Bitcoin continued to garner attention globally as a national legal tender with Central African Republic becoming the latest suitor. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra signed the bill into law on Wednesday and his chief of staff Obed Namsio hailed the move as one that could forever change the economic fabric of a country that has been embroiled in rebel violence for many years now.

Namsio said the bill was supported by the president because it would improve the citizens’ status. He added it would open up new economic opportunities for the landlocked country. The new bill provides a framework for use of cryptocurrencies in smart contracts, payments systems, online trade, and all electronic transactions alongside the CFA franc currency. 

“This move places the Central African Republic on the map of the world’s boldest and most visionary countries,” he said. 

Traders will also be capable of paying taxes with crypto and the finance minister Gourna Zacko who introduced the bill, believes it will ease cross-border transfers that have become increasingly difficult to do. These transfers will now become very cheap. Citizens will also be capable of undertaking legal financial transactions in the mainstream financial realms using crypto, and without necessarily going through middlemen banks. Cryptocurrency exchanges will not be taxed.   

The bill has clauses that prescribe up to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of between 100 million to 1 billion CFA francs for anyone who breaks the crypto law. 

With a per capita income of only 750 USD per year, the country is one of the poorest in the region and world as a result of years of conflicts and war. This is despite having a vast amount of gold and diamond reserves. 

The country would, however, have to pursue an aggressive Internet coverage agenda to make this plan effective. It currently has an Internet penetration rate of just 7.1 percent and 355,000 Internet users out of a total population of 4.97 million people.   

It is not clear if and how the new move would help alleviate the country’s ailing inflation or GDP. Inflation has increased from 2.7 percent in 2019 to 3.3 in 2021. The country’s GDP also flipped to the negative last year at -0.6 from a 3.1 in 2019. Despite relying heavily on agriculture and mining, illegal gold and diamond exports undermine government revenue. The country is also embroiled in bad political and economic decisions, conflicts, and insecurity.  

The bill that governs use of cryptocurrency as legal tender in the country was unanimously adopted by the parliament last week. However, the move was not approved by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) which governs the Central African CFA franc regional currency used by the country and about 14 others. The franc is tied to the Euro and largely controlled by the West. Two ministers said the move to adopt Bitcoin as a national currency was a serious offense. 

The move was also criticized by former Prime Minister Martin Ziguele who said it was not a priority for the country, and that it was undermining the CFA franc. The decision could also be challenged in court by some legislators.      

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The world’s leading movie theatre chain will be accepting Litecoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash in addition to Bitcoin as payments for confectionaries and movie tickets at all its U.S. outlets before December 31.

This is according to a Twitter announcement made by the Company’s C.E.O Adam Aron on Thursday morning sending out a wave of bullish sentiments on the three cryptocurrencies by crypto enthusiasts.

“Cryptocurrency enthusiasts: you likely know AMCTheatres has announced we will accept Bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments by year-end 2021. I can confirm today that when we do so, we also expect that we similarly will accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.” 

Last month, the C.E.O in an early morning earnings call had disclosed that AMC was actively engaged in setting up payment systems that would allow movie enthusiasts to pay for various services and purchases using Bitcoin. He had also acknowledged receiving a lot of inquiries from users and shareholders on the possibility of the company accepting payments in crypto which could have largely informed Thursday’s announcement.

Although Litecoin foundation did not respond to the statement in writing, Litecoin’s news page and Charlie Lee, the founder of Litecoin retweeted AMCs announcement gesturing their affirmation.

Broadening the crypto payments net

Litecoin has been making inroads in institutional halls thanks to its long-term persistence and reliability. Its completed MWEB upgrade project which allows the network to become much more scalable and make transaction amounts un-viewable to the public makes Litecoin the ideal choice for payments while protecting users’ data.

According to the Litecoin Foundations Q1 report, various companies have already announced that they’re integrating Litecoin including Paypal, Vaultoro, Flare Network, Moon among others. Its successful payment integrations have also attracted a fair share of challenges with a recent false report that Walmart was integrating Litecoin in its payment network.

Bitcoin cash which fulfills the original promise of Bitcoin as “Peer-to-peer electronic cash” could also see mass use given its fast transactions, low fees, and reliable confirmation. It also allows use on a large list of wallets including Ledger and Trezor among others, which are synonymous with most U.S. crypto owners. Its discounts on payments due to the elimination of credit cards are likely to attract most AMC movie enthusiasts looking to pay using this method.

On the other hand, Ethereum payments to the company could be fulfilled through Ethereum-Pay,  a decentralized ERC-1363 payable token built on the secure Ethereum network specifically tailored to be integrated with E-commerce transactions. 

EthereumPay creates a universal payment platform that allows merchants & users around the world to do business with each other instantly and cheaper than ever. Ethereum payments are accepted by companies including Sotheby, Overstock, Gipsybee,  Shopify CheapAir, Tripio among others.

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Just recently, the CEO of SpaceX – Elon Musk took to Twitter to reveal his current holding of Bitcoin. The conversation ensued during an effort to educate British author and film producer – J.K. Rowling on the subject of cryptocurrencies. Following a tweet originally referred to CoinDesk’s senior reporter – Leigh Cuen by the Orator of the Harry Potter fiction on Saturday, for an explanation to bitcoin’s operability.

J.K. Rowling subsequently received Musk’s reply among several others from Bitcoin’s advocates and cynics alike; such as the co-founder of Ethereum and Bitcoin Magazine– Vitalik Buterin, among many others. Notably, the author’s tweet drew some attention to the tune of 2,800 replies, as at the time of writing.

Furthermore, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, Inc., emphasized that the bulky issuance of currencies by the central banks of various economies is making the digital currency – Bitcoin, more solid in juxtaposition to fiat. Musk also went on ahead to convey his views towards digital money as being positive, even though he currently owns a quarter of a Bitcoin as stated in his tweet that reads;

“I still only own 0.25 Bitcoins btw.”

Yet, Cuen replied Rowling with a reassuring statement while providing her with guides to sample use-cases of Bitcoin. Cuen stressed this in a tweet with the message;

“Hi! My D.M.s are open if you want to chat w/out onlookers. The very short version is: Bitcoin is money fueled by a community of contributors. There is no king or central bank in charge. There are countless stories we can use to explore the ethics of a world w/global currency.”

Albeit, Rowling expressed her discontent with regards to the explanations she received, as her curiosity rapidly became debased by the myriad of responses she received. She disclosed her uneasiness towards the topic in question – with a bit of sarcasm while tweeting the following;

Another noteworthy reply is that of Vitalik Buterin, who added that;

“It is a digital currency. There’s ~ 18m units of it. It is not backed by anything, it’s just valuable because it is, like collectibles. There’s a network of computers (which anyone can join) that maintains a decentralized global excel spreadsheet of how many coins each person has.”

Although, Rowling might have admitted being woozy before publishing these tweets, however, her views on the digital currencies and Bitcoin are unlikely to change when she becomes sober or in the foreseeable future.

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You probably will think John McAfee has lost his mind with his predictions. Firstly, a $1 million BTC price, now $2 million before the end of 2020. However, taking a critical look at things fundamentally, some few factors may drive his prediction to come about.

John McAfee, who’s so sure of his prediction has in the past said he would feed on his genitals on national TV if it didn’t come to pass. In his recent forecast, Mr. McAfee, who’s undoubtedly convinced of his position said;

“If Bitcoin is less than $2 million by the end of 2020, then mathematics itself is a flawed disappointment.”

Nevertheless, here are a few factors that could see John McAfee’s outrageous prediction come true.

#1. 2020 Bitcoin Halving

The 2020 bitcoin halving is probably the most anticipated event for bitcoin holders investors. The event, slated for May 2020 would see bitcoin’s reward slashed into two – from its present 1,800 daily rewards to 900. When this happens, it’s expected that the value of bitcoin rises drastically as the asset becomes more scarce.

#2. Global Recession

Countries such as Venezuela is on top of the list of those facing economic turmoil. This situation leaves its citizens looking for a better option – a way to preserve their wealth from drastically declining in value.

It has led to a lot of people seeking refuge in bitcoin. However, Venezuela isn’t alone in this, and if more countries join in, the value of bitcoin could rise exponentially.

#3. Institutional Investors

Another factor that could propagate bitcoin’s adoption would be when Wall Street fully takes an interest in bitcoin. At the moment, things are starting to light up from this angle. Bakkt’s launching, though having a sluggish start, without a doubt has begun to receive some attention from institutional investors.

As reported by ZyCrypto, there was a glimpse of interest from institutional traders when trading volume on the Bakkt exchange reached 224 BTCs on Wednesday, 9th October 2019. However, a full adoption by these investors is expected to give bitcoin’s value a considerable boost.

#4. Bitcoin’s Scarce Nature

Bitcoin is scarce by design. There are only 21 million of it that will ever be. Unlike fiat, where millions are printed periodically, the world is literally fighting to have a piece of the bitcoin pie. It means having it at any price. This demand would, therefore, drive bitcoin price high, several percentages.

While all the above mentioned are true factors that may drive bitcoin adoption, and its price high, a $2 million price prediction for Bitcoin may seem like an over-exaggeration. However, only time would tell as the world watches events roll by.

Let us know what you think in the comment box below.

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Bitcoin’s price may have stabilized for the past few days, but it seems the whales are up to something. On September 6, 2019, Whale Alert, a platform that monitors large crypto transfers informed that an individual has moved $1 billion worth of Bitcoin to a single wallet. The massive transfer has caused a wave of anxiety in the market that a dump could be pending.

94,504 BTC is Moved to an Unknown Wallet

According to Whale Alert, 94,504 BTC valued at $1,018,147,922 was transferred today, from an unknown wallet to another wallet. A review of the wallet that made the transfer showed that its funds were accumulated before being moved to the recipient.

Hours after the massive transfer, the crypto community is still on its toes trying to ascertain what the individual is up to. Comments made on Whales Alert’s tweet threw more light on the transaction. Alex Krüger, for instance, remarked that this is the largest Bitcoin transfer from a non-exchange platform, and the funds could be on the move.

Crypto Community Opines Bakkt Customers are Moving Funds 

Other members of the community opined that the transfers could’ve been made by clients transferring their Bitcoins to Bakkt, a Bitcoin futures platform. In their opinion, Bakkt had announced earlier that it would allow customers to move their Bitcoin to its cold storage starting from today, September 6, 2019. As such, the recent whale transfers and the said event could be closely related.

There were, however, others in the space who found the thought of over $1 billion worth of Bitcoin being sent to a wrong address hilarious. If that were the case, it would’ve meant the individual behind the transfer had just lost their entire holdings since Bitcoin transactions are irreversible. 

$600 Paid as Fee for Billion Dollar Transaction

These aside, it was also noted that only $600 (0.06 BTC) was paid as the transaction fee. Given that a billion was sent but it only attracted a few dollars in fees, several members of the space pointed out how remarkable that was.

On the other hand, the sender seems to be covering their footprint since efforts to track the payments from the sending wallets is proving a challenge. A crypto user, for instance, said:

“I don’t know how many of these “mixing wallets” there are. Every single tx I follow leads to a new one. Someones trying to hide these coins, that’s for sure. All of them look like they are still active today.”

Nonetheless, these wallets will still be monitored closely in a bid to ascertain if the sender’s motive is to dump the BTC in the market, which could tank the asset’s price. 

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Over the past few years, several “warning bells” have started to sound for all Bitcoin maximalists. Seems like the decentralization of the main cryptocurrency is more like a myth and has neither part nor lot in ability-status congruence. According to some experts of the industry, 40% of all Bitcoins are stored on cryptocurrency wallets with a balance of 1000 BTC or more.

Who Controls Bitcoin?

According to data published by digital asset strategist/director at VanEck Gabor Gurbacs, there are only 3 wallets that own 100000 BTC and more and 115 that own 10000-100000 BTC. The main part of them is cryptocurrency exchanges with millions of users.

If we exclude some factors that could affect the accuracy of the results, in particular, remove wallets belonging to exchanges, we can get the following result.

The results are presented below on the chart of the Lorentz curve. A straight blue line demonstrates the complete equality in the distribution of coins, that is when each person gets an equal amount of BTC. The red curve under the line corresponds to reality – the ratio of the number of wallets to the number of all coins have already mined. As we can see, the first 25 % of the holders don’t own a few percents of Bitcoins. But the tiny part of the particularly well-to-do holders accounts for most of the existing coins.

Source: trustory.io

That is the diagram indicates the “unfairness” of the cryptocurrency distribution. Although it simply indicates the difference in the social status and condition of industry participants.

In general, the Lorentz curve demonstrates income unfairness in economics. The closer the curve is to the straight line, the fairer the distribution of all the funds. Its position on the chart is controlled by social programs and tax reforms.

This statistic has been criticized by some Twitter users. BlockTower Capital co-founder Ari Paul advised experts to exclude wallets with an account balance of less than 0.01 BTC from the sample. According to him, any user can create thousands of Bitcoin addresses, which then will not be used. Therefore, these purses are supposedly not worth taking into account.

That wealth is unevenly distributed is probably a normal situation. However, as well as knowledge: the one who constantly studies new areas, the first to receive various things, which then become wealthy. The example is registering the first domains in the .com zone because their further sale brought millions of dollars to the owners! Among this one occur to sex.com or casino.com

Another example is early investors. Shares of Facebook or Amazon, bought a decade ago, were considered a completely rubbish investment, but someone believed in these companies and their business model.

To get closer to the cherished percentage of the richest Bitcoin wallets it is the proper time to buy cryptocurrency. That time we will live a life!

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Joe Kernen, popular co-host of CNBC’ Squawk Box, has recently suggested on the show that the king coin could reach $55,000 by next year’s halving. This is one of a few bullish comments Kernen has expressed in recent times.

What Could Push Bitcoin that High?

On Monday the 29^th of July, while talking to the episode’s guest – Fairlead Strategies founder and Managing Partner, Katie Stockton – Kernen asked her whether or not she believed that Bitcoin could surge more than 470% and hit $55,000 by next year. One of the reasons Kernen believes this could happen is Bitcoin’s upcoming halving.

Expected to happen by May 2020, the halving will see a reduction in the number of Bitcoins being mined, by exactly half. Miners currently receive 12.5 BTC per block and this number is expected to drop to 6.25 BTC. This was done from Bitcoin’s inception as a way to control inflation for the coin and to also make sure that only 21 million coins will ever be produced. Bitcoin’s halving takes place after every 210,000 blocks which roughly takes four years.

The traditional laws of supply and demand dictate that prices will increase if supply is reduced and demand is still growing. Also, there is usually a recorded increase in Bitcoin’s value after every halving since its inception more than a decade ago. Some analysts already posit that Bitcoin could hit $20,000 before the end of the year and if that happens, then it’s possible that it could be higher than that figure, post-halving.

The Stock to Flow Model

Kernen also mentions the Stock-to-Flow ratio as a possible explanation for a Bitcoin surge. This model tries to make a connection between the number of assets already produced and possible inflation. It posits that Bitcoin has a stock-to-flow ratio of 25, derived from the calculation that at current speed and with halvings, the current amount of produced Bitcoins, about 17.5 million, can only be re-produced after another 25 years.

This ratio, according to the model, is tied to Bitcoin’s value and will rise after the next halving. If this happens as expected, the model proposes that Bitcoin’s market capitalization could hit $1 trillion from the $170 billion where it is. A market cap this high supports a value of $55,000 per Bitcoin.

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The recent price upheaval seen in cryptocurrencies has been the hot topic in the cryptocurrency community. Crypto traders and investors have had a rough couple of days as this volatile market keeps shifting by the day.

At press time though, most cryptocurrencies, led by bitcoin seem to have struck a purple patch as they are recording small gains over the last 24 hours.

However, at the University of Cambridge, a certain group of researchers have been busy developing an index that computes the amount of electricity used by the bitcoin network.

This online tool indicates that the bitcoin network consumes more electricity than Switzerland. This revelation has left many in shock. 

It is not the first time we’ve heard bitcoin and Switzerland in the same sentence. Not so long ago, a lot of conversations have sprung up concerning the correlation between the price of bitcoin and Swiss franc, Switzerland’s fiat currency. Now with the ongoing economic uncertainties, bitcoin has been recognized as a safe haven by investors alongside Swiss franc.

Bitcoin’s Energy Consumption Exceeds That of An Entire Nation

This time around, the conversation is centered on bitcoin’s electricity consumption. This research was prompted by concerns over the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment.

Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge developed an index known as Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) to calculate the amount of electricity that powers bitcoin in real-time then calculating annual power usage.

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A Bitfinex investor staked a 20,000 bitcoins short order and gambled that BTC prices would slide in the near term. Within a fortnight, the BTC price dropped to $10, 765 from a whopping $11,900. After a span of a few hours, the valuation of the crypto market fell by over $20 billion.

Market experts have been wondering whether a quick upward recovery is even possible. Some analysts, like the incredible – Josh Rager were quite skeptical if the price of BTC went below $11, 500. Below this point could prompt even a further drop from $10, 000.

Whale movements seem to be key influencers in the price movements of crypto markets. Where the effect on the market is not rapid sales of crypto assets (Let’s say BTC); the trivial effect is maybe a dip in the prices and market capitalization.

Minor corrections of Bitcoin markets has resulted in the declining power of top crypto assets against the pair of BTC/USD. Litecoin had recorded a 5% rise against the U.S dollar during the weekend but has dropped by 5%. Other crypto assets that have slid by an average of more than 5% include, Ethereum, EOS, Bitcoin cash, and Binance Coin.

Experts predict the 8.5% BTC drop was a result of technical factors. The large short contract created panic among many retail investors. As a result, they end up selling their assets and pulling down the market. It was such an abrupt drop, however, experts believe a bullish fundamental catalyst still exists around the market. This bullish expectation, they predict could improve sentiments within crypto markets. 

Analysts identified  a generally positive trend for BTC from factors such as; 

• Opening of trading venues such as Bakkt and Fidelity in the second quarter of 2019
• The gradual increase in retail investment
• Rising institutional interest

Short term traders are however skeptical and remain wary of the declining trend of bitcoin prices. An extended correction of market insights forecast that crypto assets tend to follow the bitcoin movement. Therefore, illustrating intensified markets moving both to the upside and the downside.

However, some traders are very optimistic and have spotted positive medium-term indicators in the monthly BTC trend. Despite the fact, investors did not expect an abrupt pullback in the magnitude of 8.5%. Investors have faith that pullbacks are quite necessary for the stabilizing of crypto market foundations.

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As Bitcoin breaches $10,000 and crosses straight to $11,000, analysts anticipated a major FOMO that would create panic and thus attract more buyers. However, there seems to be no reaction from the public on Bitcoin’s triumph on the long-awaited $10,000. This has left the cryptocurrency community wondering what is going on. Well, The Crypto King has an answer.

In a tweet earlier today, the blockchain entrepreneur said Bitcoin will be moving straight to $100k because if at the current price no FOMO has started then the asset has a long way to go. Also, the fact that no extreme media announcements and headlines on the price are an indication that it has not been noticed yet and could be going much higher

According to The Crypto King, this is good for Bitcoin as it leaves more room for additional development, adoption, regulations and institutional money to flow into the market while it grows to $100k. Interestingly, he is not the only one having this conviction on the future of Bitcoin in 2019.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt is also convinced that Bitcoin is going to $100,000. Also in a tweet, Brandt said Bitcoin is experiencing its fourth phase since 2010, saying only Bitcoin has gone parabolic on a log chart in this manner in his trading career. As far as he is concerned, Bitcoin is the best market ever.

Keiser Report host Max Keiser has also been confident that Bitcoin would go to $100,000. He predicted this price in 2011 and has not gone back on his word since then despite the rough ride Bitcoin has been through. It seems Keiser finally has witnesses in the house who see things as he does.

If Bitcoin is actually going to $100k then only 10% of the journey has been covered and there is a long way to go for those who haven’t gotten in the train to do so. It is currently on a slight pullback but a trader says it is normal and expected so there is no cause for alarm.

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