Blockchain Daily News - Dec.11

Fans’ Section

U.S. Bitcoin Futures Climb In First Day Of Trade

Alexander Osipovich & Gabriel T. Rubin - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Bitcoin Futures Start With A Bang As 25% Rally Triggers Halts

Rob Urban, Camila Russo & Brian Louis - Bloomberg

Futures on bitcoin surged as much as 26% in their debut session on Cboe Global Markets Inc.’s exchange, triggering two temporary trading halts meant to cool volatility. Initial volumes exceeded dealers’ expectations, while traffic on Cboe’s website was so heavy that it caused delays and outages. The website’s problems had no impact on trading systems, Cboe said.

DNT: Now that's what I call a heavy impact! BTC Futures euphoria has begun!

FAO: Looking forward to seeing its debut on CME too. In a week from now!

Ex-Market Regulator Bart Chilton Says Bitcoin Futures Will Be Safe, Could Stabilize The Cryptocurrency

Michelle Fox - CNBC

Former market regulator Bart Chilton believes trading bitcoin futures will be safe and could actually help stabilize the cryptocurrency.

Bart Chilton: "They know what they are doing in these markets. CME is the most liquid, diverse traded futures contracts around the world,"

FAO: For all you bitcoin (=progress) haters out there, here’s Bart Chilton discussing its future (s)... oh, and announcing OILCOIN Project...Interesting!

Bitcoin Billionaire Winklevoss Sees Surge Of As Much As 20 Fold

Olga Kharif - Bloomberg (subscription)

Cameron Winklevoss, thought to be one of the largest holders of bitcoin, thinks the cryptocurrency’s blazing gains this year are just the start. He predicts it will rise as much as 20-fold as investors come to view it as an upgrade to gold.

DNT: No wonder..Anyone in this place would say the same. That doesn’t mean it can not happen. Take a tour of our FREE ARCHIVE to see more predictions about BTC. For instance, John McAfee said BTC price target from $500,000 to $1 million by 2020 - details here, Fans’ Section. Michael Novogratz also made a bold prediction about BTC, saying it be at $40,000 at the end of 2018, read here, also in our Fans’ Section.

The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40% Of The Market

Olga Kharif - Bloomberg (subscription)

About 40% of bitcoin is held by perhaps 1,000 users; at current prices, each may want to sell about half of his or her holdings, says Aaron Brown, former managing director and head of financial markets research at AQR Capital Management.

FAO: Or they may not...at time of writing BTC is $16,800, up more than 20% in the last 24h (includes the Cboe’s bitcoin futures launch time).

DNT: If you like this topic, check our website too, we have another story about BTC “whales” in Opinion Section.

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin Shock: Russia Backs Cryptocurrency In Bid To Dodge US Sanctions

Rebecca  Pinnington - Express.co

Major financial exchanges are set to launch bitcoin futures trading  in a sign of the cryptocurrency’s shift to the mainstream.The move could prompt Russia to stop using the US dollar to trade crude oil, using cryptocurrency instead. US sanctions have hit Russia’s oil trade particularly hard, as oil is typically traded in dollars.

FAO: Hmm... BTW Bart Chilton announced a project he is currently focusing on, OILCOIN. Check the CNBC video in Fans’ Section.

*More content in this section on our Blockchain Daily Newswebsite.

Exchanges & Trading Venues

Huobi, SBI Announce Plan For Japanese Bitcoin Exchanges

Nikhilesh De  - CoinDesk

Huobi is partnering with SBI to launch a pair of cryptocurrency exchanges. Sometime next year, the two exchanges – dubbed "SBI Virtual Currency" and "Huobi Japan" – will offer yen-denominated cryptocurrency services, according to a statement on Huobi’s website.

FAO: Here’s a thought: can anyone calculate the cryptoverse’s expansion speed? You can use (bitcoin wallet provider) Blockchain’s data, see below...

Bitcoin Wallet Provider Blockchain Had Half A Million New Sign-Ups In A Week

Oscar Williams-Grut - Business Insider

Blockchain, the world's biggest provider of bitcoin wallets, saw a huge surge in new sign-ups last week as bitcoin's price skyrocketed. Blockchain CEO Peter Smith said in an email to investors that the company "added half a million new sign-ups this week alone."

DNT: Whoa..no need for further comments...As I already said, BTC in already mainstream.

*More content in this section on our Blockchain Daily Newswebsite.

BitPeople

Latin America’s Wealthy Families Are Buying Up Bitcoin

Camila Russo, Katia Porzecanski - Bloomberg (subscription)

The cryptocurrency craze suddenly doesn’t seem so crazy in countries that know a thing or two about hyperinflation.

Regulation

Can China Contain Bitcoin?

Emily Parker - MIT Technology Review

It is trying. But the cryptocurrency is bigger than any country, even the one where it has been most popular.

FAO: NO!

Analysis

Bitcoin Options Would Tame This Beast

Andy Mukherjee - Bloomberg (subscription)

The seminal financial event of this year, the current decade, and possibly our generation is here: Futures trading in bitcoin has begun. But the derivative that would really damp the current crypto frenzy and make digital tokens a speculator-friendly -- if not investment-worthy -- commodity, currency, tulip, or whatever, isn't futures. It's options.

FAO: A matter of time!

Bitcoin Feeding Frenzy Being Fuelled By 15x Leverage, Says exchange

Robin Harding - Financial Times (subscription)

The Japanese exchange at the heart of bitcoin’s recent surge has said its investors are fuelling the cryptocurrency’s feeding frenzy as they buy in with leverage up to 15 times their cash deposit. Yuzo Kano, CEO of bitFlyer, said  that the liquidity on his Tokyo-based exchange - which has an 80% share of bitcoin trading in Japan and 20-30% of the global market - was deep enough to handle even the biggest market movements

*More content in this section on our Blockchain Daily Newswebsite.

Other news

The $70 Million Bitcoin Hack Was The 4th Largest Breach In Cryptocurrency History

Allana Akhtar  - Money.com

Just as bitcoin trading hit record highs hackers made off with nearly $70 million from a major cryptocurrency-mining service NiceHash. The Slovenia-based company announced the security breach on its Facebook page and stopped operations for 24 hours.

FAO: Discusses last week’s “NiceHack”, oops, sorry, NiceHash hack.

*More content in this section on our Blockchain Daily News website.

FAO: Florin Adrian Oprea, Editor-in-chief Blockchain Daily News

DNT: Decebal Nicolaie Todarita, Editor Blockchain Daily News

Read more by MarketSlant Editor