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Crypto-centric stocks plummet as Bitcoin falls below $35K

Crypto stocks tumbled on Friday as risk-off sentiment swept through the markets.

While US markets were recording a fifth straight negative session of the week, cryptocurrencies were bleeding heavily as bulls got battered.

Bitcoin price declined below a critical support level, with an analyst suggesting the drawdown could see the pioneer crypto slump to lows of $30,000. On Saturday 22 January, Bitcoin price broke below $35,000 and was on track for more than 12% in intraday declines and close to 20% over the week.

Crypto stocks like Coinbase, Voyager Digital and Marathon slumped Friday, with MicroStrategy also seeing a major dip.

Riot Blockchain shares plunge 15%

Riot Blockchain (RIOT) shares retreated heavily on Friday, dropping more than 14% to close at $15.00. Over the week, RIOT has declined 24% and is down more than 33% YTD.

Despite the rout seen over the past month, shares of the Bitcoin miner are still up nearly 400% in the past three years. Revenue has also increased twofold in each of the last three years to suggest the company is on a strong footing.

Elsewhere, Coinbase (COIN) slipped 13% to $191.97, while Robinhood (HOOD) fell 5.2% to $12.98. Coinbase shares have declined

Robinhood’s shares are nearly 30% down year-to-date and close to 60% off its IPO price of $38 in July.

Voyager Digital Ltd shares fell to a 52-week low of $9.95 before recouping some of the losses to close at $10.12, about 15% lower.

Other publicly traded crypto-centric companies to see huge declines on Friday were Hive Blockchain (HIVE) at -16%; Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) at -11%; Hut 8 Mining (HUT) at -13% and Bitfarms (BITF) at -14%.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) slides 20%

MicroStrategy Inc. shares fell over 20% on Friday to record the stock’s worst single-day performance since 23 February 2020. After opening at $422.84, the stock fell to $365.98 to touch a 52-week low before closing at $375.89 for an 18% downturn.

On a weekly view, MicroStrategy has declined 22%, while year-to-date returns stand around 33% lower.

While the decline for the enterprise software maker’s stock follows the broader market trend, it also comes after documents showed the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had rejected the company’s crypto accounting strategy.

Last week, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor said that the company would not be selling its Bitcoin haul even if prices continued to crash.

The post Crypto-centric stocks plummet as Bitcoin falls below $35K appeared first on Coin Journal.

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5 Reasons you should buy Bitcoin

If you’re looking to invest in cryptocurrencies. In that case, you have a lot of options at your fingertips, so much that it can be hard to decide what assets to invest in or what cryptocurrency to buy. Over 8,000 cryptocurrencies are begging for your attention, but there are also a few that stand out. Bitcoin is at the top of that list.

Odds are, you might already be considering buying some, but you’re not sure why you should choose it over the rest of the other assets. If you belong in this category, good news because you will learn five reasons why you should buy Bitcoin in this article.

1. Bitcoin is the currency of the future.

In 2008, not many people were willing to accept bitcoin as a store of value. However, individuals and beyond have a growing wave of its applications.

There are Bitcoin ATMs worldwide for individuals who intend to make bitcoin transactions. This need arises from its growing demand. Considering just America, over 100 million bitcoin wallets are held by over 15% of Americans. Of that percentage, more than 1 million users buy and sell bitcoin on a daily basis.

2. The Scarcity of Bitcoin will bring more value in the future

The fiat currency system proved to be quite effective, but there was a basic flaw. Any nation’s government can decide to print as much of it as they’d like to. Even though it can be a good way to create or control inflation, it means that the value of money is subjective to whatever the government chooses to do at any point in time.

Here’s where bitcoin is very different. Bitcoin is limited in supply. Only 21 million bitcoin exist and can ever be minted or mined. This helps to protect its value as it is not subject to the laws of inflation or deflation.

The scarcity of bitcoin makes it more like digital gold. It is difficult to mine; it is limited in supply. Think of it this way: the demand for bitcoin is continually growing. From basic economics, the greater the demand, the greater the price of an asset. Now, add the fact that bitcoin is very scarce; the value is even bound to increase to more astronomical levels.

Remember when bitcoin was trading at less than a dollar? Now, it’s bounced up more than 5 million percent above that. That rise is almost unimaginable, but it happened. Guess what else can happen in 20 years when you choose to buy bitcoin now.

3. Bitcoin allows you full anonymity and privacy.

Bitcoin operates a fully decentralised system. Unlike centralized systems that are controlled by third party central banks that have the ability to hold or suspend accounts, bitcoin transactions can be made without the watchful eyes of any institution or agency. Your bitcoin cannot be confiscated. Your wallet cannot be frozen. More companies and well-known institutions adopt cryptocurrency for payments and settlement of purchases. The blockchain ledger system of record keeping is even more useful for institutions. Transactions are recorded as they happen. They cannot be altered, and every transaction is adequately confirmed before any action is taken.

Even banks are beginning to experiment with bitcoin. Some countries have already accepted bitcoin as their first choice method of payment.

Also coupled with anonymity, bitcoin allows you to transact faster. All of those put together make bitcoin the perfect choice for investment.

4. Bitcoin has a first-to-market advantage.

Just about any product that’s the first of its kind has an advantage over the other products in the same class. The same goes for bitcoin. It is the alpha of all cryptocurrencies. The pioneer asset for other cryptocurrencies.

This means that while new cryptocurrencies and altcoins will continue to rise by the day, bitcoin will still be the most trusted. The price tells the story. Bitcoin is still the most valuable cryptocurrency out there. But, if that doesn’t convince you, check the market cap. It shows that more people are willing to invest in bitcoin than any other cryptocurrency.

It might be easy to forget about dogecoin or litecoin, but do you ever see bitcoin going away? Can you imagine it fading into the background and fizzling out like a cloud of steam? I can’t, and I bet you can’t too.

In fact, I challenge you to gather a hundred people or as many as you can and give them 10 seconds to mention five cryptocurrencies. I assure you that bitcoin will appear on every single list. It’s settling for every investor to know that his chosen digital currency or store of value is the most trusted of all the others and has the best results in terms of value and market capitalisation.

5. Bitcoin makes for a safe and secure investment.

One of the reasons people trust bitcoin so much is its clear-cut reputation. Bitcoin has a track record of safety. There’s no doubt about its regulation with the SEC, ASIC, and other crypto regulating entities. Other cryptocurrencies might make for scary investments. For one, you have to research its founder, research whether it’s regulated and controlled, and consequently decide whether it would make a worthy investment or not. The credibility of bitcoin, however, cannot be doubted. As long as you have a well-protected crypto wallet to hold your addresses and keys, your bitcoin couldn’t be any more secure.

Ending Note

The facts are there. Bitcoin makes a great investment. But ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether bitcoin would make a good store for your value or an addition to your investment portfolio. It’s your money, after all. Whatever you decide, though, make sure you’ve weighed the upsides and downsides before reaching that conclusion. Most importantly, be sure you’ve thought through all these reasons.

Remember, the cryptocurrency market is very volatile. Do not invest money you cannot afford to lose. This is not investment advice. Do more research before you buy bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

The post 5 Reasons you should buy Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Journal.

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10 Best Privacy Coins in 2022

Some privacy coins made great buys in 2021, but are they still your best bet in 2022? In this article, you will discover which privacy coins retained their top spots and the new ones that have stolen the spotlight in terms of functionality and use.

So, if you’re looking for the best privacy coins to aid your private and anonymous transactions on the blockchains, then sit back as we will explore the top 10 privacy coins you can buy in 2022.

1. Monero (XMR)

Monero is an open-source ledger that supports private and censorship-resistant transactions. It was launched in April 2014 with the key intent of enhancing the privacy of transactions and ensuring their maximum confidentiality. Monero uses ring signatures and stealth addresses to ensure privacy on the network. It operates on a proof-of-work model, which adds new blocks every two minutes.

Today, XMR, the network’s native coin, is worth $219.77. There are over 18 million xmrs in circulation right now, with a market cap of $3 billion. It has dropped by 59.5% from an ATH of $542.33 in January 2018. It is currently on Binance, KuCoin, and Digifinex, among others.

2. Zcash (ZEC)

Zcash is a peer-to-peer and open-source electronic currency that supports privacy and selective transparency of transactions. Launched in October 2016 by Zooko Wilcox, ZEC uses the Equihash algorithm to validate transactions and create new ZEC. ZEC is the symbol of Zcash and can be found in MEXC Global, Coinbase Exchange, Kraken, and so on.

One ZEC costs $143.05 right now. Like BTC, only 21 million zecs would ever be mined. However, 12 million is in circulation right now. Zcash has a market cap of $1 billion. It peaked at $3,191.93 in October 2016.

3. Horizen (ZEN)

Horizen is a private, scalable, reliable, and secure network. It uses a unique side chain protocol called Zendoo.

Zendoo allows users to create their blockchains or dApps on the network. Horizen operates on a proof-of-work algorithm. It uses the zk-SNARKs strategy. ZEN, its native coin, has two addresses: T-Addresses (regular addresses) and Z-Addresses (shielded addresses).

Of the 21 million total supplies, 12 million zens are in circulation right now. The price of ZEN today is $55.65, with a market cap of $666 million. It is listed in Binance, OKEx, and KuCoin right now.

4. Dusk Network (DUSK)

Dusk Network is a layer-1 privacy blockchain for securities and financial applications. It powers the Confidential Security Contract (XSC) and supports private smart contracts. The network is secured by the Segregated Byzantine Agreement (SBA) consensus mechanism. This makes it private, programmable, and auditable.

DUSK is the utility token of the network. It can be used to pay gas fees, deploy smart contracts, and participate in governance. Over 388 million dusks are in circulation now, with a max supply of 1 billion. A DUSK is worth $1.00 today and has a market cap of $388 million.

5. Verge (XVG)

Verge was launched in October 2014 as an untraceable network. It was initially named DogeCoinDark but became Verge in 2016. It uses The Onion Router (TOR) and the Invisible Internet Project (I2P)  to make transactions private. Tor protects the identities of users, and the I2P encrypts their data.

Verge uses stealth addresses to hide the addresses of users. It uses a proof-of-work model to mine new coins (XVG). Of the 16.6 billion total supply, 16.5 billion has already been mined. As of today, XVG costs $0.014 and has a market cap of $231 million.

6. Beam (BEAM)

Beam was launched in January 2019 as a private network to support confidential DeFi. It uses MimbleWimble and Lelantus MW protocols. The blockchain uses a proof-of-work consensus algorithm. The MimbleWimble protocol hides the values and metadata of transactions, and the Lelantus MW protocol enhances its privacy and anonymity.

BEAM is the native token of the network. It is a deflationary token that would be halved every four years. It is on exchanges like Binance, MEXC Global, and Hotbit. It is worth $0.46 right now and has a market cap of $49 million. It has a total supply of 262.8 million, and 105.7 million is available in supply now.

7. Oasis Network (ROSE)

Oasis network was launched in 2018 by Dawn Song and Oasis Labs. It is a layer-1 blockchain that promises privacy, low gas fees, scalability, and token monetization. It uses a proof-of-stake algorithm. It has a consensus layer and a ParaTime layer that aid scalability.

It is built for open finance and data economy using Cosmos SDK. ROSE, its native coin, was launched in November 2020. It is used for settling gas fees, staking, and delegation on the consensus layer.

ROSE is available on Nominex, Binance, KuCoin, and ZT, among others. It is trading at $0.536 right now. It has a market cap of $1 billion, with 3.5 billion in circulation now.

8. PIVX (PIVX)

PIVX stands for Private Instant Verified Transaction. It is a fork of DASH launched in January 2016. It runs on a proof-of-stake model and uses the Sapling protocol to support shielded and unshielded transactions. It boasts of privacy, real-world use, governance, and fungibility.

PIVX, the native token, supports private, public, and cold staking. It costs $0.46 right now and has a market cap of $31 million. In January 2018, it peaked at $13.55. It is listed on Bittrex, Binance, KuCoin, and so on.

9. Super Zero Protocol (SERO)

SERO is the first privacy blockchain to support Turing smart contracts. The protocol is secured by Super-zk, which is 20 times faster than zk-SNARKs. It is also the first privacy protection platform that allows anonymous digital assets to be issued.

SERO, its native currency, was released in June 2019. It is used to pay gas fees, reward miners, and make payments. It has a market cap of $37 million and is listed on MEXC Global, CoinEX, and Hotbit. It has a total supply of 650 million and is worth $0.11 today.

10. Firo (FIRO)

Firo was initially launched as Zcoin in September 2016 but later became Firo in October 2020. It uses Sigma, Dandelion, and Lelantus protocols. The platform uses a hybrid of proof-of-work and LLMQ chain locks system. It uses zk proofs to ensure full anonymity.

FIRO is the native coin of the platform. As of today, it costs $4.49 and is trading on Binance, Huobi, MEXC Global, and so on. It reached an ATH of $139.77 in December 2017. It has a market cap of 57.7 million.

Bear in mind that privacy coins are facing more scrutiny when compared to other cryptocurrencies. Hence, if you’d be investing in them, ensure they are not breaching any regulation in your country. As always, deal wisely and do your research. Only invest money you can afford to lose.

The post 10 Best Privacy Coins in 2022 appeared first on Coin Journal.

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Technical analyst says Bitcoin risks another 22% rout after snapping key level

The analyst says another leg down for Bitcoin could bring the $30,000 support level into play.

Bitcoin price fell to lows of $34,800 on Friday to extend its decline that now risks further losses to $30,000.  

Currently, the BTC/USD pair is hovering around $34,825, nearly 12% down in 24 hours and just over 20% in the red this past week. 

The broader crypto market also remains on track for its worst weekly performance since mid-December. At the time of writing, the total cryptocurrency market cap is at $1.7 trillion after a 14% rout in 24 hours. 

All the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap have logged double-digit losses on the day.

Technical analyst Katie Stockton of Fairlead Strategies told Insider on Friday that breaking below $40,000 could see bulls seek support around $37,361. She said that a breakdown to this “secondary support level” would see the flagship cryptocurrency’s overall decline total 22% from the recent highs to $30,000.

In a note to Insider, Stockton highlighted the area around $37k as one that presented a significant buffer zone. It also characterises the benchmark digital asset’s long-term uptrend line, below which lies the potential for more pain.

But she also noted that a rebound for BTC/USD that leads to a weekly close above $37,361 would likely invalidate the negative outlook. The analyst points to the technical picture that show oversold conditions as one likely to aid a short-term uptick in price movement.

However, things will be tough for bulls if the downturn leads to further rot and turns the highlighted level into a supply wall. According to the analyst, whose forecast came before BTC’s plunge to $35,262, another leg down would signal the start of a fresh bearish reversal.

The bearish run for crypto comes as the stock market also sinks amid increased risk aversion among investors. The drawdown across risky assets has heightened as the market prepares for the first of potentially three or more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

On Friday, crypto billionaire and Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said that crypto faced a rough time and could potentially only rally once stocks „find a base.“ Investors might thus watch the stock market keenly next week even as the Fed’s January meeting takes place.

The Nasdaq closed 2.2% down on Friday, while the S&P 500 and Dow also edged lower by more than 1% to see stocks post another negative week. 

The post Technical analyst says Bitcoin risks another 22% rout after snapping key level appeared first on Coin Journal.