Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week.
Top Stories This Week
The price of Bitcoin is facing its final resistance before $15,000
It’s been a (slightly) calmer week for Bitcoin — with the world’s biggest cryptocurrency managing to recover from the low $11,000’s in recent days. Now, the $11,600–$12,000 is a crucial level to break if BTC is to continue moving higher.
According to Michaël van de Poppe, the resistance zone at $11,800–$12,000 is significant, as it’s the final untested level until BTC enters open air. If there’s a breakthrough, he thinks Bitcoin’s price can easily run toward $15,000 or even $16,000 — exacerbating FOMO.
Unfortunately, he believes such a move is unlikely. BTC’s price went vertical as it headed from $9,500 toward $12,000 — meaning it may lack strength and momentum to go higher.
Also this week, research from Coin Metrics suggested that investors who dollar-cost averaged into Bitcoin since the $20,000 peak in 2017 would still be profitable. Continuously buying BTC over the past three years would have resulted in gains of 61.8%. Indeed, according to Chainalysis, North American investors “disproportionately favor” BTC over other cryptos.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s crypto outlook for August suggests that BTC is stabilizing at six times the price of an ounce of gold. Raoul Pal, the CEO and founder of Real Vision, says his conviction levels in Bitcoin are rising by the day. He tweeted: “I am now thinking it may not be even worth owning any other asset as a long-term asset allocation.”
Revealed: The perfect time of the week to buy the Bitcoin dip
New data suggests that Sunday evenings are the best time to buy Bitcoin — with the crypto historically seeing higher returns at the start of the working week.
Capriole digital asset manager Charles Edwards, who released the findings, said: “Bored on Sunday at midnight? It just so happens to be the best time to buy Bitcoin.”
There are several reasons Bitcoin might perform better as the weekend draws to a close. Lower trading volumes on Saturdays and Sundays raise the chance of high volatility. Also, traditional markets that facilitate BTC trades close on weekends — and this could cause a price spike when they reopen.
Indian government actively working toward new crypto ban
Once again, the Indian government is considering a new law banning crypto.
In a fresh blow to exchanges and traders, two ministries and the Reserve Bank of India are actively working on a new legal framework. Officials hope that the law could be ratified when Parliament reconvenes in late August or early September.
The industry was just starting to get back on its feet. Back in March, the Supreme Court had struck down a blanket ban on banks dealing with crypto businesses — rules that had been in force since July 2018. Those measures had forced many trading platforms to close their doors for good.
Local news site Moneycontrol said: “Millions of dollars worth of business in cryptocurrency is being done every week, with the lockdown pushing up the volumes.”
Past proposals to ban crypto in India came with the threat of up to 10 years in prison.
Pomp: Goldman Sachs’ interest in blockchain shows innovation out of necessity
Goldman Sachs has hired Mathew McDermott as its new global head of digital assets — and it seems the banking giant has big plans for the future.
Speaking to CNBC, the new executive revealed that the institution is exploring the commercial viability of creating its very own digital token. He also predicted that we could see “a financial system where all assets and liabilities are native to a blockchain” within the next five to 10 years.
Elsewhere in the interview, he revealed that Goldman Sachs has seen an “uptick in interest” across institutional clients who are exploring how they can get involved in the crypto industry.
In response to McDermott’s remarks, Anthony Pompliano tweeted: “Wall Street is about to learn why technologists say innovate or die.”
Alleged Twitter hacker’s digital hearing overtaken by pornography and rap music
A digital courtroom hearing for the teen accused of being behind July’s massive Twitter breach has been held in Florida. It did not go to plan.
The trial had to be postponed after a “Zoom bombing.” Infiltrators interrupted the hearing with rap music, movie dialogue and shouting. Pornographic material was then projected onto the viewers’ computers.
Graham Ivan Clark was taken into custody on July 31. Earlier this week, he pleaded not guilty to all of the allegations against him.
It’s alleged that the 17-year-old — alongside a 22-year-old from Orlando and a 19-year-old from the United Kingdom — gained access to at least 130 high-profile Twitter accounts. Elon Musk, Barack Obama and Apple were among those caught up in the hack.
These accounts were used to post tweets asking people to send Bitcoin to a specified wallet address, and victims were promised they would receive twice as much back in return. The scam generated almost $117,000 over the space of three hours.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at $11,681.43, Ether at $390.59 and XRP at $0.29. The total market cap is at $356,525,653,710.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Band Protocol, Decentraland and Balancer. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Ampleforth, Nexo and Celsius.
For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“Despite Bitcoin still trading 30% below ATHs, dollar cost averaging from the peak of the market in Dec 2017 would have return [sic] 61.8%, or 20.1% annually. Similarly for Ethereum (still down 71% from its peak), dollar cost averaging from Jan 2018 would have return [sic] 87.6%, or 27.9% annually.”
“Unfortunately, ransomware will continue to be a problem for as long as ransoms continue to be paid, and this is something organizations should keep this in mind. If they choose to pay, they’re helping to ensure that other organizations will be hit in future, and those organizations may be ones that provide critically important services.”
Brett Callow, Emsisoft threat analyst
“My conviction levels in Bitcoin rise every day. I’m already irresponsibly long. I am now thinking it may not be even worth owning any other asset as a long-term asset allocation, but that’s a story for another day.”
Raoul Pal, Real Vision founder and CEO
“What’s the strategy for professional and institutional investors in North America when it comes to cryptocurrency? The first thing we see from the data is that North American investors disproportionately favor Bitcoin.”
“My common response is it’s been growing at 209% for nine years, I think it’s going to grow at least 209% over the next couple years and that puts you at $100,000, probably in two years; but I do think that will happen.”
Dan Morehead, Pantera Capital CEO
“ETC should just switch to proof of stake. Even given its risk-averse culture, at this point making the jump seems lower-risk than not making it.”
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder
“Bitconnect, Charles Ponzi, Ethereum, Onecoin, Cardano, Ripple, Bernie Madoff, Stellar, Dan Larmer. All looking very similar grade to me.”
Adam Back, Blockstream CEO
“This is arguably the most pivotal moment we have seen for the United States Dollar since it bottomed in 2008. This channel has been intact for over 10 years. If it breaks down, hide yo’ kids and buy a metric ton of Bitcoin.”
Scott Melker, crypto trader
Prediction of the Week
Pantera’s founder foresees $100,000+ Bitcoin on the horizon
The world’s oldest Bitcoin investment firm has made a bold prediction that BTC will have hit $115,000 by August 2021. Pantera Capital’s ambitious projection is based on the stock-to-flow model.
For the prediction to pan out, Bitcoin would need to surge by 900% in the next 12 months. That’s a big ask — even for a cryptocurrency that’s renowned for its volatility.
Dan Morehead, the firm’s founder, is a little more modest when it comes to his prediction. He said: “My common response is it’s been growing at 209% for nine years. I think it’s going to grow at least 209% over the next couple years, and that puts you at $100,000, probably in two years; but I do think that will happen.”
FUD of the Week
Is ETC 102% screwed after second 51% attack?
Ethereum Classic has suffered a second 51% attack in less than one week, bringing the ongoing security of the network into question.
A reorganization attack last week saw a hacker reap returns of 2,800% on investment of $192,000 in rented hash power. The attacker double-spent 807,260 ETC worth $5.6 million into existence over less than 24 hours.
In response to the rising number of 51% attacks targeting ETC, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin tweeted: “ETC should just switch to proof of stake. Even given its risk-averse culture, at this point making the jump seems lower-risk than not making it.”
Despite the drama, ETC has actually risen by 2.3% over the past seven days.
Ethereum Classic is among 45 cryptocurrencies that are immediately vulnerable to 51% attacks using only hash power rented from NiceHash. ETC also suffered a 51% attack in January 2019.
Blockstream’s Adam Back slams Ethereum as a Ponzi scheme
Computer scientist and Blockstream CEO Adam Back has compared Ethereum and other high-cap altcoins to Ponzi schemes.
In a Twitter tirade, he wrote: “Bitconnect, Charles Ponzi, Ethereum, Onecoin, Cardano, Ripple, Bernie Madoff, Stellar, Dan Larmer. All looking very similar grade to me.”
Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff are two of the most famous creators of Ponzi schemes, while Bitconnect and OneCoin are famous cryptocurrency projects that were revealed to be Ponzis.
Vitalik Buterin hit back, calling his views “tired old propaganda.”
German police seize $30 million in crypto from streaming site operator
Crypto worth over 25 million euros has been seized by German police, with the help of the FBI.
The haul is associated with the illegal movie streaming site movie2k.to, which was closed down in spring 2013 due to copyright infringement concerns.
The site’s two main operators are accused of having distributed over 880,000 pirated copies of films, together with their accomplices, via the site between 2013 and 2018.
One of them, the site’s programmer, has cooperated in forfeiting $29.6 million worth of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
Best Cointelegraph Features
State of play: India’s cryptocurrency industry prepares for a billion users
Although regulatory uncertainty continues to create hurdles, the prevailing feeling is that India is gradually developing into a crypto-economic powerhouse. Cointelegraph Magazine’s Anupam Varshney explains why.
Crypto, meet fiat. You two should get a coffee sometime
Can fiat and crypto put aside their differences and just get along? Cointelegraph Magazine’s Paul de Havilland looks at the hurdles that lie ahead as digital assets make strides in mainstream adoption.
Cryptocurrency cards: An unnecessary solution that should be stopped
Crypto cards have become a must-have for many crypto services, but Alex Axelrod argues that they are a placebo that don’t solve the problems users and fintech companies face.