency

[lexluthermiester]

good news for all except those who are just looking for crypto negatives..

I've never had a problem with mining and the people who do it. My problem was with the very negative effect it was having on the rest of the market. That effect may have gone, but it was enough to cost me business and earnings for those several months.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

well.. bitcoin is holding up nicely above the $9000 mark and eth is going up over the $700 mark..

my 10 x 1070 mining cards are now producing $17 dollars per day and the availability and price of graphics cards (scan uk) are back to where they were six months ago when i bought mine..

good news for all except those who are just looking for crypto negatives..

trog

World markets are still very much in turmoil. Fed is talking about raising rates again. Asia in flux over North Korea and USA starting trade wars. Europe is teetering. Some investors are looking for short term gains in crypto instead of short term loss in stocks. Then again, I think they already acted moving the price from 6500 to over 9000. The little people are cashing out while the big money is waiting for stocks to stabilize. Unless stock markets make a big move in either direction, I think crypto will remain more or less where it is until something happens.

 

[trog100]

World markets are still very much in turmoil. Fed is talking about raising rates again. Asia in flux over North Korea and USA starting trade wars. Europe is teetering. Some investors are looking for short term gains in crypto instead of short term loss in stocks. Then again, I think they already acted moving the price from 6500 to over 9000. The little people are cashing out while the big money is waiting for stocks to stabilize. Unless stock markets make a big move in either direction, I think crypto will remain more or less where it is until something happens.

world markets are in a mess.. stocks and bonds could well crash big time.. if this happens gold and silver will go up thats for sure precious metal are the traditional safe haven territory..

just how a market crash will affect crypto is a total unknown.. i aint gonna hazard a guess and nether is anyone else.. money could move into crypto or it could move out of crypto and into gold and silver.. waiting for stocks to stabilize is a fools game and more so if you assume they will.. he he

crypto took another upwards jump today.. eth more than bitcoin.. give bitcoin another couple of weeks and it will be up over $10000.. but then again as i always say.. i could be wrong..

as i write bitcoin is at $9694 and eth at $782.. the upwards trend seems to have momentum and i recon its increasing..

trog

ps.. for what its worth eth has move up over %88 in the last month.. bitcoin only about %30.. correction actually eth is now at $799 up %101 over the last month..

 

[dorsetknob]

BurstCoin the next great thing

 

[hat]

At least right now, it looks like I should be able to use btc I've earned from mining to get some shiny new PC parts. Maybe when Ice Lake comes out.

 

[R-T-B]

BurstCoin the next great thing

So paying people to store stuff on your HDD ala "the cloud"

I see nothing wrong with this. It's actually a cool idea.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Dipped under $9K just a little bit ago. I think some folk figured it was getting too high and a couple big sell offs happened today.

I'm curious if folks still view things as stable enough to get it back up over $9K or if it will keep tumbling downwards to the last low of around $6K......?

It's rather interesting to watch the ups and downs of these things.

 

[hat]

Not sure, but personally I don't have enough BTC right now to do anything with anyway... so I'm kinda just watching the ride.

 

[trog100]

there are rumours of another MT Gox liquidation.. rumours are enough with crypto.. he he..

and then again there is this..

http://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-dips-9000-upbit-investigation-worries-korean-traders/

trog

 

[Papahyooie]

And now we separate those who watch the news, and those who do not lol. I sold out just before Mt Gox liquidated. I'll buy back if we hit 8k. If not, I'll just consider that stashed, and wait for the next one as I mine.

 

[hat]

New version of Nicehash legacy out today. Why do some benchmarks fail? Every time I have to rebenchmark everything usually at least one fails, then I re-run the one that failed and it usually succeeds. Seems it's a common issue.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Cryptocurrency tether used to boost bitcoin prices, study finds

The researchers found that tether issuances rose last year during periods when the price of bitcoin was dropping. When bitcoin was rising, the same pattern could not be found.

Once issued, nearly all tether was moved to Bitfinex and then shifted to other exchanges, where it was used to buy bitcoin, propping up the price, the paper said.

…

“Overall, our findings provide substantial support for the view that price manipulation may be behind substantial distortive effects in cryptocurrencies,” they said.

 

[R-T-B]

In other words, the manipulation happened during the collapse, not the rise, to attempt to stop losses in an illegal way.

Honestly, that makes sense to me. Totally believable and "tether" should never have existed.

 

[dorsetknob]

Any other Industry this would be classed as Price Fixing and there would be a Plethora Of Regulatory Bodys Now Investgating
But Hey its Un-Regulated CryptoCurrency

 

[R-T-B]

Any other Industry this would be classed as Price Fixing and there would be a Plethora Of Regulatory Bodys Now Investgating

They've certainly noticed, and in MtGox's case years ago, plenty of action WAS taken.

But Hey its Un-Regulated CryptoCurrency

That's not really the issue, as it's not "unregulated crypto" once we start talking about fiat exchanges. We left that behind. The issue right now at least in the states isn't the currency but your current crop of politicians who prefer a "hands off" approach to... everything.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Here's the cited source:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3195066

From the abstract:

Using algorithms to analyze the blockchain data, we find that purchases with Tether are timed following market downturns and result in sizable increases in Bitcoin prices. Less than 1% of hours with such heavy Tether transactions are associated with 50% of the meteoric rise in Bitcoin and 64% of other top cryptocurrencies.

These patterns cannot be explained by investor demand proxies but are most consistent with the supply-based hypothesis where Tether is used to provide price support and manipulate cryptocurrency prices.

From conclusion:

By mapping the blockchains of Bitcoin and Tether, we are able to establish that entities associated with the Bitfinex exchange use Tether to purchase Bitcoin when prices are falling. Such price supporting activities are successful, as Bitcoin prices rise following the periods of intervention. These effects are present only after negative returns and periods following the printing of Tether. Indeed, even less than 1% of extreme exchange of tether for Bitcoin has substantial aggregate price effects. The buying of Bitcoin with Tether also occurs more aggressively right below salient round-number price thresholds where the price support might be most effective. Negative EOM price pressure on Bitcoin only in months with large Tether issuance indicates a month-end need for dollar reserves related to Tether. Proxies for Tether demand receive little support in the data, but our results are consistent with the supply-driven manipulation hypothesis.

Overall, our findings provide substantial support for the view that price manipulation may be behind substantial distortive effects in cryptocurrencies. These findings suggest that external capital market surveillance and monitoring may be necessary to obtain a market that is truly free. More generally, our findings support the historical narrative that dubious activities are not just a by-product of price appreciation, but can substantially contribute to price distortions and capital misallocation.

In other words, the manipulation happened during the collapse, not the rise, to attempt to stop losses in an illegal way.

Honestly, that makes sense to me. Totally believable and "tether" should never have existed.

TL;DR: When Bitcoin started to dive, Tether flowed into Bitcoin propping it up.

Any other Industry this would be classed as Price Fixing and there would be a Plethora Of Regulatory Bodys Now Investgating
But Hey its Un-Regulated CryptoCurrency

Tether/Bitfinex are under investigation but nothing has come of it yet. This paper indicates that something likely will come of it--it's just a matter of when.

 

[R-T-B]

TL;DR: When Bitcoin started to dive, Tether flowed into Bitcoin propping it up.

Except "tether" didn't flow into bitcoin, dollars did. That's how it works. The problem here is this tether didn't map to actual dollars put in, thus, it's pretty much theft.

At any rate, it's basically this:

So the big fishies are trying to make crypto a playground for corrupt habbits, hoping it will go unnoticed.

Unsurprising, but they didn't do their homework. Precisely because of the nature of blockchain was this very study showing the corruption possible. They would've had better luck using fiat cash.

I hate to break it to you Ford, but you just pointed out why Crypto is good.

 

[moproblems99]

Hmmmmm, I don't suppose any reports on the US Gov manipulating the gold market have any truth to them....

 

[R-T-B]

Hmmmmm, I don't suppose any reports on the US Gov manipulating the gold market have any truth to them....

I'm one of the believers that they do, but I have a feeling we won't be seeing those articles from crypto naysayers.

 

[moproblems99]

I'm one of the believers that they do, but I have a feeling we won't be seeing those articles from crypto naysayers.

Not to mention all that big tough punishment all the regulated market manipulators get.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I hate to break it to you Ford, but you just pointed out why Crypto is good.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission subpoenaed Tether and Bitfinex last year (seven months before this research paper). Investigators subpoena records directly from the source be it public or private ledgers. Tampering with evidence is a felony. They can also subpoena records from businesses and individuals that interacted with the suspect organization to recompile evidence that was destroyed.

 

[R-T-B]

Tampering with evidence is a felony.

Which also can't really happen with blockchain short of a 51% attack by an outside actor.

The regulators haven't figured it out just yet, but the evidence they want is literally in the blockchain public ledger.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Because they have no interest in everyone's records. They only have interest in the suspect's records.

 

[R-T-B]

Because they have no interest in everyone's records. They only have interest in the suspect's records.

This is where I would apply the analogy of "learning to work the database provided."

Use a fricking filter. The information in the end will be much more reliable than books kept by the person who is admitedly "suspect."

 

[FordGT90Concept]

You're missing the point, I think. Criminal prosecution requires Constitutional procedures to be followed. Whether or not the information is public is moot. Public information still has to be verified by the investigators for it to be prosecuted. They likely do obtain a copy of the public ledger as part of the investigation but it doesn't stop there. There are already private blockchains out there and the procedure for both (and non-blockchain) is the same.

This is quite the tangent anyway. Point is, the price of cryptocurrencies (especially Bitcoin) has been manipulated (again).