“Bitcoin is becoming the Internet’s national currency.” ~ Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter

Bitcoin is back over $9000 again. The price of Bitcoin has skyrocketed. It surged from $7500 to over $10000 within 24 hours. This was 42% gain which was the fourth largest gain percentage wise in the history of Bitcoin (if comparing against daily returns). The price has since settled around $9450. Major altcoins such as Ether, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash has surged between 5% and 24%, adding billions to the value of the entire cryptocurrency market. The overall cryptocurrency market capitalization recover from $206 billion to $252 billion. Many attribute this price surge to several reasons. The first one is a statement by China’s President Xi Jinping with regard to blockchain technology. President Xi Jinping commented that the country should seize the opportunity of blockchain technology. The bullish sentiment in China proved to be a trigger for the rise in price. All Chinese altcoins such as NEO, Ontology, Tron, Qtum are still pumping up followed by the positive news. The news itself doesn’t provide much justification to the price action. As there is a difference between blockchain and Bitcoin. The blockchain use case for China is more towards corporate use case and tracking and recording data. China had previously made it clear that they don’t like Bitcoin and even banned Bitcoin. 

Another reason that has driven the prices to go up has to do with Bitcoin futures market. Futures contract for Bitcoin on Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has expired last week. Traders who think Bitcoin is overvalued expects Bitcoin price to drop. During this bear market many have predicted Bitcoin to fall further and took short positions. This means traders borrow Bitcoin and sell them on the market, planning to buy back when prices go down and profit from price drop. When Bitcoin price started to rise traders bought back Bitcoin to minimize their loss, which is called short squeeze. Bitcoin short squeeze effect on futures market might pushed the prices even higher as even those who bet that Bitcoin price to fall bought Bitcoins too.

What are Bitcoin Futures?

1. A price prediction horoscope for Bitcoin
2. A financial instrument that requires you to buy or sell Bitcoin at a predetermined price and at a given date
3. A financial instrument giving you the right to always buy Bitcoin at a cheaper price

Scroll down to see the answer at the end of the newsletter.

Chileans have been protesting against government corruption, economic inequality, and injustice. The protest began when the state run subway operator Metro de Santiago, increased the price of metro tickets by 3%. The public anger is the product of decades of injustice and inequality. Chilean government has privatized the most basic social services including health care, education, water, electricity and pensions which only enriched a few but reduced the standard of living for most citizens. The situation has intensified in the streets. At least 19 people have been killed by the military. Chileans have claimed that they have issues accessing their funds. ATMs are not operational. Supermarkets are running out of food. Chilean residents have resorted to barter and the use of cryptocurrencies. On Reddit a desperate Chilean user named Cactoos asked people of the internet to share information on best apps to use, best ways to buy, best ways to explain how crypto works to a non educated people. The post received nearly 300 comments within a week. People in Chile are now finding the benefits of cryptocurrencies as it allows people to control one’s own money even in situations where their access to fiat currency is severely restricted.

Opera has announced that it has added support for Bitcoin, Tron and Tron’s TRC10 tokens to its Android version of browser. Until now Opera had only supported Ether and Ethereum’s ERC tokens. The new feature now allows the browser’s claimed 350 million users to send and receive Bitcoin and Tron directly from its built in cryptocurrency wallet. Beyond enabling Bitcoin and Tron transfers, Opera is also making it possible for its users to interact with decentralized apps and pay for goods and services with cryptocurrencies. Opera’s Web 3 initiative is already available for Android smartphones, Windows, Linux and Mac. While Bitcoin and Tron support is currently only applies to Android users, iOS users can expect the same functionality in the future.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the House Financial Services Committee last week where he discussed the role of Facebook on Libra the global digital currency project. He faced questions whether Facebook can be trusted to protect its user data. Zuckerberg told lawmakers that Libra is essential to maintain American financial leadership around the world. He warned that delaying Libra risks losing that leadership to China. He said “If America doesn’t innovate our financial leadership is not guaranteed.” 

He admitted that he wasn’t sure if Libra would be successful and added Facebook would not participate in launching Libra anywhere in the world unless US regulators approve. Regulators are still not in favor of Libra project. Many believe that Libra is not going ahead any time soon. Zuckerberg also pointed out that the Libra Association is an independent organization that leads the Libra project which can still move forward without Facebook. He said Facebook would quit the Libra Association if the consortium launched its currency without regulatory approvals.

Bitcoin price in the past few weeks

What are Bitcoin Futures?

The correct answer is “B”.

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Cheers, 
MrCoin
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