Cryptocurrency price LIVE – Bitcoin could outpace stocks and hit $100,000 this year despite recent crash says expert

More than 50 countries place bans

51 countries have placed bans on cryptocurrencies, according to a report from the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress.

To date, nine countries have a total ban, and 42 have an implicit ban. The implicit ban forbids financial institutions from using crypto.

The number of countries with bans has more than doubled since research first came out in 2018, according to Markets Insider.

What is fiat?

If you’ve ever seen the word fiat used in the cryptocurrency world, know that it was not in relation to the car brand.

Fiat is a term used to refer to government-issued currency.

Cryptocurrency, or virtual money like Bitcoin, is not backed by governments or standards typically associated with fiat, which is why investors warn of crypto’s volatility.

How to check for blockchain scams

Cryptocurrencies operate on blockchain networks.

Scammers often claim their blockchain is “in development” or “about to be released,” but all legitimate cryptos will have an accompanying website to verify the currency.

Users can type the name of the crypto into any search engine with the phrase “blockchain explorer” or “blockchain scan” to find the connected blockchain, if it even exists.

What is a blockchain?

A blockchain is where encrypted data can be transferred securely, making it nearly impossible to duplicate or counterfeit.

This ledger is the foundation of any cryptocurrency transaction.

The cryptocurrency allows people to trade currency or assets digitally outside of any government or bank.

Risks of investing in cryptos, part four

Another risk of investing are the charges and fees.

Consumers should consider the impact of fees and charges on their investment which may be more than those for regulated investment products.

Risks of investing in cryptos, part three

A third risk of investing in cryptocurrencies is product complexity.

The complexity of some products and services relating to cryptoassets can make it hard for consumers to understand the risks.

There is no guarantee that cryptoassets can be converted back into cash.

Converting a cryptoasset back to cash depends on demand and supply existing in the market.

Risks of investing in cryptos, part two

Another risk of investing is price volatility.

Significant price volatility in cryptoassets, combined with the inherent difficulties of valuing cryptoassets reliably, places consumers at a high risk of losses.

Risks of investing in cryptocurrencies

Investing in cryptocurrencies means taking on a number of different risks.

The first is Consumer protection.

Some investments advertising high returns based on cryptoassets may not be subject to regulation beyond anti-money laundering requirements.

Crypto volatility

The crypto market has also been battered by India’s plans to ban all private cryptocurrencies – aside from a few exceptions – and launch a central bank-backed official digital currency.

Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, meaning their values often make large swings with no notice, as the latest plunge shows.

Investing in cryptocurrency is a very risky business.

You can be left with less money than you put in, and could even lose it all.

You might not be able to access your investment if platforms go down and you could be left unable to convert crypto back into cash.

There have also been warnings around scams related to cryptocurrencies, with people losing vast sums of money.

You should never invest in something you don’t understand and you should never put in money that you can’t afford to lose entirely.

Why is the crypto market down?

The latest plunge follows a crypto crash at the start of December shortly after Bitcoin hit a record high of $69,000.

Of 100 cryptocurrencies listed on Coinmarketcap, the price of 97 fell.

Crypto markets were wiped by $1.5trillion after the December 4 crash, but the market has since recovered some of those losses.

One trader lost $5billion after the price of bitcoin plummeted, highlighting the risks of investing in crypto.

It was revealed recently that 90% of all bitcoins have been mined.

It comes as new research shows that 18.89million coins have been mined out of 21million, which is the maximum.

And in another recent blow to the market came as one of the biggest crypto exchanges, Binance, said it will close its trading platform in Singapore after clashing with regulators.

Crypto-crimes hit a high in 2021

According to a recent study, cryptocurrency-based crimes reached a record peak last year.

Criminal transactions, on bitcoin and other cryptocurrency platforms, totalled $14billion, up 79 percent from 2020, according to data group Chainalysis.

However, the group isn’t worried.

“In fact, with the growth of legitimate cryptocurrency usage far outpacing the growth of criminal usage, illicit activity’s share of cryptocurrency transaction volume has never been lower,” Chainalysis said.

China’s statement on cryptocurrency, continued

Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital currency, and other cryptos cannot be traced by a country’s central bank, making them difficult to regulate.

The crypto crackdown opens the gates for China to introduce its own digital currency, which it is already working on and will allow the central government to monitor transactions.

China’s statement on cryptocurrency

The PBOC said it will “resolutely clamp down on virtual currency speculation, and related financial activities and misbehaviour in order to safeguard people’s properties and maintain economic, financial and social order”.

It said that trading of virtual currencies had become “widespread, disrupting economic and financial order, giving rise to money laundering, illegal fund-raising, fraud, pyramid schemes and other illegal and criminal activities.”

Sending cryptocurrency on WhatsApp

WhatsApp, a popular messaging app, is testing a cryptocurrency payment feature for some users in the US.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, owns WhatsApp and is letting some users send and receive Pax Dollars.

Pax currency is deemed a “stablecoin” because it’s connected to the US dollar.

The feature is powered by Novi, Meta’s digital wallet.

According to Novi, making payments will be easy, like sending other kinds of attachments in WhatsApp.

There’s no word on when the cryptocurrency payment feature might roll out to more users and countries.

China stopped its crypto exchanges

In 2017, China shut down its local cryptocurrency exchanges.

Despite the war on crypto, Chinese mines power nearly 80 percent of the global trade in cryptocurrencies

Robinhood prepares to launch cryptocurrency wallet

Robinhood announced a new partnership with a blockchain data analytics platform ahead of its planned cryptocurrency wallet launch.

Robinhood will use Chainalysis’ data, analytics, and software to meet compliance requirements and provide secure crypto transactions, Motley Fool reported.

The partnership comes ahead of the planned 2022 launch of Robinhood’s crypto wallet.

More than 1.6million people are on a waitlist for the new feature, according to Motley Fool.

Risks of Robinhood, part three

In July, the platform was also ordered to pay nearly $70million in fines and compensation for misleading customers and outages.

If you are seeking a discount broker and are looking to open an IRA account, you can check out the following platforms: Vanguard, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, Merrill Edge, among others.

Risks of Robinhood, part two

For investing individual stocks, make sure you check company reports, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, broker notes, and press releases so you can make the best decisions for your money.

Another risk when choosing Robinhood along with other brokers is that they can restrict trading when there’s unusual activity.

In fact, Robinhood faced some outrage last year when it restricted trading on meme stocks including GameStop and AMC.

Risks of Robinhood

When it comes to risks, investing alone is one because you’re not guaranteed to generate a profit and the value of your assets could fall.

If you choose Robinhood to trade stocks and cryptocurrencies – then the game gets even riskier.

Cryptocurrencies are not only difficult to understand but even tougher to predict when bearish trends in the market will take place.

For example, cryptocurrency was thriving this year up until Elon Musk said that Tesla was halting the acceptance of payments in Bitcoin.

Can you trade crypto on Robinhood?

Unlike most of its discount rivals, Robinhood offers 24/7 crypto trading through its platform.

That means you’ll have access to trade major cryptocurrencies including, Dogecoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin.

Its crypto investors can buy or sell with a market order, which means it’s executed at the current market price.

What is Robinhood, continued

Unlike many discounted brokers, the company does not offer individual retirement accounts.

The bulk of Robinhood’s revenue comes from order flow.

What is Robinhood?

The Robinhood platform operates as a discounted brokerage that offers commission-free trading.

Specifically, users can trade exchange-traded funds (ETFs), individual stocks (including American depositary shares), and options.

You can also trade Robinhood’s stock thanks to the company recently going public at a $1.2billion valuation.

Mystery surrounding fugitive Bitcoin trader, part four

With his blatant disregard for the legal process and deliberately infringing several court orders, his legal problems were mounting up.

But Fraga didn’t seem to care and thanks to his Bitcoin investments he was now a multi-millionaire.

While his exact wealth is not known, some estimates have said he was worth at least $100million with others saying it was worth a lot more.

Then Fraga simply vanished in 2017.

Mystery surrounding fugitive Bitcoin trader, part three

Fraga then found himself in court battles.

The courts then started seizing his bank accounts in order to get his money by force but although they expected to find his life savings they only recovered $5, the legal amount necessary to keep the accounts open.

He had moved all his money into Bitcoin instead.

Authorities eventually showed up at his home to serve his subpoena, which Fraga simply refused to take.

Mystery surrounding fugitive Bitcoin trader, part two

Soon his videos began to spread to a wider audience with many commentators agreeing with him and Fraga started to comment on larger social and political issues the country faced.

In 2012 he became the centre of a controversy where he criticised a mayoral candidate in a neighbouring city.

The politician had managed to convince Brazilian judges to force Facebook to take down memes about himself and his candidacy.

In Brazil judges can view poking fun at politicians as libel or slander rather than free speech.

Fraga then took those involved to task in a hard-hitting post which went viral, saying officials, at best, were incompetent or corrupt, at worst.