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 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 – BITCOIN GUIDE ............................................................................ 8

Money: Before Bitcoin, How Did It All Start? ................................................ 10
Money 101: The Early Days Of Value Exchange ............................................ 11
What Is Bitcoin? The Ideal Currency For Today’s World: .............................. 13
How Bitcoin's Value Works: The Economic Factors ....................................... 23
How The Bitcoin Halving Works .................................................................... 31
2020 Bitcoin Mining Halving Explanation Recap ........................................... 42
The Ongoing Revolution Of Bitcoin ............................................................... 44
CHAPTER 2 – BITCOIN PRICE .......................................................................... 45
What Does Bitcoin (Btc) Price’s Usd Exchange Rate Mean? ......................... 46
Btc Price Chart Gains/Losses Month By Month, Year By Year ....................... 63
Top 20 Factors Influencing The Price Of Bitcoin ............................................ 65
Historical Bitcoin Price Timeline Of Events With News Dates ....................... 83
CHAPTER 3 – BITCOIN PRICE PREDICTION .................................................... 117
Where Is The Price Of Bitcoin Going? Over 50 Industry Movers And Shakers
Weigh-In With Btc Forecasts ....................................................................... 117
Top 50 Bitcoin Price Predictions: 2019, 2020-2024 Forecast List ................ 118
Bitcoin Price Prediction Updates For 2019 And 2020 .................................. 152
New 2019 Bitcoin Price Timeline Updates .................................................. 153
Bitcoin (Btc) Price History: List Of Events Worth Noting ............................. 155
Understanding Economic Factors Causing Bitcoin’s Price Fluctuations ...... 169
Top 50 Bitcoin Price Prediction Catalysts On The Horizon .......................... 176
Bitcoin Price Prediction Hopium List: Btc/Usd Hope + Optimism ............... 178
CHAPTER 4 – BITCOIN HALVING................................................................... 190
Is The Btc Block Reward Halving Really A Bullish Factor? ............................ 190
Bitcoin Mining Halving Sentiment: The Bulls Vs Bears ................................ 192
Bitcoin Halving Charts: Historical Price Action Analysis .............................. 194
But First, A Background Drop On The Btc Halvings ..................................... 198

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 Reviewing The Previous Halvings ................................................................ 200
Halvings And Bull Markets Past ................................................................... 201
Popular Theory: “Halving Reduces Liquid Supply Significantly” .................. 203
Contradicting Theory: Efficient Market Hypothesis .................................... 204
If The Bitcoin Market Isn’t Efficient, Why Didn’t Hashrate Drop After Past
Halvings?...................................................................................................... 205
Conclusion: Causation Or Coincidence? ...................................................... 207
CHAPTER 5 – SPEND BITCOIN ...................................................................... 209
Best Places To Spend Bitcoin: Ultimate List Of Where You Can Spend Bitcoin
Shopping Online .......................................................................................... 209
Top Brand-Name Stores Accepting Bitcoin.................................................. 210
Best Computers And Electronics Places ...................................................... 213
Best Sports Places ........................................................................................ 215
Best Gambling Places................................................................................... 216
Best Sports Betting Websites ...................................................................... 217
Best Online Poker Sites ................................................................................ 219
Best Las Vegas Casinos ................................................................................ 220
Best Vape Stores .......................................................................................... 220
Best Travel Places ........................................................................................ 221
Best Healthcare Places ................................................................................ 228
Best Internet Websites ................................................................................ 228
Best Auction Websites ................................................................................. 230
Best Virtual Private Networks (Vpns) .......................................................... 232
Best Gift Cards Places .................................................................................. 233
Best Payment Platforms .............................................................................. 235
Best Gaming Places...................................................................................... 236
Best Movie Theaters And Entertainment Places ......................................... 239
Best Food, Drinks, And Restaurants Places ................................................. 241
Best Fashion And Jewelry Places ................................................................. 245
Best Guns And Weapons Places .................................................................. 248
Best Insurance Companies .......................................................................... 249

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 Best Real Estate Places ................................................................................ 249
Best Gold, Precious Metals, And Coins Places ............................................. 250
Best Adult Entertainment Places ................................................................. 251
Best Invest, Save, And Earn Interest Offers ................................................. 252
Best Universities And Colleges Places ......................................................... 254
Best Dating Websites ................................................................................... 255
Best Forex Brokers ....................................................................................... 255
Best Law Firms ............................................................................................. 256
Best Cars And Automotive ........................................................................... 257
Misceallenous / Other ................................................................................. 257
Best Charities ............................................................................................... 260
How To Spend Bitcoin Online Resources ..................................................... 262
CHAPTER 6 – ACCEPT BITCOIN PAYMENT .................................................... 263
How To Accept Crypto Payments For Merchants ........................................ 263
Why Should Merchants Choose Btc? .......................................................... 264
The Easiest Way To Receive Bitcoin Online ................................................. 267
How To Receive Btc From A Physical Location? .......................................... 268
Top Bitcoin Payment Gateways ................................................................... 272
Why Do Merchants Choose To Accept Bitcoin? .......................................... 273
Conclusion ................................................................................................... 278
CHAPTER 7 – BITCOIN CHART ANALYSIS ...................................................... 280
Bitcoin Trading Guide For Intermediate Crypto Traders ............................. 280
The Basics: How Does Bitcoin Trading Work? ............................................. 281
Cryptocurrency Trading Glossary: Most Popular Terms .............................. 282
Types Of Bitcoin Trades In The Crypto Market ............................................ 286
How Much Does Crypto Trading Cost? Average Pricing .............................. 287
Intermediate To Advanced Bitcoin Analysis: How To Study Market Charts 288
How To Analyze Crypto Markets: Fundamental And Technical Analysis..... 288
Crypto Market Trends ................................................................................. 289
Support And Resistance Levels .................................................................... 290

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 Buy Walls And Sell Walls.............................................................................. 292
How To Read Bitcoin Price Charts And Crypto Market Graphs ................... 293
Types Of Bitcoin Charts For Crypto Analysts ............................................... 296
Bitcoin Chart Patterns ................................................................................. 305
Top Five Most Profitable Patterns For Bitcoin Traders ............................... 322
Technical Indicators: How To Read Charts Like A Master ........................... 322
Moving Averages ......................................................................................... 323
Moving Average Convergence Divergence (Macd) ..................................... 326
Relative Strength Index (Rsi) ....................................................................... 328
Parabolic Sar (Stop And Reverse) ................................................................ 329
Average Directional Index (Adx) .................................................................. 331
Fibonacci Retracement ................................................................................ 333
Elliott Wave Principle .................................................................................. 334
Bollinger Bands ............................................................................................ 336
On Balance Volume (Obv) ........................................................................... 339
Stochastic Oscillator .................................................................................... 340
Spotting And Confirming Signals With Candlestick Patterns ....................... 344
Single Period Patterns ................................................................................. 345
Multiple Period Patterns ............................................................................. 350
How To Quickly Read Any Candlestick Chart: 3 Questions To Ask .............. 359
Disadvantages Of Candlestick Analysis ........................................................ 360
Applying Candlestick Pattern Analysis To Real Markets .............................. 360
Top 6 Ways To Trade Bitcoin: Useful Crypto Trading Strategies Types ....... 362
Top Ten Technical Trading Tips ................................................................... 364
Bitcoin Chart Trading Analysis: Final Word ................................................. 366
CHAPTER 8 – BITCOIN TRADING BOT ........................................................... 367
Top 15 Bitcoin Trading Bots ......................................................................... 370
More Bitcoin Trading Bots To Review ......................................................... 383
How Humans Compare To Auto Crypto Trading ......................................... 384
How Important Are Trading Bots To The Bitcoin Market? .......................... 387

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CHAPTER 9 – BITCOIN FUTURES ................................................................... 391
What Are Bitcoin Futures? How Do Bitcoin Futures Work? What Are The Best
Bitcoin Futures Exchanges? ......................................................................... 391
What Is A Futures Contract?........................................................................ 392
How Does Futures Trading Work? ............................................................... 392
Futures Contracts In Practice ...................................................................... 394
History Of Futures Markets ......................................................................... 395
Three Main Reasons To Trade Crypto Futures ............................................ 397
Leverage And Crypto Futures Trading ......................................................... 398
The Best Bitcoin Futures Exchanges Available Today .................................. 399
How Do Bitcoin Futures Affect Bitcoin Trading? ......................................... 410
Faqs About Bitcoin Futures Contracts ......................................................... 412
Final Word: What’s The Future Of Bitcoin Futures Trading? ....................... 414
CHAPTER 10 – BITCOIN IRA .......................................................................... 415
Bitcoin Ira: How To Add Bitcoin To A Retirement Account ......................... 415
What Is A Bitcoin Ira? .................................................................................. 416
How To Add Bitcoin To Your Ira ................................................................... 416
Pros And Cons Of Adding Bitcoin To Your Ira .............................................. 418
Is A Bitcoin Ira Legal? ................................................................................... 421
What’s The Difference Between A Bitcoin Ira Provider, A Custodian, And A
Custody Solution? ........................................................................................ 421
Who Holds My Private Keys With A Bitcoin Ira? ......................................... 422
How Much Do Ira Service Providers Charge? .............................................. 423
Can I Create A Bitcoin Ira Without A Bitcoin Ira Service Provider? ............. 423
Faqs About Bitcoin Iras ................................................................................ 424
Bitcoin Retirement Account Overview ........................................................ 425
Best Bitcoin Iras And Crypto Ira Companies ................................................ 426
13 Things To Look For In Bitcoin Ira Company ............................................ 434
Final Word ................................................................................................... 437
CHAPTER 11 – BITCOIN SCAMS .................................................................... 438

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Bitcoin Scams From The Beginning: Crypto's Biggest Hacks, Historical
Timeline And User Security Guide ............................................................... 438
A Million Ways To Lose Your Bitcoin, Here's The Top 15 ............................ 441
A List Of All Of The Bitcoin Scams And Crypto Hacks Since The Start Of Btc
..................................................................................................................... 451
Bitcoin Scams History And Crypto Hacks Timeline From 2011 To 2019 ...... 451
Best Ways To Securely Protect Crypto Funds And Avoid Bitcoin Scams ..... 474
Bitcoin Scams And Crypto Hacks Conclusion ............................................... 484

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 CHAPTER 1
BITCOIN GUIDE
A COMPLETE REVIEW OF HOW BITCOIN WORKS

It all starts with Bitcoin, a (₿TC) ‘cryptocurrency' based on

blockchain distributed ledger technology (DLT). The first-ever
decentralized payment network meshing all noble elements of an
open-source electronic cash.

From October 31, 2008 (Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper release

date) to January 3, 2009 (Bitcoin software system launch), to a
decade plus and counting later in 2019 (all time high $19, 893
BTC/USD exchange rate value); little-b bitcoin ($BTC currency) and
big-b Bitcoin (network protocol) are growing stronger daily. This
bitcoin guide's goal is simple; educate users (via awareness) and
inform investors* (with insights).

MTC is carefully-crafting the best knowledge base building blocks

of the emerging ecosystem of bitcoin's era.

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The two biggest questions Master the Crypto gets on the borderless,
permissionless, P2P cryptoasset are:

1) what is Bitcoin?
1a) how Bitcoin works?

And yes, of course the proper acknowledge of the 24/7/365 real-

time reality-based question:

2) what is the price of bitcoin? <insert #whenlambo memes.gif>

(see predictions + history)

It's time to break down these quintessential questions to separate

fact from fiction (even ^folklore^).

There is a lot of hoopla, hype and hysteria hovering around in a

congested cryptoverse, it's easy to get lost.

Let's look at how bitcoin stands on its own “two fees” apart from
ETH, LTC and its distant token cousin, BCH.

Digesting a full slice of humble BTC pie ingredients baked with

upfront fundamentals will be invaluable.

Bitcoin may be lightning in a bottle, but the category creating crypto

coin requires user-adoption at its core.

MTC's resourceful flagship review on bitcoin contains five different

facets and factors to press play on.

• What is Money (Bitcoin's durability, acceptability, divisibility,

portability, limited supply and uniformity)
• The Economics of Bitcoin (The Who, What, When, Where,
Why and How on bitcoin) [*here]
• How Bitcoin's Price Works (driving forces determining the
value of BTC) [*here]
• Bitcoin Halving (May 2020 BTC Mining Block Reward Chart
History) [*here]

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 • What's Next for Bitcoin? Hopeful Bitcoin Price Predictions
or Will It Die? [*here]

The archived bitcoin price predictions along with many other

relevant components of the leading cryptocurrency, will all be saved
for other outline overviews. Buying bitcoin and smart custody must
go hand-in-hand, however, the aim is for all crypto connoisseurs to
walk away knowing more than you do right now.

Many wonder will bitcoin die by an epic crash and collapse or see
the bubble pop soon? or will btc go back up again? These forecasts
on whether bitcoin is a one-hit wonder or not is for another time
and place, for now it's back to the day-one bitcoin blueprint basics
before turning into a bonafide bitcoiner (and believer).

By now, bitcoin deserves a bedtime storyline of the who's who to

the what's what. Any crypto investment is a gamble, but a true
master's starting point is taking the time to unscrabble the financial
future of bitcoin.

MONEY: BEFORE BITCOIN, HOW DID

IT ALL START?

The disrupting new dawn of programmable money and trouble of

B.T.C. spawns from the ‘new-age' blockchain technology model.

Bitcoin, under the guise of trustless distributed ledger technology –

from a seed (whitepaper), to a sprout (software) – has grown into a
sexy new emerging asset class as a full four and five figure

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cryptocurrency that is responsible for a $200 billion industry today
(as high as over $820 billion). But before we can beef up the bitcoin
ecosystem and talk about mining for block rewards or studying
crypto market chart analysis every week, day, hour, minute and even
second for some – it's time to trace back the roots of money and
formulate an understand of its meaning and mass-use acceptance.
Before any hodl gang lingo or store of value digital gold 2.0 convo,
it's start on square one.

MONEY 101: THE EARLY DAYS OF

VALUE EXCHANGE
To understand the importance of digital currencies, we should first
start to look at how money has evolved over the years. Historically
speaking, the use of physical currency is quite a recent phenomenon
— mainly because the first monetary trades between humans
consisted solely of barters. For example, a few millennia ago, the
most prominent mediums of exchange consisted of things like
cowrie (sea snail) shells, beads, etc. In fact, recorded evidence from
back in the day shows that countries like India, China, and Africa had
strong trade markets where people were regularly exchanging
goods with one another.

As people all over the world witnessed the dawn of the Bronze age,
more and more metals started to be used for currency creation. This
was because metals are way more durable, portable, fungible, and
divisible when compared to seashells and other similar mediums of
exchange. With that being said, there is one severe downside to
using metal coins — i.e. their weight. Centuries ago, when merchants
had to lug their goods halfway around the world, they were forced
to carry massive loads of metal coins on their mules, thereby making
the process of facilitating barters quite expensive, impractical and
time-consuming. To rectify this problem, Chinese rulers from the
11th century started to issue banknotes to make internal as well as
global trades easier. This idea then caught the attention of many
foreign emperors, particularly in Europe — thereby ushering in a new
era of finance.

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The scenario then stayed the same for centuries on end up until the
early 1970s when President Ronal Raegan abolished the gold
standard. In this regard, it needs to be pointed out that for most of
their history, paper bills have been directly redeemable for precious
metals such as gold. Under the gold standard, monetary units of
trade being used across the planet could be redeemed for a specific
amount of gold. The point of this system was to essentially curb the
power of governments by keeping inflation levels in check, however,
since abolishing this standard, modern-day fiat currencies are
essentially backed by nothing more than a person’s trust in his/her
local government. In the words of ex-Chairman of the Fed Reserve,
Alan Greenspan:

“In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way

to protect savings from confiscation through
inflation. There is no safe store of value.”

Simply put, if the gold standard was still in place today, the need for
Bitcoin would probably have not arisen in the first place. For those
interested in learning about how centralized monetary systems —
that are in place in over 97% of all nations around the world today
— work, it could be useful to check out an article written by Nick
Szabo where he covers a host of such pertinent topics. What should
start to click in the conversation about bitcoin and Bitcoin shooting
for the stars is when all of the major ‘money characteristics' (limited
supply, portability, divisability, durability, uniformity and
acceptability) are met in grand (golden) style and financial fashion.

Approaching Bitcoin can seem like a daunting task at first, especially

the word ‘crypto-currency' only went mainstream two years ago. In
this regard, some of the richest folks in the world have shared their
stories of how they eventually sifted through all the noise
surrounding this domain. Then, using but a twitch of the thumb to
do a light-switch flip turned on, a bitcoin epiphany clicks. It's true
disruptive power is finally discovered. In this guide, we will dig deep
into a host of concepts related to this space including blockchain,
altcoins and see how revolutionary these technologies really are.

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Trying to grasp the immensity of Bitcoin from a purely technical
standpoint can be quite an arduous task so it would be better to look
at the term ‘digital currency’ in terms of its utility and importance.
For starters, individuals who can grasp the basics of BTC are
already ahead of the curve when compared to most people. Even
seasoned investors like Warren Buffet and Mark Cuban have, in the
past, slighted BTC without really comprehending what makes the
digital asset tick. Buffet, in fact, has likened Bitcoin to ‘rat poison’,
so that sort of gives one an idea of how traditional players view this
market.

WHAT IS BITCOIN? THE IDEAL

CURRENCY FOR TODAY’S WORLD:

Before we delve deeper into what Bitcoin has to offer, it can be

quite helpful for our readers to envision what they think an ideal
currency for today’s world should look like. For example, while
technology has shaped how we interact with one another
(smartphones etc), it has not been able to provide us with an
economic platform that makes international payments and transfers
really streamlined and economically viable. In this vein, it bears
mentioning that a tx of 1000 dollars on Paypal can cost users
anywhere between $70-$75 plus conversion fees.

IS THE IDEA OF A GLOBAL CURRENCY FEASIBLE?

People who have traveled abroad are painfully aware of the fact that
their local fiat assets are subject to so many peripheral exchange
costs that they end up losing a lot of their hard-earned money along

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the way — be it via credit card conversion rates, tx costs, VAT, etc.
Additionally, as things stand, there exists a total of 21 nations
(including Australia, the USA, and Canada) that make use of dollars.
However, all of these different assets (USD, AUD, SGD) are
independent of each other and cannot be used interchangeably. To
be even more specific, the individual currencies that exist across the
globe — of which there are over 180 — fluctuate in value relative to
each other, thereby making it impossible for conversions to take
place for free.

With that being said, digital assets such as Bitcoin do offer a

possibility wherein people can use a unified currency to facilitate
their payments all over the world in a completely hassle-free,
streamlined manner. In addition to this, cryptocurrencies eliminate
several peripheral costs that one has to encounter at airports and
city centers — where customers are provided with exchange rates
that are far from an asset’s true market value.

HOW EFFICIENT ARE TODAY’S REMITTANCE

SYSTEMS?

When analyzing today’s remittance platforms, we can see

that migrant workers these days send anywhere around $574 billion
back to their families every year. Not only that, this market is
projected to keep growing as urbanization trends continue to
flourish. However, most of these platforms are quite non-user
friendly and the fees involved with facilitating such tx's can exceed
10% of the total value transferred — while processing times can
range anywhere between 1-4 days.

Now, from the context of crypto, we can see that using digital
assets, migrant workers can send the same amount of money back
to their loved ones within a matter of seconds, that too at a total tx
cost of less than 2% of the total transaction value. So, when it's all
said and done, it seems as though having a global currency makes
international travel and cross-currency payments significantly easier
for everyone.

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 HOW DO DIGITAL CURRENCIES FIT INTO ALL THIS?

In today’s day and age, most people actively make use of digital
payment platforms such as Venmo, Apple Pay, Paypal for sending
and receiving money. Even in countries where digitization is still
happening slowly, people are beginning to see the advantages of not
having to carry their physical assets everywhere they go. A poll from
the Economic Times clearly shows that approximately 92% of all
global currency reserves exist purely in a digital form. This number
will most likely continue to grow as we move into the future.

Also, if a global digital currency was to enter the picture,

governments all over the world would have their ability to
implement expansionary or refractory powers greatly reduced. And
while in certain circumstances, one could argue that centralized
currencies have their advantages (such as reducing the chances of a
recession), by and large, the counter-arguments outweigh all of the
pros by a big margin. In this regard, we can mention examples such
as Venezuela where the local currency witnessed hyperinflation of
such insane proportions that it became almost worthless within a
decade (at least for daily trade purposes).

“POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT, AND ABSOLUTE

POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY.”

When a government or any other centralized entity (think big-name

banks such as JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, etc) can print money out
of thin air, one has to think of all the potential craziness that can
ensue. For example, back in 2008, bankers were able to reel in
billions of dollars in taxpayer money as “bonuses” for essentially
causing the housing crisis that saw many hard-working people
(across the globe) lose all of their money within 12-18 months.

On the subject, Mr. Greenspan was quoted as saying:

“Periodically, as a result of overly rapid credit

expansion, banks became loaned up to the limit of
their gold reserves, interest rates rose sharply, new

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 credit was cut off, and the economy went into a
sharp, but short-lived recession … It was limited gold
reserves that stopped the unbalanced expansions of
business activity before they could develop into the
post-World War I type of disaster.”

In closing out this segment, we can say that while it is almost

impossible to revert to the gold standard we had back in the day, it
is still not too late to eliminate the need of third parties from the
scene.

BITCOIN TO THE RESCUE

Having discussed the history of money in quite a lot of detail, we

can now start to look at the proposition that Bitcoin puts on the
table. In its most basic sense, BTC can be thought of as an all-
encompassing solution that addresses many of the problems that
come inherent with fiat currencies. To start with, it can serve as both
digital gold as well as an electronic cash medium. If that wasn’t
enough, the digital asset is completely trustless and cannot be
controlled by any third party authority or institution. These three
features in and of themselves make Bitcoin a much better financial
vehicle when compared to any other currency available in the
market today.

Going back to how fiat money works today, we can see that
following the abolishment of the gold standard last century, future
installations of governments all over the world were given complete
power to print money in a completely random, uncontrolled manner.
However, there's a massive catch here, i.e. central banks don't
necessarily print new currency notes to create money, instead, they
manipulate interest rates to influence economic activity and control
inflation.

So for example, if a central bank reduces interest rates, people are

provided with a massive economic incentive to borrow and spend
money from various banking institutions. This, in short, was also the
core reason for the 2008 recession that shook the world quite
heavily. Similarly, when interest rates are increased, people
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generally tend to avoid making investments and usually look to cut
back on their monetary consumption.

Another point that needs to be highlighted here is that when the

Federal Reserve (or any other central bank) reduces interest rates,
the supply of money increases quite quickly while the supply of
goods and services grows more slowly.

Here’s where Bitcoin’s real utility starts to stand out and shine
because unlike every other fiat asset in existence today, BTC has a
fixed supply — i.e. there will only ever exist a total of 21 million BTC.
This makes the premier crypto asset a scarce commodity (much like
gold) and also makes it immune to a host of refractory and
inflationary issues. Also, when a particular asset is hard to source,
people tend to value it more. This concept can be better highlighted
by thinking of paintings by artists such as Monet, Dali, Mundi that
often are sold for hundreds of millions of dollars — primarily because
there exists just one copy of the original artwork.

BITCOIN’S UTILITY AS ELECTRONIC CASH

EXPLAINED

While gold and other such precious metals are good SOVs, they are
quite impractical for facilitating daily transactions. They are not only
heavy and difficult to move around but they are also incredibly
inconvenient to use in one’s day-to-day life (because they are not
easily divisible). In this regard, Bitcoin offers a host of advantages to
its users such as:

• The crypto asset is infinitely divisible and can be stored on

several digital platforms such as a flash drive, laptop, cold
wallet or even a piece of paper.
• It can be transferred anywhere across the world within a
matter of moments.
• It is a highly secure tx medium and cannot be easily traced
by nefarious third-party agents.
• It is unforegable and is the first scarce currency to enter
the mainstream (since we abandoned the gold standard
back in the 1930s.)

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 • It is fully transferable.

BITCOIN IS TRUSTLESS

As mentioned previously, one of the biggest advantages of using

Bitcoin is the fact that the currency is completely decentralized and
therefore trustless. What this simply means is that while the BTC
network keeps track of account balances and tx’s much in the same
way as banks and other similar financial institutions do, it allows
anybody to participate and supply computing power to the network
— thereby allowing for enhanced security and faster transactions.

To be even more specific, the BTC ecosystem makes use of a niche

architectural system that incentivizes anybody who participates in
the network. As a result of this, participants who act honestly and
go by the rulebook can make a lot of money. This explanation,
however, is very simplistic and if one is inclined to learn more about
the technicalities of BTC, they can read a paper published by
Andreas Antonopolous a few years back.

Key Points Worth Bearing in Mind

• Legacy outfits pretty much work in the same way as

Bitcoin, barring the fact that they use a closed-door
approach. What this means is that they don't allow users to
verify and validate their transactions/dealings. Not only
that, but they also have the power to completely freeze out
an individual and refuse them service if they happen to
have a poor credit score (or even if they haven't done
anything wrong as such).
• Owing to the fractional lending model being used by most
of the world’s reserve bans, a person’s money ceases to be
his/her’s once they have deposited it with a bank.

SOME DOWNSIDES ASSOCIATED WITH BITCOIN

Even though on paper Bitcoin’s framework seems pretty flawless, in

real life the currency does have its fair share of limitations. For
example, to make the BTC network completely secure, its inventor

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Satoshi Nakamoto had to sacrifice certain aspects such as high tx
throughput and scalability. To elucidate further on this point, we can
see that when compared to legacy payment solutions (such as Visa,
Mastercard, etc.), Bitcoin’s TPS (transactions per second) is quite
poor. Similarly, due to certain scalability issues, if a lot of people start
to make use of the flagship digital currency for various payment
purposes, the network might get overwhelmed and start exhibiting
certain technical issues.

BITCOIN’S POTENTIAL IS LIMITLESS BASICALLY

Many of our regular readers may recall that back in the '90s, many
people assumed that the internet was just a fad and that the
technology would fade completely from people's minds in the
coming few years. In this regard, it should be pointed out that back
in 1995, a Newsweek article contained the following lines:

“Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers,

interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They
speak of electronic town meetings and virtual
communities. Commerce and business will shift from
offices and malls to networks and modems. And the
freedom of digital networks will make governments
more democratic.

Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common

sense? The truth in no online database will replace
your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place
of a competent teacher and no computer network
will change the way government works.”

With these words in mind, it should be highlighted that while the

BTC network currently has its fair share of scaling-related issues, it
does not mean that in the future these problems might not be
rectified completely. For example, there already exists something
called the Lightning Network (LN), a second-layer protocol that
allows users to process thousands of BTC transactions per second.
Not only that, but the technology also allows transactions to be

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processed in an almost instantaneous fashion (while charging users
little to no processing fees).

In the future, many experts predict that we may have a system that
connects people to the LN using only their smartphones. If this
vision were to come true, retailers all over the planet will be able to
save on humongous amounts of annual fees that they currently have
to dole out to various payment service providers.

In closing out this section, we should point out that there currently
exist certain technical issues with the LN which make it not quite
ready for commercial use.

CHEW ON THIS BEFORE YOU BUY BITCOIN

In closing out this segment, we need to be clear that while BTC as a

financial investment option is extremely enticing, it does come with
its fair share of economic uncertainty. So, when deciding to buy
Bitcoin, there are a few questions that we should bear in mind so
that one can get in the mindset of a seasoned investor.

• Have currency options stop evolving or have they constantly

been adapting to the tech developments that have been
taking place around them (throughout history)?
• Why do human beings tend to value commodities that are
scarce a little more when compared to those that are not?
• Who is the real benefactor when a financial offering
becomes popular: the first investors or the folks who cashed
in when others were joining in on the fun as well?
• Which currency model is better suited for the 21st century:
one that is controlled by third-party entities or one that is
governed by hundreds of local peers?
• Will the world’s financial elite store at least a fraction of their
wealth in an asset such as Bitcoin? What incentive would
they have to do such a thing?
• Are business owners likely to start using cryptocurrencies in
the future? If so, why would they do such a thing?

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 • The internet did not become a mainstream fixture overnight,
so who’s to say that Bitcoin does not have any future
potential?
• There are only 21 million BTC in the world and over 8 Billion
people, so what fraction of BTC can each person in the world
theoretically own?

In regards to the entire matter, well-known investor John Pfeffer

wrote an op-ed piece sometime back in which he was quoted as
saying:

“… the potential value of a winning monetary store

of value protocol can be measured in relation to the
total value of gold bullion and foreign reserves,
suggesting a potential value in the USD 4.7–14.6
trillion range. If Bitcoin were to become that
monetary store of value (and it currently appears to
be the strongest contender by some margin), it could
be worth USD 260,000–800,000 per BTC, i.e., 20–60x
its current value. If one places a higher than ~5%
chance of Bitcoin succeeding in this way, it is a
rational and attractive investment for a long-term
investor before considering other potential upsides
stemming from payments and unit of account
utility.”

While the aforementioned quote was written at a time when the

price of a single Bitcoin was hovering near the 20k mark, if for
example, Bitcoin does indeed become a mainstream store of value,
it would not be surprising to see the value of the asset surge
anywhere between 70–230 times. Thus, for an asset with such a
crazy financial upside, how much should a person ideally invest in
such a commodity is entirely up to them. Pfeffer points out in his
paper that if BTC has more than a 1.4% chance of becoming a long
term SOV, one should go straight ahead and invest a portion of their
portfolio in the premier crypto offering.

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masterthecrypto.com
HOW BITCOIN'S VALUE WORKS: THE
ECONOMIC FACTORS

Since its inception, predicting the future of Bitcoin has been a

daunting task for traders and economists all over the world. Despite
people coming up with a variety of unique analytical techniques to
accurately assess the financial future of the flagship cryptocoin,
Bitcoin’s position as an investment vehicle has remained quite
controversial, to say the least.

In this section, we take an in-depth look at the various fundamental

factors that play a large role when it comes to determining the price
of BTC as well as learn certain methods that can help investors have
an upper hand when investing big in crypto. Additionally, we will
also look at the core concepts of crypto economics and the brief
history of what has impacted the behavior of Bitcoin over the past
decade or so.

WHY IS BITCOIN SO VOLATILE?

Anytime a conversation regarding Bitcoin pops up, we often see the

term volatility popping up more than usual. From a purely technical
standpoint, we can see that economic volatility measures the
“intensity of changes in security over a given period of time”. In
layman's terms, the more volatile a particular asset is, the more
rapidly its price will change over a certain period of time. To further
elaborate on this point, we can see that on the 15th of November
last year, the price of a single Bitcoin lay around the $6,300 mark,
however, within just 10 days, the asset’s value dropped by nearly

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40% (to around $3,700). Such a dip for a traditional asset would be
considered a crash but in BTC’s case, the swing was viewed as
nothing out of the ordinary.

Also, it is important to remember that while people tend to correlate

the volatility of an asset with a corresponding level of risk associated
with it, this line of thinking is a bit incomplete since it only focuses
on the negative aspects of volatility. And even though by owning a
relatively large amount of a highly volatile security, an individual
might be exposing him/herself to huge monetary swings. We need
to understand that crypto purchases should be thought of as long
term investments and thus temporary ups and downs are part and
parcel of the game.

Another way of looking at the situation could be that by owning a

volatile security offering, one has the potential to yield massive
rewards (given that a trader can accurately read events surrounding
a particular market.)

Over the past decade, Bitcoin has exhibited signs of high volatility,
as a result of which the asset’s value has mostly been based on
speculation surrounding its immense future potential. However,
now that we have a 10-year tx history to work with, we can see that
the many BTC oscillations that we witnessed (in the past) make
more sense as we start to analyze all the events that have directly
impacted the currency in the past.

SOME HISTORICAL EVENTS SURROUNDING

BITCOIN

To gain a better understanding of what makes Bitcoin tick, it can be

useful for us to look at a brief history of the premier crypto asset.

BTC came into existence in 2009, a time when the value of a single
coin lay around the $0.0001 mark. Since then, the cryptocoin has
seen insane high’s — with its price even breaching the $20,000
threshold — thereby making it the best performing financial asset of
the past decade. However, the first time BTC started to draw a lot
of mainstream attention was back in 2013, when the Cyprus

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banking crisis had just ended. During the same year, some Chinese
investors put in a lot of money into the offering, thereby forcing its
value to rise by over 1000%. This golden run did not last long
because a few months later, the world bore witness to the Mt. Gox
hacking scandal — an event that saw third party miscreants make
their way with a huge sum of stolen BTC (touted to be worth
hundreds of millions of dollars).

To put things into perspective, back in 2013, Mt Gox was

responsible for facilitating about 70% of the world’s Bitcoin trades
and as a result of the hack, the entire crypto market was hit hard —
with the total market cap of this space dropping by over 40%.
Following this rollercoaster ride, the market stayed cold for a few
years before steadily starting its financial ascent once again. By the
end of next year, not only was the crypto market experiencing
unparalleled levels of investor interest, even other associated
products such as ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) started to gain a lot of
momentum. Things were so crazy for a little bit that even blockchain
startups that had no experience were able to raise millions of dollars
within a matter of days.

As the market started to gain more and more hype, some of the
scalability issues surrounding BTC started to become increasingly
prominent. For example, people had to start paying increased
transaction fees as well as face insane wait times. These factors
eventually led to the downfall of the asset, causing Bitcoin to
plummet from a price point of just under $20,000 to just over
$3,400 within a timeframe of just16 months. If that wasn’t enough,
ICOs too witnessed a steep decline in their popularity levels — with
the fundraising method essentially disappearing from the face of
this planet within a few years.

The point of learning about these key events is to understand the

long term trends associated with BTC and how certain factors can
be used to gain leverage within this burgeoning market sector.

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 THE MECHANICS OF IT ALL

It is important to understand that volatility and other such events

related to Bitcoin should be viewed as indirect influences rather
than the currency’s core defining features. To expound further on
the subject, we can see that the true mechanisms which determine
the value of BTC are very rarely talked about by a vast majority of
all mainstream media outlets.

At the very crux of things, BTC can be thought of as a direct

benefactor of the supply/demand model — a fundamental principle
of economics which clearly states that the value of a good is directly
correlated to two of its core properties:

• The amount of commodity that exists in circulation.

• Demand for that particular commodity

So, when the demand for a particular asset is greater than its market
supply, its price starts to witness an upswing. Conversely, when the
supply is more than the existing demand, the price of the asset starts
to go down. For visualization purposes, we can consider the
following example.

Say the production of apples was to drop by over 50% overnight,

this would have a major impact on the price of the fruit — i.e. the
value of a single apple would shoot up considerably. Not only that,
as the price of apples continues to increase, the number of people
who can afford the fruit will continue to drop. This same analogy
can also be used in the case of Bitcoin.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND: BITCOIN

As mentioned in the previous section, the aforementioned supply-

demand framework is used pretty much across every service sector
in existence today. But in the case of Bitcoin, we need to understand
that there are two different currencies involved — i.e. BTC vs USD.
To further elaborate on the matter, we can see that on one side we
have individuals who are trying to offload their BTC in return for US
Dollars while on the other side we have people who are trying to

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acquire the premier crypto coin using their USD. Also, the dollar
amount at which buyers and sellers agree to facilitate their deals
determine the price of Bitcoin at any given time.

What all of this essentially means is that the “volume of sell orders
relative to buy orders” is what helps drive the value of BTC on a day
to day basis. So if the sell volume is more, there will be an increase
in supply — which, in turn, will result in a price decrease if demand
remains steady. Similarly, an increasing number of buy orders (while
sell orders remain constant) results in the price of BTC going up.

Therefore, for an individual to accurately predict the future value of

BTC, he/she will need to know all of the various factors influencing
the supply/demand ratio of the flagship crypto asset — a task which
is almost impossible in real life. However, there are still many drivers
that investors can constantly keep a tab on to understand BTCs
supply/demand chain more clearly.

WHAT DRIVES THE DEMAND FOR BITCOIN IN

TODAY'S MARKET?

Some of the key factors which determine the demand for BTC as
well as other altcoins in the market include:

• The price of complementary goods such as fiat currencies,

precious metals, and digital currencies.
• The purchasing power (as well as median income) of
consumers operating within a particular market segment.
• The subjective expectations of people looking to buy
Bitcoin — which is determined by the speculation
surrounding Bitcoin’s future.
• The flexibility of supply chain delivery — i.e. how quickly
BTCs supply ratio can change.
• The currency’s market utility and requirement.

As a general rule of thumb, demand curves tend to have a negative

slope, which means that the more a particular commodity is priced
at, the less demand it will intrinsically have. One can also see that in
most cases, the correlation between quantity and price is inverse.

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Lastly, financial assets for which the demand function is positive are
referred to as Giffen goods. And while casual readers might
categorize BTC as one of these goods — mainly because the demand
for BTC can increase as the price of the asset goes up (as was seen
during the 2017 market surge) — the fact of the matter is, BTCs total
supply and its actual available supply are two different things
altogether.

SCARCITY

As we have already pointed out earlier, Bitcoin’s total token supply

(at any given time) is a matter of public knowledge — which basically
means that anybody can access the BTC ecosystem to see how
many tokens are in circulation. Not only that, in all, there can only
ever exist a total of 21 million coins, as a result of which Bitcoin has
unforgeable scarcity.

• While governments all over the world have the power to

increase their fiat supply (as and when they see fit), no such
thing can be done when it comes to Bitcoin.
• The total number of tokens has been predetermined in the
Bitcoin protocol and thus there is no possibility of this
figure being altered in the future.
• The total number of new coins being added to the BTC
supply chain can be predicted quite accurately by anyone.
• The reason why Bitcoin’s price is so volatile is because its
supply can’t be adjusted as per market demand — as a
result of this, shifts in demand tend to show up as
variations in price.

BTC SUPPLY: HOW IT AFFECTS THE CURRENCY’S

PRICE

When talking about Bitcoin’s available supply, we are referring to

the volume of BTC that people are willing to offload at any given
price. Thus, a clear distinction needs to be made here between the
currency’s available and circulating supply — with the latter basically
referring to the amount of BTC that has already been mined but is
not available for commercial purchase.

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From a mathematical standpoint, we can make sense of the entire
situation by looking at the following equation:

Available supply = Circulating supply – BTC that are being held or

are lost

In short, the core factors that drive the price of Bitcoin are it’s
bought and sold volume — i.e. if the sell volume exceeds the buy
volume at a particular price point, the value of BTC is bound to drop.
In the same vein, if the currency’s buy volume exceeds its sell
volume, it’s value will shoot up.

SPECULATIVE AND INTRINSIC VALUE: WHAT’S THE

LINK HERE?

The intrinsic value of an asset is essentially its true financial worth

(as attributed by the market). It is determined by several factors such
as its cost of production, market utility and functions, and scarcity.
For example, in the case of fiat, their value is directly related to the
social contracts they possess. However, in the case of BTC, the
currency is not affiliated with any government entity and thus many
people seem to keep harping on the same question again and again:
“Does Bitcoin have any real, intrinsic value as a currency?”.

For any currency to have intrinsic worth, we need to assess whether

it fulfills the following three functions:

• Does it serve as a legitimate medium of exchange?

• Can it be used as a store of value?
• Can the currency be used as a unit of measurement?

With this information in mind, let us try and see if Bitcoin fits the
aforementioned criterion:

• Bitcoin as a means of exchange: As things stand, there are

currently many retailers/merchants across the globe that
accept payments/remunerations in the form of Bitcoin and
other similar cryptocurrencies. And while the scalability
aspect of BTC is still a little questionable, several

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 developers are working to create solutions that will help
rectify this problem. For example, Schnoor signatures are
designed to allow for multiple transactions to be grouped
and processed as a single tx — thereby allowing for more
efficient value exchanges.
• Bitcoin as a long-term SOV: A lot of people tend to
highlight BTCs volatility as a major deterrent when it comes
to its use as a store of value. However, because the premier
alt-asset makes use of a decentralized framework that is
not controlled by anybody, it serves as an attractive option
for any person looking to transfer their wealth
internationally.
• Bitcoin as a unit of measurement: For an asset to serve as a
unit of measurement, it needs to be stable. This is the only
feature that BTC does not satisfy in its entirety.

Additionally, the strength of a financial commodity keeps on

increasing as the number of people using the asset goes up. In the
same breath, the strength of an SOV rises as more and more people
start to trust that commodity. Lastly, as with any new currency, the
people who enter the market first are usually the ones who can
gather the maximum amount of profit. Thus, for people who believe
Bitcoin is destined for big things in the coming few years, it would
not be a bad move to invest some of your savings in the premier
crypto offering.

Now that we have revisited a trip down memory lane on all of the
historical bitcoin talking points, let's talk about the biggest future
catalyst to help drive Bitcoin's value to all time highs.

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HOW THE BITCOIN HALVING WORKS

May 2020 is the estimated timeframe for the bitcoin mining block
rewards to split in half. Let's review how bitcoin works and the BTC
halving phenomena.

BITCOIN MINING IS HALVING SOON, HERE'S WHY

IT MATTERS

The best kinds of events happen every four years, it seems. We need
only look at the sports world to get some testaments to that effect.
The World Cup taking place every four years, same with the
Olympic Games.

For the blockchain world behind Bitcoin – its supporters have

something to look forward to – which is the halving block rewards
for miners. This won't be the first time that this has happened; block
rewards depreciated for the first time back in late 2012, having
dropped from 50 to 25, and then again to 12.5 Bitcoin in 2016. The
third halving event will be taking place on or roughly around May
20th, 2020.

This event will see the block rewards halved once again from 12.5
to 6.25 BTC.

It remains to be seen whether it was by pure coincidence, or a pre-

meditated design choice, but the last two price cycles have been
oriented around the halving of block rewards. So to better
understand what we have in store for us, it's important to take a

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look back at the last two halvings and the kind of impact they both
had on the metrics of supply, demand and price of Bitcoin.

The goal of this is to formulate a more empirical explanation for the

kind of price cycles that we've previously seen with price cycles.
Inevitably, the aim is to offer some insight for investors curious
about what's going to be happening in the foreseeable future.

FIRST UP: THE FIRST HALVING OF 2012 AND THE

ASSOCIATED RETAIL CYCLE

So why is it that it gets the nickname ‘retail cycle'? It's mainly

because at this time, Bitcoin was still on the veritable fringes of the
investment market, managing to obtain its first inches of traction
through its adoption from technologists and retail investors. It's at
the beginning of this cycle that the entire economy behind Bitcoin
remained relatively minuscule in the minds of any investor: and
hardly one they would consider as an investment opportunity.

In addition to this, before the beginning of the first halving in this

price cycle kicked off, the prior cycle ended with the overall price
for Bitcoin slumping by well over 90 percent: plummeting from 31
dollars to hit just 2 – all in the space of 5 months during 2011.

Fortunately, Bitcoin's price managed to get back on track in

November of the same year up to the first halving during November
2012, and continued to rise significantly over 2013 to hit a record
high of more than $1,200.

If we take a look at some of the candlestick metrics from 2012 to

November 2013 – we can see a pretty impressive symmetrical
pattern to Bitcoin's performance.

One of the reasons that we see this otherwise impressive surge in

the price happen is thanks to the halving which occurred shortly
before – with Bitcoin surging up to 13 dollars just before the halving
took place, and started reaching startling highs of $1,200
afterwards.

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To put this into perspective, the kind of appreciation that Bitcoin
endured from late 2011 to 2013 was akin to increasing 350 to 400
times, depending on the price and liquidity you look at. Any
multiplying of this value came predominantly after the halving as we
can see.

While this made for a pleasant surprise for investors and

technologists that newly enfranchised themselves. The rally was
followed by a pretty steep recession which lasted for more than 14
months. This saw the underlying price of Bitcoin fall by more than
80 percent, before hitting strong lower supports at 200 dollars.
From there Bitcoin's price managed to consolidate around the 200-
300 mark through the next 10 months.

THE VENTURE CYCLE: BITCOIN'S SECOND HALVING

This is where Bitcoin becomes a lot more interesting to the world

that previously shrugged it off during its last cycle. Hence why we
ought to refer to this one as the venture cycle, predominatly
because a number of venture capital firms along . with hedge fund
got a first look at the meteoric first cycle that Bitcoin enjoyed.

This resulted in them really buying into the concept of digitalized /

decentralized money the Bitcoin espoused. Meaning that far more
speculative investors started entering the market during this cycle.

In addition to these individual investors, a good number of crypto-

related hedge funds were established and started doing business;
and while a good number of these would prosper over this cycle, a
large number of them were unable to survive the crash that followed
shortly thereafter. Even with the crash, there were more than 150
that continued on to the next cycle at least.

It's over this cycle that Bitcoin managed to substantially rise from
the beginning of November 2015 when the second halving price
cycle got started. It's during this span of 8 months that this rally
continued well ahead of the July 2016, when the halving would take
place.

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This same cycle and surge continued on for a span of 24 months,
much akin to the previous cycle, until Bitcoin managed to reach its
all time record high of more than $19,892 in December 2017 (Price
Source: Coinbase)

The lion's share of this appreciation, even with the rally before July
2016, came after the halving event. Ahead of this, Bitcoin only
managed to reach $650, before managing to go parabolic to
$19,000 and beyond.

Once again, Bitcoin's valuation increased only threefold before the

halving took place, with the majority being after.

As many of us know by now, this meteoric upward surge was

followed swiftly by a year long recession for Bitcoin. This saw its
price plummet by more than 80 percent, before hitting a stong lower
support of $3,000. Over the next four months, Bitcoin's price
consolidated around the $3,000-$4,000 range.

THE INSTITUTIONAL CYCLE: THE THIRD HALVING

PHASE

Bitcoin's price managed to bravely continue trading upwards, hitting

its upper supports of $5,000 back in April 2019, and has since
pushed beyond this to reach over $9,000 and peaks of over $10,000
in what can almost be described as the beginning of a brand new
halving cycle.

One of the things that makes this (most recent) cycle so unique is
the kind of relationship it has with institutional investors compared
to previous ones. In prior investment cycles, not a single major name
participated in them – until this one. Some of the big examples of
this dramatic shift come from businesses like Fidelity, which will be
coming out with its own crypto trading solution in the future.

JP Morgan, and its CEO, Jamie Dimon have also been subjected to
a pretty interesting ‘about face' on the prospect of involvement with
cryptocurrencies. Dimon himself made sure that no-one was unsure
of his position regarding Bitcoin in 2017-18, calling it a fraud on a

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number of occasions. Since then, JP Morgan has begun running tests
of its own crypto known as JPM Coin

The likes of Facebook, Google and Twitter also having imposed bans
on the advertisement of cryptocurrencies in 2017/18 have made
pivots of their own. None more than Facebook which has been
planning (and struggling) its own stablecoin solution – Libra – in
conjunction with a substantial amount of globe-trotting institutions.

While the solutions brought forward by both JPM and Libra don't
directly support Bitcoin. They represent a change in the proverbial
winds for investment for cryptocurrencies that were previously at
the very edge of the investment fringe just years before.

With this new pool of institutional investors and regulators comes

an increasing degree of skepticism when it comes to the wide array
of projects, cryptos and businesses out there looking for investment.
These same investors are likely taking time to consider whether they
should be supporting/investing in a decentralized or distributed
currency like Bitcoin, or submit the control of currency to major
corporations and financial institutions.

THE MINING HALVING CYCLES: THE SHAPE OF

HALVING CYCLES

Here are some of the major findings that we've managed to see from
the previous cycles.

First Halving: (28th November, 2012)

Price rally: Increased four-fold before halving before increasing in

value by 350-400X

Rally Duration: 12 month rally before halving and increased

valuations 12 months after (24 months)

Post Rally Decline: – Yes, Bitcoin declined by 0.83 times its value
before accumulating at around 200-300 dollars for around 10
months afterwards.

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Second Halving: (9th July, 2016)

Price Rally: Bitcoin managed to increase in value three-fold before

the halving took place. After this, Bitcoin's value increased by more
than 90 times.

Rally Duration: Appreciation began roughly 9 months before the

halving took place. Once the halving happened, price appreciation
increased for 16 months after.

Post Rally Decline: – Yes, Bitcoin slumped over a span of 12

months, shrugging off 0.84 times its value before consolidating at a
strong range of around 3 to 4,000 dollars; more than 10 times its
previous accumulation/lower support threshold.

Third Halving: (Estimated to take place around 20th May, 2020)

While a certain amount of this remains theorizing, we are currently

seeing an impressive rally over the course of 13 months; managing
to push above its previous lower supports of 3-4,000, hitting upper
supports of nearly $10,000.

There are some pretty interesting numbers and recurring patterns

from the halving cycles that we've seen so far. But there's one
question that remains the most outstanding of them all. And that's
why the vast majority of the rally happened after the halving took
place as opposed to before?

These occurances are not spontaneous; they're well known and

considered deeply by members of the Bitcoin community. As a
result, markets are quick to anticipate the kind of impact that it will
have on supply and demand. But with that said, you would think that
Bitcoin and its associated markets could then consolidate long
before the halving; rendering its impact a lot more muted.

One of the more obvious answers to the above-mentioned

questions would, however, be that with a cut to block rewards,
investors would see this as a critical buy time. With Bitcoin being

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injected into the ecosystem at a reduced pace, this could cause
reactionary buying? But it's worth digging into this a little bit more.

SUPPLY AND MINER REVENUES

The price of any asset, regardless of what kind of market they're

situated in, will always inevitably balance out supply and demand
after a while. As previously, and briefly discussed, one of the primary
explanations for why Bitcoin's halving results in a higher over time
is the fact that it's supply-side oriented, and hinges on miner
activities.

These miners play a major role, on account of the Proof of Work

consensus system that Bitcoin hinges on; confirming transactions
within the network. Having successfully confirmed transactions,
these miners are then rewarded with new minted Bitcoin for their
efforts.

This effectively makes them marginal suppliers that often hold or

sell off the newly minted Bitcoin that they earned, effectively adding
it to its total circulating supply. With any halving that takes place,
the amount of new Bitcoin that miners contribute to the economy
at large diminishes. As a result, users within the community will
demand a higher price for it.

This is the same kind of logic behind trading as a whole; if there's a

smaller pool of Bitcoin, buyers will shell out even more money.

One of the other components that comes into the equation of

supply that isn't the subject of much discussion. These same miners
actually provide two kinds of revenue – the new bitcoin that they
‘mine' along with the fees of any transactions that they confirm.

The latter is actually more interesting to discuss – especially

considering the fact that once all 21 million Bitcoin have been mined
and added into circulation, transaction fees will be the only source
of revenue for these miners.

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While these transaction fees originate from peer to peer
transactions in the existing BTC supply, there's really no difference
in the perspective of miners as a source of revenue. Miners are just
as likely to sell any Bitcoin that they obtain in order to cover the
expenses they accrue over time, such as staffing (if they're big
enough), electricity, hardware, etc.

One of the equations that can help to get to the bottom of the
matter of marginal supply is likely the following:

Marginal Supply = Miner Revenue = Bitcoin Mined + Transaction Fees

THE DAILY AMOUNT OF BITCOIN MINED

Before the first halving event, there was a daily mining volume of
more than 7,500 Bitcoin being mined on a daily basis and added into
the total circulating supply. Once the first halving occurred, this
decreased to around 4,000 in the same duration. With the having of
2016, this same daily amount decreased to 1,900-2,000. With the
next halving, this will depreciate to roughly 1,000 Bitcoin per day.

If we look at the same in terms of US Dollars, and we see a very

different kind of pattern and picture. When the first halving took
place, the price of Bitcoin was roughly $13, with the daily supply
reduced to 4,000 BTC. In Dollars, this equated to a reduction in the
supply worth $52,000.

When the second halving took place, the price of Bitcoin was $650
when it happened. Meaning that the supply fell by more than 2,000
BTC (1.3 million dollars).

So hypothetically, if Bitcoin's price remains relatively static up to the

beginning of the next halving, meaning that it hangs around the
$10,000 mark. At that kind of price, the reduction in daily supply
hits 1,000 BTC, which amounts to $10 million

With these kinds of numbers, that's a reduced supply with a price

tag of roughly $300 million. And over the span of a year, that's more
than 3.6 billion dollars.

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 REDUCTION IN BITCOIN LIQUIDITY WITH HALVING

This overall drop in marginal supply has a knock on effect to the

underlying liquidity. But how do you actually go about measure it?
The best way is through an inflation rate for Bitcoin, which directly
compares the newly included supply with the total circulating
supply, but still doesn't offer a meaningful metric.

This is mainly because a large section of the Bitcoin supply is not

technically liquid – they have held in a number if investors wallets
for months, even years.

One of the other kinds of metrics we could use is a comparison of

the reduced liquidity due to any of these halvings with the daily
exchange trading value. Sadly, the trading volume that is reported
by cryptocurrency exchanges tend to fluctuate depending on the
exchange you're using as a reference point. Meaning that they're
not inherently reliable.

One of the studies Bitwise provided for the US Securities and

Exchange Commission demonstrated that a staggering 95 percent
of the trading volume on exchanges should be treated as suspicious
to a certain extent.

With reference to metrics from CoinMarketCap, more than 2 million

Bitcoin-related trades on crypto exchanges take place on a daily
basis. With the current block reward rates that miners enjoy, the
equates to 2,000 BTC being added to the liquid supply of Bitcoin
every day. Taking this to over spans of time – that's 60,000 new
Bitcoin entering into liquid supply monthly, and nearly three-
quarters of a million every year.

What this also means is that the market has all the capability to
absorb over 2.75 million BTC into its annual liquid supply. With the
halving of these block rewards next year, and the reduction of this
circulating supply to 1,000 BTC being mined daily, this would lower
the supply to 2.365 million. Roughly, this equates to a 13 percent
reduction in annual liquid supply.

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Conversely speaking, if we are to regard the reports that 95 percent
of reported trading volume is suspicious, then this actual volume
would be a lot closer to 100,000. And with the next halving, this
would cut down the annual supply from 830,000 to just about
465,000; meaning an annual reduction of 44 percent in the liquid
supply.

TRANSACTION FEES AND ITS IMPACT ON

MARGINAL SUPPLY

Let's go onto talk about the second element of miner revenue. Ever
since 2015, Bitcoin's accompanying network has been responsible
for the processing of more than 100,000 transactions on a daily
basis. The network managed to hit an all time high of roughly
500,000 transactions back in December 2017. The transaction
volume fell significantly after this peak was reached, before rising
steadily once again over the course of both 2018 and 2019.

Bar the 12 month span between 2017 and 2018 when transaction
fees exploded over this same time, the underlying chart
demonstrates the kind of daily transaction fees have stayed below
200 BTC fortunately. Over the course of 2019, daily transaction
fees have averaged at around 70 Bitcoin.

We can theorize that transaction fees also represent a pretty strong

correlation when compared to bitcoin's price whenever it rallies –
these transaction fees (when measured in BTC terms) have managed
to increase with the price of Bitcoin.

When comparing the amount of Bitcoin mined along with the

transaction fees allows us to get a better understanding of miner
revenue, along with the daily marginal supply they introduce to the
community.

Any new bitcoin that's mined has been the primary source of
revenue for miners historically speaking. Even now, transaction fees
that come from an average transaction volume of 70 BTC per day
are still virtual small potatoes compared to the 2,000 new Bitcoin
that's mined on a daily basis.

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On the other hand, as we begin to see an upward trend in the
number of transactions, and block rewards continue to undergo
halving, only a few years separate the time when miners will come
to think of these transaction fees as their prime source of revenue.

PRICE, SUPPLY AND DEMAND

We have already managed to dig into the field of supply to an

extensive degree. Now we'll go ahead and do the same with
demand.

Bitcoin, as it's commonly known as being, is the most popular

iteration of a digital, decentralized, monetary network. Unlike any
other kind of social network out there that operates with indirect
sources of revenue (the most common of which being advertising) –
Bitcoin actually has a direct relationship with its miners.

The number of users in the Bitcoin network can be calculated easily

by looking at the total number being activated (which rose to more
than 40 million with break-neck speed), with a further 8 million users
being added in this part of 2019 alone. The network has exploded
dramatically since it was first introduced.

According to Metcalfe's law – the value of a network is actually

proportional to the square of its nodes.

Considering the fact that there is a limited supply of these coins, it's
pretty straightforward to see that Bitcoin's price will continue to rise
with relativity to the growth of the network as a whole.

Any kind of asset that has a stable price clearly demonstrates that it
has utility as a medium of exchange and more. But with the
increasing price of a scarce asset, we see a respective increase in
investor interest in it as a store of value. And this is exactly what
leads to demand for it exploding.

There has since been more evidence on the influence of demand on

a price, with correlations being seen in a correlative fashion with
increases to blockchain activity. Transaction activities on Bitcoin

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always undergo patterns of ebbing and flowing in correlation with
price.

It's worth noting that we are looking at the number of transactions,

and not the underlying dollar value of these same transactions.

2020 BITCOIN MINING HALVING

EXPLANATION RECAP
So, let's go ahead and use the kind of evidence that we've accrued
so far in order to formulate some kind of explanation for these kinds
of price cycles.

Considering the growing narrative of Bitcoin as some kind of Digital

Gold has gained an increasing amount of momentum, the demand
for Bitcoin has risen unsurprisingly. This is demonstrable from the
increasing number of digital and physical wallets, transactions,
searches as well as media coverage on a broader basis.

According to some of the halvings that we've seen from the Bitcoin
community, these cycles have undergone the following phases.

• Pre-halving – The halving event results in an understandable

reduction in the liquid supply of Bitcoin (this is still hard to
measure due to the trading data being broadly unreliable).
Bitcoin price ends up undergoing a sustained rally in
anticipation of the halving event.
• After Halving – This increase in the price of Bitcoin attracts
an increasing demand from investors of all kinds including
VCs, institutional buyers, hedge funds, etc. This increased
demand exceeds expectations, as the price continues to
surge upwards after the halving takes place. This increase in
demand comes from a rising price which was grossly
underestimated in prior cycles.
• Pricing Bubble – This increase in prices fosters a broader
Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) among buyers and attracts a
higher volume of speculation among investors. A bubble
forms around the value as they hit record highs. These

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 speculative prices cross the threshold between the stable
and unsustainable, with the bubble inevitably bursting.
• The Crash – This price crash results in a respective reduction
in investment demand, much in the same was rising prices
lead to a respective increase in demand, with a number of
investors leaving the pool.
• A New Base – Bitcoin manages to find a stable price point,
consolidate and find equilibrium at the price of this marginal
supply. It then forms a brand new base that is otherwise
higher than the previous cycle base.
• And Back to Stage One

It remains important to clarify here that this kind of logic hinges on

the overt demand that is conjured up by Bitcoin as a kind of Digital
Gold in the mind of investors, as well as its already known position
as the first crypto asset.

One of the points of contrast to consider is the function of Litecoin,

which is a hard fork derivative of Bitcoin. Its own kind of halving is
pretty interesting to keep an eye on as it lacks a generally strong
narrative and demand, especially in comparison to Bitcoin. As a
result of this, Litecoins cycles have not followed the same kind of
pattern.

Markets are highly febrile, volatile and yet, highly intelligent things
– they learn and evolve – with these two cycles, there are subtle
differences between the two. The next halving cycle will be
interesting to keep an eye on.

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THE ONGOING REVOLUTION OF
BITCOIN

Since the dawn of time, money has been a means of exchanging

items and goods of value for a standardized amount in which two or
more individuals agree upon. And for the last two decades, digital
ecommerce's pipedream reality could phase and upgrade into a new
existence of virtual commerce. With just one whitepaper, one piece
of software and the world to use – in just one decade Bitcoin
changed the game and will continue changing the monetary
standard. Programmable money is the next wave in the fight for the
future of finance.

This resourceful guide on Bitcoin was created to help you master

the crypto ₿eginnings of bitcoin. From learning what bitcoin is and
its economically-valued cryptoasset-nature, to tips on buying
bitcoin to how the price of bitcoin works, the goal if giving a non-
gawdy genuine guidepost of the gusto behind bitcoin's glow was
started here. Learning about the historical bitcoin price timeline of
events and forecasting compounding catalysts of bitcoin's growth
were the cherries on top, as any and all bitcoin price predictions may
be hard to fathom but the cryptocurrency phenomenon is amongst
us all and the world is watching the ways of Bitcoin.

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 CHAPTER 2
BITCOIN PRICE
BTC/USD EXCHANGE RATE VALUE GUIDE

The most asked question in today's cryptocurrency ecosystem

is: what is the price of Bitcoin.

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WHAT DOES BITCOIN (BTC) PRICE’S
USD EXCHANGE RATE MEAN?
some people may not fully understand how exchange rates work.
Today, we’re explaining everything you need to know about how
bitcoin exchange rates work and how the price of bitcoin is
determined. The bitcoin network has been running for nearly 4,000
days (December 17, 2019 to be exact) since the open-source peer
to peer BTC blockchain software began.

A decade ago, one bitcoin was worth less than a penny. Today, one
bitcoin is worth around $10,000 and has an all time high of just
under $19,900 BTC/USD. Clearly, bitcoin’s exchange rate has
fluctuated wildly over the years as the volatility has even saw not
one, not two, but three different 80% drawbacks down from
previous chart highs. The most demanding questions we will supply
answers to are the following:

• How is an exchange rate like BTC/USD calculated?

• What types of factors go into the exchange rate?
• Why do exchange rates change?
• What causes bitcoin’s exchange rate to fluctuate wildly
with volatility?
• What determines if bitcoin’s exchange rate goes up or
down?
• Who sets bitcoin’s exchange rate and its USD calculation?
• Why are some fiat currency exchange rates fixed while
others are floating?
• What was the past history price of bitcoin from 2009 to
2019?
• What are the bitcoin exchange rate value gains and losses
month by month, year by year?
• What are the most common questions about the price of
bitcoin measured in USD value?

We hope the cryptocurrency community is ready for this one-of-a-

kind bitcoin price guide.

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 WHAT IS AN EXCHANGE RATE? HOW DO BTC IN
USD EXCHANGE VALUES WORK?

Whether we’re talking about cryptocurrency exchange rates or fiat

currency exchange rates, exchange rates all work in pretty much the
same way.

An exchange rate is simply a way of expressing one currency’s value

to another. It tells you how much your currency is worth in a foreign
currency.

The current exchange rate between the United States Dollar (USD)
and the Canadian Dollar (CAD), for example, is approximately $1
USD = $1.30 CAD. That means your 1 USD is equivalent to $1.30
CAD.

You can also express exchange rates the opposite way. You can say
$1 CAD = $0.76 USD. If you are exchanging CAD for USD, then you
will need to pay $1 CAD to receive $0.76 USD in return.

As of November 2019, the exchange rate between bitcoin and the

USD is roughly 1 BTC = $9,400 USD.

To help you understand exchange rates, it may help to think of an

exchange rate as the price you need to pay in your currency to

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purchase another currency. If the BTC/USD exchange rate is
10,000.00, for example, then it means it costs $10,000 USD to buy
1 BTC. The exchange rate always shows how much of the second
currency (USD) you need to purchase one unit of the first currency
(BTC).

HOW EXCHANGE RATE PAIRS WORK

Sometimes, we also see exchange rates expressed as a pair. A

currency pair is a price quote of the exchange rate for two different
currencies traded in foreign exchange (forex) or cryptocurrency
markets.

When an order is placed for a currency pair, the first listed currency
or base currency is bought, while the second listed currency in the
pair – the quote currency – is sold.

The EUR/USD currency pair is the most liquid currency pair in the
world. With this pair, one party is selling EUR for USD, while the
other party is buying EUR for USD.

Sometimes, currency pairs will be expressed like this: EUR/USD =

1.200. This means that you can sell the first currency (EUR) to
receive the second currency (USD) in the listed amount. You can sell
1 EUR for $1.2 USD.

There are as many currency pairs as there are currencies in the

world. From major currency pairs like the USD and JPY to smaller
currency pairs like the North Macedonian Denar (MKD) and

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Albanian Lek (ALL), there’s no limit to the number of currencies you
can buy and sell today.

WHERE DO EXCHANGE RATES COME FROM?

Most foreign currencies and cryptocurrencies are traded 24 hours a

day, 7 days a week. Over $5 trillion of fiat currency changes hands
every day worldwide.

We look at these transactions to determine the current exchange

rate. How much did someone just pay to buy the USD with BTC?
How much did someone pay in CAD to buy USD?

With all currencies, prices change constantly. Mexican Pesos are

being constantly traded with US Dollars, for example. Euros are
being constantly exchanged for Russian Rubles. These currency
transactions occur constantly, and these transactions determine the
exchange rate.

FIXED VERSUS FLOATING EXCHANGE RATES

Most major world currencies use a floating exchange rate. The

exchange rate changes at any time due to supply and demand. Some
countries, however, use fixed exchange rates. The exchange rates
of these currencies cannot change. The rate is fixed or pegged to
something.

Under a floating exchange rate, a limitless number of factors can

influence exchange rates. When the United Kingdom voted to leave
the European Union, for example, the value of the British Pound

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(GBP) fell relative to the Euro, US Dollar, and other major world
currencies.

Exchange rates can be influenced by countless factors, which is why

most exchange rates fluctuate throughout the day.

Certain countries, however, do not have floating exchange rates.

They have fixed exchange rates. These countries will peg their
currency to the US Dollar or a similarly stable currency, then
maintain those rates over a long period of time.

The Saudi Arabian Riyal, for example, has a fixed exchange rate. It
only changes in value when the government decides to change its
value.

China, meanwhile, had a similar system for a long time with the
Yuan. The value of the Yuan was kept artificially low against the US
Dollar to make Chinese goods more attractive for exporters. Today,
China has moved away from this system, although the Yuan is still
not allowed to fully float. Instead, the Yuan is allowed to move
within a small band.

DO GOVERNMENTS OR CENTRAL BANKS CONTROL

EXCHANGE RATES?

Most major countries today use flexible or floating exchange rates.

The United States government, for example, cannot directly change
the exchange rate of the USD with other fiat currencies. The
exchange rate floats on purpose.

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Most central banks don’t directly change exchange rates. However,
central banks may issue policies to indirectly impact exchange rates
over the long term.

Central banks can adjust interest rates and impact inflation, for
example, both of which can affect the exchange value of a currency
against global currencies.

SOME GOVERNMENTS DO DIRECTLY CONTROL

EXCHANGE RATES

Most national governments do not directly interfere with exchange

rates. However, governments in certain countries do directly impact
exchange rates.

The Saudi Arabian Riyal, for example, rarely fluctuates against global
currencies because the Saudi government uses a fixed exchange
rate. This exchange rate only changes when the government decides
to change it.

The Chinese Yuan, meanwhile, had a fixed exchange rate for

decades, although the Chinese government is now transitioning to
a flexible exchange rate. Today, the Yuan’s exchange rate changes
less frequently than currencies with a flexible exchange rate, but it
changes more frequently than currencies with a fixed exchange rate.

When a government maintains a fixed exchange rate, that exchange

rate is usually pegged to the US Dollar. Some countries – like
Singapore, for example – peg the value of their currency to a basket

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of assets, including the US Dollar and other major currencies or
global assets.

WHAT AFFECTS A CURRENCY’S EXCHANGE RATE?

All currency exchange rates are influenced by supply and demand –

including the exchange rate for bitcoin, the US Dollar, and other
currencies.

How much are people willing to pay for one bitcoin? How many
bitcoins are available? Based on the answers to these two questions,
the price of bitcoin will rise or fall.

Of course, supply and demand are intricately linked to thousands of

different factors.

in the traditional currency world, three factors influence the

exchange rate:

Interest Rate: Most countries have a central bank that pays an

interest rate. A higher interest rate makes the currency more
valuable because investors want to invest in that country, taking
advantage of high interest rates by switching their money to that
country’s currency. Investors will exchange their currency for the
currency that pays higher interest, then save it in that country’s bank
to take advantage of those high rates.

Money Supply: Most central banks also control the money supply.
The United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, for example,
prints 38 million notes a day with a face value of about $541 million.
When more money is printed, it weakens the value of the money in
circulation. There’s too much money chasing too few goods and
services. People who hold money will bid up the prices of goods and
services, creating inflation. If far too much money is printed, then
we see hyperinflation – like what we saw in 1920s Germany or
modern Zimbabwe.

Economic Growth and Financial Stability: A country with a strong,

growing economy will attract investors. These investors will buy the

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country’s goods and services. They need to buy the country’s
currency to do so, which causes the price of that currency to rise.
Contrarily, if the country’s economic growth and financial stability
weakens, investors will want to sell their assets, creating downward
pressure on the currency and causing prices to fall.

All three of these factors have a significant impact on fiat currency

prices. Next, we’ll take a look at how certain factors affect the price
of bitcoin.

WHAT AFFECTS CRYPTO EXCHANGE RATES?

All of the above factors play a crucial role in exchange rates in fiat
currency markets. But what about crypto markets?

In crypto markets, exchange rates are primarily governed by the

same two broad factors: supply and demand.

Supply: How many tokens are available to be purchased? How

rapidly is supply growing every year? How many tokens are locked
up? How many tokens are available through exchanges or in the
hands of the public?

Demand: How much is someone willing to pay for each token? How
badly do people want to buy a particular token? What types of
attractive features does the currency have that no other currencies
have?

When demand and supply are equal, a cryptocurrency’s value stays

equal. When demand outpaces supply, meanwhile, prices rise.

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We’ve seen this with bitcoin over the last decade: bitcoin has a fixed
supply of 21 million, with a declining number of tokens released
periodically. As demand has risen for bitcoin, and supply has stayed
the same, the price per bitcoin has inevitably risen.

Of course, supply and demand are made up of thousands of

different factors themselves.

A cryptocurrency with a strong developer community, great app

support, and lots of hype, for example, will have strong demand.
Thousands of factors can influence demand.

HOW DOES BITCOIN’S EXCHANGE RATE WORK?

Bitcoin’s exchange rate works in a different way than traditional

national currencies.

Sure, bitcoin’s exchange rate is influenced by some of the same

factors.

The money supply (or total supply) of bitcoin plays a role, for
example, as does the inflation rate (emission rate or block reward)
of bitcoin.

Unlike with national currencies, however, bitcoin’s exchange rate is

not affected by any specific national economy. A country’s central
bank cannot change its interest rate to influence the exchange rate
of bitcoin, for example. There’s no bitcoin central bank that can
choose to release more bitcoins.

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Bitcoin’s exchange rate is also not really influenced by financial
cycles. The quarterly GDP growth of a country doesn’t impact
bitcoin, nor do the natural recessionary and inflationary cycles.

Up above, we talked about how two simple factors influence every

currency exchange rate in the world: supply and demand. Just like
fiat currencies, cryptocurrency exchange rates are influenced by
thousands of subfactors that make up supply and demand.

WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE FIXED EXCHANGE

RATES? ARE THEY GOOD OR BAD?

Some believe that controlling an exchange rate is a good idea.

Clearly, it worked out well for China and Saudi Arabia over the last
few decades.

When most people hear about a fixed exchange rate, they think
about the Chinese Yuan and Saudi Arabian Riyal.

You may be surprised to learn, however, that the United States and
most major countries had a fixed exchange rate for most of the last
century.

Throughout the 1800s and 1900s, the United States gradually

accumulated most of the world’s supply of gold. The U.S.
government fixed the price of gold at $20.67 an ounce with the Gold
Standard Act of 1900.

That price would stay the same until 1934, when the Gold Reserve
Act prohibited private ownership of gold and authorized President

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt to devalue the US Dollar. Overnight, the
government increased the price of gold from $20.67 per ounce to
$35 per ounce. The dollar was devalued by 60%, although the value
of the government’s gold reserves increased in value from $.033
billion to $7.348 billion overnight.

Most other companies recognized the value of a stable currency,

and the United States was rapidly becoming a global superpower.
Thus, in 1944, most countries of the world signed the Bretton
Woods Agreement, thereby agreeing to peg their currencies to the
US Dollar.

This gold standard lasted all the way until 1971, when President
Nixon removed the US Dollar from the gold standard. From this
point forward, the US Dollar has maintained a floating or flexible
exchange rate.

PROS AND CONS OF A FIXED EXCHANGE RATE

Whether dealing with fiat currencies or cryptocurrencies, fixed

exchange rates can be good or bad. Some of the pros and cons of a
fixed exchange rate include:

PROS

Stability: The first and most important advantage of a fixed

exchange rate is that it can create stability. Investors know what a
currency is worth. They can invest in a country and know that the
investment isn’t going to wildly fluctuate because of currency
valuation.

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Smaller Countries Benefit from the Strength of Stronger
Countries: More countries peg their currency to the US Dollar than
any other currency in the world. Why? Well, the United States has
a strong and diversified economy. When the US Dollar grows, any
country that uses the US Dollar can indirectly benefit from that
growth. If your fiat currency is pegged to the US Dollar, and the US
Dollar rises in value, then your fiat currency also rises in value.

CONS

Fixed Exchange Rates Are Expensive to Maintain: Most

governments maintain a fixed exchange rate by maintaining large
foreign currency reserves. For a country as large as China, vast
foreign currency reserves are needed to keep the currency stable.
These reserves are costly to maintain.

Makes a Country a Target for Speculators: Fixing an exchange rate

can make a country a target for speculators. Speculators can short
the currency, artificially driving down the value of the currency. The
central bank must convert its foreign exchange to prop up its
currency’s value. If the central bank doesn’t have enough, then it will
have to raise interest rates, causing a recession. We saw this with
the British Pound in 1992, when George Soros kept shorting the
pound until the UK’s central bank gave up and allowed the pound to
float. We also saw it with Switzerland in 2015, when the
government released the Swiss Franc from its peg to the Euro.

Black Markets Can Subvert Fixed Exchange Rates: Governments

often try to implement a fixed exchange rate to enjoy the
advantages listed above, only to fail with the actual implementation
of that fixed exchange rate. We’ve seen this occur in Venezuela and
other countries. The government of Venezuela has officially pegged
its currency to the US Dollar to regain economic stability. However,
most citizens are privately willing to accept a much different
exchange rate through black markets. The black market exchange
rate is much different from the official exchange rate, undermining
the government’s attempt to create stability.

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 FIXED EXCHANGE RATES IN CRYPTO

We see fixed exchange rates in the crypto world. They’re most often
seen with stablecoins.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that have a deliberately stable

value. The vast majority of stablecoins on the market today are
pegged to the US Dollar. They maintain their stable value by holding
1:1 US Dollar cash reserves.

Stablecoins like the Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and Tether (USDT) work
in this way: these companies release digital tokens 1:1 with their
cash reserves. GUSD and USDT token holders can exchange these
tokens at any time for US Dollars. As long as you can exchange 1
GUSD for 1 USD, then 1 GUSD will always be worth 1 USD on the
market.

SOME COUNTRIES USE LOOSELY FIXED EXCHANGE

RATES

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Some countries have created a unique solution. They have created
loose exchange rates. These exchange rates have a certain trading
band. The exchange rate is allowed to float within this band.

The goal of a loosely fixed exchange rate is to give the currency the
adaptability of a floating exchange rate combined with the stability
of a fixed exchange rate. When properly implemented, it can work
quite well.

There are three major fiat currencies that currently use loosely fixed
exchange rates:

China: The Chinese Yuan (CNY) has a 2% trading band based around
yesterday’s midpoint. The exchange rate is allowed to float within
this band before the government takes action to stabilize the
exchange rate. The Yuan is fixed to a basket of assets (which mostly
consist of US Dollars).

Singapore: The Singapore Dollar (SGD) is managed within a trading

band to allow a slow rise in value. It’s fixed to a basket of assets.

Vietnam: The Vietnamese Dong (VND) has a 2% trading band,

although the government periodically devalues the currency beyond
this range (as occurred in December 2016). The Dong is pegged to
the US Dollar.

CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES CANNOT BE

INFLUENCED BY CENTRAL BANKS

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Central banks and other government entities have some influence
over fiat currency exchange rates. The US Federal Reserve can
adjust interest rates, for example, to indirectly impact exchange
rates.

One of the biggest advantages of cryptocurrency is that exchange

rates lie outside the domain of government decision-making.

Bitcoin is the world’s first truly global currency. It’s not tied to the
economic performance of any single country. A central bank cannot
singlehandedly impact the price of bitcoin.

If the US economy goes into a recession, then the value of the US

Dollar is expected to drop. The value of bitcoin, meanwhile, may not
change relative to other global currencies, because bitcoin isn’t just
linked to the US economy.

CRYPTO EXCHANGE RATES AREN’T IMMUNE FROM

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

Of course, even the most hardcore cryptocurrency advocates will

admit there’s a flaw with cryptocurrencies: governments can still
impact cryptocurrency exchange rates in multiple ways.

Governments Can Hold a Crypto Reserve Fund: Let’s say the

United States government wants to control the BTC/USD exchange
rate. They decide to buy 1 million BTC and hold it in a reserve fund.
If the BTC/USD exchange rate starts getting too high, the US
government sells some of this fund, creating selling pressure on
markets and causing prices to drop.

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Governments Can Ban or Restrict Crypto: The Chinese government
banned many aspects of crypto trading in 2017. This caused bitcoin
prices to plummet, although the effect was short-lived. Many people
saw this as a positive sign: even a country as large and powerful as
China cannot singlehandedly influence bitcoin’s value long-
term. However, think of what would happen if multiple countries
banned bitcoin overnight. What would happen if the EU suddenly
changed the way it treated bitcoin? What happens if the US
government decides to ban bitcoin?

Because of these two drawbacks, governments can still influence

crypto exchange rates in various ways.

Overall, however, cryptocurrency exchange rates are largely

dictated by two market forces: supply and demand. Cryptocurrency
exchange rates aren’t fixed to any specific government, nor are they
pegged to a specific value or fiat currency. This is one enormous
difference between cryptocurrency and fiat currency exchange
rates.

EXCHANGE RATES AND CONVERSION SPREADS

In cryptocurrency and fiat currency markets, there’s never just one

specific cryptocurrency exchange rate.

Sure, the BTC/USD exchange rate could be around 10,000.00, but

you’re unlikely to see that exact exchange rate from every exchange
and bank.

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When there’s a difference between exchange rates, it’s called the
conversion spread. The conversion spread is different from the
market price that a trader will get.

A bank, currency exchange, or cryptocurrency exchange will markup

the price so they make a profit. Credit cards, PayPal, and other
money services operate in the same way.

Let’s say the USD/CAD exchange rate is 1.30. You might travel to
the United States and buy a case of beer using your CAD credit card
for $10 USD. If you paid a market rate, then your total charge would
be $13 CAD. In reality, however, your credit card company will
charge an additional exchange rate of, say, 2.5%. The price you see
on your credit card will be $13.25 CAD because of this added fee.

Banks, currency exchanges, and cryptocurrency platforms charge

conversion spreads to cover their service fees. Some charge
additional fees on top of this, while others – like credit card
companies – only charge foreign exchange fees.

Next, we’ll talk about the specific factors that influence the price of
bitcoin, but first we have a very special chart to show you of the
month by month breakdown of the bitcoin price action.

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BTC PRICE CHART GAINS/LOSSES
MONTH BY MONTH, YEAR BY YEAR

Click to Enlarge: 2009-2019 Month by Month Bitcoin Price Chart Showing

Gains and Losses

Now, here is an extra sweet graphic made illustrating every month

of Bitcoin's price gains and losses, as well as a review summary of
what all of these numbers represent.

Most people look at bitcoin’s price as a continuous chart. Bitcoin is

traded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all over the world. It doesn’t
follow traditional financial market cycles. There are no quarterly
bitcoin profit reports.

However, you can still glean certain information from how bitcoin
moves in each month. Here’s a chart of bitcoin’s price movements
every month from August 2010 (the launch of the first bitcoin
exchange rate tracker) all the way to October 2019.

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The data was compiled by Cane Island Alternative Advisors, a Texas-
based crypto analysis firm, with data collected from Coinmetrics.

The chart looks like a bit of a mess, with few discernable patterns.
However, here’s some of the information we can get from the chart:

• Bitcoin had its best month in November 2013, when prices

rose 467.4% between November 1 and 30
• On average, bitcoin experiences its biggest positive price
movements in April (32.4% average) and May (28.9%
average), which is significantly higher than any other month
• August and September are the only months where bitcoin
had a negative average price movement, with drops of
37.3% and 48.3%, respectively
• October and November have the next biggest average price
jumps after May and June, with jumps of 20.1% in October
and 26.9% in November, on average
• In total, bitcoin has gained 1146.1% cumulatively in the
months of May between 2011 and 2019, which is a higher
cumulative rise than any other month
• Bitcoin has experienced similarly impressive cumulative
price rises in all months of May (885.6%), November
(752.6%), and October (523.3%)
• Bitcoin’s biggest ever year-long price jump occurred in 2013,
when bitcoin’s price rose 5486.7% from January 1 to
December 31
• Bitcoin has only had two negative years: in 2014, bitcoin’s
price dropped -57.6% from the start to end of the year; and
in 2018, bitcoin’s price dropped -70% from the start to end
of the year
• Bitcoin has had two months where its price remained
perfectly neutral, changing 0.0% on average from the first to
last date of the month: September 2010 and April 2012
• Bitcoin’s worst month in history was August 2011, when
bitcoin dropped -39.4% from the first to last date of the
month
• Bitcoin’s second and third worst months, interestingly,
occurred immediately after its worth month: bitcoin dropped
37.3% in September 2011 and 36.4% in October 2011

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Now, let's transition into the top 20 driving forces responsible for
moving the price of bitcoin up and down.

TOP 20 FACTORS INFLUENCING THE

PRICE OF BITCOIN

Thousands of individual factors influence the price of bitcoin. We’ve

outlined the top 20 factors below.

MAXIMUM SUPPLY OF BITCOIN

Bitcoin is the only major currency in the world with a specific,

predetermined, fixed limit. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins
in existence. This limit is hardcoded into bitcoin.

The actual supply of bitcoin, of course, is already much less than

that. Millions of bitcoin have been lost, locked away, or destroyed.
Some people believe as many as 4 million bitcoins are no longer
accessible.

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Out of the 18 million bitcoins mined to date, it could mean that only
12 or 13 million are actually circulating, and only another 3 million
remain to be printed over the next 120 years (the last bitcoin is
scheduled to be mined in 2140).

EMISSION RATE (BLOCK REWARD)

Just like a central bank, the bitcoin blockchain prints new money
every year. Every 10 minutes, the bitcoin blockchain releases 12.5
BTC into the economy. This is the block reward, and it’s given to the
bitcoin miner who mined that block.

It helps to think of the emission rate as the inflation rate of bitcoin.

As new bitcoins are minted, it should drop the price of bitcoin
(assuming demand remains steady), causing inflation. However, the
emission rate of bitcoin is so low that it does not keep up with rising
demand. That’s why the price of bitcoin has continued rising year
after year.

Bitcoin’s emission rate drops periodically. Initially, the bitcoin

blockchain gave out 50 BTC as a block reward. Then, that number
dropped to 25 BTC. Today, it sits at 12.5 BTC, with another block
reward ‘halving’ scheduled to occur on May 14, 2020. On this date,
bitcoin’s block reward will drop to 6.25 BTC, which means bitcoin’s
inflation rate essentially gets cut in half overnight.

THE DWINDLING SUPPLY OF BITCOIN

It’s not just the supply of bitcoin that’s a factor, but it’s also the fact
that the supply of new bitcoins is dropping. We’ve mined 18 million
bitcoins to date (as of November 2019). There are just 21 million
bitcoins that will ever be produced, which means we’ve mined 85%
of the total supply of bitcoin.

What’s even more surprising is that we won’t mine the last bitcoin
until the year 2140!

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Due to bitcoin’s dwindling block reward system, bitcoin’s block
reward will continue getting cut in half until just a few tenths or
hundredths of a bitcoin are being mined every day.

Finally, in the year 2140, the bitcoin blockchain will have mined the
last bitcoin, at which point no new bitcoins will ever be created.

ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE BITCOIN COMMUNITY

Bitcoin isn’t tied to the economic growth of any specific country.

However, there’s still an entire bitcoin economy out there. This
bitcoin economy doesn’t work quite like the economy of the United
States or China.

However, bitcoin’s economy is still impacted by things like

consumer spending. How often are people actually using bitcoin to
spend? How often are people making transactions in bitcoin? What
kinds of goods or services is someone willing to provide for 0.5 BTC?

Bitcoin’s economy is also influenced by its community support and

development. Are developers contributing to the project? Are
community members supporting bitcoin apps?

Bitcoin’s community has its own economy, and as that economy

grows, it influences demand for bitcoin.

AVAILABLE SUPPLY OF BITCOIN

This is the third time we’ve mentioned supply as one of the factors
influencing the price of bitcoin. The available supply of bitcoin,
however, can be significantly different than the actual circulating
supply.

We know that 18 million bitcoins have been mined to date.

However, we also know that not all 18 million of those bitcoins are
still circulating.

A certain number of bitcoins are being held by people who will never
sell them below a certain price, for example. A certain number of

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bitcoins have also been lost or destroyed over the years and will
never be recovered.

With these factors in mind, the formula for calculating the available
supply of bitcoin looks like this:

Available Supply = Circulating Supply – Bitcoins that Are Being

Held or Lost

We know there are 18 million bitcoins in existence. Now, let’s

assume that two million of those bitcoins have been lost. People
throw out hard drives. People forget their passwords. People
accidentally destroy or wipe out old computers. Because of these
lost or destroyed bitcoins, we have only 16 million bitcoins in
circulation.

Now, let’s assume that of the remaining 16 million bitcoins held by

people, 15 million of them would never sell their bitcoins for
anything less than $20,000 apiece.

In this scenario, the available supply of bitcoin at any price

underneath $20,000 would be 1 million BTC.

This plays a crucial role in the price formation of bitcoin. Let’s

assume we have a bunch of buyers who want to invest in bitcoin.
They want to buy 10,000 BTC regardless of the price. These buyers
hit the market, targeting the 1 million bitcoin holders willing to sell
for a price below $20,000. Eventually, the sellers dwindle, and the
price gets pushed upward. Eventually, the price gets pushed high
enough that it may break $20,000, which is the point at which
certain people are willing to sell their bitcoin.

Ultimately, this phenomenon of prices rising and falling creates a

back and forth dance. Buy and sell volume continues fluctuating
endlessly, creating volatility in the markets until prices settle.

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 APPS AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Bitcoin is open source, and anyone can build anything on bitcoin. As

bitcoin’s usage has increased, so too has the demand for apps and
software to enhance the usability of bitcoin.

App and software developers face a catch-22 situation with bitcoin.

As demand for bitcoin increases, the demand for good bitcoin apps
and software also increases. But for app and software developers to
build on bitcoin, they first need to see some demand for their apps
and software.

Despite this catch-22 situation, app and software developers

continue to build great things on bitcoin. Some software interacts
directly with the bitcoin ecosystem: wallet apps let you securely
hold bitcoin on your mobile device, for example.

Other software doesn’t directly connect to the bitcoin blockchain in

any way. A portfolio tracker app, for example, simply checks the
price of bitcoin and tells you how valuable your portfolio is.

As more apps and software are built on bitcoin, it enhances demand

for bitcoin. It makes bitcoin easier to use. You start using bitcoin.
You try to get your friends to start using bitcoin. There’s less effort
required to participate it bitcoin. There’s less of a learning curve.
With fewer barriers to entry, there’s never been a better time to
enter.

ACCESSIBILITY AND EASE OF PURCHASE

In the early days of bitcoin, it was relatively hard to use bitcoin. You
needed to download the full bitcoin software just to hold bitcoin, for
example.

Today, buying bitcoin is as easy as downloading a mobile app and

inputting your credit card information. Some people can buy bitcoin
from their ordinary investment platforms – like Robinhood, Fidelity,
or TD Ameritrade.

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As bitcoin’s ease of use increases, it becomes increasingly accessible
to a wider group of people. In 2011, someone might have heard
about bitcoin and been interested in buying bitcoin but was
dissuaded by the high learning curve and complicated purchasing
process. Today, that same person faces few hurdles on her way to
purchasing her first bitcoin.

COMPETITION FROM ALTCOINS AND BANKS

Back in 2009 when bitcoin first launched, it had no competition. It

was the only blockchain-based, cryptographically-secured currency
in the world. People didn’t even know what blockchain was.

Today, things have changed, and bitcoin has plenty of competition.

Bitcoin’s competitors are faster and more scalable. Some of them
are more anonymous or privacy-focused.

One thing, however, has remained constant throughout crypto

history: bitcoin has remained the world’s largest cryptocurrency by
market cap. From 2009 to 2017, bitcoin’s dominance sat
somewhere between 90% and 100%. That means out of all the
money in crypto, 90% to 100% of that money was in bitcoin.

From 2017, things have changed. In January 2018, bitcoin’s

dominance reached an all time low of around 36%. More money was
in competing altcoin markets than in bitcoin.

Today, bitcoin’s dominance has once again risen. As of November

2019, the BTC dominance index sits at around 70%.

Of course, things can easily change in the future. Bitcoin had the
first mover advantage, but it faces competition from some of the
world’s elite development teams. There are faster and better
cryptocurrencies on the market, but none of these competitors have
challenged bitcoin’s dominance as of yet.

Plus, bitcoin is facing competition from more than just altcoins.

Banks are making their own free money transfer services – like
Venmo. Corporations are also launching their own digital currencies

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– like Facebook’s Libra, which is backed. All of these may be
competition for bitcoin.

COST OF PRODUCTION

Cost of production plays a crucial role in the price of bitcoin. Yes,

bitcoin is a virtual currency, and there’s no physical ‘bitcoin’ that
needs to be manufactured. However, there are still real production
costs involved in bitcoin, including mining and electricity
consumption.

Mining bitcoin requires the use of enormous amounts of energy to

power server farms. These server farms work to create a
cryptographic solution. The first computer to find that solution
receives the block reward.

As more miners join the bitcoin ecosystem, it becomes harder and

harder to mine bitcoin. Difficulty increases, which means it takes
more electricity and computing power to solve each cryptographic
puzzle.

Theoretically, there doesn’t have to be a connection between

bitcoin’s market price and its mining costs. In practice, however, we
find that bitcoin’s price is closely related to its marginal cost of
production.

REGULATORY AND LEGAL ISSUES

It’s true that individual governments do not have full control over
bitcoin. However, it’s also true that individual governments can
issue regulations that significantly impact bitcoin.

We saw this in September 2017 when China banned bitcoin

exchanges from operating in the country. Bitcoin’s price plummeted
(although it later rebounded to its all time high by the end of the
year).

We’ve also seen this in New York, which was the first state to
introduce crypto-specific regulations that exchanges need to follow.

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Today, many crypto exchanges continue to ban New York residents
from participating in the exchange because these exchanges don’t
want to abide by BitLicense requirements.

What happens if the IRS suddenly decides that bitcoin is non-

taxable? What happens if the United States government bans the
purchase of bitcoin tomorrow? What happens if the European
Union issues regulations strictly prohibiting the use of
cryptocurrency exchanges?

All of these situations are feasible. Some regulations will cause the
price of bitcoin to plummet, while others will cause the price to rise
or stay the same. But clearly, regulatory and legal changes have a
significant impact on the price of bitcoin.

AVAILABILITY ON LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL

EXCHANGES

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges accept popular fiat

currencies like the US Dollar and Euro. However, most
cryptocurrency exchanges do not accept smaller fiat currencies.
Most cryptocurrency exchanges do not have an AUD/BTC pair, for
example, or a CAD/BTC pair. Instead, Australians and Canadians
need to go to special exchanges to trade their Australian or
Canadian Dollars for bitcoin.

As bitcoin becomes more available on global exchanges, it becomes

easier for people around the world to purchase. Some of the biggest
opportunities for bitcoin to grow are in developing parts of the
world: over 2 billion people worldwide are underserved by
traditional banks but could benefit significantly from bitcoin.

Every time a crypto exchange opens in a new, underserved part of

the world, it increases the availability of bitcoin, lowering barriers to
entry and addressing increasing demand.

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 MEDIA COVERAGE

Media coverage of bitcoin has a huge influence on demand for

bitcoin, so it’s not surprising that media can significantly influence
the price of bitcoin.

Positive media attention can cause bitcoin prices to skyrocket.

Suddenly, it seems like everyone is talking about bitcoin in a
favorable light and sees it as the new digital gold.

Meanwhile, negative media attention can cause demand for bitcoin

to plummet. Major media outlets may call bitcoin a scam or a
pyramid scheme, for example, convincing users to sell their bitcoin
and causes prices to plummet.

FORKS AND DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES

Bitcoin has undergone several major forks in its history, including

soft forks and hard forks. The biggest hard fork to date, however,
occurred on August 1, 2017, when bitcoin split into bitcoin (BTC)
and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

When forks or major development milestones occur, it can send

ripples through markets. Bitcoin’s price fluctuated wildly in the days
leading up to the hard fork. Although markets may not fully
understand how these hard forks work or what their ultimate impact
will be, it’s obvious that these hard forks have a significant impact
on supply and demand.

INTERNAL GOVERNANCE

Bitcoin has no board of governors. There’s no centralized

corporation in charge of bitcoin’s decisions. Bitcoin’s governance is
decentralized.

However, there are still, by necessity, central figures behind bitcoin’s

governance. There are lead bitcoin developers responsible for
bitcoin’s biggest changes. There are people who own certain

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domains – like bitcoin.com or bitcoin.org – who can influence
communities.

Inevitably, there are disputes within this governance structure.

Sometimes, these disputes are resolved without issue. In other
cases, they lead to hard forks. When internal governance problems
strike bitcoin, it can affect market supply and demand.

SECURITY ISSUES, HACKS, AND DATA BREACHES

There have been hundreds of crypto exchange hacks, security

breaches, data losses, and other issues over the years. When these
breaches occur, it can send shockwaves through the market.

If an exchange gets hacked and loses $100 million of customer

funds, for example, then it can cause panic in the marketplace.
People might try to sell their bitcoin and withdraw their funds
quickly, for example.

Or, if someone’s personal information, private keys, or other data

gets leaked, then it can cause a similar panic. Security issues can
create downward selling pressure on the market.

At the same time, new advancements in security can give the market
greater peace of mind. A new, affordable wallet can give people
peace of mind that their funds are safe in bitcoin, for example,
creating upward pressure on markets.

BITCOIN SCAMS AND PYRAMID SCHEMES

We’ve all heard the stories of effortless crypto millionaires: people

who bought huge amounts of bitcoin at the right time, then held
onto that bitcoin until it was worth millions of dollars. We’d all like
to make easy money, which is why scammers often target new
bitcoin users with get rich quick schemes.

There have been plenty of scams in bitcoin’s history – from exit

scams to pyramid schemes to fraudulent investment programs.

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When a bitcoin scam is uncovered or shut down, it casts all of bitcoin
in a negative light, which can significantly impact the price of bitcoin.

EVENTS

All types of events can impact the price of bitcoin, including:

• The shutdown of major marketplaces that use bitcoin (like

the infamous drug marketplace Silk Road)
• The announcement of government regulations
• An exchange hack or security breach
• Announcement of tax changes
• Global recessions or major economic events
• Hard forks
• A whale moving a large number of coins to the market
• A wallet untouched since the early 2010s suddenly moving
huge numbers of bitcoins
• The launch of a competing cryptocurrency
• Political events, like the election of a crypto-friendly
president

All of these events can have varying effects on the price of bitcoin.

THE LAUNCH OF NEW COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY

OR MINERS

Bitcoin mining is all about mining the most bitcoin with the fewest
resources. With that goal in mind, miner manufacturers like Bitmain
have created highly-specialized computers dedicated solely to
mining bitcoin. These highly-efficient machines produced the
highest possible hashrate with the least amount of electricity.

As technology grows, miners become more and more efficient. In

the early days of bitcoin, you could mine bitcoin with an average
gaming PC graphics card. Today, you can barely make a profit even
with specialized miners.

The launch of new computing technology affects miners’ profits

significantly, and that can impact the price of bitcoin.

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In the future, we may have to deal with the launch of quantum
computers. Quantum computers will be able to blast today’s
computers out of the water. Some believe this will instantly cause
the destruction of the bitcoin network. Others believe we can avoid
this was quantum-resistant upgrades.

THE INTRINSIC VALUE OF BITCOIN’S SOFTWARE

AND BLOCKCHAIN

Crypto critics will often claim that bitcoin has “no intrinsic value”.
There’s nothing backing bitcoin, so how can it be
worth anything over the long term?

In reality, most modern fiat currencies aren’t technically backed by

anything either. No major currency is on the gold standard, for
example. Some modern economies – like Canada – don’t even own
significant amounts of gold anymore. Instead, these fiat currencies
get their value ‘by decree’ of the government. They have value
because you trust the government of the United States or Canada.

Similarly, bitcoin’s intrinsic value comes from its underlying

software, which is the bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin’s blockchain is a
technological innovation that solved crucial issues with digital
money. It solved the double spend issue, for example, and the
Byzantine Generals’ Problem. Because of the bitcoin blockchain, we
have a secure version of digital money that runs without a
centralized entity and cannot be hacked. That’s the value of bitcoin.

HOW PEOPLE USE BITCOIN AND SEE BITCOIN AS A

CURRENCY

There’s considerable debate within the bitcoin community over how

bitcoin should be used. Some people believe bitcoin should be used
exclusively as a store of value: we don’t hand over chunks of gold to
buy our morning cup of coffee, so why should we treat bitcoin
differently?

Others believe that bitcoin should be used as a means of exchange.

It should be used for daily purchases.

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The issue comes down to the three properties of a currency. A
currency, by definition, should serve three basic functions:

Means of Exchange: The currency should be used as a way to

exchange goods and services. The value of the currency will be
based off the value of the goods and services people are willing to
give in exchange for the currency.

Store of Value: A currency must retain its value when stored. If you
temporarily hold an asset and it loses a significant amount of its
value, then it’s not a very good currency.

Unit of Measurement: The currency needs to function as a unit of

measurement. Someone can say that a gallon of milk costs $4 today,
for example. The currency is used to track the value of goods or
services. If a gallon of milk costs $4 today and $300 tomorrow, then
the dollar will no longer be used as a unit of measurement, and it
won’t be considered a good currency.

Does bitcoin fulfill the definition a currency as listed above? Based

on your opinion, this can significantly affect the value of bitcoin.
Let’s take a closer look at how bitcoin functions for each of the
purposes above:

Bitcoin as a Means of Exchange: Some people believe bitcoin

should be used as a means of exchange. You should be able to use
bitcoin at Starbucks, for example, or to buy a new car. A growing
number of businesses and merchants worldwide now accept bitcoin
as payment. As scaling technology improves, it’s becoming easier for
bitcoin to be accepted globally as a means of exchange.

Bitcoin as a Store of Value: Bitcoin is most controversial when used

as a store of value. You might buy 1 BTC for $10,000 today. Within
a year, it’s not unreasonable to think that 1 BTC is worth anywhere
from $2,000 to $30,000. Does that really make bitcoin a good store
of value? Typically, stores of value are stable. Prices can go up or
down, but the asset holds its value. Of course, you can also argue
that bitcoin is the best store of value because it’s insulated from

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central banks, politicians, national economies, and similar things – all
of which can affect fiat currencies.

Bitcoin as a Unit of Measurement: Bitcoin is worst when used as a

unit of measurement. If you tell someone your gallon of milk costs
0.0005 BTC, they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about. Even
crypto enthusiasts don’t use bitcoin as a unit of measurement. We
constantly talk about bitcoin in relation to US Dollars. We enthuse
when the price of bitcoin eclipses $20,000 USD, for example.

The three factors above all impact bitcoin’s strength as a currency.

As bitcoin’s strength as a currency increases, we can naturally
assume that its value rises.

Now let's reverse gears and talk about the history of bitcoin and its
price in USD.

Anyone studying the price of Bitcoin will want to know how the
bitcoin exchange rate has changed over time. And we brought it
allllllll the way back, from January 3, 2009 to November 2019, this
is the most comprehensive list of month by month and year by year
bitcoin price action watch compilation.

In this section of our bitcoin price guide, it has 2 mini-big sections:

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a) yearly bitcoin price history overview 2009-2019
b) historical bitcoin price timeline chart with dated news summaries

Most fiat currencies don’t jump in value from $0.10 to $20,000 in

less than a decade. But bitcoin did. After launching on January 3,
2009, bitcoin eventually rose to reach parity with the US Dollar.
Then, the price of bitcoin kept doubling.

Here’s a brief history of some of the biggest moments in bitcoin’s

price and exchange rate:

JANUARY 3, 2009: THE LAUNCH OF BITCOIN

On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the Genesis Block,

which is the very first block in the bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin has
been running ever since. By January 9, Satoshi had released the first
version of bitcoin’s software. Before the end of the month, Satoshi
had sent one of the earliest bitcoin developers, Hal Finney, 10
bitcoins, marking the world’s first bitcoin transaction. It was the start
of a whole new digital economy.

OCTOBER 2009: THE FIRST BITCOIN EXCHANGE

RATE

In the early days of bitcoin, nobody really considered exchange

rates. Bitcoin was a software program that worked in a unique way,
but could you really put a set value on it? That’s exactly what
happened in October 2009 when the New Liberty Standard
published the first bitcoin exchange rate, which was $1 USD =
1,309.03 BTC. By December 2009, Satoshi and the small team of
bitcoin developers had released the second version of bitcoin’s
software.

MAY 2010: THE FIRST REAL-WORLD BITCOIN

PURCHASE

Bitcoin hit a major milestone in May 2010, when someone actually

exchanged some bitcoin for a real-world product. Florida-based
programmer Laszlo Hanyecz sent 10,000 BTC to a man in London.
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Then, the man in London bought two pizzas over the internet and
had them delivered to Hanyecz’s house. The two pizzas were worth
$25, while bitcoins were still valued at a fraction of a penny. Today,
making the same transaction would cost over $93 million.

JULY 2010: BITCOIN CROSSES THE PENNY MARK

For bitcoin’s entire history up to this point, one bitcoin was worth a
fraction of a penny. In July 2010, however, bitcoin crossed the $0.01
threshold for the very first time.

NOVEMBER 2010: BITCOIN’S MARKET CAP

SURPASSES $1 MILLION

2010 was a huge year for bitcoin. Bitcoin Market, the first crypto
exchange, launched in February, while the much better-known Mt.
Gox launched in July. Slush, the world’s first mining pool, mined
bitcoin successfully for the first time. By November, all of the
positive news had added up to serious results, as bitcoin’s market
cap passed $1 million for the first time.

FEBRUARY 2011: BITCOIN REACHES PARITY WITH

THE USD, CROSSES $1 THRESHOLD

Bitcoin reached parity with the US Dollar in February 2011, crossing

the $1 threshold and hitting a major milestone. This was when
bitcoin started to receive both good and bad press. Major media
outlets published articles linking bitcoin’s rise to the success of the
popular Silk Road darknet marketplace, for example.

JUNE 2011: BITCOIN RISES ABOVE $30, THEN SINKS

TO $10

For bitcoin, any publicity was good publicity. The media attention
towards bitcoin got people talking. Bitcoin’s price was pushed above
$30 for the first time in its history, although it later crashed down
below $10. Late in June, Mt. Gox also dealt with a serious security

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breach that compromised thousands of user accounts and their
bitcoins.

APRIL 2012: BITCOIN CROSSES THE $100

THRESHOLD

Bitcoin started to sail smoothly in 2012, cruising to an all time high

above $100 in April. New competitors like Litecoin, launched in late
2011, started to emerge, taking advantage of bitcoin’s open source
technology to launch new and improved versions.

2013: BITCOIN PASSES $1,000

Bitcoin’s price surged throughout 2012 all the way up to 2013,

when it crossed the $1,000 mark for the first time. Bitcoin’s market
cap also reached an all time high of $1 billion.

2014 TO 2016: BITCOIN’S FIRST MAJOR BEAR

MARKET

Bitcoin had been through small bear and bull runs before. But the
bear market that gripped bitcoin from late 2013 to early 2017 was
the worst in bitcoin’s history to date. In January 2014, bitcoin fell
below $1,000 and would not break the $1,000 mark again for two
years. During this time, Mt. Gox went bankrupt and shut down,
which was a problem because Mt. Gox was handling 70% of the
world’s bitcoin trading volume. Many thought bitcoin was doomed.
Bitcoin bottomed out below $500.

2017: BITCOIN RISES TO ITS ALL TIME HIGH OF

$20,000

In 2017, bitcoin’s bear market broke in a sudden and dramatic way.

In early 2017, bitcoin smashed through the $1,000 mark – then
didn’t stop. It kept rising past $2,000 and $3,0000 and $4,000,
breaking each barrier in rapid succession. Bitcoin’s price hit a bump
in August with the Bitcoin Cash hard fork, then it hit another bump
in September when the Chinese government banned crypto

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exchanges. By the end of the year, however, bitcoin had officially
become a household term. Bitcoin reached an all time high just shy
of $20,000 in mid-December 2017.

JANUARY 2018: BITCOIN FALLS WHILE ALTCOINS

RISE

A rising tide lifts all boats, and that’s what happened with bitcoin
and altcoin prices in 2017. As bitcoin’s price rose, altcoin prices rose
with it. In January 2018, however, it was the time for altcoins to
shine. Bitcoin’s price plummeted to end 2017, then fell again to start
January 2018. As bitcoin’s price fell, however, altcoin prices rose.
Eventually, bitcoin’s dominance fell all the way to 36%, which was
an all time low.

2018: BITCOIN’S SECOND MAJOR BEAR MA RKET

Bitcoin spent most of 2018 gripped in ‘crypto winter’. Bitcoin prices

fell, then altcoin prices fell, then both prices fell some more. The
price of bitcoin hit multiple false bottoms. There were bear traps and
bull traps. It was a messy, turbulent fall from grace for the world’s
largest cryptocurrency. Eventually, the price of bitcoin settled into
the $5,000 to $7,000 range.

2019: BITCOIN SLOWLY SHOWS SIGNS OF

REBOUNDING

At the start of 2019, bitcoin continued to be gripped in its bear

market, although it would slowly show signs of rebounding. The
much-anticipated launch of Bakkt occurred in fall 2019, making it
easier for institutions to participate in crypto markets. Major
exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini launched their own crypto
custody solutions. All of the positive news pushed the price of
bitcoin higher and higher. By the end of October 2019, bitcoin was
sitting at a price of around $9,000 to $9,500. Unlike the dramatic
rise of bitcoin in 2017, the 2019 rise of bitcoin has been slow and
steady instead of sudden and dramatic.

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Ok, now for part two of the bitcoin price history section, a very
detailed catalogue of all the major news events that effected the
price of Bitcoin, along with their BTC/USD exchange rate values
attached. You will not find another 2009-2019 bitcoin price listing
on the Internet as comprehensive as this one.

HISTORICAL BITCOIN PRICE TIMELINE

OF EVENTS WITH NEWS DATES

BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2019

$5,599 = APRIL 23, 2019: BTC REACHES A FIVE -MONTH PEAK

Towards the end of April, Bitcoin continued to rise, pushing to a high

of $5,598. In doing so, this was the first time that Bitcoin had pushed
over the $5,500 price level since November 2018, reached a high
price point for the last five months.

$5,412 = APRIL 10, 2019: BTC PUSHED PAST THE $5,000 PRICE
LEVEL

Bitcoin started rising in price towards the beginning of April

completely unexpectedly, quickly moving above $4,200 and
through the $5,000 level as well within just 48 hours. From the start
of the month, Bitcoin had gained over $1,200.

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$4,152 = MARCH 31, 2019: BTC ENDED MARCH ABOVE $4,000
PRICE LEVEL

Despite having a slow start to the year, Bitcoin spent the month of
March with a hot streak. At just above $4,100, this month brought
in a solid gain for the asset.

$3,867 = FEBRUARY 28, 2019: BTC KEPT UP A 10%

INCREMENTAL RISE, MONTH -OVER-MONTH

Bitcoin began the month under $3,500, but it rose over 10% higher
than it started, closing at $3,867 by the end of February.

$3,461 = JANUARY 31, 2019: CBOE BTC ETF PR OPOSAL

OFFICIALLY WITHDRAWN BEFORE RESUBMISSION

The proposal for a Bitcoin ETF with VanEck and SolidX was
withdrawn by CBOE, due to worries that the government shutdown
would end up causing the cancellation of the ETF anyway. The
proposal was resubmitted by January 31, though there are some
experts that believe that the proposal with the best chance of
approval by the government as the original Bitcoin ETF with
VanEck/SolidX proposal for the SEC.

$3,773 = JANUARY 1, 2019: BITCOIN STARTED THE YEAR AT

UNDER $4,000

Bitcoin’s price for 2019 started at $3,773, holding a total market cap
of $66 billion. However, by the end of the month, Bitcoin’s price fell
down to $3,468.

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 BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2018

$3,469 = DECEMBER 3, 2018: MINING FOR BITCOIN BE CAME

UNPROFITABLE

Through the last few years, every other week, the difficulty in
mining Bitcoin has become more and more intense. However, at the
start of December, the mining difficulty dropped by only the second
time ever in the whole lifetime of the asset. In the process, Bitcoin
dropped by 15% to accommodate the lower prices and offer mining
support.

$4,275 = NOVEMBER 15, 2018: BITCOIN CASH’S HARD FORK

CREATES ABC AND SATOSHI’S VISION

Bitcoin Cash was filled with unruly disagreements among the

developers of the blockchain, resulting in a hard fork that split
Bitcoin Cash into the ABC side and the Satoshi’s Vision (SV) side.
The hash war between the two tokens was brutal, though Bitcoin
Cash ABC ultimately came out on top. The price of both tokens
varied during this battle, and even BTC’s price suffered some,
reducing in a price drop down to $4,275.

$6,415 = OCTOBER 31, 2018: BITCOIN’S WHITEPAPER TURNED

TEN YEARS OLD

Bitcoin’s community celebrated the 10 anniversary of the

whitepaper’s release. In the days that led up to the anniversary,
Bitcoin’s price gained about 5% in the week.

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$6,497 = OCTOBER 15, 2018: FIDELITY ENTERS CRYPTO
TRADING ARENA FOR INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS

This week for Bitcoin was preceded by a substantial amount of bad

news, but Fidelity announced the launch of Fidelity Digital Assets.
The new enterprise-grade custody solution created an opportunity
for institutional investors that sought to get involved with the
cryptocurrency industry. The newfound interest brought an
increase in the price of Bitcoin with it.

$6,539 = SEPTEMBER 18, 2018: ZAIF CRYPTO EXCHANGE

SUCCUMBED TO HACK WORTH $60 MILLION

Zaif, a Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange, fell victim to a hack,

leading to a loss of $60 million. As this loss was publicized, Bitcoin
dropped down to the lower $6,000 price level.

$6,516 = SEPTEMBER 5, 2018: GOLDMAN SACHS ANNOUNCES

NO MORE BITCOIN TRADING DESK LAUNCH

Goldman Sachs concluded a year of exploration of a Bitcoin trading

platform with the announcement that they would no longer launch
their own trading desk. Some experts believe that the longtime bear
market ultimately was the cause, but Bitcoin’s price dropped even
more either way. (Sidenote is they are a major investor into Circle's
Poloniex crypto exchange).

$6,366 = AUGUST 7, 2018: DELAY ON SEC’S DECISION TO RULE

ON BITCOIN ETF ANNOUNCED

The SEC unexpectedly decided to delay their decision to approve or

deny several Bitcoin ETFs that had been working through
regulations throughout the summer. With this news, Bitcoin price
dropped, and investors started to worry that a Bitcoin ETF would
never become a reality.

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$6,337 = AUGUST 3, 2018: BAKKT LAUNCH ANNOUNCED BY
INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which is the parent company

of many major exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange,
announced that they would be launching Bakkt. Bakkt, a crypto
startup, was supported by Starbucks, Microsoft, and other
corporate investors in the US, and set out to create an opportunity
for institutional investors to be more attracted to Bitcoin.

$7,275 = JULY 26, 2018: WINKLEVOSS TWINS SECOND GEMINI

BITCOIN ETF PROPOSAL REJECTED BY SEC

The Winklevoss brothers (Cameron and Tyler) attempted to get

their Bitcoin ETF proposal approved by the Securities and Exchange
(SEC) commission again, but the market lacked the maturity to gain
it. The SEC expressed, at the time, that they were concerned about
price manipulation, and Bitcoin’s price fell again after a week of
positive movement.

$8,227 = JULY 16, 2018: BLACKROCK AND BITCOINERS HO PES

OF EXPLORING CRYPTOCURRENCY FUND

Blackrock, the largest investment fund manager in the world, started

quietly working on an exploration into a crypto fund, only for news
to break online of their apparent intentions. Blackrock’s CEO
confirmed the reports in a Reuters article, and the price of Bitcoin
rose without any crypto fund being launched by Blackrock at all.

$6,656 = JUNE 26, 2018: FACEBOOK’S BAN ON

CRYPTOCURRENCY-RELATED ADVERTISEMENTS LIFTED

Facebook had previously held a ban on any cryptocurrency-based

advertisements but decided on June 26 to reverse it. As
cryptocurrency advertisements were newly allowed on the social
media platform, Bitcoin’s price rose, and many experts believed that
this was the end of the bear market.

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$5,928 = JUNE 20, 2018: BITHUMB CRYPTOCURRENCY
EXCHANGE WAS HACKED

Bithumb, an exchange based in South Korea, became the subject of

a hack, resulting in a theft of $31 million in cryptocurrency by
hackers. Bitcoin’s price dropped substantially, making Q2 of the year
a difficult one for investors.

$6,709 = JUNE 11, 2018: SUBPOENAS WERE FILED AGAINST

FOUR CRYPTO EXCHANGES BY US CFTC

Bitstamp, Kraken, ItBit, and Coinbase all received subpoenas from

the U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission to learn
about manipulation in the crypto market. Over time, the majority of
exchanges were exposed for their wash trading and other forms of
manipulation.

$7.609 = MAY 24, 2018: CRIMINAL PROBE BY US DOJ OVER

BITCOIN PRICE MANIPULATION ALLEGATIONS

Leading up to the subpoenas, the U.S. Justice Department opened

a criminal probe to examine if the exchanges were involved in the
manipulation of cryptocurrency prices. Some proposed tactics
involved included spoofing, wash orders, and pump and dump
schemes.

$8,372 = MAY 11, 2018: UPBIT RAIDED BY PROSECUTORS IN

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, UpBit, was subjected to a

raid by prosecutors after suspicions of engaging in fraud arose.
Though Bitcoin initially took a hit that brought down the price to
$8,511, the rest of the week led to a further fall to $8,372.

$8,729 = MAY 2, 2018: GOLDMAN SACHS STARTS EXPLORING

BITCOIN TRADING SOLUTION POSSIBILITY

Goldman Sachs was featured in the New York Times over reports
that the financial giant aimed to launch a Bitcoin trading platform of

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their own. This platform would have allowed bitcoin trading by
Goldman Sachs clients from their current investment accounts.

$7,127 = MARCH 26, 2018: BAN ON CRYPTOCURRENCY

ADVERTISEMENTS ISSUED BY TWITTER

Twitter followed the lead of Facebook and Google by imposing their

own ban on advertising for cryptocurrency and initial coin offerings.
The ban was imposed until policies could be clarified for the social
media website.

$8,570 = MARCH 14, 2018: BAN ON CRY PTOCURRENCY

ADVERTISEMENTS ISSUED BY GOOGLE

Google followed the path of Facebook, establishing a ban against

both initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency advertisements. The
“bad advertisements” policy was updated for Google to include
language for cryptocurrency specifically.

$8,344 = MARCH 7, 2018: NEW AND EXISTING

CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGES REQUIRED BY SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reminded the public

that every cryptocurrency-related exchange must register with their
agency before operating in the United States. Bitcoin’s price
remained fairly steady through these reminders.

$8,211 = JANUARY 31, 2018: MODIFIED BAN ON

CRYPTOCURRENCY ADS ISSUED BY FACEBOOK

Facebook started a trend that prevented users from using the social
media platform as a way to advertise cryptocurrency companies and
their initial coin offerings. The advertisement ban by Facebook
followed multiple complaints of malicious activities in the industry,
including scams and ICO fraud.

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$8,775 = JANUARY 26, 2018: COINCHECK FREEZES
WITHDRAWALS AFTER LARGEST RECORDED BITCOIN HACK

Coincheck established itself already as one of the largest exchanges

to be based in Japan, but the largest hack of any platform in the
history of the industry forced them to halt withdrawals. The hackers
managed to run off with 500 million NEM and $123 million in XRP,
though the total amount lost by the exchange was well over $600
million, and no hack has ever been greater in the cryptocurrency
industry.

$8,776 = JANUARY 13, 2018: 80% OF ALL BITCOIN HAS BEEN

MINED

Though it had been less than ten years since the mining of the
Genesis Block of Bitcoin, reports indicate that 80% of the total
Bitcoin supply has already been mined, leaving only 20% left.

$10,685 = JANUARY 8, 2018: KOREA REGULATORY

PROCEEDINGS CAUSE DRASTIC FALL IN BITCOIN

South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges were no longer listed on

CoinMarketCap in a process that happened overnight. Soon, prices
of cryptocurrency assets dropped all over the world as investors
became worried as the trading volumes and activity got ‘adjusted'.

$13,870 = JANUARY 2ND, 2018: PETER THIEL REPORTEDLY

PURCHASED LARGE NUMBERS OF BITCOIN

Peter Thiel, a venture capital investor of Silicon Valley, made history

as he purchased millions of dollars in Bitcoin in January 2018,
according to reports from the Wall Street Journal. At the time of
Bitcoin’s $13,870 value, Thiel’s Founder Fund allegedly was worth
millions of dollars in Bitcoin.

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$17,163.38 = DECEMBER 28, 2017: SOUTH KOREA’S
AUTHORITIES CLOSE EXCHANGES TO STIFLE CRYPTO

New financial regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges in South

Korea were proposed, bringing down the formerly positive
momentum that had ruled Bitcoin for so long. Regulators reportedly
imposed stricter rules as a result of the worry that “cryptocurrency
speculation has been irrationally overheated in Korea.”

BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2017

$19,783 = DECEMBER 18, 2017: BITCOIN REACHED ALL -TIME

HIGH VALUE

Bitcoin’s price has never been higher as the digital asset reached
$19.783. To this day, Bitcoin has never had just a high price, and
many experts hope that the price soon returns.

$17,010.53 = DECEMBER 11, 2017: BITCOIN FUTURES

CONTRACTS WERE INTRODUCED B Y CBOE

As Bitcoin futures contracts launched, the price of Bitcoin started

surging, eventually reaching its highest price ever a week later. This
price boosted so quickly that two temporary trading halts were
imposed in an effort to calm down the futures markets. CME Group
actually beat CBOE to the launch of Bitcoin futures products, but
CBOE was the first to launch trading too.

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$7,844 = NOVEMBER 8, 2017 – SEGREGATED WITNESS
PROPOSAL (SEGWIT2X) OFFICIALLY CANCELLED

The SegWit2x upgrade was originally scheduled on November 16.

However, developers dropped their support, and the upgrade was
cancelled.

$7,255 = OCTOBER 31, 2017: BITCOIN FUTURES CONTRACT

LAUNCHED BY CME GROUP

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, also known as CME, announced

their plan to launch Bitcoin futures with a deadline for the end of
2017. This became one of the first times that mainstream financial
institutions started to be interested in Bitcoin to be used as a true
investment tool, which was a big step for the industry. With this
news, Bitcoin’s price rose to a then-high of $6,601 with a market
cap of $110 billion.

Soon after this news, the Chicago Board of Exchange (CBOE)

announced that they were launching Bitcoin futures. CBOE is a
direct competitor of CME.

$5,943 = OCTOBER 13, 2017: BITCOI N BROKE $5,000 PRICE

LEVEL FOR THE FIRST TIME

Even though Bitcoin began 2017 at around $966, the

cryptocurrency asset passed $5,000 for the first time, settling at
$5,243 for the time being.

$3,714 = SEPTEMBER 15, 2017: BITCOIN CRYPTO EXCHANGES

IN CHINA ORDERED TO SHUTDOWN

Cryptocurrency exchanges were ordered to shut down operations

in China by authorities. The orders caused Bitcoin’s price to drop as
panic spread across the industry.

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$3,807 = SEPTEMBER 12, 2017: CEO JAMIE DIMON OF
JPMORGAN CHASE CALLED BITCOIN A “FRAUD”

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co., publicly

condemned Bitcoin as a “fraud,” commenting that the situation of
anyone invested in it wouldn’t “end well.” He stated that any
employee that was “stupid enough to buy bitcoin” would be fired
from his company. While these statements were fairly strong from
someone deeply involved in traditional finance, Bitcoin followers
appeared unbothered, as the price barely moved.

$4,224 = SEPTEMBER 3, 2017: INITIAL COIN OFFERINGS

BANNED IN CHINA

Through the whole of 2017, initial coin offerings ruled the

cryptocurrency space, but China decided to take a firm approach to
the fundraising efforts by issuing a ban. The notice stated that
Chinese companies were not allowed to raise money with the use
of token sales, stating that there was concern of frauds and scams
in the industry.

$3,384 = AUGUST 1, 2017: BITCOIN SPLITS THROUGH HARD

FORK INTO BITCOIN AND BITCOIN CASH

Though Bitcoin had a solid rise for the first half of 2017, a challenge
involving the scaling debate of Bitcoin’s network arose. This
challenge resulted in Bitcoin splitting into Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash
deciding to split into two cryptocurrency assets, and each one
moved forward with different proposals on dealing with their scaling
proposals.

$1,215.69 = APRIL 1, 2017: BITCOIN RECOGNIZED IN JAPAN AS

A LEGAL CURRENCY

Though months of debate preceded the decision, Japan’s

government chose to recognize Bitcoin as a legal method of
payment in the country. With the new regulations in the country,
exchanges would have to follow similar protocols to banks, requiring

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rules for know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering
(AML) protocols.

$1,038 = MARCH 10, 2017: SEC DENIES BITCOIN EXCHANGE

TRADED FUND BY WINKLEVOSS BROTHERS

Presented with the Bitcoin ETF by the Winklevoss twins for the first
time, the Securities and Exchange Commission chose to deny the
application. The SEC, at the time, stated that the price market lacked
the stability and maturity to withstand and ETF.

$807 = JANUARY 3, 2017: BITCOIN PASSED $1,000 PRICE

LEVEL FOR FIRST TIME IN THREE YEARS

While Bitcoin primarily rallied for the majority of 2016, resulting in

the breach of $1,000 for the first time in the last three years.

BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2016

$749 = NOVEMBER 9, 2016: DONALD TRUMP’S PRESIDENTIAL

VICTORY CAUSES STOCK MARKET PLUMMET

Surprising much of the public, Donald Trump was elected the

President of the United States in the 2016 election. With this
POTUS news, global markets dropped in the US, Japan, and even
Hong Kong. However, Bitcoin rose by 5% against these markets, as
traders and institutions started to see Bitcoin as a technique to
protect themselves from the movements of the global market.
Donald Trump would go on to even tweet about Bitcoin for the first
time on July 11, 2019.

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$591 = AUGUST 2, 2016: CYBER ATTACK AGAINST BITFINEX
STEALS $72 MILLION

Bitfinex announced a tragic loss of the bitcoins belonging to

119,756 customers in a massive security breach. At the time, the
combined value of this loss was $72 million, as Bitcoin’s price
plunged by 20%. This hack caused a lot of turmoil in the bitcoin
community, since the Bitcoin price dropped before the public
announcement of the Bitfinex hack, suggesting that there were
certain holders that had inside information regarding the attack.

$674 = JULY 9, 2016: BITCOIN HALVES FOR THE SECOND TIME

Bitcoin’s block reward was cut in half for the second time since
Bitcoin became active, dropping from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC for each
block mined.

$454 = MAY 2, 2016: CRAIG WRIGHT CLAIMS TO BE SATOSHI

NAKAMOTO

Craig Wright published a blog that outlined his claim that he is the
creator of Bitcoin, better known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Wright
uploaded a private key signing, aiming to demonstrate his control
over the original bitcoin mined by Satoshi in 2009 and 2010. Despite
his best efforts, the Bitcoin community managed to poke many holes
in his statements by the end of the day, though Wright has not stood
down from his claims to this day.

$461 = APRIL 27, 2016: BITCOIN PAYMENTS ACCEPTED BY

STEAM

Bitcoin started to be accepted as payment on the Steam PC gaming

platform, allowing consumers to use it for the purchase of video
games and other digital content available. Valve, the creator of
Steam, announced that the Bitcoin payment processor for the
platform would be Bitpay.

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$426 = APRIL 4, 2016: OPENBAZAAR BECAME ONE OF FIRST
DECENTRALIZED MARKETPLACES

The launch of the OpenBazaar’s decentralized marketplace was an

effort to create a market for P2P trading that was free of fees, trade
restrictions, and middlemen. Later on, the marketplace ultimately
revealed that they had received $1 million in funding, thanks to
Union Square Ventures, Andreessen- Horowitz, and other major
venture capital firms.

$434 = FEBRUARY 21, 2 016: BITCOIN DEVELOPERS AND

MINERS PROPOSED SEGREGATED WITNESS

Segregated Witness, also known as SegWit, was the product of a

discussion between members in the Bitcoin community in Hong
Kong. The idea was meant to solve congestion in Bitcoin
transactions, and the group agreed the create the scalability for
Bitcoin to become an international payment system.

BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2015

$461 = DECEMBER 8, 2015: REPORTS BY WIRED CLAIM THAT

SATOSHI NAKAMOTO IS CRAIG WRIGHT

The original idea that suggested Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity was

Dr. Craig S. Wright was published by Wired. The publication stated
that either the Australian businessman was Satoshi himself or a
“brilliant hoaxer,” based on the emails, deleted blog post, and leaked
court documents that were used as resources by Wired writer and
security researcher Gwen Branwen.

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Privately, Wright later provided additional proof that the suggestion
was true, only to be disputed victoriously by the Bitcoin community.

$334 = NOVEMBER 3, 2015: UNICOD E ACCEPTED BITCOIN’S

SYMBOL

The Unicode Technical Committee validated the growing influence

of Bitcoin by accepting its symbol into the Unicode standard. The
symbol was assigned to slot U+20BF SIGN.

$366.67 = OCTOBER 31, 2015: THE ECONOMIST FEATURES

BITCOIN ON FRONT PAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME

An article titled “The Trust Machine” put Bitcoin on the front page
of esteemed publication The Economist. Economic liberalism, the
usability of blockchain tech, and the potential for national banks to
release their own digital currency were all discussed in the article.

$318.43 = OCTOBER 22, 2015: EU DECIDES NOT TO IMPOSE A

VAT ON BITCOIN TRADES

Based on a ruling by the European Court of Justice, value-added-tax

(VAT) will not be applicable to Bitcoin and virtual currencies within
the European Union. This ruling means that Bitcoin would fall more
under the category of currency, rather than being property or a
commodity. The decision was directly contradictory to the stance of
regulators in the United States.

$268 = OCTOBER 5, 2015: WINKLEVOSS TWINS LAUNCHED

GEMINI EXCHANGE IN NEW YORK

The Gemini Exchange was officially launched in October 2015 by

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, also known as the Winklevoss
twins. The brothers are notable for their involvement in the early
development of Facebook. The US-based and US-regulated Bitcoin
exchange was already licensed for operation in 26 states by the
launch, based on their existing partnership with a bank in New York.
This relationship also ensured that deposits by customers were

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covered by FDIC insurance, which is a benefit presently afforded to
normal bank accounts.

$238.15 = SEPTEMBER 18, 2015: CFTC CLASSIFIED BITCOIN AS

A COMMODITY

Charges were filed and settled by the U.S. Commodity Futures

Trading Commission against an exchange for Bitcoin that made it
possible to trade options contracts. This settlement was part of the
determination that “bitcoin and other virtual currencies are properly
defined as commodities.”

$232.05 = JUNE 3, 2015: BITLICENSE INTRODUCED BY NEW

YORK FOR CRYPTO-TRADING WITHIN THE STATE

The launch of the BitLicense in New York makes the state one of
the most progressive in cryptocurrency regulation. The requirement
established a new standard for the local industry, ensuring that any
cryptocurrency exchange that wanted to operate in New York
would have to obtain the license from the New York Department of
Financial Services.

A BitLicense requires a $5,000 application fee, a record of employee

fingerprints, and written approval for every new business activity.
The exchanges that were not quite as transparent with their
activities in the state soon found themselves ceasing operations
after the launch of BitLicense.

$222.85 = JANUARY 26, 2015: COINBASE LAUNCHED ITSELF AS

PLATFORM FOR BITCOIN TRADING IN US

Coinbase, a Bitcoin payment processor that is backed with venture

capital investments, announced their own trading platform. The
launch followed months of working to secure a relationship from the
state and federal regulators. When it was launched, Coinbase made
it possible for customers in half of the US states to legally perform
trades.

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$198.59 = JANUARY 4, 2015: BITSTAMP HACK RESULTED IN
$5.2 MILLION LOSS

Though the Bitcoin market was already dealing with a bear market,
the situation became even worse after the theft of 18,866 Bitcoins
from a hot wallet with Bitstamp. With social engineering tactics
against the system administrator for Bitstamp, the hackers made off
with $5.2 million of Bitcoin. The exchange had to be shut down for
eight days, but Bitstamp’s cold storage remained secured.
Furthermore, customer balances were not impacted, and the loss
was only a “small fraction” of the reserves that Bitstamp held.

Bitstamp is still an active exchange, which is a much better fate

than other large exchanges have managed.

BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2014

$324.87 = DECEMBER 11, 2014: BITCOIN ACCEPTED BY

MICROSOFT

With the acceptance of Bitcoin by Microsoft, U.S. customers

became able to exchange Bitcoin for apps, games, and other digital
content, using the Xbox and Windows online stores. Their Bitcoin
payment provider was, and is, Bitpay.

$387.40 = OCTOBER 6, 2014: BEARWHALE BITCOIN

TRANSACTION FILED BY BITCOIN EXCHANGE

October 6 was marked as one of the biggest “sell” orders to ever

reach the Bitcoin blockchain, as an unknown trader put up 30,000

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BTC for sale on Bitstamp. The limit price of the BTC was $300, and
the order was deemed “BearWhale” by the Bitcoin community.
While the order was filled, Bitcoin’s price suffered in the process.

$528.88 = JULY 18, 2014: BITCOIN ACCEPTED BY DELL

Dell, the computer giant, announced that U.S. customers were able
to use Bitcoin, making them to biggest company to accept the
crypto asset. Bitcoin payments were launched by many other
computer hardware companies in 2014, including Overstock,
TigerDirect, and Newegg, which influenced Dell’s decision.

$628.50 = JUNE 27, 2014: US GOVERNMENT AUCTION SOLD

OFF 30,000 BITCOIN

30,000 Bitcoins, seized in an October 2013 raid, were sold by the

U.S. Marshals Service. The raid of the Silk Road darknet marketplace
allowed the government to auction off the Bitcoins to the highest
bidder, as the majority of the Bitcoins were purchased by billionaire
venture capitalist Tim Draper.

To date, Draper is still one of the biggest bitcoins hodlers.

$592.28 = JUNE 13, 2014: 51% BITCOIN NETWORK CONTROL

TEMPORARILY SECURED BY GHASH.IO

GHash.io, a mining pool, gained majority control over the hashing

power of the Bitcoin network, which gave them the option of
launching a 51% attack on the network. This type of attack would
create a temporary reversal of the Bitcoin transactions, though the
pool issued a statement to clarify that it would never perform such
an attack. The statement added that the pool would not exceed
39.99% in hash power from now on.

$501.70 = APRIL 10, 2014: EXCHANGE -RELATED BANK

ACCOUNTS SHUTDOWN BY PEOPLE’S BANK OF CHINA

Chinese financial institutions had a deadline of April 15 for stopping

all interactions with both Bitcoin itself and related exchanges.

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Exchanges lost access to their bank accounts in the country, as they
switched to offshore banking solutions.

$453.05 = MARCH 26, 2014: BITCOIN WILL BE TAXES,

ACCORDING TO IRS

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued a declaration that Bitcoin

could be taxes as property, but not like currency. With this
classification, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets would be
subjected to certain restrictions, including capital gains tax.

$631.25 = MARCH 6, 2014: DORIAN NAKAMOTO IDENTIFIED

AS SATOSHI NAKAMOTO BY NEWSWEEK

Newsweek, the news media outlet, published an article about a man

named Dorian Nakamoto, as journalist Leah McGrath Goodman
stated that the retired computer engineer was the true creator of
Bitcoin. Dorian, however, denied any involvement, and additional
investigation confirmed his lack of connection with Bitcoin.
However, the cryptocurrency community ended up raising $23,000
for him.

$662 = FEBRUARY 24, 2014: MT. GOX SUDDENLY SHUT DOWN

In the wake of DDoS attacks on February 7, Mt. Gox stopped all

withdrawals. Within a few weeks, the once-successful platform shut
down, following the discovery that 744,000 bitcoins were missing
from cold storage. The exchange was bankrupt, and Bitcoin’s price
took a massive tumble.

$626 = FEBRUARY 7, 2014: MT. GOX AND OTHER EXCHANGES

ENDURED MAJOR DDOS ATTACK

Multiple exchanges were simultaneously his with DDoS attacks,

shutting them down for several days. The exchanges impacted were
Mt. Gox, Bitstamp, and BTC-E, among others.

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 BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2013

$839 = DECEMBER 5, 2013: FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN

CHINA BANNED FROM BITCOIN USE

The People’s Bank of China took note of the rising popularity of

Bitcoin in their country, opting to ban its use as a form of currency
to preserve their own financial system. Financial institutions were
quickly banned from using Bitcoin.

$921 = NOVEMBER 29, 2013: MT. GOX RECORDED $1,242

BITCOIN VALUE

Prices reached an all-time high on November 29 as more

investments in China pushed them up. Citizens in the country
gravitated towards the currency as a way to protect themselves
from the Chinese Yuan, which was quickly inflating.

$1,075 = NOVEMBER 20, 2013: CHINESE CITIZENS ALLOWED

TO TRADE BITCOIN/OWN CRYPTOASSETS

Chinese citizens were given freedom to engage with Bitcoin’s

market by the People’s Bank of China, according to a statement
from the bank. This ability makes it possible for Chinese citizens to
purchase and sell Bitcoin en masse. With this news, Bitcoin’s price
spiked, and the trading volume of Bitcoin reached new heights.

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$1,072 = NOVEMBER 18, 2013: BITCOIN HEARING IN US
SENATE DELAYED

Ross Ulbricht’s arrest led the U.S. Senate to hold a discussion called
“Beyond Silk Road,” which discussed the “potential risks, threats,
and promises” of virtual currencies. Some panelists and senators
believed that Bitcoin was a risk that wasn’t worth taking, while
others believed in its potential.

$135.12 = OCTOBER 1, 2013: DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS AKA

ROSS ULBRICHT ARRESTED

Following the clues, the Federal Bureau of Investigation managed to

arrest Silk Road owner Ross Ulbricht. The dark web marketplace had
established itself as the underground place for the sale and purchase
of drugs, guns, and other illegal goods for Bitcoin. Ulbricht was
charged with multiple crimes, including computer hacking and
money laundering, and lost 170,000 BTC in the process.

Ulbricht was sentenced to lift in prison, without the possibility of

parole, later on.

$126.94 = AUGUST 30, 2013: TRADEHILL CEA SED OPERATIONS

Tradehill, a business-to-business exchange platform, shut down

their operations and gave funds back to their clients after a falling
out with Archive Federal Credit Union. The company’s financial
partner decided against dealing with the regulatory concerns of
Bitcoin.

$126.94 = MAY 14, 2013: MT. GOX RECEIVED WARRANT FROM

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security, Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles lost $3 million from a bank
account with Wells Fargo in a seizure from the authorities. The
investigation revealed that Karpeles was sending money illegally,
against the terms associated with the account. Users started
doubting Bitcoin’s ability to achieve future legal status.

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$122.90 = APRIL 10, 2013: MT. GOX SHUT DOWN DUE TO
HIGH TRADING VOLUME

Mt. Gox’s trading volume surged as a result of user activity on the

exchange, though it was first mistaken as a DDoS attack. The
exchange was forced to shut down as a result of the demand, which
caused worry by the Bitcoin community.

$131.07 = MARCH 25, 2013: CYPRUS GOVERNMENT’S BAILOUT

CORRELATES WITH BTC PRICE SURGE

Cyprus was the recipient of a €10 billion bailout, aiming to fix the
failure of the economy, though it came with a certain caveat:
account that exceeded €100,000 would be subjected to fees and
restrictions. These restrictions were responsible for boosting Bitcoin
from $80 to $260 within a few weeks, as users gravitated toward
the “safe haven” offered by Bitcoin.

$68.89 = MARCH 11, 2013: BITCOIN 0.8.2 UPDATE RELEASED

Transaction problems caused Bitcoin to temporarily come to a hard

fork, marking a hard week for the asset. Mt. Gox chose to suspend
operations as the developers followed through with a resolution
within a few hours. To prevent this problem from happening again,
version 0.8.1 was released.

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 BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2012

$13.43 = NOVEMBER 28, 2012: BITCOIN HALVES FOR THE

FIRST TIME

With the writing of the original code of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto

had designed a halving plan, automatically cutting the number of
BTC awarded to miners by half every four years. The first
application of this halving took place on November 28, bringing the
reward down from 50 BTC to 25 BTC with every block mined.

$12.46 = NOVEMBER 15, 2012: BITCOIN ACCEPTED BY

WORDPRESS

WordPress released a statement that announced their acceptance

of Bitcoin as a payment option, due to the restrictions they were
facing from companies like PayPal and Visa. WordPress stated that
these companies and others were blocking 60 countries around the
world from performing transactions, including Haiti and Ethiopia.

The statement noted, “Our goal is to enable people, not block them.”

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$11.18 = AUGUST 17, 2012: BITCOIN PAYMENTS HALTED FOR
BITCOIN SAVINGS AND TRUST BY SEC

Trendon T. Shavers was charged for defrauding investors as the

result of his Bitcoin investment scheme by the US Securities and
Exchange Commission. After accepting 50 BTC deposits from users
in the BitcoinTalk forum, he paid out interest on a weekly basis. The
operation was halted on August 17, and Shavers attempted to
disappear with 86,000 and 500,000 bitcoins from investors.

$4.89 = MARCH 1, 2012: 46,000 BITCOIN LOST IN LINODE

HACK

Web host Linode was subjected to a hack by an anonymous attacker

on their servers, which enabled the attacker to access wallets
holding massive numbers of Bitcoin. Stealing over $228,000 worth
of Bitcoin, the most notable victims in the hack included bitcoin’s
lead developer, Gavin Andresen, bitcoin exchange Bitcoinica, and
mining pool operator Marek ‘Slush’ Palatinus.

$4.31 = FEBRUARY 11, 2012: PAXUM AND BITCOIN CLOSED

CRYPTO OPERATIONS, SOLD OFF BITCOIN

The week of February 11 wasn’t a great week for Bitcoin. Paxum,

an online payment processor, decided to stop all transactions
involving cryptocurrency on February 11, citing legal concerns as
the reason. Within two days, TradeHill followed along by selling off
Bitcoin to issue refunds to customers and creditors. The next date,
a security bug on BTC-E Bitcoin Exchange was announced by
BitcoinTalk forum user Patrick ‘phantomcircuit’ Strateman.

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 BITCOIN PRICE (BTC IN USD) VALUES IN 2009 -2011

$4.22 = DECEMBER 19, 2011: “THE GOOD WIFE” FEATURES

“BITCOIN FOR DUMMIES” EPISODE

When Bitcoin was still in the first few years of its life, an episode of
“The Good Wife” decided to capitalize on the new technology. The
exposure to 9.45 million viewers was expected to push the assert to
new heights, but few viewers appeared to be interested as the price
remained in place.

$17.77 = JUNE 19, 2011: MT. GOX HACKED – BITCOIN'S FIRST

BIG BLACK HOLE

Mt. Gox was hacked by an auditor working for the exchange, who
downloaded a copy of the user database for access to passwords.
With the ability to access admin-level privileges, the auditor caused
the price to drop to $0.01 per Bitcoin with the many sell orders
posted to the system.

Mt. Gox was able to stop trading for a week when they discovered
the issue, reversing the trades and improving security on their
systems. Of the 600 compromised wallets, over 4,019 Bitcoins were
stolen.

$16.88 = JUNE 1, 2011: GAWKER NEWS PUBLISHES EXPOSE

ARTICLE ON DARK WEB WEBSITE SILK ROAD

Adrien Chen, a writer for Gawker, published an article titled “The

Underground Website Where You Can Buy Any Drug Imaginable.”

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This article came with a lot of controversy, describing how
consumers could use the would-be criminal-enterprise platform Silk
Road for the purchase of nearly anything with Bitcoin. The article
gained a lot of traffic, bringing Bitcoin up from $9.21 to $17.61.

Bitcoin peaked at $31 within a week of the Gawker article being

published.

$0.072 = MARCH 27, 2011: THREE BITCOIN EXCHANGES

OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED

Britcoin, a new crypto exchange, was launched in March, making it

possible for users to trade with the use of the British Pound for the
first time ever. Soon after, an exchange in Brazil followed this lead
by launching a service for the Brazilian Real to trade with Bitcoin as
well.

Bitmarket.eu launched on April 5, which allowed users to use the

Euro to trade Bitcoin, which had never been done before. The three
exchanges made it possible for millions of new users to enter the
Bitcoin market.

$1.00 = FEBRUAR Y 9, 2011: BITCOIN MATCHED VALUE OF US

DOLLAR

Bitcoin reached the same value as the US dollar by the time it was
about two years old, which was the first time in history that it
reached parity with the largest fiat currency in the world. Price
quickly rose with this news.

$0.07 = AUGUST 15, 2010: FRAUDULENT BITCOIN

TRANSACTION PROCESS RESULTS IN HARD FORK

A computer number processing error allowed a fraudulent Bitcoin

transaction to be created by an anonymous user, generating almost
99,000 more Bitcoin that can ever exist in the system. Bitcoin
developers spotted and corrected the issue in a matter of hours.

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$0.06 = JULY 18, 2010: MT. GOX EXCHANGE LAUNCHED

Jed McCaleb launched Mt. Gox on July 18, which was based on the
previous (but failed) Magic: The Gathering Online card exchange
platform (MTGOX). Mt. Gox grew through the next three years to
become the largest exchange for Bitcoin online, and McCaleb sold
the exchange to Mark Karpeles by March 7, 2011, long before this
massive success and eventual failure.

$0.08 = JULY 11, 2010: SLASHDOT ARTICLE FEATURED

BITCOIN

Slackdog.org, a popular website for news and technological

developments, featured the release of Bitcoin’s 0.3 version. Interest
in Bitcoin rose, bringing the price up from $0.008 to $0.08 in five
days.

$0.0025 = MAY 22, 2010: TWO PIZZAS BECAME FIRST ITEMS

PURCHASED WITH BITCOIN

Laszlo, a user on the Bitcointalk forum, paid for two pizzas with
10,000 BTC, valued at $25. Jercos, another user on the platform,
ordered and paid for the pizzas, marking the first time that Bitcoin
had been used for a real, tangible item.

$0.001 = OCTOBER 12, 2009: FIRST BITCOIN -TO-FIAT

TRANSACTION TOOK PLACE

New Liberty Standard made a purchase of 5,050 BTC with the use
of PayPal for $5.02. This is the first known trade with Bitcoin and
any fiat currency.

$0.0008 = OCTOBER 5, 2009: NEW LIBERTY STANDARD

LAUNCHED BITCOIN EXCHANGE RATE SERVICE

New Liberty standard launched as a service for exchanging fiat for

Bitcoin, using a rate of 1,309.03 BTC to 1 USD, or about $0.0008
per 1 BTC. The rate was calculated by considering the cost of

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electricity used for the mining of a single Bitcoin on the computer at
the time.

$0.00 = JANUARY 12, 2009: FIRST BITCOIN TRANSACTION

TOOK PLACE

On January 12, Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto transferred 10

bitcoins to developer and cryptography activist Hal Finney as the
first-ever Bitcoin transaction. The transaction was tweeted about by
Finney, who later joked that he’s never paid it back to Satoshi.

$0.00 = JANUARY 3, 2009: GENESIS BLOCK FOR BITCO IN

ESTABLISHED

Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin block,

setting the Bitcoin blockchain into motion.

Make sure to utilize the most detailed bitcoin price history timeline
to see how far the biggest and best cryptocurrency has come in its
first decade. Now, to wrap up our crypto trader and investor bitcoin
price user guide, let's close out with an FAQ on the BTC/USD
calculations to review all remaining elements.

FAQ ABOUT THE PRICE OF BITCOIN

AND BTC EXCHANGE RATE

We get a lot of questions about the price of bitcoin and the bitcoin
exchange rate. Here are some of the most frequently asked
questions we receive.

masterthecrypto.com
Q: Where does bitcoin’s exchange rate come from? Who
measures the exchange rate?

A: Different websites measure bitcoin’s exchange rate using

different sources. The best websites use multiple major exchanges
and up-to-the-second trading data to get bitcoin’s exchange rate.
How much did someone just pay for bitcoin? For how much did
someone just sell bitcoin? What was the last price someone paid for
bitcoin? By aggregating data from multiple sources, exchange rate
reporters can get the most accurate data possible for current market
conditions.

Q: Who controls the price of bitcoin?

A: Buyers and sellers in open markets control the price of bitcoin.

There’s no central entity that can dictate the price of bitcoin.

Q: Can any single person influence the price of bitcoin?

A: It’s certainly possible that a single institution or individual can

control the price of bitcoin, although it’s less likely as the market
becomes more liquid. If Satoshi suddenly dropped his rumored 1
million BTC stash on the market, however, then it would cause a
price drop unlike anything we’ve seen before. Few other people –
even whales with millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin – can
singlehandedly affect markets like this.

Q: Who controls the emission rate or inflation rate of bitcoin?

A: Bitcoin’s block reward is its de-facto emission rate or inflation

rate. Every 10 minutes, 6.25 BTC is added to bitcoin’s available
supply through this block reward system. This block reward is
hardcoded into bitcoin just like its total supply. It’s designed to be
cut in half roughly every four years, all the way up to the year 2140
when the last bitcoin is scheduled to be mined.

Q: Why is bitcoin’s price so volatile? Why does bitcoin’s exchange

rate fluctuate so much?

masterthecrypto.com
A: Bitcoin is well-known for its volatility. Ten years ago, bitcoin was
worth less than a penny. Over the last two years, bitcoin has been
worth anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000, depending on when you
checked the price. Bitcoin’s volatility may seem extreme, but it’s
what we expect from a new asset and a new marketplace. The
market is trying to find the price of bitcoin, so prices will naturally
rise and fall. See above for the main reasons why bitcoin’s price rises
and falls.

Q: How can bitcoin be a store of value if its price is constantly

changing?

A: Bitcoin’s price has fluctuated wildly over the years, leading many
people to claim that bitcoin is a poor store of value. It’s certainly
possible that bitcoin will be a poor store of value long-term,
although it’s tough to say one way or another at this point. Gold’s
value has also fluctuated over time, yet it remains one of the best
stores of value in history.

Q: Is bitcoin a bubble?

A: It’s certainly possible that we’ll look back on bitcoin 15 years from
now and laugh at the biggest, silliest bubble in history. It’s also
possible our grandkids will ask us 50 years from now if bitcoin was
really worth only $10,000 when we were little. Put simply, nobody
knows where bitcoin is going to go, what will happen to bitcoin’s
price next, and whether or not bitcoin is really in a bubble.

Q: Why is bitcoin’s total supply fixed? How do we know there are

only 21 million bitcoins?

A: Bitcoin’s total supply is fixed. It’s hardcoded into bitcoin’s core

rules. There can only ever be 21 million bitcoins in existence.

Q: Can bitcoin’s total supply be changed?

A: It’s technically feasible to change bitcoin’s overall supply. Just like

most bitcoin rules, these changes require the support of the

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majority. If enough people want to change bitcoin’s supply cap, then
that supply cap will change.

Q: How many bitcoins are on the market today?

A: 18 million bitcoins have been mined from January 2009 to

November 2019. The remaining 3 million bitcoins are scheduled to
be mined between 2019 and 2140, with the block reward being cut
in half every four years. In reality, the number of bitcoins in
circulation is much lower. Certain people are never going to sell their
bitcoins for less than a certain price, for example. Millions of bitcoins
have also been destroyed or lost.

Q: Why is May 2020 an important time for bitcoin?

A: May 2020 is one of the most important upcoming dates in

bitcoin’s future. On May 14, 2020, bitcoin’s block reward will be cut
in half from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. Overnight, the emission rate –
or inflation rate – of bitcoin will be cut in half. Both of the two
previous halvings (50 BTC to 25 BTC and 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC) have
led to a sudden spike in bitcoin prices.

Q: Isn’t bitcoin intrinsically worthless? How will it have long-term

value?

A: It’s true that the price of bitcoin isn’t fixed to any specific asset.
However, bitcoin still has intrinsic value. The bitcoin blockchain
gives bitcoin value, for example. Bitcoin lets you securely transfer
money from one person to another without the need for a
centralized intermediary. That’s where the value of bitcoin comes
from.

Q: What happens when all the bitcoins are mined? Won’t bitcoin’s
price drop?

A: The last bitcoin is scheduled to be mined in 2140. To date, only

about 15% of bitcoin’s are still unmined. Once the last bitcoin has
been mined, miners will earn money through transaction fees.
Miners already collect transaction fees and block rewards when

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they successfully mine a block. After 2140, they will only collect
transaction fees. Nobody really knows where bitcoin’s price will be
in 2140, and it’s tough to predict what will happen. However, bitcoin
is designed to continue running smoothly even after the last bitcoin
is mined.

Q: What is bitcoin's smallest unit of account, the satoshi, have to

do with the price of BTC?

A: There are 100 million satoshis per 1 bitcoin, or 1 satoshi is

0.00000001 BTC. Due to bitcoin's infinite divisibility, the satoshi is
the basic building block of bitcoin's measurable value, in which there
will only be 2 Quadrillion, 100 Trillion Satoshis (or 21 quantrillions
Satoshis) ever created. This digital scarcity starts to matter when
Bitcoin could no longer be measured in US dollar amounts like it is
today.

masterthecrypto.com
FINAL WORD: HOW IS BITCOIN’S
PRICE DETERMINED?

Bitcoin’s price is determined by two simple economic factors: supply

and demand. The supply of bitcoin is fixed, although the demand for
bitcoin keeps rising. Demand rises as more people hear about
bitcoin, as bitcoin’s technology grows and improves, and as bitcoin
becomes more useful. And who knows, while this user guide on how
bitcoin's price works surely has helped, if you ‘hodl' long enough you
may not have to worry about the price of BTC measured in USD and
start with the smallest unit of account in bitcoin, the satoshi.

masterthecrypto.com
There is no such thing as a bitcoin millionaire, as a million is
calculated based in US dollars and one day the BTC to USD
exchange rate will simply be BTC to BTC (at least how the matrix
meme maps out the possible future).

For more bitcoin price resourcues, check out chart analysis,

prediction forecasts and 2020 halving updates.

In closing, when demand rises and supply stays fixed, prices will
inevitably rise. That’s the simplest way to understand bitcoin’s price
and exchange rate.

masterthecrypto.com
 CHAPTER 3
BITCOIN PRICE PREDICTION
AND PRICE HISTORY TIMELINE GUIDE

WHERE IS THE PRICE OF BITCOIN

GOING? OVER 50 INDUSTRY MOVERS
AND SHAKERS WEIGH-IN WITH BTC
FORECASTS
Ask anyone in the crypto world what their bitcoin price prediction
is and they surely have a forecast, right?

While 2018 saw the price of Bitcoin stumble from its December
2017 all time high of $19,893 BTC/USD down to $3,131, it finally
found a spark out of the 15-month ‘crypto-winter' bear market in
April 2019.

After soaring over $5,000+ on to a year-high of $13,387 according

to CoinMarketCap (June), the number one cryptocurrency by
market cap has been able to weather the doom and gloom storm by
staying afloat hovering around the $8,000-$12,000 range to-date.
But curious minds want to know, what's next for $BTC?

masterthecrypto.com
MTC is grateful for dozens of credible crypto analysts, noted experts
and prominent personalities who provided us with their futuristic
bitcoin price insights. Examining the whole collection of BTC price
predictions gets interesting when inquiring spectators start coming
to the ever-evolving crypto industry.

After all, it costs nothing to give a formal forecast so the following

is simply a fun to entertain best-of list. Without further ado, let's
jump right into the heart of the matter and sift through crypto
community chatter.

This bitcoin price prediction overview is put together in four

different sections:

1. Over 50 $BTC price forecasts from crypto influencers,

traders, analysts and die-hards
2. bitcoin price history 2009 – 2019, year by year (see where
BTC has been, to know where it is going)
3. what influences the price of bitcoin; market volatility,
supply/demand scarcity, value vs speculation)
4. top 50 bitcoin price catalysts that could spark the next
BTC/USD bull market run in 2019 and 2020

TOP 50 BITCOIN PRICE PREDICTIONS:

2019, 2020-2024 FORECAST LIST
After the most popular top BTC predictions list, be sure to research
the bitcoin price history timeline of events and review the curated
checklist of the top 50 bitcoin price catalysts all crypto enthusiasts
should pay attention to in 2019. The 2020 bitcoin halving is also
worth-while to see why many faithful bitcoin leaders can fathom the
following foretelling forecasts. This catalogue of notable influencers'
will be continually updated as predictions are made public.

Let Master The Crypto know in the comments how your crystal ball
matches up with these known bitcoiners; all the from crypto
celebrities to BTC/USD experts to public trading analysts and even

masterthecrypto.com
industry insiders, check out the 2019 list of prophetic Babe-Ruth
like point-to-the-moon crypto calls.

The following 2019 resource is a massive compendium of expert

opinions/hot takes regarding what they think is in store for Bitcoin
in the short and long term. The responses are quite varied in ranges,
with some predicting BTC will scale above the $20,000 benchmark
with ease in 2020 and other public figures believe the #1 coveted
crypto coin can see a price point of $100,000 to $1 million within
the next 10 years.

With that being said, it needs to be understood that even though

the opinions of these experts are based on a host of quantitative
data points, please acknowledge the inherent volatility of the bitcoin
market and know these BTC/USD forecasts should not be taken as
financial investment advice.

Take a genuine glance at the chronological timeline history of

bitcoin's price to see where it's been to know where and why all of
these cryptocurrency influencers are predicting such high BTC/USD
values in the future.

1. ANTHONY ‘POMP' POMPLIANO (THE BITCOIN

PERMABULL)

The co-founder of Morgan Creek Capital is one of the most well-

respected names when it comes to crypto-related advice (as is
demonstrated by his 250k+ following on Twitter). In his opinion, all
of the financial info associated with Bitcoin currently points to the

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fact that the currency will most likely scale up to a price point of
around 50,000 US dollars by the end of 2022.

Some of the factors, in Pomp's opinion, which seem to be greatly

influencing BTCs price at the moment include:

• Parabolic increases in the value of Bitcoin that are taking

time to stabilize.
• Bearish market conditions that seem to be creeping in time
and again.

Lastly, it also bears mentioning that Mark Yusko, Pomp's partner in

crime at Morgan Creek too believes that Bitcoin could easily scale
past the $75,000 mark by the end of 2020.

2. JOHN MCAFEE (THE CRYPTO CRUSADER)

The man, the myth, the legend. What can you say about John
McAfee that hasn't already been said? McAfee is a digital security
pioneer who revolutionized how people protected their PCs and
laptops back in the late '90s and early 2000's. Since then, he has
forayed into the world of blockchain/crypto and has made many
outlandish predictions regarding the price of Bitcoin.

For starters, he believes that BTC is on its way up to the $1 million

mark by the end of 2020 — a prediction that sounds quite silly at
first but when you consider the relative accuracy of McAfee's
previous claims, one is given to at least hearing the man out. In this
regard, it should be pointed out that back in 2016 and 2017, John
unequivocally stated that big things were in store for Bitcoin and

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that the flagship crypto would soon be worth $5,000. Little did he
know that by the end of 2017, Bitcoin would reach its all-time high
value of USD 20,000 (approx).

3. JEFFEREY LIU XUN (XANPOOL CEO)

Jefferey Xun, CEO of XanPool — an instant P2P fiat gateway that

does not require custody — believes that in the short term, BTC will
most likely to go down because of certain factors such as dwindling
funding rates, contango, etc. He is also of the opinion that, in the
near future, a number of other altcoin offerings will quite likely go
down as well — a trend that has been quite visible over the past 12
months. In terms of the future of the altcoin market in general, Xun
adds

“Altcoins will lose their market cap to some newer

assets/ digital offerings coming into the market.
Think about projects like Pokla, Eth 2.0 etc…
essentially companies that hosted ICOs in 2017, and
then and haven't launched their product yet. When
these products finally go live, they will gain
dominance against a ton of existing alts, and
perhaps even Bitcoin.”

masterthecrypto.com
 4. MAX KEISER

One of the earliest proponents of all things Bitcoin, Max Kiser

has been talking about the premier digital currency since it's
market value lay at a meager price point of around $3.
Additionally, he is also the host of a program called the ‘Keiser
Report' — a finance-oriented talk show that has time and again
highlighted the advantages of crypto tech as well as exposed
the biased inflationary policies of central banks all over the
globe.

On the subject of Bitcoin's monetary potential, Kaiser recently

tweeted out that digital currency is all set to break past its
previous ATH and climb up to around the $28,000 mark soon.

5. TRACE MEYER

Veteran investor ‘Trace Meyer' who has made a fortune for himself
working within various traditional market sectors has been a major

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proponent of Bitcoin for a long time now. Meyer released his first
pro-BTC blog back in 2011 — a time when the digital asset was
trading for around $0.25 per token. Additionally, late last year, the
maverick entrepreneur/ ardent defender of free speech released a
tweet in which he claimed that using his uniquely crafted prediction
algorithms, he was quite certain that the price of Bitcoin would
reach $115,000 in the coming future.

6. TOM LEE

Fundstrat Global Founder Tom Lee is viewed by many from within

the global finance community as being a perennial crypto bull. This
is because Lee has frequently made bold claims about the future of
various cryptocurrencies — with many of these predictions falling
flat on their face. With that being said, it's not as if Lee's investment
advice has not been on point many times in the past.

Speaking on the subject of BTCs future valuation recently, the

Fundstrat CEO claimed that owing to the premier digital currency's
increasing mining costs, the price of a single token could quite easily
scale up to around the $25,000 territory.

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 7. BOBBY LEE

BTC Foundation board member and founder/CEO of BalletCrypto

— Bobby Lee — is one of the few experts to have accurately
predicted that Bitcoin would bottom out around the $3k mark
sometime during early 2019. In this regard, Lee now believes that
the flagship cryptocoin will experience a bull run during 2020 which
will help push its price in an upward direction quite rapidly. Not only
that, but he also claims that by the end of 2021, BTC will hit a peak
of $333,000 before crashing once more and dropping to around the
$40,000 mark.

8. ANDY HOFFMAN

Hoffman is a crypto consultant as well as the CEO of

Coingoldcentral. Additionally, between 2011-2017 he worked as
the Marketing Director of a major, well-respected bullion dealer,
Miles Franklin. Elaborating on his views regarding the future of
Bitcoin, he told MasterTheCrypto:

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“It is estimated that the global bond market is currently valued just
over $100 trillion, 15% of which is negative-yielding – whilst total
fiat currency outstanding is $90 trillion, total stock market
capitalization $80 trillion, and the market cap of all the gold ever
mined $9 trillion. Bitcoin is a far superior store-of-value asset than
gold, so I expect it to one day be worth more than gold. As well, it
could over time usurp some of the functions of legacy assets,
making it worth significantly more. Thus, my “conservative” estimate
is that within five years, it will be worth at least $5 trillion, or more
than $250,000/BTC.”

9. RUSSELL OKUNG

Seeing NFL star Russell Okung's name along with those of seasoned
crypto players such as Trace Meyer and Bobby Lee may seem quite
funny at first, however, the Los Angeles Chargers left tackle has
been one of the most vocal backers of Bitcoin over the past year or
so. For starters, he lodged an official request with the NFL to allow
players to receive their payments in crypto (if they so wished to do
so). Not only that, but he has also been able to convince other
established sporting big-wigs such as Buffalo Bills' Quarterback
Matt Barkley to join the crypto freight train.

Earlier this month, Okung hosted a Bitcoin (BTC) conference in Los

Angeles to spread awareness about cryptocurrencies in general. The
event was attended by the who's who of crypto including:

• Bitcoin developer Jimmy Song

• Anthony Pompliano
• Crypto investor and podcaster Peter McCormack.

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 10. DAVID DRAKE

Drake, who is the founder of LDJ Capital, believes that as awareness

regarding crypto continues to grow, it would not be surprising to see
Bitcoin become increasingly more expensive. In this regard, he
believes that by the end of the year, BTC will rise to a price point of
around $30,000. Not only that, his optimism seems to permeate
beyond Bitcoin into a host of other altcoins – who he believes will
play an ever-increasing role in the day-to-day life of the global
economic sector.

11. JEET SINGH

Indian-American business entrepreneur Jeet Singh is probably best

known for being the co-founder of Art Technology Group – a
venture that pioneered the use of software and other digital tech
mediums within the e-commerce market during the early '90s. The
project was extremely successful and thrust Singh and his partner
Joseph Chung front and center of the global finance stage.

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In Singh's estimation, Bitcoin will most likely suffer from a period of
volatility in the short term – which will cause the premier digital
asset to float around the 10k mark for quite some time. Following
this period, he believes the asset will scale up beyond $50,000
threshold. Lastly, it also bears mentioning that over the last six years,
Singh has been working exclusively as a cryptocurrency portfolio
manager.

12. TIM DRAPER

Founder of several established ventures such as Draper Associates

and DFJ, Tim is widely considered to be the godfather of viral
marketing – mainly because of his use of online mediums such as
Skype, Hotmail, etc. Over the last 2-3 years, he has been a
vociferous advocate of all things crypto and believes that the price
of Bitcoin will most likely reach a mammoth price point of $250,000
by the end of 2022.

13. VINNY LINGHAM

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Lingham, who is a board member of the BTC Foundation as well as
the co-founder of Civic, believes that Bitcoin's value is destined to
keep rising and eventually go through several ‘boom and bust'
cycles. In this regard, he was quoted as saying:

“Bitcoin currently is priced at 2.5% chance of being

worth $100k or .25% chance of being worth $1m.”.

Even though Lingham is highly optimistic about the price of Bitcoin,

he doesn't have a timeline as to when the premier crypto asset will
begin its ascent and reach its destined financial heights. For starters,
since BTC is both a scarce and valuable commodity, it's value is
bound to keep increasing. However, Lingham does concede that in
order for the alt-currency's value to soar, it needs to move from
being just a digital commodity to becoming a store of value as well
as a legitimate transaction medium.

14. CAMERON WINKLEVOSS

Cameron and his brother Tyler Winklevoss are responsible for

establishing Gemini – one of the world's most trusted
cryptocurrency exchange platforms. In this regard, Cameran has
been bullish on BTC (as well as a host of other digital assets) from
the very start. Not only that, the brothers have served as some of
the first mainstream proponents of this burgeoning asset class.

On the subject of Bitcoin's future market potential, Cameron has

stated time and again that because of the asset's long term SOV
properties, it has the potential to rapidly gain value and even reach
a price point of $320k per token within the next couple of decades.

masterthecrypto.com
 15. KENNETH ROGOFF

The ex-chief of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is not a big

believer in the power of crypto. Essentially, he believes that owing
to the use of Bitcoin for tax evasion and money laundering purposes,
the crypto industry as a whole will have to face an increasing
amount of heat from regulatory agencies all over the world –
something that will eventually lead to the demise of the asset class
completely. On the subject, Rogoff was quoted as saying:

“I think Bitcoin will be worth a tiny fraction of what it

is now if we're headed out 10 years from now… I
would see $100 as being a lot more likely than
$100,000 ten years from now.”

16. BILL GATES

The billionaire who has regularly featured in the list of the world's
most wealthy individuals has been a crypto hater since Bitcoin came
to the forefront back in 2011. For example, a few years ago, Gates
went on record to state that the asset class was a pure ‘greater fool
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theory' type of investment. And while he hasn't ever given an official
price prediction for Bitcoin, he is quite sure that the asset will
become worthless in the coming few years.

17. JOE DAVIS

Davis is a well-respected economist who believes that there is a

good chance that Bitcoin's price might to down to zero over the next
few years. Additionally, he also points out that because BTCs price
is merely based on speculation, it is subject to insane price swings.

Lastly, Davis – who is currently serving as the head of Vanguard's

investment strategy group – believes that people should only put
their money in traditional investment vehicles that are known to
provide their owners with definitive returns. Davis further says
Bitcoin is a poor store of value, due to its volatility, and advises folks
to only invest in tried-and-tested assets.

18. JOHN PFEFFER

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The Pfeffer Capital partner has time and again showcased his
support for Bitcoin because he believes that the digital currency is
one of the first viable assets to possess the power to completely
replace gold.

Additionally, he has also mentioned in the past that if BTC does

become a mainstream store-of-value, it would not be surprising to
see the value of a single token surge past the $700,000 mark. To
back up his assertions, he recently released some stats: Pfeffer
stated that if BTC was somehow able to replace all of the world's
privately held gold bullion (estimated to be worth $1.6 trillion), the
Bitcoin in circulation (at that given point in time) would become
worth $90,000 apiece – a price point from where the premier digital
currency would continue to increase in value.

19. ALEXEY ERMAKOV

Ermakov is the CEO of Aximetria, a mobile wallet and next-gen

financial service for traditional and crypto-assets. In his estimation,
Bitcoin will become one of the main means of preserving wealth as
we move into the future — especially as people all over the globe
transition to a digital way of conducting their finances. Additionally,
he also believes that over time, cryptocurrencies (especially Bitcoin)
will continue to gain momentum and flourish because of the simple
fact that BTC is one of the few financial instruments that can easily
be transferred across international borders without any restrictions.

In Ermakov's estimation, it would not be surprising to see Bitcoin

reach a price point of $70,000 in the coming few years.

masterthecrypto.com
 20. LEONID MATVEEV

According to Matveev, the Head of Trending Analytics for Waves,

many factors influence the cryptocurrency market at any given time
— with one of the main ones being the real-world use of
cryptocurrencies. However, owing to the flooding of this market in
recent years, he believes that more than 95% of all current
cryptocurrencies will be gone forever within the next 10 years.
Matveev told MasterTheCrypto:

“To date, few currencies can compete with Bitcoin.

Belief in the new technology of value transfer is
confirmed by the relatively wide use of Bitcoin all
over the world. Several factors serve as the driver of
growth in the popularity of bitcoin.”

These factors include:

• Development of an infrastructural framework that allows

users to exchange Bitcoin for fiat money.
• Growing needs of financial market participants in the
diversification of risks. For example, new types of assets –
such as Bitcoin – do not correlate with traditional securities,
which makes investments safer.
• The global exchange of tax information is forcing people
who want to keep their savings hidden, to look for other
ways to escape.

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 21. CRAIG RUSSO

Craig is the founder of PEER, a Boston-based startup behind the

popular crypto/gaming media outlet SludgeFeed. In this estimation,
Bitcoin's price will continue to outperform other alternative asset
classes through the next few years. In the near-term (1-2 years), he
says he wouldn't be surprised to see BTC trading in the $20-30K
range, taking out previous all-time highs. Not only that, but he also
believes that with the influx of institutional dollars and more liquid
futures products, the flagship cryptocurrency will begin seeing a
reduction in its volatility — thus allowing the price of Bitcoin to
witness more extended ranging behavior at these levels.

With that being said, Russo makes it abundantly clear that he is not
one of those people who believes that a global economic downturn
will be bullish for Bitcoin. In this regard, Russo told
MasterTheCrypto:

“At the end of the day, Bitcoin has only existed in a

risk-on macro environment and I simply don't believe
that investors will continue holding onto BTC if we
see a crash in the equity markets.”

22. MICHAEL POUTRE

Michael Poutre is a well-respected industry leader who currently

serves as a Managing Partner at Terraform Capital — an investment
fund focusing on developing blockchain companies. Elucidating his
thoughts on the future of Bitcoin, he told BEG that the fact that the
premier digital asset has stabilized around the US$10,000 mark is

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proof enough that it is here to stay — a point that could have
probably been argued just a few years ago. Furthermore, Poutre
highlights the fact that governments around the world are starting
to embrace the advantages of digital currencies, as a result of which
Bitcoin is slowly being looked at by many as being ‘digital gold' (as
well as a good hedge option for the malaise du jour). In many
instances, Bitcoin has proven to be a more effective hedge than
gold. He further told MasterTheCrypto:

“While 17 million (or so) of the 21 million Bitcoins

have been mined, there are factors to consider which
can and should affect the price movement. The
current price of Bitcoin reflects the market cap of all
known mined coins, yet at some point, we will start
pricing Bitcoin based on the ‘available float' – and
this could cause a generous increase in the price.
Terraform believes that the price of Bitcoin will
double from the current prices in the next 6 months,
and we have a 24-month price target of US$50,000
per BTC.”

23. NICHOLAS PELECANOS

Pelecanos is one of NEM Ventures' primary advisors and has been a

part of the global crypto ecosystem from the very start. In his view,
Bitcoin will witness several tangible price increases over its medium
to long-term future because of certain factors such as:

• The net global debt volume reaching record highs.

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 • Technical indicators such as bond yield signaling an incoming
financial crisis.

In Pelecanos' opinion, the aforementioned factors alone paint a

scary picture of what the future may hold. Thus, he believes that a
majority of central banks and governments around the world can
already see the incoming crisis and are aware that, unlike in 2008,
they are in no position to bail out the banking system. He further
told MasterTheCrypto:

“In the event of a banking crisis, Bail-in laws allow

banks to freeze a portion of the savings from their
users' accounts and then credit their users with bank
stock (which during a financial crisis will be shedding
the majority of its value). When people become
aware that their banked savings are not safe, I can
see large capital in-flows into Bitcoin. If Bitcoin can
attract just 5% of global household savings we would
expect to see a 7x increase from today's price or a
$58,000 BTC. I can imagine negative interest rates
would have a similar effect.”

24. SERENA WILLIAMS

The global women's tennis icon released a tweet a few months back
stating that she has invested some of her life's earnings in Bitcoin.
Not only that, via an Instagram post earlier this year, the sports icon
also revealed to her followers that she had secretly launched an
investment company called ‘Serena Ventures' back in in 2014 —

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through which she made investments in Coinbase. And while Serena
hasn't given an exact number as to how far the value of Bitcoin
might increase in the future, her support in itself for the flagship
cryptocoin shows that the currency is destined for great things in
the future.

25. ASHTON KUTCHER

Actor and one-time model ‘Ashton Kutcher' launched his very own
venture capital firm — A-Grade Investments — nearly a decade back.
As part of his professional pursuits, Kutcher put in an undisclosed
sum of money into BitPay back in 2013. Not only that, the following
year, he participated in a $12 million funding round for BitGo — a
blockchain cybersecurity company.

In Kutcher's opinion, crypto is an avenue that makes people feel safe

about their wealth and Bitcoin, in particular, is an asset that has the
potential to completely revamp how the global economic system
works.

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 26. MURAD MAHMUDOV

The host of ‘On the Record' — a podcast that features some of the
biggest names from the world of crypto — Murad believes that
Bitcoin will scale up to it's all-time-high within the next 12-16
months. Additionally, it bears mentioning that during one of his
recent conversations with Tone Vays, he pointed out that Bitcoin
was all set to surge past the $20,000 mark soon, a statement with
which Vays agreed saying:

“There is a 40% chance that this happens next year.”

27. JIM BLASKO

Blasko is the founder of Bitcoin Talk Radio and has been bullish on
Bitcoin's monetary prospects for nearly a decade now. As per this
calculations, the digital asset's future financial worth can stretch
anywhere between $100,000 and $200,000 by the end of 2020 or
early 2021. Elaborating on his stance a bit further, Blasko points out
that due to Bitcoin's mining reward being cut in half (from 12.5
Bitcoins per block mined to 6.25 Bitcoins) it would not be shocking

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to see more and more FOMO permeate the market gradually –
thereby making the price of the digital currency soar to new heights.

28. ROBIN SINGH

The Koinly.io founder believes that Bitcoin's reach has been growing
along with its price so there's no reason to assume it will slow down
in the long term. With that being said, he told MasterTheCrypto that
the short term price of the asset depends heavily on whether
projects like Libra make it into the public – and are received with the
enthusiasm that matches all the hype currently surrounding this
upcoming stable-coin offering.

Additionally, Singh also points out that interest from large

companies will continue to play a big role in Bitcoin's price increase
in 2019 but the underwhelming launch of Bakkt only days ago has
shown that not all of the hype surrounding this space should be
believed – especially since BTC has dropped by over $2k since its
launch.

“My price forecast for 2020 based on current market

conditions would be around $8k. But then again BTC
is volatile and if Libra is released the price could very
well reach $15-20,000.”

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 29. JOE DIPASQUALE

In DiPasquale's opinion, BTC's price could range anywhere between

$10,000 to $100,000 during the next 5 years. This is because he
believes that the various fundamentals associated with the premier
alt-currency are extremely likely to change as time goes on.

30. MATIAS DORTA

Founder of ICO Informer, Dorta believes that by the end of next

year the price of Bitcoin will hover around the $30,000+ region. This
is because he foresees several countries adopting the crypto-asset
as a reserve currency before the end of the coming decade.
Additionally, he also stated in an interview that as we move into the
future, the “digital gold” narrative associated with Bitcoin will only
continue to gain more and more traction.

31. BOBBY ULLERY

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Ullery, the CTO of crypto firm Waysay, is a big supporter of premier
digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. As per his calculations,
the aforementioned currencies will share a $4.5 trillion market cap
by 2020. Not only that, but Ullery also believes that by 2020 (a time
when there will be approximately 18,375,000 BTC in circulation) the
price of a single Bitcoin will rise to $61,900.

32. FRED SCHEBESTA

Fred Schebesta is probably best known for being the co-Founder

and CEO of Finder — a media outlet that has a decent presence
within the world of crypto finance. He believes that Bitcoin's price
has the potential to explode by the end of 2020, however, for the
time being, the currency will most likely continue to hover around
the $10,000 region.

33. FRAN STRAJNAR

Fran is probably best known for being the founder and CEO of
crypto/blockchain firm Techemy Ltd. He has quite an optimistic

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outlook when it comes to BTC and believes that by the beginning of
2020, the flagship cryptocurrency will be able to break past the
$200,000 mark. His estimates are based on the fact that the rate of
BTCs adoption (which has been increasing quite rapidly over the
past couple of years) is directly proportional to its price.

34. SAM DOCTOR

Fundstrat's Quant Strategist Sam Doctor is a Bitcoin bull who

believes that widespread crypto mining can lead to a reduction in
the price of the BTC/USD pair while increasing the breakeven cost
growth ratio of the premier digital currency. Additionally, as per a
recent tweet by Doctor, he thinks that Bitcoin will close out the year
at a price point of around $36,000.

35. JACK DORSEY

Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, is a big supporter of Bitcoin

— primarily because he owns a massive chunk of the flagship
cryptocurrency himself. Additionally, he also has a stake in Lightning

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Labs — the venture responsible for creating/operating BTCs
Lightning Network. In Dorsey's own words, he is “extremely bullish”
on the long term prospects of the BTC, with him going as far as
saying that the crypto asset will one day become the single global
currency of the world. However, he is not unrealistic in his approach
and believes that such a global shift will take a minimum of 10 years
to realize because we still don't have the necessary technological
capabilities needed to deploy Bitcoin as a daily transaction currency.

36. ROGER VER

One of the best-known crypto evangelists in the world, Ver has

been pushing people to buy Bitcoin since the early half of 2011 — a
time when the digital currency was being sold for a meager $10. To
elaborate on how passionate Ver is about crypto, he has been
making bold price bets concerning BTC for quite some time now.
For example, in 2011 he bet a cool $10k on the fact that bitcoin
would outperform gold, silver, the U.S. stock market, and the U.S.
Dollar by a factor of 100 within the next two years. Ver's prediction
was off by a margin of just 60 days.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that Ver believes that Bitcoin Cash
(BCH) is the real Bitcoin because it still adheres to the original vision
of the premier digital coin. In this regard, he believes that BCH will
eventually surpass BTC in terms of its price and will scale up to
around the $250,000 region in the coming few years.

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 37. RONNIE MOAS: $28,000

Respected analyst Ronnie Moas stated last year that Bitcoin's

financial future would pick up in 2019 — with the digital currency
closing out the year at a price point of over $28,000. Late last year,
he also pointed out that several institutions along with many of the
world's financial elites were trying to scare casual investors by
manipulating the market big time.

38. BRANDON QUITTEM

Independent crypto author/analyst Brandon Quittem believes that

by the end of next year, Bitcoin will be worth approximately
$75,000 – which is roughly about 10 times the price that the
premier digital token is today.

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 39. WENCES CASARES: $1 MILLION

Bitcoin bull Wences Casares is also one of those dudes who believe
that Bitcoin is headed to the 1 million dollar mark within the next 10
years or so. However, he made his bold claim at a time when BTC
was surging and was close to it's all-time-high value of 20,000
dollars. For those of our readers who might not be aware of who
Casares is, he is an Argentinian entrepreneur who founded bitcoin
wallet startup Xapo.

As per one of his recent interviews, he bought his first Bitcoin back
in 2011 as a way to circumvent the volatility issues that were being
faced by the Argentinian Peso. He also mentioned that many
investors will soon be kicking themselves for not buying Bitcoin
earlier — i.e. around a time when the currency was trading between
$10,000 to $20,000.

40. CHAMATH PALIHAPITIYA

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Venture capitalist/ ex-Facebook employee Chamath Palihapitiya
seems to agree with Casares and thinks that Bitcoin will be worth
$1 million (within the next 20 odd years( and will scale up to around
the $100k mark within the next 36-48 months. Palihapitiya has a
lush history of making smart business moves — as is highlighted by
his decision to become a part-owner of the Golden State Warriors,
an NBA franchise that has made it to the finals 5 years in a row now.
Not only that, his firm Social Capital currently has under its control
more than $1.2 billion worth of customer funds. And while it is not
clear as to how much BTC Palihapitiya currently owns, it is
estimated that he possesses anywhere between 400,000 and 1
million bitcoin today. When asked why he is so bullish on bitcoin?
Palihapitiya says that bitcoin is a “fantastic hedge and store of value
against autocratic regimes and banking institutions”.

41. KAY VAN-PETERSEN

Respected financial analyst Kay Van-Petersen has been affiliated

with several big-name institutions such as ‘Saxo Bank' over the past
decade. However, he now specializes in crypto analytics and has
gone on record to say that Bitcoin will be worth around $100,000
by 2028. In addition to this, he also believes that crypto will end up
accounting for 10% of all daily currency trading volume in the future
— eventually competing with many established fiat currencies.
Lastly, it also bears mentioning that as per a study released by
Unblock.net, Van-Petersen's data seems to be mathematically valid.

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 42. MIKE NOVOGRATZ

The former Goldman Sachs executive and founder of investment

firm Galaxy Digital ‘Mike Novogratz' predicted back in December
2018 that during 2019, Bitcoin's value would gradually rise and
close out the year on a high note. Not only that, but he also
predicted that by the start of 2020, several established financial
institutions would have entered this space — thereby allowing the
price of various cryptocurrencies to soar.

43. SPENCER BOGART

Blockchain Capital partner Spencer Bogart is a well-respected figure

within many crypto circles because of his astute price predictions as
well as mathematically sound analysis. This is best highlighted by the
fact that he is regularly called to speak at many blockchain/crypto-
related conferences around the world.

In terms of his BTC price outlook, Bogart spoke with

Bloomberg earlier this year and stated that by the end of 2019, the

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price of Bitcoin would stabilize — following which it would once
again start its upward financial ascent. Additionally, he also believes
that owing to the efficacy/utility of the bitcoin network, the digital
currency will gain more and more traction within the global finance
arena.

44. LLEW CLASSEN

Bitcoin Foundation's executive director Llew Clasen, previously said

that by the end of 2018, the price of Bitcoin would reach a minimum
of $40,000 — a prediction that fell short by quite a huge margin.
Since then, Classen has remained fairly quiet and has refrained from
giving any other predictions.

45. SONNY SINGH

Bitpay CCO Sonny Singh recently said that he sees the price of
Bitcoin scaling up to around the $20,000 by Thanksgiving 2019. To
back up his claims, Singh has cited several factors such as:

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 • The launch of multiple crypto ETFs within this space.
• The increasing influx of money for various crypto-related
startups over the last year or so.

46. TAI LOPEZ

Even though Lopez got into crypto quite late when compared to
most of his contemporaries, the respected investor recently stated
that if the global diaspora of millionaires were to allocate merely 1
percent of their holdings into bitcoin, the price of the flagship
crypto-asset would rise to $60,000 within just 6-12 months.
Similarly, in some other of his videos, he has gone on record to state
that Bitcoin might become worth $1 million by 2024.

47. ZHAO DONG

Zhao Dong is probably best known for being one of the largest over-
the-counter (OTC) bitcoin traders in China. In the past, he has boldly
claimed that a $50,000 price target for Bitcoin was not at all difficult

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and that the price of the premier asset would rise anywhere
between 100% – 200% over the next three years.

48. ARTHUR HAYES

Arthur Hayes is a well-known industry figure — mainly because of

his current role as the CEO of BitMEX. And while one would be
tempted to believe that Hayes has an extremely bullish outlook
towards the crypto market, in a recent interview he claimed that
Bitcoin would experience record lows all through 2019.

49. JUSTIN SUN

Justin Sun has become a major player within the global crypto
ecosystem — with the TRON CEO even dishing out a huge sum of
money to have dinner with legendary investment savant Warren
Buffett recently. In terms of his predictions for Bitcoin, Sun stated
in an interview earlier this year that the digital currency would trade
anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000 for the entirety of 2019.

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 50. NAS

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones — better known by his stage name NAS —
is one of those venture capitalists whose name tends to fly under
the radar because of his hip-hop associations. However, back in
2014, NAS launched a firm called QueensBridge Venture Partners
(QBVP) through which he invested big in Bitfury. Not only that, as
part of his VC pursuits, the rapper has also invested in many other
companies including:

• Coinbase
• Robinhood
• Block Cypher

And even though he has refrained from giving any major price
predictions in relation BTC recently, he is convinced that the
flagship cryptocurrency will evolve into an independent sector of its
own within the next 5-10 years.

51. SNOOP DOGG

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Everybody's favorite rapper Snoop Dogg — who has previously gone
by different aliases such as Snoop Lion, D.O.G.G, etc — is a big
believer in Bitcoin. In the past, he has invested big in many different
crypto ventures including altcoin exchange/ trading platform
Robinhood along with other celebrities such as Jared Leto and
Ashton Kutcher.

52. DAVID MONDRUS

Mondrus, who is the CEO Trive — a platform designed to weed out

“fake news” from the internet — seems to agree with John McAfee
and thinks bitcoin could very well reach a value point of $1 million
within the next ten years or so. He believes that owing to an ever-
increasing demand for BTC, the price of the digital asset will
continue to rise exponentially.

53. ERIC WADE OF CRYPTO CAPITAL

Eric Wade, long time crypto supporter who used to mine bitcoin,
and now runs a cryptocurrency market newsletter in Crypto Capital,
puts his 2020 BTC price prediction at $50,000 due to a simple
formula. That is no change in fundamentals but a big increase in
adoption and technology developments. He believes the bitcoin
halving will be the spark plug and if BTC crosses $20,000, that the
same bull panic FOMO of 2017 will kick in and shoot straight up to
$50,000 a lot faster than you think.

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BITCOIN PRICE PREDICTION
UPDATES FOR 2019 AND 2020
This growing list of bitcoin price predictions in 2019 for
years 2020 and beyond will continue to evolve as more
inquires get answered from top analysts and insightful
community contributors. While it may be all in good fun
to entertain these bold futuristic bitcoin value forecasts,
please note all investments into $BTC are a gamble and
one that must not be taken lightly considering any short
term or long term play is not without reason.

Master The Crypto is very thankful to each of these

individuals who shared their insights with us exclusively.

As the price of Bitcoin continues to get predictions from

known individuals and industry insiders, we will update
the list and hopefully have hundreds of curated $BTC to
USD exchange rate value forecasts to share with you to
see who and when people become right (for the fun of
it). We hope you enjoyed this bitcoin price prediction
review of the top $BTC value forecasts for 2019.

Now, let's shift gears and think about all of the bitcoin
predictions you just reviewed. There is a saying to note
– if you want to know where something is going, know
where it came from. In order to fully understand the
visionary predictions about the future bitcoin price, let's
look into the bitcoin price history and compare where it
came from in the past decade and where it is going in
2020 and beyond.

masterthecrypto.com
NEW 2019 BITCOIN PRICE TIMELINE
UPDATES

Below is a list of the early pioneering days of the price action history
of bitcoin's value in US dollars. Here's the latest updates from
January to November 2019:

1. October 26, 2019 – November 2019: the USD price of

Bitcoin rebounded back to nearly $10,000, hovering in low
$9,000s
2. September 22 – October 25, 2019: BTC price went under
$7,5000 after being above $10,000 during this phase
3. August 6, 2019: manages to climb back over $12,000 for a
week after slipping to under $9,500
4. July 10, 2019: BTC/USD makes it back above $13,000 for
the last time in 2019 so far
5. June 26, 2019: Bitcoin all-time-high for 2019 of over
$13,100+ before falling back to $9,800 on July 1
6. June 22nd, 2019: bitcoin price nearly crosses $11,000 after
being just $7,700 on June 9.
7. May 14th, 2019: BTC/USD exchange rate value surpasses
$8,000, the first time since July 28, 2018

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8. April 23rd, 2019: After months of bearish conditions, Bitcoin
was finally able to leave behind its initial losses from May
and scaled up to a five-month high of $5,600.
9. March 31st, 2019: All through March, Bitcoin was able to
slowly gather financial momentum — with the crypto asset
closing the month on a positive margin of around $4,100.
10. February 28th, 2019: Bitcoin’s price hovered below the
$3,500 mark over the first week of February. However, soon
thereafter the currency’s value started to rise and reached a
price point of $3,867.
11. January 31st, 2019: At the time, the CBOE — in conjunction
with VanEck and SolidX — withdrew its proposal that sought
to entail the creation of a Bitcoin ETF only to resubmit a
couple of weeks later.
12. January 1st, 2019: The year started rough for Bitcoin, with
the premier digital currency staying below the $4k mark for
a few weeks running. Even the overall capitalization of the
crypto market stooped to around the $66 billion mark.
13. December 3rd, 2018: For the first time in many months
Bitcoin mining became an unprofitable activity. Not only
that, only for the second time in its brief existence, BTC’s
mining difficulty ratio dipped by a whopping 15% — thereby
making way for a sharp depreciation in the currency’s total
value.
14. November 15th, 2018: Bitcoin Cash undergoes a hard-fork
thereby facilitating the creation of Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin
SV — with the latter project being helmed by the notorious
Dr. Craig S Wright, an Australian computer scientist who
claims to be the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, ‘Satoshi
Nakamoto’. Additionally, owing to the fork, the price of
Bitcoin dropped to $4,275.
15. October 31st, 2018: The day marked the 10th birthday of
Bitcoin's Whitepaper causing the market to rise by a cool
5%.
16. October 15th, 2018: Institutional custodian Fidelity
announced the launch of its very own digital currency
trading platform, as a result of which, the price of Bitcoin
rose sharply.

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 17. September 18th, 2018: Cryptocurrency Exchange, Zaif Falls
gets scammed by hackers to a tune of more than $60 Million.
Bitcoin’s price continues to hover around the $6k mark.

BITCOIN (BTC) PRICE HISTORY: LIST

OF EVENTS WORTH NOTING

In order to know where bitcoin is going, it may be important to

wonder where the price of BTC/USD has been before today.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2018

(I) GOLDMAN SACHS DROPS PLANS TO LAUNCH CRYPTO

TRADING DESK (SEPT 2018)

After sending the market abuzz with excitement, Goldman Sachs

released a press statement claiming that the firm was dropping all
plans of launching a Bitcoin-based trading desk anytime soon. This
announcement came at a time when the market at large was
struggling and the price was of Bitcoin was in freefall.

(II) BITCOIN ETF DELAYED BY THE US SEC (AUGUST 2018)

On the 7th of August, the US Securities and Exchange Commission

released a statement in which the regulatory body made it
abundantly clear that it was going to be delaying its decision on
several Bitcoin ETF proposals that had been submitted to it.

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(III) BAKKT LAUNCH MADE OFFICIAL BY THE
INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE (ICE) (AUGUST 2018)

A representative for ICE — the parent company of the New York

Stock Exchange — released a statement on the 3rd of August stating
that the financial juggernaut was going to launch a cryptocurrency
startup known as Bakkt that would be supported by several
established multinational firms including Microsoft, Starbucks, etc.

(IV) SEC REJECTS ETF PROPOSAL FROM THE WINKLEVOSS

TWINS FOR SECOND TIME (JULY 2018)

For the second time within the space of a few months, the US SEC
rejected an ETF proposal submitted by Tyler and Cameron
Winklevoss — owners of the crypto trading platform ‘Gemini’.

(V) BLACKROCK HINTS AT CRYPTO EXPLORATION (JULY 2018)

During the second half of July 2018, the CEO of Blackrock — one of
the world’s largest wealth managers — announced his eagerness to
examine the prospect of a crypto and/or Bitcoin-related fund.

(VI) BLANKET BAN ON CRYPTO ADS REVERSED BY FACEBOOK

(JUNE 2018)

On the 23rd, Facebook announced that it was going to be lifting its

ban on all crypto-related content which was announced during the
first quarter of 2018. At the time, the price of Bitcoin was found
floating around the $6,600 region.

(VI) BITHUMB FALLS VICTIM TO HACKING SCANDAL — JUNE

2018

The first few weeks of the month was pretty hard on Bitcoin, with
the currency hovering around the $5,800 territory — thanks to
South Korean crypto exchange ‘Bithumb’ being hacked by
miscreants to the tune of more than $31 million.

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(VII) FOUR CRYPTO EXCHANGES BROUGHT TO COURT BY THE
US CFTC (JUNE 2018)

The United States Commodities and Futures Trading Commission

filed several subpoenas on the 11th of June against Bitstamp,
Kraken, ItBit, and Coinbase. In the court document, a representative
for the CFTC pointed out that the aforementioned trading platforms
had been indulging in different market manipulation tactics.

(VIII) DOJ LAUNCHES PROBE INTO ALLEGATIONS OF

WIDESPREAD BTC PRICE MANIPULATION (MAY 2018)

US Department of Justice authorities launched an extensive criminal

probe to assess whether certain financial entities were deliberately
manipulating the price of Bitcoin for their personal gains. On the
24th of the month, the price of a single Bitcoin lay at $7,609

(VIII) UPBIT HEADQUARTERS RAIDED BY LOCAL TAX AGENCIES

(MAY 2018)

On the 11th of May 2018, S.Korean tax officials raided UpBit’s

office after they received word that the crypto exchange was
manipulating its books. As a result of this news, the price of Bitcoin
fell sharply 5.5% within a span of just a few days (from around
$8,711to $8,372)

(IX) GOLDMAN SACHS ANNOUNCES ITS PLA NS TO EXPLORE

CRYPTO TRADING SOLUTIONS (MAY 2018)

A report released by the New York Times on the 3rd of May 2018,
stated that finance giant Goldman Sachs was going to be exploring
the prospect of launching its very own Bitcoin trading platform. The
announcement sent the price of Bitcoin soaring above the $8,800
threshold.

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(X) TWITTER BANS CRYPTOCURRENCY ADS ON ITS PLATFORM
— (MARCH 2018)

In the wake of Facebook and Google deciding to ban all crypto-

related ads on their respective platforms, Twitter too soon followed
suit and did the same.

(XI) GOOGLE BANS CRYPTOCURRENCY ADVERTISEMENTS

(MARCH 2018)

During the first week of March, Google imposed a major ban on all
ads related to crypto-assets as well as on Initial Coin Offerings.
Google also provided a full range of crypto-specific terms within its
broader ‘bad advertisements' policy.

(XII) SEC ISSUES NEW OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR CRYPTO

EXCHANGES (MARCH 2018)

As FB, Google continued to ban all crypto-related activities on their

respective platforms, the US SEC issued new guidelines asking all
crypto exchange platforms to register with the regulatory body to
continue with their regular, day-to-day operations. On the 7th of
March, the price of a single Bitcoin stood at $8,344.

(XIII) FACEBOOK ENFORCES SHOCKING BAN ON CRYPTO ADS

(JANUARY 2018)

On the last working day of January 2018, the social media

juggernaut announced its intention to ban all ads related to
cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offerings from its platform.

(XIV) COINCHECK GETS HACKED (JANUARY 2018)

One of Japan’s largest crypto exchanges Coincheck fell victim to a

group of hackers who were able to walk away with 123 million
dollars worth of XRP, and 500 million NEM tokens. The price of
Bitcoin lay around $8,800.

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(XV) PAYPAL CO-FOUNDER PETER THIEL ACQUIRES MASSIVE
CHUNK OF BTC (JANUARY 2018)

Many media outlets reported on the 3rd of January that Venture

Capitalist Peter Thiel had bought millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin.
At the time, the price of Bitcoin stood at $13,870.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2017

(XVI) BITCOIN SCALES UP TO ITS ALL -TIME HIGH VALUE

(DECEMBER 2017): $19,893

The 18th of December marked the day when Bitcoin reached its
financial apex — a threshold that has since not been broken.

(XVII) CBOE ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF BITCOIN FUTU RES

CONTRACTS (DECEMBER 2017)

The second week of December 2017 saw the CBOE launching

Bitcoin-based futures contracts. This resulted in the price of the
premier asset soaring wildly. Not only that, even the total market
cap of the digital currency market as a whole rose sharply around
this time.

(XVIII) LAUNCH OF SEGREGATED WITNESS PROPOSAL

(SEGWIT2X) CANCELLED (NOVEMBER 2017)

Bitcoin’s core dev team announced on the 8th of November 2017,

that it was putting its plans of implementing the SegWit2X protocol
on the backburner. The price of BTC on the day stood at $7,844

(XIX) CME INTRODUCES BITCOIN FUTURES CONTRACTS INTO

THE MARKET (OCTOBER 2017)

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange released a circular in which it was

brought to the attention of the masses that the financial institution
was going to launch a Bitcoin Futures contract by the end of 2017.
This was the first time an established financial entity had come forth
and shown such explicit support for BTC — mainly because, up until

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then, BTC was viewed largely as a shady investment tool. Also, in
the wake of the above-stated announcement, the price of Bitcoin
started to soar and scaled up to a then ATH of touch $6,601.

(XX) BITCOIN SURGES PAS $5K THRESHOLD FOR THE FIRST

TIME (OCTOBER 2017)

On the 13th of October, Bitcoin, for the first time in its young
history, rushed past the $5k mark. This feat was considered quite
miraculous by many, especially since the crypto asset had started
the year around the $966 mark.

(XXI) CHINA SHUTS DOWN ALL CRYPTO EXCHANGES

(SEPTEMBER 2017)

After assessing the situation in quite a lot of detail, Chinese tax

officials concluded that they would be banning all crypto trade
avenues operating within the country's borders. The announcement
immediately caused investors all over the world to panic and sell
their BTC holdings — thereby causing the premier digital currency’s
value to drop sharply almost overnight.

(XXII) JP MORGAN CHASE CEO JAMIE DIMON CALLS BITCOIN A

FRAUD (SEPTEMBER 2017)

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan at the time stated in an

interview that he thought of Bitcoin as a ‘fraudulent scheme’ that
would eventually cause immense financial stress to a lot of
investors. However, the market at large seemed to ignore Dimon’s
words since Bitcoin continued to stay strong around the $3,800
region.

(XXIII) CHINESE GOVERNMENT ISSUES BAN ON ICOS

(SEPTEMBER 2017)

During the first week of September (on the 3rd to be exact) the
Chinese government implemented an umbrella ban on all ICO
related activities.

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(XXIV) BITCOIN UNDERGOES HARD FORK, BITCOIN CASH $BCH
CREATED (AUGUST 2017): $3,384

Since the start of 2017, many from within the global crypto
community had been asking for a BTC hard fork quite vehemently
— primarily because of the scalability issues related to Bitcoin. As a
result of the split, the world bore witness to the birth of Bitcoin Cash
(BCH).

(XXV) JAPAN RECOGNIZES BITCOIN AS A LEGITIMATE

TRANSACTION MEDIUM (APRIL 2017)

The first day of April saw the Japanese government recognize

Bitcoin as a legal payment method. News of the announcement sent
the price of Bitcoin soaring to a relative high of $1,215.69

(XXVI) SEC REJECTS WINKLEVOSSES REQUEST FOR A BITCOIN

ETF (MARCH 2017)

The US SEC rejected a Bitcoin ETF proposal submitted to it by the

Winklevoss brothers. The reason cited for this refusal was a lack of
stability within the crypto market.

(XXVII) BITCOIN BREAKS PAST $1K THRESHOLD AFTER NEARLY

THIRTY-SIX MONTHS (JANUARY 2017)

After experiencing a decent rally all through 2016, the price of

Bitcoin finally crossed the $1,000 mark after a long long time.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2016

(XXVIII) BITFINEX GETS HACKED, LOSES NEARLY $72 MILLION

WORTH OF CRYPTO (AUGUST 2016)

In August, premier cryptocurrency exchange ‘Bitfinex’ announced

that it had fallen victim to a cyber scam, which resulted in hackers
making their way with a little more than 120,000 BTC. Owing to this
massive security lapse, the price of Bitcoin dipped by a whopping
20% almost overnight. In addition to all this, many news reports

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were claiming that some Bitfinex officials had prior knowledge that
this hack was going to take place.

(XXIX) BITCOIN UNDERGOES ITS SECOND HALVING EVENT

(JUNE 2016)

On the 9th of June, Bitcoin’s block reward quotient was halved once
again — thereby reducing mining returns from 25 Bitcoin per block
to 12.5.

(XXX) STEAM ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR BITCOIN (APRIL

2016)

Gaming platform ‘Steam’ released a statement during the first half

of April, announcing its decision to accept BTC as a medium of
purchase for its wide array of video game titles and other digital
content. This move was quite short-lived because just a few months
later, Valve — the parent company behind Steam — rescinded its
decision to allow BTC payments.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2015

(XXXI) DR. CRAIG WRIGHT CLAIMS TH AT HE IS SATOSHI

NAKAMOTO (DECEMBER 2015)

Wired published an in-depth piece on the 8th of December claiming

that Australian computer scientist Dr. Craig Wright was the man
responsible for creating Bitcoin. The author of the piece, Gwern
Branwen, cited a series of emails, deleted blog posts to support his
(as well as Wright’s) lofty claims. It was also around this date that
Bitcoin's symbol was officially accepted into the Unicode.

(XXXII) WINKLEVOSS OWNED GEMINI EXCHANGE GOES LIVE

(OCTOBER 2015)

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss came to the forefront when they

announced the launch of their very own cryptocurrency trading
platform — Gemini. Upon its inception, the exchange was one of the
first to base all of its operations in the United States and be fully

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regulated by local authorities. As things stand, Gemini is operational
within 26 states across the US with all of its deposited assets having
been insured by the FDIC.

(XXXIII) CTFC DECLARES BITCOIN TO BE A COMMODITY

(SEPTEMBER 2015)

Despite there being a lot of confusion surrounding the financial

status of Bitcoin, on the 18th of September 2015, a representative
for the United States' Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(CFTC) announced that the regulatory body would henceforth
classify “bitcoin and other virtual currencies as being legitimate
financial commodities.”

(XXXIV) NEW YORK INTRODUCES A MANDATORY BITLICENSE

FOR EXCHANGES (JUNE 2015)

On the 3rd of June, the NY Department of Financial Services

introduced its very own regulatory scheme known as the
‘BitLicense'. Using this tool, crypto service providers would be
allowed to trade digital assets such as BTC, ETH etc. in a completely
seamless, hassle-free manner. The price of bitcoin was $232.05.

However, to acquire the aforementioned license, exchanges were

required to pay an application fee of $5,000, as well as provide
certain biometric data to the FBI.

(XXXV) COINBASE COMES INTO EXISTENCE (JANUARY 2015)

Coinbase — currently one of the largest crypto exchanges in the

world — came into existence on the 26th of January, 2015. The firm
was backed by several venture capital firms and was able to
commence its operations across 25 states upon its inception.

(XXXVI) BITSTAMP LOSES OVER 18,000 OF ITS CUSTOMERS

BTC SAVINGS (JANUARY 2015)

Using a host of social engineering strategies, hackers were able to

steal more than 5.2 million dollars worth of BItcoin from Bitstamp’s

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coffers. Not only that, the security lapse forced the once premier
crypto trading avenue to be shut down for a total of eight days.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2014

(XXXVII) MICROSOFT ANNOUNCES DECISION TO ACCEPT

BITCOIN (DECEMBER 2014)

Computing giant Microsoft announced back in December 2014 that

it was going to start accepting Bitcoin payments from its US
customers in exchange for its various digital apps, games and other
content (through Windows and XBOX.)

(XXXVIII) US GOV. AUCTIONS OFF MORE THAN 30K BITCOIN

(JUNE 2014)

Back in 2013, US regulatory authorities were able to seize a total of

30,000 BTC tokens from individuals who had been indulging in
nefarious, silk-road related activities. This handsome sum of crypto
was subsequently auctioned off on the 27th of June to the highest
bidder — who accidentally turned out to be the billionaire/venture
capitalist ‘Tim Draper.

(XXXVIII) PEOPLE'S BANK OF CHINA SHUTS DOWN MANY

CRYPTO BANK ACCOUNTS (APRIL 2014): $501.7

Following a deadline given by the Chinese government to all of the

nation’s local crypto exchanges, authorities started to crack down
on any trading platforms working in conjunction with local banking
institutions.

(XXXIX) IRS ANNOUNCES BTC WILL BE SUBJECT TO UNIFORM

TAXATION LAWS (MARCH 2014): $453.05

The central tax authority of the USA — the Internal Revenue Service
— announced on the 26th of March that Bitcoin would be taxed in
pretty much the same way in which real estate is taxed across the
country.

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(XL) CRYPTO EXCHANGE MT. GOX GETS HACKED, FORCED TO
SHUT DOWN (FEBRUARY 2014): $662

On the 7th of February, Mt Gox was subject to a massive DDoS

attack that resulted in the firm losing a whopping sum of 744,000
BTC that belonged to its customers. Following this incident, the
exchange was forced to shut down on February 24th – with many
of the company's executives facing legal action thereafter.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2013

(XLI) CHINA BARS LOCAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FROM

USING BITCOIN (DECEMBER 2013)

Owing to the rising popularity of Bitcoin within China, the PBOC —

People's Bank of China — took a unilateral step to ban Bitcoin as a
medium of exchange within the country’s borders.

(XLII) BTC SURGES TO A RELATIVE HIGH OF $1,242 ON MT GOX

(NOVEMBER 2013)

With Chinese investor interest in BTC surging all through 2013, the
price of Bitcoin rose to a new high on the 29th of November.

(XLIII) CHINA LEGALIZES CRYPTO TRADING (NOVEMBER 2013)

The PBOC released a statement on the 18th of November that

officially allowed the country’s citizens to “participate in the bitcoin
market”. Around the same time, Ross Ulbricht — the person behind
Silk Road — was also convicted and sentenced to jail — thereby
causing widespread uproar across the globe. As part of the
crackdown, US officials were able to seize more than 170,000 BTC.

(XLIV) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ISSUES A

WARRANT AGAINST MT. GOX (MAY 2013)

Officials working for the Department of Homeland Security seized

over 3 million dollars from a Wells Fargo Bank account which was
linked to the then CEO of Mt. GOX ‘Mark Karpeles’. As part of the

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investigation, govt officials found Karpeles to be guilty of illegally
transmitting money against the banks' terms of service.

(XLV) CYPRUS' REVOLUTION CAUSES BTC’S PRICE TO SURGE

(MARCH 2013): $131.07

After the EU issued a $10 million bailout package for Cyprus

(following the nation’s economic struggles) back in 2013, the price
of Bitcoin started to surge for the first time in its brief history— with
the value of a single token spiking from $80 to over the $260 mark
within just a few days time.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2012

(XLVI) BITCOIN UNDERGOES ITS INAUGURAL BLOCK HALVING

EVENT — NOVEMBER 2012

As a result of Bitcoin undergoing its first halving event, the mining

rewards associated with the premier cryptocoin dropped from 50
Bitcoin per block down to 25 Bitcoin per block. In addition to all this,
content management solution – WordPress – too announced its
decision to start accepting BTC for its various internal/external
monetary transactions. As per a press release issued by the firm
back in 2012, a spokesperson wrote: “Our goal is to enable people,
not block them”.

(XLVII) LINODE HACK SEES FIRM LOSE OVER 46,000 BITCOIN

(MARCH 2012)

On the very first day of March 2012, a hacker breached Linode’s

security cover and was able to make his way with more than
$228,000 worth of digital assets from the company’s coffers. Some
of the prominent people who were affected by this incident
included:

• Bitcoin Lead Developer – Gavin Andresen

• Bitcoinica
• Marek ‘Slush' Palatinus.

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 BITCOIN PRICE IN 2011

(XLVIII) MT. GOX HACKED FOR THE FIRST TIME (JUNE 2011)

Before falling victim to its now-infamous hacking scandal of 2013,

Mt. Gox’s security protocols were also breached a couple of years
earlier. According to some reports, the incident saw the once
premier trading platform lose a total of 4,019 Bitcoin.

(XLIX) GAWKER PUBLISHES AN IN -DEPTH REPORT ABOUT SILK

ROAD (JUNE 2011)

Gawker reporter ‘Adrian Chen’ published a piece back in June 2011,

in which he clearly outlined how many crypto enthusiasts were
making use of a deep web trading portal called Silk Road to facilitate
their drug deals. In addition to this, a couple of months earlier, three
crypto exchanges (including Britcoin, Bitcoin Protocol, BitMarket)
went live – thereby allowing their users to successfully trade BTC in
exchange for several different fiat assets. Not only that, around the
same time, BTC’s value zipped past that of the US Dollar for the first
time.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2010

(L) MT. GOX OPENS ITS DOORS TO THE PUBLIC (JULY 2010)

On the 18th of July, Jed McCaleb, the lead developer behind Mt

Gox officially released his brainchild for public use. McCaleb was
previously known as the person behind a technology called peer to
peer (P2P) — which allows users to share data in a completely
localized manner. Also, in a matter of 6-8 months, McCaleb ended
up selling his baby to Mark Karpeles (on March 6th, 2011), who then
went on to turn Mt. Gox one of the biggest crypto entities of that
time.

masterthecrypto.com
(LI) BITCOIN FOR PIZZA: LASZLO PAYS FOR H IS MEAL USING
10,000 BTC

Laszlo, a BTC enthusiast from the United States, infamously paid for
2 Papa John’s pizzas using Bitcoin (10,000 BTC to be exact). The
pizzas were approximately worth 25 dollars at the time.

Similarly, just 5 months earlier, a firm called ‘the New Liberty

Standard’ had successfully purchased a total of 5,050 Bitcoin from
an individual called Sirius for just 5 dollars.

BITCOIN PRICE IN 2009

(LII) FIRST OFFICIAL BTC TX FACILITATED BY SATOSHI

NAKAMOTO (JANUARY 2009)

The world’s first Bitcoin transaction took place on the 19th of

January between Satoshi Nakamoto and his tech associate Hal
Finney. The tx saw a total sum of 10 BTC being exchanged between
the two individuals.

(LIII) GENESIS BLOCK ESTABLISHED (JANUARY 3RD, 2009: $0)

On the 3rd of January, 2009 the world finally bore witness to the
birth of Bitcoin — as Satoshi Nakamoto mined the premier
currency’s first block ( now known fittingly as the Genesis block.)

There you have it bitcoiners. The future forecasts and historical

bitcoin price timeline, laid out all right in front of you. Now, it's time
for the last two notches on the belt and that is to discuss the
economic factors that influence the price of bitcoin
(supply/demand) and top 50 Bitcoin catalysts for the BTC/USD
price to turn bullish again. From the mining halving, institutional
interest and decentralized financel/global banking, here are a few
key compontents to keep a pulse on in the next few months and
years.

masterthecrypto.com
UNDERSTANDING ECONOMIC
FACTORS CAUSING BITCOIN’S PRICE
FLUCTUATIONS

Traders and economists around the world at multiple skill levels

have been trying to predict the price of Bitcoin through the years,
ever since the industry started. Even with many different methods
of analysis, Bitcoin has continued to be a controversial and highly
risky investment, and the rest of the cryptocurrencies typically
follow the same pattern.

Many different factors come in with price oscillation of Bitcoin in

different periods, and some of these factors remain unknown at this
point. By understanding the fundamental variables that determine
where Bitcoin’s price lands, investors have the upper hand in the
future.

THE VOLATILITY OF BITCOIN

One of the most common words that arise concerning Bitcoin is

volatility. Volatility, at least in the economic sector, shows the
intensity of changes over a given period for a security. As a financial
asset is more volatile, the price can change at a faster and more
significant pace.

Bitcoin reached $6,300 on November 15th, 2018, and the price fell
to $3,700 within ten days, which is a decline of 40%. This kind of
drop for a traditional asset would be historical, but it has become

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relatively typical for Bitcoin. While it is typical to connect the
volatility of an asset to the risk associated with it, the connection
isn’t wrong exactly. However, since it focuses exclusively on the
negative impact of volatility, it isn’t a complete perspective.

Taking ownership of a large amount of any volatile security exposes

the investor to the possible price fluctuations that come with it,
impacting their financial portfolio. Over time, holding onto it could
bring some unpleasant trends, and the propensity for risk is
necessary to understand. On the other hand, having highly volatile
security could come with massive rewards, if the trader has the
knowledge to follow the events that made a difference. Price
increases happen quickly, which means that traders can take hefty
profits upon closing positions if they made the correct predictions.

Throughout the lifetime of Bitcoin, Bitcoin has continually been

highly volatile, which is mostly because the value relies on the
speculation over the future potential of the security. Bitcoin’s
oscillations make a lot more sense with understanding the events
that have impacted the asset previously.

BRIEF HISTORY OF EVENTS THAT HAVE

INFLUENCED BITCOIN

Reviewing the bitcoin price history timeline is only part of the story.
Bitcoin was born as a solution and an answer to the financial crisis,
launching in 2009. Still, very few people believed that it would end
up reaching the heights that it has so far. In the beginning, only a
select few even knew of its existence, and the value of Bitcoin was
only $0.0001. In the last decade, Bitcoin has even gone as high as
$20,000, which means that it has had the best performance of any
asset during the past decade.

Bitcoin didn’t start getting a ton of attention until 2013, coinciding

with the drama surrounding the Cyprus bank. In November, Chinese
investors decided to make a big Bitcoin purchase, which made the
price rise by over 1,000%. Unfortunately, this forward momentum
didn’t last.

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Within a few months, in February 2014, Mt. Gox faced a massive
DDoS attack. Since approximately 70% of the trades involving
Bitcoin were handled by the company at the time, this attack put a
massive damper on the price. Bitcoin and altcoins alike were hit
hard, facing a drop of about 40% and the start of a long bear market.

Next, by late 2016, Bitcoin started to experience a steady climb in

price, which ended up continuing into 2017. The cryptocurrency
market was flooded with billions of dollars, but the big showstopper
of 2017 was the influx of initial coin offers. It seemed like the public
didn’t care about qualifications or any proof of profit by blockchain
startups, because everyone wanted to be a part of the craze.

Unfortunately, the hype didn’t hold up. Scalability problems with

Bitcoin arose, which means that the transaction fees and wait times
jumped with the price. While Bitcoin ended up reaching just under
$20,000, a crash sent the market tumbling down fast, dropping to a
low of $4,000. Bitcoin was hit hard, but the rest of the market was
hit even higher. Most ICOs ended up dead in the water within a few
months.

Knowing and understanding these events in the price history of

Bitcoin is key, as they ultimately impact the price of Bitcoin in a
major way. Still, the biggest influence is the economic forces in the
background.

BENEATH THE SURFACE OF BITCOIN’S MARKET

Bitcoin’s price heavily includes volatility and major news events as

part of its narrative, but they are indirect influences. Most of the
time, the actual mechanisms behind the value of Bitcoin aren’t
discussed, but they are important to understand. Ultimately, it all
comes down to supply and demand.

This fundamental economic principle states that the value

associated with any good or service comes from two factors – how
much exists (supply) and how much people want/need (demand).
The price goes up when the demand is greater than the supply, and
it drops when the supply is more than the demand. When the

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principle is applied to goods and services, it makes sense. However,
it’s a bit harder to understand with Bitcoin.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND WITH BITCOIN

In most situations involving supply and demand, goods and services

are paid for with currency. However, when currency is the only
commodity involved in a transfer, which is what’s involved with
Bitcoin, things are a little different. Supply and demand still apply,
but the conversation is about two different currencies, i.e. Bitcoin
and US dollars.

While the seller of BTC for USD is on one side of the market, the
other side involves the individuals that are trying to use USD to
purchase BTC. The “price” for that moment is the dollar amount that
buyers and sellers settle on for each other’s offers. Ultimately, this
arrangement means that the volume of sell orders in conjunction
with the buy orders is the equation that matters. Increasing supply
is connected to greater sell volume, though the price decreases with
constant demand.

Breaking it down simply, Bitcoin’s future price can be predicted with

the factors that influence supply and demand. While it is impossible
to understand this circumstance perfectly, there is plenty that
traders can do to at least understand it better. It is possible to
achieve perfect knowledge of supply, but that’s a matter that will be
dealt with later in this discussion.

For demand, the key contributing points include:

• BTC’s price
• The price of complementary and substitute goods
• Consumer income and purchasing power
• Subjective expectations of consumers
• Elasticity of the supply
• Consumer needs and desires

As the price of a good or service increases, the demand decreases,

making the correlation between quantity and price inverse. When

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demand is more positive for assets, the assets are referred to as
Giffen goods. While it might look like Bitcoin is one of those rare
circumstances, since the demand may increase for Bitcoin when the
price starts to move upwards, there’s a major piece of information
missing.

The available supply and total supply of Bitcoin are two different
things, and both of them are contributing factors in the price of
Bitcoin.

SCARCITY – BITCOIN’S LIMITED SUPPLY

Everyone has access to the knowledge of the total supply of Bitcoin,

and anyone can go on the blockchain to see how many BTC are in
circulation at this exact moment in time. It is also public knowledge
that the total supply of Bitcoin will be 21 million BTC, which is
programmed into the protocol of the asset. Likely this number will
never change since that would basically destroy the main value
proposition of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin was developed to have something that no national currency

has – unforgeable scarcity. Governments around the world have the
ability to increase their fiat currency’s supply at any time, but the
same power is not available to anyone with Bitcoin. The Bitcoin
protocol has predetermined the number of coins to ever be
“minted.” While adding coins to the supply via mining is possible, it
won’t ever exceed the number of coins originally determined.

The number of coins that will enter the Bitcoin market is predictable
and transparent, which means that the supply isn’t elastic. The price
of Bitcoin is volatile for exactly this reason since the demand has no
influence on the supply. Typically, goods and services don’t function
in this way in the economy, but there’s a version of supply for
Bitcoin that is involved in the market that makes its circumstances
unique.

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AVAILABLE SUPPLY AND BI TCOIN’S PRICE

The last piece of the economic puzzle of Bitcoin is the available

supply. Available supply typically is a reference to the volume of
BTC that individuals are willing to sell off at any price. Available
supply is not the same as circulating supply, as the latter is the
amount of BTC that has already been mined, but they cannot be
purchased.

Ultimately, it comes down to simple math: Available supply =

Circulating supply – BTC that are being held or are lost.

Let’s say there’s 18 million BTC in the circulating supply. Assuming

that two million BTC have been lost over time with a forgotten
password, hard drives, and other issues, there would be 16 million
BTC left. The owners that hold 15.999 million of that BTC would
most likely not sell below $10,000. The most available supply at any
price below $10,000 would not exceed 1,000 BTC. If buyers were
willing to purchase 2,000 BTC without price being a factor, what
could happen?

Firstly, the available 1,000 BTC would sell for somewhere under
$10,000. However, the number of willing sellers would decline, and
the price that the buyers would be willing to cover would steadily
increase still, representing demand. Buyers would end up pushing
the price over $10,000 each when more sellers (supply) become
willing to part with the asset.

If at any point, the sell volume is higher than the buy volume, the
price will drop. If the reverse is true, then the price will start to rise.
Volatility can decrease over time, but the changes between buy and
sell volumes will continue endlessly.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPECULATION AND

INTRINSIC VALUE

Humans are responsible for assigning intrinsic value to an asset,

based on the cost of production, functions, and scarcity. With fiat
currency, the value is based on their use and social contract as the

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main currencies in their economies. However, Bitcoin has no
association with any government or other institutions and is instead
a currency of the internet. How it is possible for Bitcoin to have true
intrinsic value as a currency?

Before getting into that concern, let’s break down the three basic
functions of any currency –

• Means of exchange.
• Store of value.
• Unit of measurement.

Identifying the intrinsic value of cryptocurrencies is a little different

since detractors assign Bitcoin value of zero in this scenario. The
value is due to the fact that the virtual currency isn’t linked to a
tangible asset, local economy, or government.

Still, that doesn’t mean that Bitcoin doesn’t possess the same three
functions.

As a means of exchange: Businesses around the world accept Bitcoin

and cryptocurrency as payment, but this acceptance is still few and
far between. Bitcoin’s mass adoption depends on their solutions to
the scalability issues that it has faced for years, which is being
corrected through multiple upgrades and innovations.

As a store of value: Even though Bitcoin’s unpredictable and volatile

nature of the present makes for a difficult argument in favor of being
a store of value, that won’t necessarily influence the future. In fact,
it could end up being the best store of value ever had, since the
decentralized nature makes it possible for anyone to access Bitcoin.
When it comes to transferring wealth especially, the digital currency
is still attractive.

As a unit of measurement: The only way to be used as a unit of

measurement is to have stability. Unfortunately, Bitcoin presently
lacks this quality.

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How strong currency increases with continual use. Becoming a
strong store of value comes with increasing the individuals that are
willing to trust it. Luckily, as the tech improves and the market adds
new investors, Bitcoin’s intrinsic value will increase with time, but
the likelihood of this actually happening could be anyone’s guess.

Based on the history of every new currency through the years, the
ones that used the currency first were the ones who had the
greatest gains when the rest of the local economies caught on. If a
trader believes in Bitcoin’s chance of being adopted at a mass scale,
purchasing some to remove it from the available supply may be the
right step towards being involved in its progress.

TOP 50 BITCOIN PRICE PREDICTION

CATALYSTS ON THE HORIZON

The bitcoin halving is happening but there are numerous other

crypto catalysts entering the conversation.

Even though Bitcoin, along with the whole cryptocurrency market,

is going through a stalling phase after a pleasant resurgence over

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the last few months, there is still good news yet to come for the
market.

During the course of the Baltic Honeybadger conference, the head

of investments during the crypto hedge fund – Adaptive Capital
– Murad Mahmudov took the time to provide insight into the kind
of catalysts that Bitcoin has to look forward to.

So how many ‘catalysts' does the cryptocurrency have ahead of it?

An impressive amount to be thoroughly clear – more than 50 to be
exact – and each of these have the potential to provide some serious
wind in the metaphorical sails of Bitcoin when it comes to vital
segments like growth, adoption, application and, more importantly
for investors. Each of these could help boost the appreciation of its
price towards the end of 2019 and into 2020 and beyond.

During this conference, Mahmudov argued that, while there are

some pretty impressive winds blowing in favour of Bitcoin in the
future, there are some big factors in the present day that are helping
it in the present. Some of these include the profound and
deteriorating level of trust in the relationship between the people
and political and business organs such as the government, the media
and companies.

This brittle relationship between the people and the ‘mainstream'

political and business world is juxtaposed with the growing power,
influence and efficiency of Bitcoin and its network. In addition to
this growth, there is a greater desire from the public to improve their
literacy and personal use of BTC.

“If inflation, state surveillance, geopolitical tensions, commercial

banks and negative interest rates make fiat currency holders suffer,
there will likely be an increasing incentive towards buying and
holding bitcoin,” Mahmudov stressed.

So with over 50 different forces converging on Bitcoin to project it

further forwards from the digital world into the minds and (often)
pockets of millions, here is a comprehensive list of what these are
exactly. This list of bitcoin price accelerators will give you a hint to

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why the 52 predictions above are so bullish for the return of bitcoin
to all time high BTC exchange rate values.

BITCOIN PRICE PREDICTION HOPIUM

LIST: BTC/USD HOPE + OPTIMISM
First: Mainstream trust wanes as Bitcoin's prestige grows

According to recent surveys, and as previously mentioned, the level

of trust between multinational companies, banking institutions,
government bodies, and even mainstream media and journalists has
reached a profound low compared to more than a few decades.

Second: Interpersonal trust has also been dangerously eroded

This, of course, depends on where exactly you look and ask these
questions. But it's worth taking into consideration that even in the
most ‘free' places in the world (Northern Europe and Scandinavia),
only 60 percent of people believe that their fellow man can be
trusted. Check out the source right here.

Third: International Trust is on the decline too

The Westphalian system, the system of international relations that

we most commonly know in the western world is seriously being
stress-tested this century. With the current climate between
nations resembling something out of Pulp Fiction, or Hateful Eight.
(Yes, I like Quentin Tarantino).

Fourth: We are living less and indebted more

According to recent surveys, the quality of life enjoyed by people in

2019 is actually heading backwards. If anything, the quality of life is
worse than it was in 2008. Meanwhile, the level of global debt is
reaching record highs; rising by more than 50% of their levels during
the global financial crisis of 2008.

Fifth: The Debt is far worse than we're being told

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The figures that we currently have on global debt only (worryingly)
accounts for those that are ‘on the books' of financial, governmental,
etc institutions. If we were to take into consideration that kind of
expenses that go ‘off the books' such as nationalised industries,
government expenditures on social security, pensions, healthcare –
it gets far worse.

Six: The US Dollar and the multi-trillion debt

Over the world, the current landscape of the economy is in dire

straits, and it's something that's not helped at all by the low interest,
low inflation landscape. As a result, the USD debt is in negative yield
to the tune of more than 15 trillion.

Seven – The divided choir of Economists

Contrary to popular belief: economics as a field is like physics – if

you're not terrified by it then you haven't understood it. There are
plenty of economic schools of thought, and the latest one is Modern
Monetary Theory – which has brought up further questions as to
how to approach monetary policy in the future.

Eight – Even greater divides

While social mobility is something that the English speaking world

prides itself on, we are currently living through a period of time
where wealth .inequality has never been higher. In fact, it's reached
a 100-year high in the western world, while it's also reached
multiple-decade highs in other regions of the world. This issue dove-
tails quite succinctly with the emergence of new economic
perspectives on monetary policy.

Nine – Age of Extremes

Much akin to the titular Hobsbawm book of the same name which
studied the 1930s onwards – this increasing inequality, social and
political disharmony and dissaffection has since led to the
emergence of populist leaders and demagogues throughout the
world, both on the left and right sides of the political spectrum. This

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is contributing to our earlier point of international disquiet between
sovereign states as well.

Ten – With Extremes Come more extremes

With popular demagogues and political ‘Strong men' comes the ever
dangerous prospect of them dipping their hands into economics,
monetary policies and even asset acquisition. This, to paraphrase
Lenin, has the potential to ‘shuffle the cards and spoil the game' of
international economics.

Especially if they resolve themselves to disrupting taxation, and

even confiscating assets. This makes the lure of a decentralized
cryptocurrency even more powerful.

Eleven – Banking appetites for gold is at an all-time high

We are not only seeing a whettened appetite for Gold from central
banks, but if we take into consideration that the price of precious
metals like Gold and Silver have since increased with economic
instability – things are looking hairy for mainstream finance.

Twelve – Dollar's prestige is ebbing

Even though it occupies the lion's share of the global currency – the
prestige of the US Dollar is declining at a faster rate – so much so
that we are hearing louder and louder calls for an alternative – which
have included virtual currencies and stablecoins, according to the
likes of the outgoing Mark Carney of the Bank of England.

Thirteen – The age of Banking Secrecy is over

While regions of the world like the Bahamas and Switzerland were
basically seen as havens for your money, this is becoming a thing of
the past – as these same countries are working even more closely
and frequently with tax authorities to weed out potential tax
evasion, among other kinds of malpractices.

Fourteen – Mass-Surveillance is Emerging more and more

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Orwell is unfortunately being proven correct when he put pen to
paper and created ‘1984'. Mass Surveillance has sharply increased,
not just in the more authoritarian regions of the world either – as
cities like London have taken a liking to facial recognition.

Fifteen – No-Cash, only card/cardless

Going cashless is all well and good so long as it remains a choice for
those that prefer to make use of it. But in countries like Sweden, the
diminishing use of paper money has actually led to more people
being frozen out of the system as it steadily becomes more digital.

Sixteen – Sanctions and money as a weapon

With the Trump administration – we are seeing international

settlement networks sprout up and even get closed down as
international sanctions against the likes of Iran and Russia come into
play. This places even more strain on the financial system, while
making these same authoritarian states seek out alternative financial
methods to duck out from sanctions.

Seventeen – Bitcoin's growing influence as a counterpoint

While Mahmudov stops short of saying it, Bitcoin has steadily

cultivated a reputation as being a financial safe haven for peoples
money and investments. The reason being that it has yet to fully
become ‘safe' for its users, and will take some time before this
aspiration can be realised, but it is a viable haven.

Eighteen – ‘The torch has been passed'

This new generation of people is far more literate and curious about
new things compared to the generations that came before them. As
the less technologically literate ebb away, this new generation is
going to profoundly disrupt the ‘accepted' norms.

Nineteen – The Internet is Rapidly growing

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The number of new denizens of the internet is skyrocketing, and it's
helped along by the fact that people from the emerging world are
steadily getting more and more plugged into the internet.

Twenty – The Emergence of Smartphones

The Internet of Things is something that is worth taking into

consideration too – especially with far more people, not only having
smartphones, but making thorough use of them for watching videos,
searching the internet, and even making financial decisions through
these revolutionary devices.

Twenty-one – The world is more online than ever

Being on the internet has gone from being an interesting option to

a downright necessity, no matter who you work for. As a result,
there's a lot more of a need for money to be as accessible and fluid
as other parts of these highly digitalized people's lives.

Twenty-Two – Bitcoin and the rise of financialization of crypto

Cryptocurrencies, and especially Bitcoin, have steadily gained an

appeal, not only as a financial instrument for its users, but as an
investment vehicle and (to some) staple of a meaningful portfolio.
With the green light given to Bakkt and its Bitcoin futures contracts
– Bitcoin and cryptos are entering the conventional investment
world.

Twenty-Three – Bitcoin is steadily improving for scale and effect

Even though Bitcoin has been known for its recalcitrance to

changing for its users and an increasing user base. Cryptocurrencies
have steadily been working on layer-1 and layer-2 solutions to
address chronic issues such as transaction costs, sharding and
scalability. And Bitcoin is no stranger to the need for this, as its core
development team have been working on these matters too – in
spite of BTC's economic performance.

Twenty-Four – BTC Core still paving the way with consistency

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Big Blocks? Internal implosion? Regardless of the rift-raft thrown
bitcoin's way, the day-1 core fundamentals are constantly being
improved on and maintained no matter how well or fast the bitcoin
value grows.

Twenty-Five – Bitcoin's Layer-2 technologies

Addressing the multiple bottlenecks that come and serve to prevent

mass adoption for Bitcoin. Its core development team have been
working hard to bring forward some layer-2 solutions, which include
Lightning, which boosts transaction speed, as well as Merkle trees
for decreasing the demand for memory space and processing speed
for processing information.

Twenty-Six- More is coming when it comes to improvements

As previously mentioned, while Bitcoin has introduced changes to

its system already with the introduction of the lightning Network for
processing speed, and Merkle trees. Bitcoin has a number of
different improvements and features, which include: (Submarine
Swaps, Atomic Swaps, Dual-funded channels, Sphinx, Neutrino,
Eltoo, etc.).

Twenty-Seven – Infrastructure is being laid for Bitcoin

Lightning Network is something that is coming to far more elements

of Bitcoin – especially as developers seek to put it to more thorough
use, along with other products and services being added.

Twenty-Eight – Bitcoin's Powerful hash rate

While the likes of Bitcoin SV and ABC have fought viciously over
the matter of hash rate and processing power, the hash rate of
Bitcoin has reached an unprecedented high.

Twenty-Nine – Hash Rate (again)

Bitcoin's hash rate disruption is something that is quickly improving

over the years. Which is great news for its pool of miners.

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Thirty – Bitcoin Custody solutions

With this increased popularity among both newcomer and

professionalised investors – the need for more professional
accompanying services to Bitcoin investments. Specifically secure
storage solutions and especially custody solutions.

Thirty-one – Bitcoin Use cases grow

Far more than just being applied as a virtual kind of money, Bitcoin
has been adding to its ever-growing list of use-cases, with the
lightning network being put to use as a payment and even gaming
solution with the likes of Satoshi Games.

Thirty-Two – Bitcoin as a known challenger

While Bitcoin came to public attention as a booming investment

market before the bubble growth and pop. These same people,
along with millions more are slowly coming to the realization that
Bitcoin is more than just an investment avenue, and that it has
elements that are superior to other kinds of money products out
there.

Thirty-Three – Bitcoin is on the rise in general

With Bitcoin's core development team and community embracing

new and innovative solutions to its currency and blockchain, it's an
infrastructure that is growing significantly and shows little sign of
stopping as of yet.

Thirty-Four – The memery

Bitcoin Memes are more than just a novelty – they're part of a very
powerful marketing campaign and, let's face it – they're highly
effective. Digital Marketing 101 teaches us that if you can create
something that breaks into a viral phenomenon, then you will have
obtained a reach that is well beyond just thousands.

Thirty-Five – Bitcoin Literature is emerging

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Along with this viral marketing, Bitcoin literature and information
about cryptocurrencies and blockchain, in general, are becoming
more wide-spread. And this is helped along by intellectuals such as
Andreas Antonopoulos along with Don and Alex Tapscott publishing
books to that effect.

Thirty-Six – Bitcoin Education

Along with this advent of literature, memes and broader investment,

Bitcoin has seen a proverbial flowering of education for those that
are genuinely curious about it and the underlying technology. We're
even seeing a growing popularity of courses, not just from major
industry figures, but also from established academic institutions too,
such as the University of Oxford, Harvard and others.

Thirty-Seven – The rise of Sole-Bitcoin entrepreneurship

Bitcoin is more than just an industry surrounding the mining of the

coin, it has allowed for allied and supply-based businesses and
entrepreneurship to emerge as well. This includes a range of hard
wallet and cold storage providers, custodial solutions, and even
futures contract traders, as we'll see on the market soon with Bakkt.

Thirty-Eight – More and More traditional finance

With the growing popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,

we're seeing the steady trickle in of conventional and institutional
finance and investors come in. Especially as professional businesses
like the Intercontinental Exchange start to provide professional
services for these investors.

Thirty-Nine – the stock to flow ratio

Seeing as though Bitcoin will become increasingly hard to extract,

due in part to the increasing need for hashing power from miners,
but also from its in-built system of scarcity, this will create a far
greater market valuation. As supply diminishes, thanks in part to
halvings and fixed supply, users will help to feed demand, allowing
its valuation to increase.

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Forty – Bitcoin Penetration

We're sparing you the innuendos to simply go into the fact that
while Bitcoins penetration of the political bubbles like Westminster
and DC remain relatively small compared to other industries. The
fact that blockchain-based solutions like Facebook Libra have
managed to do it already stands as a testament to what Bitcoin has,
as of yet accomplished.

Forty-One – Bitcoin's Still a Drop in the Global Financial Market

When considering just how big the stock market is or the deriatives
market and real estate is – let alone the nearly $8 trillion gold
precious metals market is – $BTC is still relativley tiny in market cap.
Not to mention, gold is dozens of centuries old while #Bitcoin is
merely a decade old and counting. The ‘programmable money'
future of bitcoin within the global monetary base has plenty of room
to grow.

Forty-Two – The Sharpe Ratio

No, not the TV show, but the Bitcoin Sharpe Ratio. For some better
context: the Sharpe ratio refers to the performance and rate of
return enjoyed by Bitcoin investors compared to assets that have a
reduced or zero risk rate investment. For Bitcoin, it enjoys a higher
risk-adjusted return compared to other kinds of asset classes out
there – but investors have a pretty prodigious return on investment
in the best cases.

Forty-Three – Non-correlation

Bitcoin is an iconoclastic digital asset, that's a given, but the fact that
it's simply not correlated with any other kind of asset class out there
means that it can sometimes run contradictory to other assets and
their performance.

Forty-Four – A Remittance killer

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When it comes to international products like MoneyGram and
Western Union, making use of a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, it
completely side-steps any need for a third party to instigate a
payment or transfer internationally. Remittance solutions are
actually an incredible valuable industry, and the fact that
cryptocurrencies provide an innovative and cost-effective solution
is invaluable to millions of users.

Forty-Five – Destruction as creation for ICOs and Altcoins

While we've seen the (very) literal ‘Tulip Mania' of ICOs and altcoins
in 2016/2017, the landscape is becoming a lot more user-friendly
for new and experienced cryptocurrency users. Which is very much
welcomed for all users considering the fact that it makes the crypto
space easier to navigate and provides it with a greater likelihood of
earning users trust.

Forty-Six – Volatility is lowering

One of the net positives in the Bitcoin world now is that we are
certainly not seeing the kind of market volatility that we did in 2017
and 2018. There's a greater sense of stability in the cryptocurrency
market, and this is a welcome change for Bitcoin, especially if it sees
itself being treated in the same way as a conventional currency.

Forty-Seven – Metrics going on-chain

One massive plus that we're seeing from on blockchain and,

especially for Bitcoin, is that major investors are keeping a firm grip
on their holdings of BTC. This has the added plus of not contributing
to market volatility due to large positions being sold off or bought
up.

Forty-Eight – small denomination holders on the rise

While Over the Counter (OTC) and institutional investors are

steadily emerging, we are still seeing out fair share of small
denomination holders. According to the same on-chain metrics that
we referenced, we are seeing an increase in the amount of users

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with small denominations of BTC. These range from 1, .1 (or .2 in
this writer's case) or even .01BTC being held in a digital or hard
wallet.

Forty-Nine – Bitcoin's price rise

Last month, we saw Bitcoin's price surge upward to see one of its all
time highs before slightly retreating. Even though the momentum
didn't carry there, we are still seeing some optimistic growth from
the currency.

Fifty – Bitcoin on the continued rise

According to Log Log analysis from recently, which showcases

logarithmic pricing, as well as time-scale, demonstrates that even
though we're seeing a slow down in the price movements of Bitcoin,
we are going to see slower, reliable but continued increases in the
price of BTC, and with much less volatility than before.

Fifty-One – Less drops

Along with this more reliable surge upwards, the amount of monthly
price lows has been demonstrably decreasing in frequency and
intensity according to analytics. And, what's even better news, is this
is likely to continue into the future.

Fifty-Two – Self-reinforcement

Bitcoin's underlying design means that there are attributes to it that

allow for a continuous self-feeding loop which allows it to steadily
become stronger, which is only going to support the levels of
confidence that investors have in the cryptocurrency long-term.
Which is also going to bleed over to other cryptocurrencies.

There you have it bitcoin believers. From the Genesis-Satoshi

Nakamoto days to the most popular crypto experts price
predictions ranging from $100,000 – $1,000,000 million US dollar
exchange rate per bitcoin (BTC) coin. The market is heating up for a
major move or a meltdown, but considering the aggregate of what

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you just read, from the bullish BTC price predictions, to the steady
rise in bitcoin's price during its first ten years and if just a few of the
50 bitcoin market cap value catalysts start to click at once it could
turn the market green and go moon bound again.

A look at the top bitcoin price predictions and historical BTC pricing
timeline events should help further the conversation of seeing
where bitcoin has went, to know where it is possibly going in the
future. If you have a bitcoin price analysis or forecast
prediction, please submit it via an email at
support@masterthecrypto.com to be added to the list.

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 CHAPTER 4
BITCOIN HALVING
2020 BTC MINING BLOCK REWARD CHART HISTORY

IS THE BTC BLOCK REWARD HALVING

REALLY A BULLISH FACTOR?
The most popular crypto-centric question today is about the details
of the infamous bitcoin mining halving.

Every four years, Bitcoin’s block reward (earned by miners who

successfully add new blocks to the end of BTC's blockchain) is cut
in half. This is a day-one Satoshi whitepaper core component that
has not nor will not deviate from the origins of bitcoin's first release
of turning CPU time and electricity into a digital currency.

The fascination lies within the actual bitcoin halving date not being
set to occur on a specific day but rather once the written-in-code
blockchain distributed ledger technology's public chain of blocks
gets to block height #630,000.

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At its foundational-base, every ten minute cycle continuously
produces a new block (currently at 12.5 BTC / lowers to 6.25 BTC)
as this magical phenomenon happens every 210,000 blocks.

First, a reduction from 50 BTC to 25 BTC in November 2012, then

the second halving shifted the pre-determined goalposts from 25 to
12.5 BTC in July 2016. Now, the anticipation of the next halving
event will see the block rewards drop from 12 to 6.25 BTC in May
2020. This permanent change in the mining rewards system for
newly-minted bitcoins is Satoshi's vision for designing a
deflationary, digitally-scarce cryptoasset.

The excitement is now building up about what effects the halving

will have on bitcoin's price and the entire cryptocurrency market,
knowing the 18th million BTC (85% of all) has already been issued
to-date.

For reference, the 2024 bitcoin halving date (in May/June) will be
whenever the blockchain reaches a block height number of 840,000,
effectively lowering the block rewards generation from 6.25 BTC
down to 3.125 BTC per 10 minute increment. With exactly 30
Bitcoin halving events remaining (all 21 million bitcoins in circulation
by 2140) there's under 300,000 blocks to mine before the next
blockhalf; let's review the history, the celebratory party events and
all-intriguing price volatility fluctuations bound to happen.

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BITCOIN MINING HALVING
SENTIMENT: THE BULLS VS BEARS

For the rest of 2019 and first half of 2020, bitcoiners anxiously
await to see if the consensus comes true. In the words of Mr. Tepper
regarding the 2016 bitcoin halving, Fitz said, “It's Halvening!!!”

There is no shortage of #BTC hope and optimism (hopium) being

tossed around into all kinds of bold outcomes about this major
mining milestone. In traditional markets, a simple rule of thumb
usually concludes if you reduce the overall supply of newly issued
coins it will more than likely lead to higher price per coin. So far,
history sides with bitcoin's price seeing a substantial rise in the past
due to increased demand overtime.

It may be commonly accepted in the crypto world that the block

reward halvings are bullish for Bitcoin’s price due to the charts
outlined below. Indeed, when you look at the price charts for the
past two $BTC halvenings, this obviously appears true from a
zoomed-out historical viewpoint. The November 28, 2012 halving
the bitcoin price was $12.35 BTC/USD and 5 months later was
$127 USD. The July, 9 2016 bitcoin halving day's price was at $650
USD and was nearly $760 just five months later. The needle is
moving once again.

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The Bitcoin network software is built-upon a few invariable
premises. At 12.5 BTC x 6 (six 10 minute cycles per hour) is 75
bitcoins minted per hour x 24 hours per day is 1,800 BTC per day
issued. Then, quick math for 2020 halving and beyond to the next
for years until 2024, shows it will be 6.25 BTC x 6 equals 37.5 per
hour x 24 hours per day is only 900 BTC per day rewarded. This is a
50% reduction, effective instantly.

Further, simple math puts the past four years of block rewards
mining system going from 1,800 per day, which is 657,000 BTC
annually, to 900 BTC per day which is only 328,500 BTC annually in
comparison. Sprinkle in some natural cryptocurrency adoption,
regulation clarity and payment tech optimization and it is a recipe
for a very entertaining 2020 pre and post bitcoin halving year.

It does not take an economic savant to apply simple supply and

demand consensus mechanisms regarding scarcity of supply and
rising demand. The debate about bitcoin being a possible safe haven
asset shelter upon global turmoil and uncertainty is growing daily,
weekly and monthly. Once the 2020 bitcoin mining halving happens,
the on-chain effects are immediate and impact formulated forever.
When these scales are tipped in the favor of lowering the newly
created bitcoins granted for successfully mining a block and getting
the reward to the miner trading computational power and securing
the Bitcoin network, price volatility is bound to unfold.

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BITCOIN HALVING CHARTS:
HISTORICAL PRICE ACTION ANALYSIS

Click on image to enlarge and see entire bitcoin halving price history chart

One caveat to consider is to know what can enhance the upward

trend following the halving, like it has historically in the charts in
2012 and 2016. An acceptance as a reservoir can really build a
strong foundation and bigger base. As the man (or women), or they,
myth or legend Satoshi Nakamoto put it:

“It might make sense just to get some in case it

catches on. If enough people think the same way,
that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Many want to know what will the price be at the date of halving.
Here is a visual representation overview of the historical timeline.

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The two previous price peaks have both occurred approximately
one year after the halvings, suggesting perhaps the next peak will
occur in mid-2021 if the pattern repeats. Will the third time be a
crypto charm?

Before comparing the first 2012 halving to the 2016 bitcoin halving,
the quote on controlled supply from Bernard Dempsey hits home:

A fixed money supply, or a supply altered only in

accord with objective and calculable criteria, is a
necessary condition to a meaningful just price of
money.

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As the era of decentralized finance emerges, here is what we know
so far.

With roughly 360,000 blocks left to mine with nearly 200 days left
before the official btc blockchain mining halving in the middle of
May 2020, and factoring in what the 2012 all time high and low
prices of $12 to $1,163 peaks (96x return) and falling back down to
$220 range or the 2016 value of $658 USD and seeing nearly
$20,000 all time highs (30x return) and falling back down to $3,100
range, many love to speculate about how the bitcoin halving will
effect the BTC price in the new few months before and after the
block rewards are cut in half for the third time in history.

Here are the flagship crypto cliffnotes about the past bitcoin mining
block reward halvings:

image courtesy of huddl

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First Halving: took place on November 28, 2012 with a price of
$12.50 BTC/USD exchange rate
Price Ranges: before halving it got boosted four-fold, then
increased its value by 350-400X
$BTC Price Status: the first halving response lasted 1 year before
and boosted valuations 1 year after
Post Bull Market Cycle: bitcoin declined in value by 83%, then
accumulated at $200-$300 for 10 months

The summarizes into bitcoin bull market price action lasted a full 24
months, or two years long.

That is in the same timeframe we are in now gearing up for the third
bitcoin mining halving event.

Second Halving: took place on July 9, 2016 with a price of $650

BTC/USD exchange rate
Price Ranges: the price of BTC went up three-fold before halving
event before going up 90X
$BTC Price Status: accumulation started nearly 9 months before,
appreciation in value lasted 16 months
Post Bull Market Cycle: declined the value of bitcoin by 84%
before consolidating at $3,000-$3,500 base

The second halving symbolizes the bottom of bitcoin's price to be

10X of the first halving support.

Third Halving: May 20, 2020

Price Ranges: April 1, 2019 bitcoin price went above $4,000 and
saw as high as $13,400 in June
Bull Market Status: while the price of bitcoin hovers around the
$8,000-$10,000 range, it's wait and see
Post Bull Market Cycle: time will tell all, just grab the #whenlambo
memes.gif and have the popcorn ready

However, the real question is whether the price action of the past
has been caused by the block reward halvings, or if it was merely a
coincidence. Most people in the cryptocurrency industry will

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suggest that the former is true, but the need for verification needs
to be thought out in multiple ways. Nothing is guaranteed.

While the first mining halving cycle was referred to as the retail
cycle, followed by a venture cycle, the third phase is dubbed the
institutional cycle. That puts only 2.6 million blocks out of 21M total
left. #digitalscarcity.

BUT FIRST, A BACKGROUND DROP

ON THE BTC HALVINGS
The first two bitcoin halvings saw extremely similar patterns surface
as the stages transpired as such:

before: the anticipation of a significant reduction in the new block

rewards and liquid supply boosts price

after: FOMO kicks in, higher demand comes in from retail

speculators and fresh investors with deep pockets

crash: the bubble burst goes boom, a colossal collapse ensues after
reaching all time high in BTC/USD values

the fall: demand goes down the drain, blood in the streets mentality,
harsh realities of a crypto winter set in

foundation: a new base finally settles, market equilibrium restores

itself and accumulation stage begins

One of the greatest features of Bitcoin is it’s capped supply of 21

million and it’s predictable inflation schedule, which is a native part
of the Bitcoin code. In the chart below, you can see the existing
supply of bitcoins vs. the rate at which 1,800 new coins are being
mined (144 blocks per day x 12.5 BTC).

masterthecrypto.com
 coinmetrics new bitcoin mined daily graphic

At first glance, the block halvings are certainly a disadvantage for

those who mine Bitcoins. However, this is a crucial step to reduce
currency inflation — bolstering Bitcoin’s main value proposition.
And, so long as more people believe in that value proposition, the
“real world” value of mining new blocks can keep increasing over
time even as the block reward is halved. The next halving cycle will
depreciate to 900 new coins daily.

If 1 BTC is worth $100k, a 6.25 BTC block reward would be worth

significantly more to miners than a 12.5 BTC block reward when
BTC is worth just $10k. On top of that, miners profit from
transaction fees, which can become more and more valuable over
time as the Bitcoin network continues to grow.

masterthecrypto.com
REVIEWING THE PREVIOUS
HALVINGS
At the time of the first halving in November 2012, the entire Bitcoin
economy was too small to be noticed by institutions. In fact,
Bitcoin’s price had fallen by over 90% — from $ 31 to $ 2 — about 1
year prior. The price started to rebound in November 2011 and
continued to rise through the halving in 2012 until it reached an all-
time high of over $1200 in November 2013.

Of course, Bitcoin had another collapse that began at the end of

2013 and lasted until 2015. Then, about 8 months ahead of the next
halving that would occur in July 2016, Bitcoin’s price started to
recover. During this time, several venture capital companies and
hedge funds became involved in the cryptocurrency market along
with millions of new retail investors, ultimately pushing Bitcoin to a
value of nearly $20k in December 2017. Again, ,ost of the
appreciation came after the halving: BTC was worth $650 at the
time of the halving, and subsequently increased by more than 30x.

masterthecrypto.com
HALVINGS AND BULL MARKETS PAST

The brief review of these two cycles shows an obvious trend in

which Bitcoin’s price starts to rise 8-12 months before a halving is
anticipated to occur and continues for about 1 year following it.
What needs to be investigated is whether the halvings are causing
this positive price trend, or if the bull markets and halving events are
merely correlated by coincidence.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT BITCOIN’S PRICE

Let’s analyze the factors that could provide us with explanations on

how the halving leads to an increase in the value of Bitcoin. First of
all, we need to analyze the activity of the miners.

masterthecrypto.com
 blockchain.com graph showing the all time high rate power of the
bitcoin blockchain

Bitcoin miners play a key role in the Bitcoin network by confirming

transactions. However, miners are also considered marginal
suppliers because it’s thought that they typically sell their newly
mined bitcoins as soon as possible. All other factors being equal, if
miners have fewer bitcoins to sell after a halving, they reduce the
total sell volume (i.e. the supply side of the market). As we know,
when supply decreases while demand stays constant, price
increases.

Another component to consider is that Bitcoin miners have two

sources of revenue: the newly minted bitcoins and the transaction
fees. When all 21 million bitcoins have been mined, transaction fees
will remain the only source of revenue. Even though transaction fees
are taken from the existing supply of Bitcoin, for miners they are a
source of revenue just like block rewards. In fact, miners are equally
likely to sell them to cover their operating expenses. Therefore, the
value of transaction fees must also be considered as part of the
supply side.

Of course, the other side of the market is demand, which has

increased significantly over time as retail, venture, and institutional
money have all gotten involved. This growing demand has no doubt
had a massive impact on price increases — further muddying the
waters as to whether the halvings have been major causes of the
past bull markets or if it’s just a coincidence that they occurred
during times when demand was taking off.

masterthecrypto.com
POPULAR THEORY: “HALVING
REDUCES LIQUID SUPPLY
SIGNIFICANTLY”

The “liquid supply” of a currency is the portion of the total supply

which is actively circulating. In other words, HODLing your Bitcoin
for months or years on end removes them from the liquid supply,
because they aren’t being traded or exchanged.

It’s believed that miners aren’t typically HODLers because they have
to sell into fiat currencies to pay operational expenses. This means
that newly mined BTC are part of the liquid supply.

In the first ~4 years of Bitcoin’s existence, 7500-8000 BTC were

mined every day and added to the circulating supply. After the first
halving, this amount fell to 3700-4000. Currently, 1900–2000
Bitcoins are added to the supply every single day, which will drop
below 1000 Bitcoins a day after the next halving.

In terms of US dollars, what emerges is a somewhat different view.

As we mentioned, Bitcoin’s price was $13 on the day of the first
halving. So when the daily amount mined was cut by about 4000
BTC (from 8000 to 4000), this amounted to a ~$52k reduction in
value of Bitcoins joining the liquid supply each day. For the second

masterthecrypto.com
halving when BTC was $650, this amounted to approximately
$1.3M reduction.

But what does that mean?

Well, think about it this way: a reduction of any sizeable amount in

liquid supply means that even if demand stagnated and remained
flat, the price would increase as a result of the halving. This,
ultimately, is why many people think that halvings are bullish.

CONTRADICTING THEORY: EFFICIENT

MARKET HYPOTHESIS

There is one HUGE point that the halving bulls tend to ignore or
explain away: the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). This
essentially states that in a rational market, assets always trade at
their fair value on exchanges.

Of course, no market is perfectly rational. The question is: how

rational is the Bitcoin market?

Bitcoin’s inflation schedule is known years in advance. That means

that the reduction in liquid supply that results from a halving is
known to every informed participant in the market years in advance.

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If this is public knowledge, the EMH states that the effects of the
halving should be priced in by the market before the halving actually
occurs. In other words, it can explain some of the bullish price action
that seems to occur in the months leading up to a halving, but the
bullish price action afterwards wouldn’t be a result of the reduction
in liquid supply if the EMH holds true.

With venture and institutional funds now holding heavy bags of

Bitcoin, it seems likely that the market is far more rational today
than ever before. So with that being said, how likely is it that the
next halving will actually trigger another huge bull run?

IF THE BITCOIN MARKET ISN’T

EFFICIENT, WHY DIDN’T HASHRATE
DROP AFTER PAST HALVINGS?
One final point to consider is the important metric of network
hashrate. That is, the total computing power of all the miners in the
Bitcoin network at the time of the halving.

If miners have to sell most or all of their coins immediately after

receiving them to pay for their operational costs, you would expect
the halvings to make mining unprofitable for many miners.

masterthecrypto.com
However, based on the historical hash rate, halvings have not
caused any noteworthy drops in total hashing power. This indicates
that perhaps the EMH is valid, and miners are rational enough to
include halvings when they calculate future costs and revenue.

In a non-techy way, in the past it was easier to solve blocks and

generate new bitcoins for miners. Lower competition, mining
difficulty adjustments were smaller and less powerful hardware
equipment (ASICs) to solve cryptographic algorithms was required
than today. The new halving it will usher in a whole new era of the
mining industry.

masterthecrypto.com
CONCLUSION: CAUSATION OR
COINCIDENCE?

Reflecting on the two contradictory theories above, one thing we

can say is that the next halving is not guaranteed to cause another
bull run to a new all-time high. It could just as easily be the case that
the next halving makes mining unprofitable for a large portion of the
current miners, leading to a shard drop in hashrate and decrease in
public sentiment about the stability of the Bitcoin network.

Maybe Bitcoin’s market is efficient, and halvings do get priced in

ahead of time. That would explain why price action has turned
positive many months before each of the past halvings. At the same
time, isn’t it possible that the months of positive price action leading
up to the halvings garner significant attention from new investors,
driving up demand and fueling the latter portion of the bull markets
following the halvings?

It’s hard to say for sure now, but maybe we’ll have our answer after
another halving or two. Many are in agreement that given the fixed-
supply asset, a price appreciation will occur. This scarcity enhances
value motto in the bitcoin world will have an even greater
compelling tendency to be bullish going into the 2020 bitcoin
halving event.

masterthecrypto.com
We’ll leave you with one last thought and a few questions…with the
honorary wisdom of Satoshi Nakamoto, lets close out this bitcoin
halving guide with a poignant message he/she/they sent to the
early-adopting crypo community:

“If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have

time to try to convince you, sorry.”

Should investors take the bite and bet big on bitcoin and see these
sub $8,000-$10,000 prices today as a one-time buying opportunity?
As a smart investor, there is a market opportunity where the world
is watching and can predict when the reduction of any commodity
supply by 50% is going to happen. This is likely to have ripple effects
felt all across the ethereal realm of virtual currencies and
cryptoassets led by the number one crypto, Bitcoin.

Will the store of value element of bitcoin come into play and live up
to its digital gold 2.0 nickname? What makes any object of interest
valuable is the law of supply and demand. Can the leading
cryptocurrency continue to outdo its all time highs and surpass old
peaks? Time will tell, the question is whether or not you will be
behind, before, or backing bitcoin’s halvening.

masterthecrypto.com
 CHAPTER 5
SPEND BITCOIN
TOP PLACES + STORES ACCEPTING BTC PAYMENTS

BEST PLACES TO SPEND BITCOIN:

ULTIMATE LIST OF WHERE YOU CAN
SPEND BITCOIN SHOPPING ONLINE
A few years ago, only a handful of retailers accepted bitcoin. Today,
there are more places to spend bitcoin online than ever before. Let's
review the best things you can buy with Bitcoin at top stores and
businesses.

We’ve collected a list of all major crypto-friendly retailers,

merchants, platforms, and services accepting bitcoin payments. Find
the best places to spend bitcoin and where you can shop
using bitcoin to buy things.

masterthecrypto.com
TOP BRAND-NAME STORES
ACCEPTING BITCOIN

TARGET: Target is one of America’s most popular retailers. Target

does not directly accept bitcoin at any of its stores, although you
can easily buy Target gift cards on Gyft and other platforms using
bitcoin, then spend the gift cards in-store.

WHOLE FOODS: Whole Foods does not directly accept bitcoin at

any of its stores in the United States, Canada, and the United
Kingdom. However, there’s an easy workaround that lets you spend
bitcoin at Whole Foods regardless: just buy a Whole Foods gift with
bitcoin through Gyft.com. Then, you can buy anything you like from
Whole Foods.

UBER: Uber doesn’t directly accept crypto in exchange for rides.

However, most gift card retailers, including eGifter, sell Uber gift
cards in exchange for crypto. You can buy an Uber gift card with
bitcoin, then spend that Uber gift card on any ride.

MACY’S: Macy’s, like Uber and Whole Foods, doesn’t directly

accept bitcoin, although it’s easy to buy a Macy’s gift card with
bitcoin from any major gift card retailer. Once you have a Macy’s
gift card, you can easily spend that gift card at any store without
restrictions.

WIKIPEDIA: Wikipedia is the world’s largest open-source

encyclopedia. The company accepts donations in bitcoin and many
other payment methods.

masterthecrypto.com
AT&T: AT&T is the first major telecommunication company in the
United States to accept cryptocurrency payments for bills, new
phones, and other products and services. AT&T accepts bitcoin
payments through BitPay.

TESLA: Automobile giant Tesla made headlines all the way back in
2013 when a customer used bitcoin to purchase a Tesla S from a
dealership in Newport Beach, marking the first time bitcoins were
used to purchase a luxury car. Today, however, Tesla does not
officially accept bitcoin for cars at any of its dealerships.

XBOX: You can buy Xbox games, add-ons, and Xbox live
subscriptions using bitcoin. Microsoft accepts bitcoin across its
online store for most digital products and services.

PLAYSTATION NETWORK: You can use bitcoin to purchase games,

subscriptions, and other add-ons on the PlayStation Network.

WALMART: Walmart sells gift cards via most major gift card
platforms, including eGifter. Buy a Walmart gift card online using
bitcoin, then spend that gift card at any Walmart store.

RAKUTEN: Rakuten is a Japanese e-commerce giant launched in

1997. Over the last decade, the “Amazon of Japan” has expanded
rapidly outside of Japan. They were also one of the first big e-

masterthecrypto.com
commerce companies to start accepting bitcoin: in March 2015,
Rakuten announced it would begin accepting bitcoin payments
across its global marketplaces.

Around the same time, Rakuten also invested in payment processing

startup Bitnet Technologies. Then, earlier in 2019, Rakuten acquired
a wallet called Everybody’s Bitcoin, rebranding the wallet to
Rakuten Wallet. Clearly, Rakuten sees a future in bitcoin, and the
company continues to accept bitcoin through its marketplaces
today.

Plus, the platform formerly known as Ebates is now Rakuten. You

can get up to 40% cash back at 2,500+ stores, including Amazon,
eBay, Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Walmart, using Rakuten.

Visit Rakuten.com to start shopping with bitcoin today.

OVERSTOCK: Overstock was the first major retailer to start

accepting bitcoin. Overstock’s CEO, Patrick Byrne, is a huge
supporter of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and is
routinely asked to speak at blockchain conferences. Today,
Overstock accepts more than just bitcoin; the company also accepts
ETH, BCH, LTC, XMR, and DASH. To pay with bitcoin, just choose
the items you want on Overstock, then select bitcoin on the
payment screen.

FIVERR: Gig marketplace Fiverr offers a wide range of products and

services for $5. The company now accepts bitcoin.

MONOPRIX: European convenience and grocery store giant

Monoprix is popular throughout Europe. You can spend bitcoin at
the company’s online store. The company has also signalled plans to
start accepting bitcoin at its retail stores in the future.

ETSY: E-commerce marketplace Etsy accepts payments in bitcoin.

You can buy arts, crafts, and other handmade items using bitcoin
directly through Etsy.

masterthecrypto.com
INTUIT: Accounting giant Intuit dominates the small and medium-
sized business accounting space. The Silicon Valley-headquartered
company now accepts bitcoin in exchange for accounting software
subscriptions. And, the software itself supports reporting income in
bitcoin, among other crypto-related services.

ALZA: Alza is the largest online retailer in the Czech Republic,

although the company also operates e-commerce websites in
Slovakia (Alza.sk), Germany (Alza.de), Austria (Alza.at), and the
United Kingdom (Alza.co.uk). Alza accepts bitcoin at all of these
online stores. Alza also offers a bitcoin service called BTC ATM, a
cryptocurrency exchange and wallet where you can buy and sell
cryptocurrencies. Alza also operates a small number of bitcoin ATMs
at the company’s central showrooms in Prague and Bratislava (the
ATMs are operated by General Bytes on behalf of Alza).

BEST COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS

PLACES

NEWEGG.COM: Newegg is one of the internet’s largest computer

parts retailers. You can buy laptops, fully-built gaming PCs,
peripherals, parts, and more. Newegg has accepted bitcoin for years.
Just select bitcoin on the final payment screen. You can pay using
any type of bitcoin wallet.

masterthecrypto.com
DELL: PC Giant Dell lets you buy certain computers using bitcoin. In
fact, Dell gives you a discount for using bitcoin: Dell will slash 10%
off the price of certain PCs when you buy with bitcoin.

AVALANCHA: You may not have heard of Avalancha, but it’s huge
in Argentina. The e-commerce shop sells electronic items and other
gadgets, and you can now pay with bitcoin thanks to a partnership
with Latin American bitcoin payment processing platform BitPagos.

DISH NETWORK: DISH Network was one of the biggest names to

accept bitcoin back in 2016. Today, the telecom giant lets users use
bitcoin to pay for satellite TV subscriptions, although all other DISH
products and services require payment in USD.

TIGERDIRECT: TigerDirect is a PC parts retailer like NewEgg. The

company sells parts, systems, peripherals, and more. You’ll notice
many PC parts retailers accept bitcoin. Miners, after all, are some of
the biggest bitcoin users in the world, and they need to buy
computer parts.

EYEBOOT: Eyeboot is a crypto mining hardware retailer that offers

ASICs and other crypto miners. As with most other bitcoin miner
retailers, Eyeboot accepts bitcoin in exchange for hardware.

MEMORY DEALERS: Computer parts retailer Memory Dealers

accepts payment in bitcoin. Memory Dealers is associated with
Roger Ver, the Bitcoin Jesus, a big crypto influencer.

masterthecrypto.com
FASTTECH: FastTech sells a wide range of electronic products,
including everything from lasers to e-cigarettes to photography
gear. You can buy anything on the website using bitcoin.

GODARK FARADAY BAGS: Faraday bags protect your phone,

tablet, and other electronic devices from EMR damage, hacking,
location tracking, and other incoming signals. The bags work by
blocking incoming signals between 600 MHz and 5 GHz, which
includes all Wi-Fi, cell phone, Bluetooth, and GPS signals. GoDark
offers an extensive selection of Faraday bags and you can pay using
bitcoin.

HEADPHONES.COM: Headphones.com is an online headphone

and earbud retailer. The company accepts crypto in exchange for all
types of audio gear.

BEST SPORTS PLACES

SACRAMENTO KINGS: The Sacramento Kings have tried to draw

techies away from the Bay Area by offering a range of bitcoin
incentives. Not only can you buy Sacramento Kings tickets with
bitcoin, but you can also buy beer, jerseys, hot dogs, and more.
Bitcoin is widely accepted in the Sacramento Kings organization
both online and in-person at the Golden 1 Center.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Located in the heart of Silicon Valley,

the San Jose Earthquakes smartly started accepting bitcoin at their
home stadium. You can also use bitcoin to pay for concessions at
various spots around the stadium.

masterthecrypto.com
BEST GAMBLING PLACES

BETCHAIN: BetChain is a fully-regulated and licensed gambling

platform under the regulations of Curacao. The company is
particularly popular for its slot machine games, and it’s one of the
biggest names in the industry that accepts bitcoin payments.

CLOUDBET CASINO: Cloudbet Casino is operated by gaming

company Betsoft. The company accepts deposits through bitcoin,
and you can play using any mobile or desktop device.

BETCOIN: Betcoin is one of many gambling platforms that accepts

bitcoin. Betcoin is a desktop and mobile gambling platform where
you can play blackjack or roulette or even gamble on virtual horse
racing. Betcoin accepts deposits in bitcoin.

FORTUNEJACK: FortuneJack offers sports betting, casino games,

dice, live virtual casino games, and other traditional gambling games.
FortuneJack is also popular among crypto users for its provably fair
section, where you can play games and prove those games are
perfectly fair. Many bitcoin-specific gambling platforms offer
provably-fair games, but FortuneJack is one of the few major
gambling platforms that also offers provably-fair games.

ONEHASH.COM: Bitcoin gambling platform OneHash offers dice

games, casino games, sports betting, financial event betting, and
more. Users can bet with BTC.

masterthecrypto.com
1XBIT.COM: 1xbit.com was launched in 2016 with more than 1,000
live casino games. The platform also features sporting events and
3,000 slot machine games. Users can bet using 10+
cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin.

32RED SPORT: 32Red Sport is a British online casino with more

than 500 casino games. The platform accepts bitcoin as a deposit
method, letting you use bitcoin to play slots, roulette, blackjack,
poker, and more.

BITSTARZ: BitStarz is yet another bitcoin gambling platform that

lets you gamble cryptocurrency in exchange for real winnings. You
can play a wide range of casino games in a provably fair gambling
environment.

OSHI CASINO: Oshi Casino offers several slot machines and other
casino games. The company lets you gamble directly with bitcoin.

MBIT CASINO: mBit Casino is a licensed and regulated gambling

platform that doesn’t even accept fiat currencies: the company only
accepts bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies.

BEST SPORTS BETTING WEBSITES

WILLIAM HILL: William Hill is one of the world’s largest

bookmakers. The company also accepts bitcoin as a deposit option,
allowing users to deposit bitcoin, convert it to fiat currency, then bet
on sports on the platform.

masterthecrypto.com
SBOBET: SBOBET is a licensed online bookmaker offering casino
games, sports betting, and horse betting, among other options.

BETBTC: BetBTC is an anonymous sports betting website that

primarily uses bitcoin for all sports bets.

SPORTSBET: Sportsbet is a global sports betting platform that lets

you bet on everything from cricket to soccer to DOTA2. The
platform accepts deposits in bitcoin.

BETONLINE: BetOnline is a popular sports betting website because

it operates in many countries with regulatory issues, including the
United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. They also accept
deposits in bitcoin.

BENFICA: Sport Lisbonia e Benfica, also known more simply as

Benfica, is a popular Lisbon, Portugal-based sports club. The
company accepts bitcoin for game tickets, merchandise,
concessions, and more. If you’re ever in Lisbon, you can spend
bitcoin on a great day of sports.

FAIRLAY: Fairlay is a sports betting platform that recently started

accepting bitcoin, allowing users to bet anonymously using the
world’s largest digital currency.

BITCOIN RUSH: Bitcoin Rush is a bitcoin betting platform founded

in 2013. Today, the platform offers casino games and sports betting.

NITROGEN: Nitrogen is a bookmaker that accepts deposits and

withdrawals in bitcoin. Clients can bet on sports in specific targeted
regions through the platform, including everything from tennis to
women’s basketball.

BOVADA: Bovada not only accepts bitcoin for its poker games; the
site also accepts bitcoin for its sports betting. You’ve been able to
bet on sports with bitcoin since May 2016. Just deposit bitcoin into
your Bovada wallet to get started.

masterthecrypto.com
MYBOOKIE: MyBookie is a sportsbook launched in 2014. The
company accepts bitcoin for deposits.

INTERTOPS: InterTops was launched in 2016 to offer sports betting

and other online gaming and gambling options. You can deposit
bitcoin and immediately start playing over 200 games through
InterTops.

BET365: Bet365 is one of the biggest names in the gambling and

casino space. The company processes bitcoin payments through
NETELLER.

5DIMES: 5DIMES is an online sports betting leader that recently

started to accept bitcoin as a payment.

COINBET24.COM: Coinbet24.com allows users to bet on sports

after depositing bitcoin. Welcome bonuses and other bonuses are
also available regardless of your deposit method.

BEST ONLINE POKER SITES

IGNITION POKER: Ignition Poker is one of a handful of major poker

websites that accepts bitcoin. The company is one of the largest
online poker sites in the United States.

BOVADA POKER: Bovada Poker accepts bitcoin payments through

Coinbase. The company is one of the best-known names in the
online poker world to accept bitcoin.

masterthecrypto.com
BEST LAS VEGAS CASINOS

GOLDEN GATE CASINO: The Golden Gate Casino in Las Vegas now
accepts bitcoin for chips. Founded in 1906, Golden Gate Casino is
one of the most popular casinos in Vegas.

THE D LAS VEGAS CASINO HOTEL: The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel
accepts bitcoin for all gambling games and hotel rooms.

ALIANTE CASINO AND HOTEL: Aliante Casino and Hotel accepts

bitcoin and other digital currencies for its games, slot machines,
rooms, and suites.

123 VEGAS WIN: 123 Vegas Win offers 700 casino games, and you
can play all of these games using bitcoin. Welcome bonuses are
available on the first four deposits made by a new client.

BEST VAPE STORES

masterthecrypto.com
VAPE DOJO: Vape Dojo recently announced it would start
accepting bitcoin for all orders of e-liquid. You can buy e-liquids
online with bitcoin.

8BITVAPE: 8BitVape is one of the world’s best-known vape

suppliers. The company is particularly popular in the United States
and United Kingdom for its custom e-liquid.

MT. BAKER VAPOR: Mt. Baker Vapor now accepts bitcoin as a

payment option.

BLACK FOREST VAPES: UK-based Black Forest Vapes now accepts

bitcoin for its high-quality e-liquid.

E-LIQUID UK STORE: E-Liquid UK Store sells electronic cigarettes,

e-liquid juices, and more through its online store, primarily serving
the UK market.

FOG ON THE TYNE: Fog On The Tyne was founded in 2012 to sell
electronic cigarettes and e-liquids online. The company now
supports bitcoin payments.

VAPE CRYPTO: Vape Crypto explains everything you need to know

directly in its name: this company e-cigs and supplies in exchange
for crypto.

STEALTHVAPE: StealthVape is one of the most prominent names

in the vape industry. You can spend bitcoin for any products at the
StealthVape online store.

VAPE & JUICE: Vape & Juice is a UK-based company that accepts
bitcoin for all products listed on the company’s online store.

BEST TRAVEL PLACES

masterthecrypto.com
EXPEDIA: Expedia is one of the world’s largest travel websites. The
company offers an extensive selection of hotels, flights, rental cars,
travel packages, and more. In 2017, Expedia became the first major
travel website to start accepting bitcoin thanks to a partnership with
Coinbase. Today, Expedia continues to accept bitcoin in exchange
for flights, hotels, car rentals, and packages.

BITCOIN TRAVEL: So you have bitcoin and want to travel. That’s

why, fittingly enough, some entrepreneur founded Bitcoin Travel
(https://bitcoin.travel). The website lists travel and booking
websites that accept bitcoin. Just use the website to search for
available flights and hotels, then find travel services that accept
bitcoin.

CHEAP AIR

masterthecrypto.com
Cheap Air, not to be confused with CheapoAir, is a flight aggregator
that helps you find cheap flight tickets. The website also offers
accommodations, rental cars, and more. Once you arrive at the
Cheap Air payment screen, you’ll find a range of accepted
cryptocurrencies available for payment, including BTC, BCH, LTC,
and DASH.

BERKELEY TRAVEL: London-based luxury travel agency Berkeley

Travel accepts bitcoin and other digital currencies for all travel
products and services listed online, including luxury holiday
packages and more.

AIRBALTIC: AirBaltic started accepting bitcoin for flights in summer

2014, making them the first major airline to start accepting bitcoin.
The Riga, Latvia-headquartered company flies all across Europe and
worldwide. However, you can only spend bitcoin on certain flights.
Flights to and from China, Indonesia, Jordan, Iceland, India, Russia,
Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Lebanon, and Malaysia are excluded from
bitcoin payments. Initially, AirBaltic charged a fee of 5.99 EUR for
each bitcoin booking, although AirBaltic recently dropped the fee.

AIRLITHUANIA: Lithuania’s national airline lets you pay in bitcoin

for flights across its service network.

LOT POLISH AIRLINES: Poland’s national airline was founded all the
way back in 1928, making LOT the world’s oldest airline to accept
bitcoin for certain flights.

HOLIDAY INN: Holiday Inn does not accept bitcoin across the
entire chain. However, as a bit of a publicity stunt, Holiday Inn
started accepting bitcoin at one hotel on Union Street in Brooklyn,
New York.

BTCTRIP: BTCTrip sells hotel bookings and flights, letting you pay
with bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and other popular digital
currencies. The company’s slogan is ‘Fly with Bitcoin’, which tells
you everything you need to know about BTCTrip.

masterthecrypto.com
VIRGIN GALACTIC: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic lets you pay
for space travel with bitcoin. If you ever wanted to drop a casual
$10 million on space travel, then Virgin Galactic is a great option.

ONE SHOT HOTELS: The Spanish hotel chain One Shot Hotels
accepts bitcoin at two of its locations in Madrid. The company has
other hotels across Europe, including locations in London,
Barcelona, and Valencia, that may start accepting bitcoin in the
future.

TRAVELBYBIT: TravelbyBit started by specializing in bitcoin-related

events and activities, making it easy for bitcoin users to attend major
blockchain conferences. Today, TravelbyBit is a complete flight and
hotel booking platform that showcases great deals around the
world. You can pay using BTC, BNB, or LTC, although the website
also accepts conventional payment cards like Visa, MasterCard, and
American Express.

VISIONAPARTMENTS: Swiss-based vacation rental company

VisionApartments now lets all customers pay for all rentals with
bitcoin.

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VACATION RENTALS LAS VEGAS: The appropriately-named
company Vacation Rentals Las Vegas started accepting bitcoin and
other major cryptocurrencies for stays at their vacation homes
throughout Las Vegas.

OCEAN REEF RESORTS: Ocean Reef Resorts has a major presence

across Destin, South Walton, and Panama City Beach in Florida. The
company lets you book rooms and suites using bitcoin.

WEBJET: Australia-based travel agency WebJet has accepted

bitcoin since 2015. Today, customers can easily use WebJet to book
flights and cruises with bitcoin. The company partnered with BitPOS
to process bitcoin payments.

ETRAVELSMART: Online bus booking service eTravelSmart now

accepts bitcoin as a payment.

FLYHI.FI: Flyhi.fi, established in 2002, sells flight tickets in 13

countries. The company accepts bitcoin payments for all flight
reservations and tickets.

9FLATS.COM: Berlin-based vacation rental company 9flats.com

accepts bitcoin payments for all short-term home rentals.

CHEAPBIZCLASS: CheapBizClass says everything you need to

know in the name: the company specializes in arranging cheap
business class travel. The goal is to sell you tickets that let you fly in
business class for the same price as a normal economy seat. And yes,
you can travel in style using bitcoin.

DESTINIA: Destinia lets you book hotels, flights, and travel

packages using crypto. The website has an interface that looks
surprisingly similar to the popular travel booking site Kayak. Like
Kayak, you can view all types of accommodations, flights, car
rentals, and travel options, then pay using bank cards, PayPal, or
bitcoin. One drawback with Destinia is that the company does not
seem to accept bitcoin for all travel products booked through the
site.

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ABITSKY: Get cheap domestic or international flights with aBitSky,
which lets you spend bitcoin on all types of flights, hotels, car
rentals, and package deals. The EU-based company has been
operating since 2002, although they only recently started accepting
bitcoin.

FUTURE.TRAVEL: Future.travel is yet another flight aggregator

platform that lets you pay using MasterCard, Visa, or bitcoin. The
site is operated by a Vietnam-based company called Blue Ocean
Trading and Consulting. Future.travel only offers flights, including
round trip, one-way, and multi-city flights.

AIRTREKS: AirTreks promises to offer simple around-the-world

flights. The company lets you explore routes for multi-stop
international flights using their TripPlanner. If you want to go from
London to Sydney but have to stop in Bali on the way, for example,
then AirTreks makes it easy to book that flight. They also have
dedicated travel packages like ‘Circle the Globe’, ‘The Grand Escape’,
and ‘Beach Hopping’, all of which involve multiple flights taking you
all over the world. AirTreks has operated since 1987, and the
company now accepts bitcoin.

PRIVATEFLY: If you’re a bitcoin whale, then you shouldn’t be flying

commercial. Spend some of your bitcoin hoard on PrivateFly, which
lets you book a private jet with bitcoin. The website lets you book
private jets in the United States and worldwide. Just enter your
current location, destination, and date, then view available private
jet flights and pay with bitcoin.

MORESTAMPS: MoreStamps lets you add ‘more stamps’ to your

passport by booking flights, hotels, activities, transfers, airport
lounges, and more online. The website even has its own digital
currency called MP Coin, and 1 MP = 1 USD. MoreStamps accepts
40+ cryptocurrencies, including everything from ANT and BAT to
BTC, BCH, and ETH.

CRYPTOCRIBS: CryptoCribs is like AirBnb for crypto users. The

website features properties from all over the world. Enter your
destination city and dates, then browser properties and pay owners

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directly in bitcoin. The goal of CryptoCribs is to build a community
of crypto nomads around the world.

TRAVALA: Hotel booking website Travala has a network of

500,000+ hotels. You can book accommodations at any of them
using XRP, BNB, TUSD, and many other cryptocurrencies.

RENTHOP: RentHop, unfortunately, does not let you rent homes in

bitcoin. However, you can advertise on the site and pay in bitcoin,
saving up to 60% if you pay for advertisements in bitcoin.

GREITAI: Greitai is a flight, hotel, and car rental search platform that
not only lets you buy with bitcoin, but also supports 20+ other
altcoins.

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BEST HEALTHCARE PLACES

MEDICOVER GROUP HOSPITAL: Medicover Group Hospital in

Poland made headlines for being one of the first major medical
organizations to start accepting bitcoin. The group operates a
network of private hospitals across Poland, offering a range of
healthcare services.

BEST INTERNET WEBSITES

WORDPRESS: WordPress was another internet giant that jumped

on the bitcoin bandwagon early. The online publishing platform has
accepted bitcoin since 2012. You can buy professional hosting and
other WordPress services using bitcoin. You can also find plenty of
WordPress plugins that make it easy to accept bitcoin on your own
WordPress website.

MEGA.NZ

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File sharing website Mega.nz offers cloud storage and file hosting.
Founded by Megaupload founder KimDotcom, Mega.nz accepts
bitcoin for account upgrades, allowing premium users to enjoy
higher download limits and other benefits.

REDDIT: Social news aggregator Reddit lets users buy premium

features using bitcoin. Buy Reddit Gold with bitcoin, for example.

NAMECHEAP: Domain registration giant Namecheap has helped

users register over 10 million domain names. The company was also
one of the first major names to accept bitcoin: Namecheap has
accepted bitcoin since 2013. The partnership with bitcoin makes
sense for Namecheap: the company has always led the way for
internet freedom and is one of the biggest supporters of the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

4CHAN: It makes sense that the anonymous message board 4chan

would support the anonymous digital currency bitcoin. 4chan has
allowed users to purchase premium features using bitcoin for
several years.

LUMFILE: Lumfile is a free cloud-based file server platform. The

company has accepted bitcoin for premium account subscriptions
since 2012.

QHOSTER: Spend bitcoin on hosting and VPS services using

QHoster.

HOSTINGER: Hostinger has provided web hosting since 2004, and

the company accepts bitcoin as a payment option.

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HOSTWINDS: Hostwinds was launched in 2010 to provide
shared hosting, business hosting, reseller hosting, and
managed Windows/Linux hosting, among other services. The
company recently started accepting bitcoin and other digital
currencies.

BITCOIN WEB HOSTING: The appropriately-named Bitcoin Web

Hosting specializes in providing anonymous web hosting. The
company offers privacy, anonymity, and a variety of hosting options,
all available with one simple bitcoin payment.

HOST1PLUS: This hosting company has a major presence across

Asia, Europe, and Africa. The company accepts bitcoin as payment
for all hosting services.

LIGHTSPEED HOSTING: LightSpeed Hosting is a major web hosting

provider that accepts bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and other
cryptocurrencies in exchange for hosting services.

TUTANOTA: Tutanota lets you spend your anonymous internet

money on anonymous email service. Use bitcoin to subscribe to the
privacy-focused email platform.

PROTONMAIL: Protonmail, like Tutanota, accepts bitcoin in

exchange for anonymous email service.

GROOVESHARK: Grooveshark supports bitcoin payments. In

January 2018, Grooveshark became the first major music streaming
company to offer bitcoin as a leading payment option.

BEST AUCTION WEBSITES

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REDDIT BITMARKET: The Reddit subreddit BitMarket is an online
auction community of around 10,000 people. Transactions in the
community are primarily done using bitcoin.

BITFIY: Bitfiy is one of the world’s largest crypto-focused auction

websites. The platform lets users trade items for bitcoin (BTC) or
Litecoin (LTC) in a P2P marketplace. The site also has an escrow
system that gives buyers and sellers added protection. To date,
Bitify has completed over $7 million in transactions and sold over
100,000 items.

TRIPLECLICKS: Auction website TripleClicks.com offers regular

auctions using a system that will be familiar to anyone who has used

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eBay. The company’s penny auction feature, Pricebenders, is
particularly popular. You can deposit money into the site and get
‘TCredits’ using bitcoin. All transactions on the platform are done in
TCredits.

UBID: Ubid has five million users compete for items through a
traditional online auction interface. Ubid accepts bitcoin and other
payment methods.

BEST VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS

(VPNS)

PUREVPN: Setup a virtual private network (VPN) with bitcoin using

PureVPN, a commercial VPN service.

EXPRESSVPN: ExpressVPN is one of several major VPN services

that accept bitcoin in exchange for virtual private network services.
The company offers VPN apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android,
Linux, and more, helping bitcoin users keep their data safe online.

NORD VPN: Panama-based Nord VPN offers a free, three-day trial

and a 30-day moneyback guarantee to ensure customers are happy
with their service. The company also accepts payment in bitcoin and
other cryptocurrencies.

CYBERGHOST: CyberGhost is a Romania-based VPN with easy-to-

use software and a feature-rich interface. The company accepts
bitcoin as payment for all VPN services.

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AIRVPN: AirVPN is yet another VPN that accepts bitcoin as
payment. The company lets you browse the internet with complete
security and anonymity. It also offers features like a killswitch to
prevent apps from accessing the internet if the link to the VPN loses
connectivity.

BULLET VPN: Bullet VPN has a large global network of servers and
a 30-day money back guarantee. The company accepts payment
with bitcoin, credit cards, and PayPal.

PRIVATE INTERNET ACCESS: Private Internet Access is an

advanced privacy protection and security platform that takes
advdantage of VPN tunneling. The company’s services can be setup
to operate at the TCP/IP level, making everything extra secure.
Private Internet Access accepts bitcoin as payment.

BEST GIFT CARDS PLACES

EGIFTER: eGifter is one of the giants of the bitcoin gift card space.
The company slashes costs by issuing digital gift cards instead of
physical gift cards. Not only is this more convenient, but you also
get access to your gift card instantly. Today, eGifter lets you buy a
range of gift cards for both tech and non-tech products and services
– from Domino’s pizza to Walmart gift cards and more. Nike, Adidas,
and other major retailers are also available through eGifter.

GYFT: Gyft, like eGifter, is a digital gift card platform that lets you
spend bitcoin on gift cards from a wide range of merchants. Gyft
also makes it easy to manage your current gift cards. If you want a

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one-stop shop gift card platform that lets you easily spend bitcoin,
then Gyft is a great option.

PURSE.IO: Purse.io was launched with the goal of “making crypto

useful”. Today, Purse is an online marketplace that allows anyone to
get an Amazon discount of up to 33% off anything by naming their
own discount and paying with cryptocurrency. Amazon does not
officially accept bitcoin payments. However, Amazon indirectly
accepts bitcoin payments through Purse.io. Just buy an Amazon gift
card through Purse.io, then start shopping on Amazon. You can also
sell Amazon gift cards for bitcoin through Purse.io.

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GIFTOFF: Giftoff is yet another gift card retailer where you can buy
gift cards for thousands of retailers in exchange for bitcoin. Giftoff
has more of a European focus than other gift card websites,
including gift cards for Tesco, H&M, and Argos, but there’s
something for everyone. You can buy gift cards using Visa,
MasterCard, American Express, Apple Pay, BTC, or BCH.

PAXFUL: Paxful, unlike every other platform listed here, doesn’t let
you buy gift cards for bitcoin, but it does let you sell unused gift
cards for bitcoin. If you have unused gift cards lying around your
house going to waste, then Paxful lets you maximize the value of
those gift cards with bitcoin.

BEST PAYMENT PLATFORMS

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STRIPE: Payment giant Stripe started accepting bitcoin in 2017. Like
Shopify, Stripe allows merchants to choose whether or not they
want to accept bitcoin.

SIMPLEPAY: Payment platform SimplePay was founded in 2012 to

simplify the payment process. The platform now allows clients to
choose to accept bitcoin payments.

BRAINTREE: Chicago-based Braintree offers mobile and web

payment systems for e-commerce companies. The company accepts
bitcoin.

SHOPIFY: Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify provides payment

services for thousands of shops around the world. Shopify does not
accept bitcoin for their services directly. However,
Shopify has partnered with Bitpay to allow store owners to accept
bitcoin. Store owners using Shopify can enable bitcoin payments,
then start accepting crypto for any products or services. If you find
a store that uses Shopify for payments, then there’s a chance that
the store accepts bitcoin.

MINT: Mint might not fall under the category of conventional

payment platforms. However, Mint.com does accept bitcoin, making
it easy for you to manage your budget on-the-go from any device.

BEST GAMING PLACES

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BIG FISH GAMES: Big Fish Games is a mobile and desktop gaming
platform offering a range of games you can purchase and play. Big
Fish Games accepts bitcoin payments in exchange for their games.

ZYNGA: Online gaming giant Zynga lets you spend bitcoin on in-app
items. The company’s games are all free, although you can spend
unlimited amounts on in-game purchases. Whether you’re playing
Farmville, Words with Friends, Hit it Rich, or Dawn of Titans, you
can use bitcoin to get ahead of your friends.

MICROSOFT GAMES: Microsoft began accepting bitcoin for certain

parts of its online store all the way back in 2014. The company

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briefly canceled bitcoin payments when transaction fees
skyrocketed in 2017, although Microsoft now accepts bitcoin once
again. The company lets you spend bitcoin on digital items from the
Windows Store and Xbox Store, including movies, games, and apps.
Just deposit bitcoin into your Microsoft account, then spend that
bitcoin on any Microsoft products.

GREEN MAN GAMING: British online game retailer Green Man

Gaming accepts bitcoin in exchange for various games. Most Green
Man Gaming products can be easily activated on Steam, and you can
often find games cheaper than what you see on Steam.

KEYS4COINS: Keys4Coins accepts crypto in exchange for keys for

PC and console games. Browse top titles from Steam, Origin, Uplay,
and other platforms, then buy them directly from the website using
fiat or cryptocurrencies. Keys4Coins accepts BTC, DOGE, LTC,
BCH, DASH, VTC, and XMR along with USD, EUR, GBP, and NOK.

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You can also buy gift cards, including Xbox gift cards and PSN gift
cards, using all of these cryptocurrencies.

CJS CDKEYS: CJS CDKeys specializes in offering digital download

keys for the latest games with instant delivery. The website has
been operating since 2009, although they only recently started to
accept bitcoin. As with other key retailers here, all keys offered by
the company are genuine, sealed keys for brand new games.

HUMBLE BUNDLE: Socially conscious gaming bundle retailer

Humble Bundle accepts bitcoin in exchange for games, ebooks,
software, and other digital content.

BEST MOVIE THEATERS AND

ENTERTAINMENT PLACES

THEATRE TICKETS DIRECT: Theatre Tickets Direct is a UK-based

ticket retailer. The company sells tickets for shows in London,
including famous West End theatre productions and musicals. All
the way back in 2014, the company became the world’s first ticket
agency to allow customers to pay for theatre tickets using bitcoin.

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MOVIETICKETS.COM: MovieTickets.com is an online movie ticket
retailer that lets you easily purchase tickets to 30,000 screens in the
United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America. The
company accepts bitcoin in exchange for movie tickets.

MAJOR CINEPLEX: Thailand movie theater giant Major Cineplex

now accepts Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at all its locations, allowing you to
purchase movie tickets with BCH anywhere in Thailand.

AMC THEATERS: AMC Theaters is the second largest movie theater

company in North America, and they accept bitcoin as payment.

LIONSGATE FILMS: Lionsgate Films partnered with GoCoin to

integrate bitcoin into its payment system, although it’s not totally
clear how this integration will work.

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BEST FOOD, DRINKS, AND
RESTAURANTS PLACES

DOMINO’S: Domino’s does not accept bitcoin directly. However,

they do accept Domino’s gift cards, and you can buy Domino’s gift
cards with bitcoin using eGifter and similar gift card platforms.

DUNKIN’ DONUTS: When you buy a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card with
bitcoin, you can spend that gift card at any Dunkin’ Donuts location
nationwide. No, you can’t directly pay with bitcoin at Dunkin’
Donuts, but you can easily pay with bitcoin indirectly via a gift card
from eGifter or another major gift card website.

KFC: KFC doesn’t accept bitcoin chainwide. However, the company

made headlines worldwide when KFC Canada decided to accept
bitcoin for a limited time in exchange for the Bitcoin Bucket. The
company processed payments in-store through bitcoin, and buckets
were delivered directly to the customer’s home address.

BREWDOG: The United Kingdom’s thriving mega-brewery

Brewdog recently announced that it would start accepting bitcoin
at its London location. The company’s founder sees bitcoin as a way
to “keep innovating”: “We’ve done it with beer, we’ve done it with
our business model, and now we are championing a new way of
paying for a pint,” explains Brewdog co-founder James Watt.
Brewdog also accepts crypto in exchange for company stock.
Brewdog officially supports BTC, BCH, and BCHSV.

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FOODLER: Foodler is a food delivery service similar to Uber Eats,
Skip The Dishes, and DoorDash, among many other competitors.
Foodler is one of the few food delivery services, however, that lets
you pay with bitcoin.

COCA COLA VENDING MACHINES: Coca Cola has announced

plans to integrate its vending machines with the Lightning Network,
which should allow you to buy Coke with bitcoin in the near future.

AEGUANA VENDING MACHINES: Vending machine company

Aeguana recently launched a new vending machine that accepts
bitcoin and other digital currency payments.

AMERICAN GREEN ZAZZZ VENDING MACHINE: American Green

ZaZZZ is a vending machine that dispenses marijuana. The company
recently integrated bitcoin into its acceptable payment methods,
letting you officially buy weed with bitcoin.

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ANCHOR GRILL IN NEW YORK: You can spend bitcoin on a world-
class steak the next time you’re in New York City. Anchor Grill,
which specializes in “modern European cuisine”, lets you pay your
bill in bitcoin every time. Fresh seafood, Mediterranean dishes, and
char-grilled steaks are all available to order.

AUZA’ATAR IN NEW YORK: Auza’Atar is a Lebanese and Middle

Eastern restaurant based in New York’s East Village. The restaurant
features a wide range of Middle Eastern dishes, but it also accepts
bitcoin for al lmenu items.

ARROWHEAD BEEF: Arrowhead Beef makes organic, grass-fed

beef. The company offers ground beef, contemporary steaks,
premium roasts, premium steaks, and special cuts – all of which are
available for purchase with bitcoin. Visit ArrowheadBeef.com, then
shop from different cuts of beef and pay with bitcoin.

BEES BROS: Bees Bros sells honey and honey-based products

through BeesBros.com – and yes, they accept bitcoin. You can
spend bitcoin on honey caramels, honey roasted almonds, honey
beeswax lotion, honey soap, honey lip balm, and many other honey
-based products.

PIZZA FOR COINS: It’s easier than ever to spend bitcoin on pizza
thanks to Pizza For Coins (PizzaForCoins.com). Enter your address
into the website, then view pizza shops near you willing to accept
bitcoin or 50 different altcoins. Instead of individually searching for
pizza places that accept bitcoin, you can view all available pizza
places at a glance.

HONEST BREW: Buy beer with the world’s largest cryptocurrency

thanks to Honest Brew. The company sells beer from its own
brewery and affiliated breweries – all in exchange for bitcoin. Unlike
most breweries, UK-based Honest Brew does business exclusively
online, shipping beers to customers across the UK and around the
world.

SUBWAY: Subway does not currently accept bitcoin at any of its

stores. However, back in 2013, the sandwich shop made headlines

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for accepting bitcoin at a single outlet in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The owner of the shop decided to give a 10% discount to anyone
paying in bitcoin.

LIEFERANDO: Lieferando is one of the biggest food delivery

operations in Germany. With 11,000 partner restaurants, the
company also accepts bitcoin, making it easy to get the food you
want delivered to your address at any time anywhere in Germany.

PEMBURY TAVERN: Pembury Tavern is an English pub with 20+

beers on tap and an extensive selection of wines, spirits, and soft
drinks. They also serve Sunday roasts and New York-style pizza,
among other food. You can pay your bill with bitcoin at Pembury
Tavern.

OLD FITZROY: Old Fitzroy is a traditional pub in Sydney. It’s also

one of the oldest pubs in Sydney. The bar accepts bitcoin in
exchange for drinks, food items, and theater tickets.

KILLFISH BARS: Russia’s Killfish bar chain has accepted bitcoin

since 2018. In fact, Killfish Bars take things a step further by actually
allowing patrons to create their own digital wallets just for the bar.
Killfish has a presence in 25 Russian cities.

EVR BAR: EVR Bar is a New York City bar that lets you pay your tab
with bitcoin. All bitcoin payments are processed using BitPay.

THE PINK COW: The Pink Cow is a Japan-based restaurant that

started accepting bitcoin all the way back in 2013. Since 2017, the
company has focused more on Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and it even
hosted the world’s first Bitcoin Cash meetup in December 2017.
Today, the restaurant lets you pay your bill in BCH or BTC.

CRYPTOCOFFEE: CryptoCoffee is a crypto-focused coffee

distributer that sells coffee for cryptocurrency across most of
Europe. Buy a range of blends and single origin coffee products with
CryptoCoffee today.

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UNDEAD COFFEE: Undead Coffee is a coffee retailer that accepts
bitcoin. The company operates entirely online, selling fresh roasted
coffee, single origin coffee, coffee blends, and more.

NOTHING FISHY: Nothing Fishy is a specialized online retailer that

sells just one product: an omega 3 fatty acid supplement sourced
from algae instead of fish. That’s it. The company ships worldwide,
offering 60 softgel and 120 softgel bottles. You can find cheaper
prices buying direct from Amazon, but Nothing Fishy does accept
bitcoin.

PEX PEPPERS: Want to spend your bitcoin on the spiciest hot sauce
possible? Pex Peppers can help. Pex Peppers offers a wide range of
extra spicy hot sauces all available for purchase for bitcoin.

BEST FASHION AND JEWELRY PLACES

6 DOLLAR SHIRTS: Custom t-shirt company 6 Dollar Shirts lets you

build a customized shirt for just $6, then pay for it using bitcoin. If
you want a decent, affordable t-shirt customized in dozens of
different ways, then 6 Dollar Shirts is a great budget option that
accepts bitcoin.

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BELOVED SHIRTS: Ecommerce apparel retailer Beloved Shirts
offers custom-made clothing for men, women, and children. You can
spend bitcoin on t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, shorts, athletic
apparel, and more.

GIRLMEETSDRESS.COM: Girlmeetsdress.com is a female fashion

website that offers a variety of dresses for women.

AEROPOSTALE: Aeropostale doesn’t specifically accept bitcoin.

However, you can buy gift cards with bitcoin through Egifter, then
walk into any Aeropostale and use that gift card.

AMERICAN EAGLE: American Eagle works the same way as

Aeropostale with regards to bitcoin: you can buy a gift card with
bitcoin through Egifter, then walk into any American Eagle to spend
it on clothes.

REEDS JEWELERS: Forward-thinking jewelry companies like Reeds

Jewelers accept bitcoin in exchange for engagement rings, wedding
rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and other types of jewelry. The

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company also regularly has promotions like free shipping and 45%
sitewide sales, making them a good option for bitcoin users looking
for a delay.

TENS: Tens is a glasses retailer that lets you spend bitcoin on a range
of trendy lenses. The company not only accepts bitcoin, but they
also emphasize sustainability – so you can look good and feel good
about your purchase.

REALWATCHES.COM: RealWatches.com is an online watch

retailer offering a variety of styles for men and women.

QUEEN BEE OF BEVERLY HILLS: Designer handbag retailer Queen

Bee of Beverly Hills lets you buy luxury handbags in exchange for
bitcoin.

KOBELLI: Kobelli sells handmade jewelry in exchange for bitcoin.

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill jewelry store: this is high-quality
jewelry created by some of the world’s best craftspeople. All
products are available for purchase with bitcoin.

BITDIALS: Order watches, cuffs, and other accessories through

BitDials, which accepts bitcoin in exchange for all online products.

SHIRTWASCASH: A clever play on an old internet meme,

ShirtWasCash lets you buy a wide range of self-proclaimed “weird”
shirts. New designs are released almost every day. Shirts are
separated into categories for guys, ladies, pets, and more.

MINKU: Minku offers leather goods with customizable embossed

names and dedications available. If you want to spend your bitcoin
on quality leather, then Minku is a great option.

TORTUGA BACKPACKS: If you have a big gaming laptop to carry,

then you can’t trust your laptop to any ordinary backpack. Tortuga
Backpacks is a great option. The roomy backpacks provide enough
room for even a 17” or 19” gaming laptop along with plenty of extra
room for peripherals.

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HIPPTEE: Hipptee is a graphic t-shirt manufacturer that not only
accepts bitcoin; they also use the bitcoin Lightning Network.
Hipptee accepts bitcoin on all purchases under $50.

SAMER HALIMEH: In 2017, luxury diamond retailer Samer Halimeh

began accepting bitcoin in exchange for jewel trades and sales. The
company has a strong presence in London, New York, and Riyadh.

MENLO PARK: High-end jewelry retailer Menlo Park accepts

bitcoin in exchange for high-end jewelry and watches. The company
began accepting bitcoin after increasing demand from customers
wanting to spend virtual currencies.

BEST GUNS AND WEAPONS PLACES

GUNGEAR.CA: GunGear.ca is one of a small number of gun stores

that accepts bitcoin in exchange for firearms. The online gun retailer
uses Coinbase as its payment processor. GunGear was founded in
1989. Today, the company offers an extensive range of firearms
along with ammunition, holsters, knives, and other accessories. In
the past, the company has offered steeper discounts to customers
who pay with bitcoin (like 15% off for all customers and 18% off for
bitcoin customers).

CENTRAL TEXAS GUNWORKS: Austin’s Central Texas Gunworks

was the first gun store to accept bitcoin as payment – a change they
made all the way back in 2014. The store lets you buy guns with
bitcoin online or in their retail locations. Central Texas Gunworks
also accepts ETH and LTC.

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BEST INSURANCE COMPANIES

INNOVATION INSURANCE GROUP: Innovation Insurance Group

lets you pay your insurance premiums with bitcoin and other major
cryptocurrencies. The appropriately-named insurance company also
claims to specialize in insuring cryptocurrency users.

INGUARD: INGUARD has accepted bitcoin payments since all the

way back in 2013. The company decided to accept bitcoin to
differentiate itself from its competitors.

COVERYOU: CoverYou lets its customers in Belgium and the

Netherlands pay their premiums with bitcoin. CoverYou is a unique
insurance company: the company specializes in covering
smartphones and tablets, making it easy to replace your electronic
devices if they get lost, stolen, or broken.

BEST REAL ESTATE PLACES

GLEN OAKS ESCROW: Southern California real estate firm Glen
Oaks Escrow recently announced that they are accepting payment
with bitcoin through BitPay. The company made the decision after
noticing a rising number of properties being sold for bitcoin.

REAL ESTATE MAXIMUMS: North American real estate company

Real Estate Maximums announced they would accept bitcoin
payments from customers across the United States and Canada. The
company was founded in 1999 and specializes in residential sales.

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BROOKLIV: New York City-based real estate company Brookliv
started accepting bitcoin in 2018. The company wanted to make it
easier for younger clients to invest in real estate using digital
currencies.

KUPER SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY: Kuper Sotheby’s

International Realty announced in September 2017 that they would
start accepting bitcoin. The Texas-based real estate company
started accepting bitcoin as a way for someone to easily transfer a
digital asset into a tangible asset.

BITCOINREALESTATE: BitcoinRealEstate, found online at

BitcoinRealEstate.com, has a surprisingly wide selection of
properties available for purchase with bitcoin. Want to buy a
penthouse for a few hundred BTC? BitcoinRealEstate.com is one
place you can do that.

BEST GOLD, PRECIOUS METALS, AND

COINS PLACES
AMERICAN BULLION: American Bullion has traditionally
specialized in gold bullion, although the company recently started
accepting bitcoin as payment. The company’s CEO described bitcoin
as being “full of possibilities and unlimited potential”. You can buy
physical gold and silver with bitcoin through American Bullion.

PROVIDENT METALS: Provident Metals accepts bitcoin in

exchange for investment-grade precious metals and bullion.

SHARPS PIXLEY: Sharps Pixley is a London-based gold dealer

founded all the way back in 1778. The company recently announced
that it would start accepting bitcoin as payment for precious metals.
Sharps Pixley is a member of the London Bullion Market
Association, and the company operates shops throughout the
United Kingdom where investors can buy, trade, and store precious
metals.

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VAULTORO: Vaultoro is young compared to most other gold
retailers on this list. However, the company accepts bitcoin in
exchange for gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and other precious
metals.

AMAGI METALS: Amagi Metals is a coin collecting hub that sells

gold and silver coins among other collectibles. The website accepts
bitcoin through its page at www.amagimetals.com/bitcoin. Just click
‘Buy Gold and Silver with Bitcoin’ to get started.

BULLION79: Bullion79 makes it easy to sell one store of value for

another. Swap your bitcoin for gold or silver bars, coins, and other
items. Bullion79 doesn’t just accept bitcoin: bitcoin is the website’s
primary currency for transactions. Just visit https://bullion79.com,
click pay, then see the price of your items in bitcoin.

APMEX: Apmex sells precious metals in exchange for bitcoin,

including gold and silver bars along with platinum, palladium, and
other metals. You can visit the official website
at www.apmex.com/now-accepting-bitcoin to pay with bitcoin.
Just choose the precious metal you want to buy, then checkout with
Bitpay whenever you’re ready.

BEST ADULT ENTERTAINMENT

PLACES
PORNHUB: PornHub is one of the top 30 most-visited websites in
the world. As with other porn companies, PornHub realized its
customers were often unwilling to hand over credit card info. They
were, however, happy to hand over cryptocurrencies. PornHub has
been a bitcoin supporter for a long time, but the adult entertainment
giant now accepts LTC, TRON, and ETH as well. Pay for PornHub
Premium with crypto!

NAUGHTY AMERICA: Porn website Naughty America accepts

bitcoin in exchange for subscriptions, which are priced around $95
per year or $30 for one-month (you get a steep discount on annual
subscriptions). Naughty America accepts bitcoin, and your

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subscription gets you access to 7 other porn websites. Avoid having
porn subscriptions show up on your credit card bills or bank
statements!

PLAYBOY: Long-running adult entertainment publication Playboy

accepts bitcoin with one caveat: you can only use bitcoin to
purchase premium features through Playboy TV. Based on the
company’s early support for bitcoin, however, it’s certainly possible
other bitcoin support is added in the future.

SUICIDE GIRLS: Online pin-up girl hub Suicide Girls accepts

payments with bitcoin.

LIVEJASMIN: LiveJasmin is an adult entertainment website best

known for its live cam shows. The platform accepts bitcoin and
other major cryptocurrencies as a payment, letting you pay for a
subscription using any cryptocurrency supported by PumaPay.

BEST INVEST, SAVE, AND EARN

INTEREST OFFERS
BLOCKFI: Invest your bitcoin and earn compound interest
with BlockFi. There are dozens of platforms that let you earn
interest in exchange for depositing bitcoin, although Blockfi is
arguably the most legitimate crypto loan platform in the industry.
Sign up for a BlockFi Interest Account (BIA) and earn interest rates
of 6% to 8% per year.

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NEXO: Nexo is BlockFi’s biggest competitor. The platform offers
annual interest rates of 7% to 8% on bitcoin hodlers, making it easy
to earn compound interest on your bitcoin holdings. Nexo also
accepts deposits in UDST, TUSDT, USDC, PAX, and DAI.

COINLOAN: Similar to the two platforms above, CoinLoan offers

interest rates up to 12%, making it easy for bitcoin hodlers to earn
maximum returns on their holdings.

YOUHODLER: YouHodler offers annual interest rates of 7% on

bitcoin and up to 12% on USDT holdings. The platform also accepts
BNB, USDC, PAX, and TUSD. Whatever your preferred digital
currency may be, you may be able to earn interest on it using
YouHodler.

LEDN.IO: Ledn, found online at Ledn.io, has advertised itself as a

financial service provider for hodlers. The company lets bitcoin
hodlers earn fixed interest rates on deposits.

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BEST UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES
PLACES
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY (SFU) BOOKSTORE: Vancouver’s
Simon Fraser University (SFU) is one of the few major educational
institutions to accept bitcoin. The SFU Bookstore accepts bitcoin for
clothing, stationary, textbooks, course materials, and all types of
SFU gear, among other items.

MIT COOP: Founded in 1882, the Coop is the campus store for
Harvard and MIT. The Coop accepts bitcoin payments in exchange
for textbooks, course materials, university-branded gear, and more.

UNIVERSITY OF CUMBRIA: The University of Cumbria was one of

the world’s first universities to accept a digital currency. The college
also allows a portion of its tuition fees to be paid using bitcoin – one
of the few schools in the world that allows this.

EUROPEAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

BERLIN: European School of Management and Technology (ESMT)
Berlin is one of the world’s few institutions to offer complete
degrees in exchange for bitcoin. You can use crypto to pay for full
degrees and individual high-level programs.

KING’S COLLEGE: King’s College of New York City was one of the
first US-based schools to accept payments in bitcoin. School
administrators actually recommend paying with bitcoin as a way to
avoid 2% to 3% transaction costs.

UNIVERSITY OF NICOSIA: Cyprus’s University of Nicosia was a

surprising trailblazer when it comes to using bitcoin for tuition.
Today, students can continue using bitcoin to pay for tuition at U of
N.

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BEST DATING WEBSITES
OKCUPID: Dating website OKCupid lets you pay for premium
subscriptions with bitcoin. In fact, OKCupid was one of the first
major internet companies to accept bitcoin back in 2013.

BADOO: Badoo is a dating app that started accepting bitcoin

surprisingly early but has never really updated its bitcoin payment
system, which is why you’ll find plenty of complaints about Badoo’s
bitcoin payments online.

LUXY.COM: Luxy.com is a dating platform catering to high-profile

members like millionaires, celebrities, supermodels, and business
executives. All members are required to have an annual salary of
$200,000, and all accounts must be verified.

BEST FOREX BROKERS

ETORO: eToro is one of the best-known forex brokers available
today. Founded in 2006, the Cyprus-based company offers to trade
in stocks, commodities, currencies, and indices. You can deposit
bitcoin into your eToro account and start trading immediately.

FOREXTIME: Want to make your fortune by buying or selling

foreign currency? ForexTime (FXTM) is one of a handful of forex
brokers that accepts crypto as a deposit option. Launched in 2011,
ForexTime supports 250 instruments across shares, commodities,
metals, and different currencies.

AVATRADE: AvaTrade is a forex broker that accepts bitcoin for

deposits. Open a trading account, then deposit bitcoin to start
trading immediately.

PLUS500: Plus500 is a leading contract for difference (CFD)

provider offering a range of financial products to users in 50+
countries. The company accepts BTC and ETH for deposits.

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FBS: Online forex platform FBS offers CFDs and precious metals to
traders around the world, and they recently added bitcoin as being
officially supported currency. The Russia-based company maintains
satellite offices in China, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

FX CHOICE: FX Choice was founded in 2008. Today, the forex

platform accepts bitcoin as a deposit method for its MT4 and MT5
trading platform.

FINPRO TRADING: UK-based ECN broker FinPro Trading offers

desktop and mobile trading for customers. They also accept bitcoin
as a deposit method and charge no fees on bitcoin transactions. In
fact, FinPro trading will refund all fees charged by banks for the
conversion of fiat currency to bitcoin.

INSTAFOREX: InstaForex was founded in 2007 and is one of the

world’s best-known brokers today. The company offers a 100%
bonus on initial deposits. As of recently, the company accepts
bitcoin for deposits and withdrawals.

TURKEY FOREX: London-based Turnkey Forex accepts bitcoin as a

deposit option.

BEST LAW FIRMS

NORDIC LAW: This Finland-based law firm recently started
accepting bitcoin as payment for legal services.

STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP: StepToe & Johnson LLP has locations
in Brussels, Beijing, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and
Washington. The company just announced that they will start
accepting bitcoin to go along with an expansion of their blockchain
division.

FROST BROWN TODD LLC: Frost Brown Todd is a nationwide law

firm with locations across the United States. The law firm became
the first major firm to accept bitcoin as payment back in 2017. They
claim they had substantial customer demand to pay in bitcoin.

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MCLAUGHLIN & STERN LLC: Founded in 1898, McLaughlin &
Stern is one of America’s oldest law firms, and the firm now accepts
bitcoin as payment for legal services.

BEST CARS AND AUTOMOTIVE

POST OAK MOTOR CARS: US-based car dealership Post Oak
Motor Cars recently announced that it would start accepting bitcoin
in exchange for vehicles. The company processes crypto payments
through Bitpay.

CLASSIC RECREATIONS: Another US-based dealership, Classic

Recreations, now accepts bitcoin as a payment option. The custom
car company makes it easy to spend crypto on building the car of
your dreams.

MISCEALLENOUS / OTHER
1-800-FLOWERS: 1-800-Flowers.com is a New York-based flower
company that sells flowers online across the United States. The
company has accepted bitcoin in partnership with Coinbase since
2013. Buy flowers with bitcoin and send them to a loved one with
1-800-Flowers.

TRICKMUGS: Buy special, color-changing mugs with bitcoin.

TrickMugs mugs will change color to reveal hidden messages,
making them an ideal gift.

SPOKESTER: Make your bicycle wheels sing with ‘Spokesters’.

Available in a variety of colors, these devices promise to provide
“miles and miles of fun” by giving any bicycle an engine sound. It’s a
small plastic device that fits in the spokes of your bicycle tires –
similar to how you would use a playing card or clothespin. Plus, you
can pay using bitcoin.

COINFUELED: CoinFueled lets you spend prepaid gift cards using

bitcoin. Across the United States and Canada, drivers can use gift
cards to purchase gasoline at thousands of different stations.

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SHIELD N SEAL: Want a better way to seal your leftover food?
Shield n Seal is a quick and simple product – and the online order
page accepts bitcoin.

ALOHA TUNERS: Aloha Tuners sells electronic tuning instruments

online through its no-nonsense, Hawaii-themed eCommerce store.
The tuners come in a range of shapes from aliens to owls to dogs.
You can pay for everything using bitcoin.

SWAGNETS: Swagnets offers high-tech swag catered to techies.

The company’s core product is a magnet that covers your laptop’s
camera. The ‘Swagnet’ lets you protect your privacy without
scratching or taping your laptop. Each Swagnet is made from carbon
steel, and they stick to your MacBook’s built-in magnets. Plus,
because the Swagnets are magnetic but not magnets, they won’t
hurt your computer.

ROADWAY MOVING COMPANY: Want to move from one state to

another? In 2017, America’s Roadway Moving Company became
the first major moving company to accept bitcoin as a valid form of
payment.

COINTRACKING: Coin portfolio tracking platform Cointracking

accepts bitcoin as payment

POSTER BURNER: Poster Burner sells custom posters. You can

upload a screenshot or photo to the website, then order a custom
print of that photo. Take a photo of your bitcoin portfolio and show
it off in front of your friends, for example.

DENARIUM: Denarium lets you buy a physical version of your

bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. you can encase your bitcoin in
gold and other precious metals, for example. Sure, it’s a bit frivolous
compared to holding bitcoin in digital form, but it certainly looks
cool.

T-MOBILE POLAND: T-Mobile’s Poland division accepts payment

in bitcoin.

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BITCOINSHOP.US: Bitcoinshop.us is an online retailer catered
specifically to bitcoin users. The website features a wide range of
items for the home and business, including everything from watches
to air conditioners. Bitcoinshop.us also accepts other
cryptocurrencies, including DOGE and LTC.

ESSENTIAL OIL WIZARDRY: Exchange bitcoin for essential oils

with Essential Oil Wizardry, an online homeopathic retailer.

MODAFINILXL: Modafinilxl is a cheap, online pharmacy that offers

a wide selection of generic drug brands at rock-bottom prices.

SANTYKA: Santyka is another well-stocked online pharmacy with a

wide selection of generic drugs available for cheap prices.

SYNERGETIC PRESS: Synergetic Press is an online book retailer

specializing in mindfulness books like “Secret Drugs of Buddhism”
and “Mystic Chemist”, among others. The company accepts bitcoin
in exchange for all physical and digital eBooks.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: The Chicago Sun-Times was one of the first

newspapers in the United States to accept bitcoin for subscriptions.

CRYPOPET: Want to use your bitcoin to buy pet food, supplies, and
more? Cryptopet is your friend. The website accepts bitcoin in
exchange for all types of pet foods, supplies, and accessories.

TRADEBIT: Tradebit is one of the world’s largest digital content

marketplaces. With over 2 million downloads available, Tradebit lets
users buy and sell downloadable products through its website and
pay for everything with bitcoin.

BITTUNES: Bittunes is a global music system with one million users.

The company recently launched an Android app, and the platform is
available in 100 countries.

EMWIRES: EMWiRES only accepts bitcoin through its online store.

The company sells CDs and music streaming services for bitcoin.

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BEST CHARITIES
RED CROSS: International charity organization Red Cross accepts
bitcoin (and BCH) in any denomination through Bitpay. If you want
to donate to international aid relief with your bitcoin, then the Red
Cross is one of the best-known options.

UNITED WAY: The United Way is one of the world’s best-known

non-profit organizations, and it has also been a long-standing
supporter of bitcoin.

GREENPEACE: Greenpeace has accepted donations in bitcoin since

September 2014. The environmental organization takes pride in the
fact that it doesn’t take money from corporations or governments,
although they happily accept individual donations in bitcoin.

THE WATER PROJECT: The Water Project was founded with the
goal of giving clean access to safe and potable drinking water across
Sub-Saharan Africa. The organization was one of the first to accept
cryptocurrency payments; today, The Water Project accepts
donations in BTC, BCH, ETH, and LTC.

CODE TO INSPIRE: Code to Inspire was founded with the goal of

giving women coding skills they could use to empower their
communities to improve their socio-economic conditions. The
Afghanistan-based non-profit accepts bitcoin and other donation
methods.

BITGIVE: BitGive was founded in 2013 to work alongside

international charities to improve public health and environmental
protection efforts. The organization accepts bitcoin as a donation.

AUTISM SPEAKS: Autism Speaks lets you use bitcoin to advance

autism awareness. Just visit the website, scroll to the bottom of the
page, and click the ‘Donate Here’ button. Click the link, and then
you’ll see a Bitpay link that lets you pay with bitcoin. If you donate,
your bitcoin will be used to fund research and awareness of autism
spectrum disorder in the United States and worldwide.

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TOR PROJECT: The Tor network is a group of volunteer-operated
servers that allow people to improve their privacy and security on
the internet. Thanks to the Tor Project, your bitcoin can go towards
advancing internet privacy – a cause that is understandably close to
many bitcoiners.

THE INTERNET ARCHIVE: The Internet Archive is a non-profit

organization dedicated to preserving the internet. If you want to
contribute to the massive digital library, then you can donate using
bitcoin.

50+ OTHER CHARITIES: In total, there are 50 major charities that

now accept bitcoin, including everything from the Free Software
Foundation to Burning Man Project to the Ronald McDonald House.
Purse.io made a list of charities that accept bitcoin. You can view
the list here.

ANYWHERE CREDIT CARDS ARE ACCEPTED: Today, it’s easier

than ever to spend bitcoin anywhere credit cards are accepted. you
have multiple options available, including:

Buy a virtual or physical Visa or MasterCard gift card using a gift

card retailer like eGifter

Get a bitcoin debit card through a service like BitPay or Bitcoin.com

Use a gift card platform to buy a gift card for thousands of different
restaurants, retailers, websites, and more

Ultimately, it’s easier than ever to spend bitcoin today. We expect

to regularly add new places to spend bitcoin on this list.

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HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN ONLINE
RESOURCES

As this list of accepted bitcoin places to shop and use in online

ecommerce stores, there are a few dedicated how to find places to
spend bitcoin websites:

• SpendBitcoins.com
• SpendaBit.com

It may be worth-while to learn how to earn bitcoin online so you can

spend it too. Although many bitcoin price predictions will make you
want to ‘hodl' (some say hold on for dear life) as it could double or
triple in value over the years, especially due to the bitcoin halving.
Remember, when shopping with bitcoin online to always protect
your private keys, safeguard your wallet data and use the official
websites and stores to avoid bitcoin scams.

As the bitcoin price moves up and down and the Bitcoin payment
acceptance reaches more website and merchant adoption than ever
before, there are many useful resources to check out that help
people review where to spend bitcoin online and what things you
can buy with bitcoin on the Internet.

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 CHAPTER 6
ACCEPT BITCOIN PAYMENT
TOP 14 MERCHANT GATEWAYS TO USE

We have already covered where to spend bitcoin, but now let's

review how accepting bitcoin payments work for merchants and
learn the best ways to receive cryptocurrency payments for
businesses and ecommerce.

HOW TO ACCEPT CRYPTO PAYMENTS

FOR MERCHANTS
Over the last four to five years, the global crypto community has
witnessed a massive surge in the number of entrepreneurs
operating within this ever-growing financial domain. In this article,
we will seek to present a detailed guide of how independent
business operators and merchants can start accepting Bitcoin
(BTC) for their goods in a highly streamlined/straightforward
manner. Some of the core topics that will be covered in this guide
include:

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 • Which wallet is ideal for facilitating mainstream business
transactions.
• How to process BTC-related tx’s in person as well as in
digital fashion
• Which physical platforms can merchants make use of to
process point of sale interactions
• Which services (physical or digital) can be used to convert
Bitcoin into other digital or fiat currencies
• How can merchants minimize their market volatility related
losses
• Top 14 Bitcoin Payment Gateways to Use for Businesses
and Companies

WHY SHOULD MERCHANTS CHOOSE

BTC?

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of how merchants can accept

BTC payments, it could be useful for our readers to understand the
core benefits associated with the flagship cryptocurrency. To start
off with, we can see that the most prominent advantage of using
Bitcoin is that all of the currency’s native transactions are
completely irreversible. To elaborate on this point, we can see that
most traditional fiat payment processors either make use of banks
or other intermediary platforms to facilitate their transactions. As a
result of this, merchants often have to deal with the possibility of
losses caused due to chargebacks and other similar scams. And
while merchants affected by such issues can quite easily put in a
request for a refund, the entire process can be quite arduous and
time-consuming.

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When talking about Bitcoin (BTC), there is no chance of a
chargeback occurring since the asset makes use of a decentralized
network — which leaves no room for bad actors asking for refunds
(in relation to cases that are disputable). Not only that, owing to
BTC’s unique operational framework, any accounts associated with
the currency can never be frozen by a centralized governance
agency (such as a bank, Paypal, lending institution, etc).

Other key advantages of Bitcoin include:

Low Tx Fees: While credit card operators and payment providers

normally charge their clients' heavy fee rates of around 3+% (along
with conversion charges), BTC transactions can be processed for
around $1, irrespective of the size of the payment.

Future Ready Technology: With each passing day, more and more
people are starting to become aware of the financial potential that
cryptocurrencies (such as BTC) truly possess. In this regard, many
experts believe that merchants who start adopting alternative
monetary technologies such as Bitcoin will be able to lure in more
customers, especially as time goes on and the global finance sector
moves to a totally digital mode of operation.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING A BTC

WALLET FOR ACCEPTING PAYMENTS

In order for a merchant to start accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments,

he/she has to acquire a cryptocurrency wallet. In this regard, it
should be pointed out that one of the safest wallet solutions out
there is Bitcoin Core since it is totally self-sufficient and does not

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require its owner to be dependent on any third-party servers,
however, it does bear mentioning that the wallet can take a long
time (sometimes weeks to months) to become fully operational
since it requires users to download the entire history of the Bitcoin
blockchain.

In this regard, it can be easier for users to employ a wallet option

that is considerably lighter in terms of its overall resource
consumption — such as the ‘Blockchain Wallet’, a storage solution
that is extremely CPU-friendly and can be set up within a matter of
minutes. With that being said, the wallet does depend on certain
third-party entities and is thus more prone to external intrusions as
well as third party hacks that Bitcoin Core.

One of the key advantages of the Blockchain Wallet is that as soon

as a BTC tx is received on it, it becomes available to the user for
spending. This is in stark contrast to Bitcoin Core and other soft
wallets that require a number of confirmations before the crypto
assets in question become usable. For example, Bitcoin Core needs
a minimum of one confirmation in order for a transaction to be
confirmed — a process that can take anywhere from 10 – 60
minutes, depending upon the total congestion being experienced by
the network. Additionally, soft wallets (such as the one on Coinbase)
require three confirmations that could sometimes force customers
to wait for an entire day. This would not only make retail customers
wary of this technology but also render Bitcoin quite useless for
everyday transactions.

Last but not least, it is of utmost importance that a merchant

analyzes the BTC payment received from a customer before
handing over the purchased goods so as to make sure that the
required transaction fee has been used. This is because if a high-
enough tx fee is not employed, the payment can sometimes take
days to come through. Not only that, if the fee amount is set to zero,
there is a chance that the payment may fail to even come through.

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THE EASIEST WAY TO RECEIVE
BITCOIN ONLINE

In order for merchants to accept BTC, they need to access their

wallets and go to the send/receive section. For example, if a
merchant wishes to accept a payment, he/she needs to go to the
“receive” tab and copy the given address so that it can then be
supplied to the payee. It is of utmost importance that the merchant
makes sure that the address is copied carefully since even a small
error (i.e. one wrong letter or number) could result in the payment
being sent to a completely different wallet and the money being lost
forever.

Other points worth highlighting:

Online merchants should ideally send their BTC wallet addresses to

their clients via email, text message, or IM. Additionally, they can
also print their addresses on their official invoices and simply make
use of the same document over and over again for all future financial
transactions.

In addition to accepting their BTC payments manually, merchants

can also digitize their payments by making use of plug-ins that are
designed for platforms such as WordPress and OpenCart.

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HOW TO RECEIVE BTC FROM A
PHYSICAL LOCATION?

For retail store operators to receive a BTC payment, the standard

process of copying a wallet address and sending it over to the
customer can be quite arduous and inefficient. Thus, to make the
process more streamlined, it can be much easier for merchants to
make use of a QR code (that is linked to his native crypto wallet) to
process the incoming payment. In its most basic sense, a QR code is
a black square block that contains all of the required data associated
with various digital and physical storage entities. Not only that, the
use of such a code completely eliminates any chances of customers
sending their funds to the wrong address.

In order for a merchant to make the process of receiving BTC

payments highly simplified, he/she can simply display the QR code
associated with their wallet on their checkout counter. This can
allow customers to simply log in to their mobile wallet solutions and
scan the displayed code. The process literally takes just a couple of
seconds and can allow digital payments to be sent across in an
almost instantaneous fashion. Additionally, some retailers even
make use of a tablet computer that are meant solely for the purpose
of accepting BTC payments. The tablet can make use of an app like
Blockchain Merchant which automatically generates a custom QR
code for a customer to scan and send through the required funds.

Lastly, if a retailer completely wants to eliminate any chances of

theft, he/she can provide their clients with a QR code that is

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affiliated with an offline wallet (that is not even present inside the
store where the tx is being processed.)

DETERMINING AN EXCHANGE RATE

Another crucial element when it comes to accepting BTC payments

is the use of a correct exchange rate — since the price of
Bitcoin seems to vary from one cryptocurrency trading platform to
another. Thus, in order for merchants to remain consistent with their
pricing, they should make use of a single exchange and employ its tx
rate for facilitating the day’s payments. In this regard, it is best for a
merchant to stick to an established exchange that is most suited to
the country’s specific fiat. For example, Bitfinex,
Coinbase, Kraken can be used for USD.

On a more technical note, we can see that in order for merchants to

calculate the exact amount they are due in terms of BTC, they can
simply divide the product’s sale price with the value of BTC at that
given point of time.

Manual calculations can also be carried out by merchants to

determine how much Bitcoin (BTC) the payee needs to send through
for his/her specific order.

Today, there are a whole host of Bitcoin-based ecommerce plug-ins

that can be used to automate the conversion process with the touch
of a button. It is important to do this as a time-sensitive transaction
due to volatility that does exist.

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 SERVICES THAT ALLOW MERCHANTS TO CONVERT
THEIR BTC TO FIAT

As most of our readers are probably well aware of, one of the
biggest problems when it comes to accepting BTC is the element of
market volatility — i.e. the price of Bitcoin can change quite
substantially between the time it is obtained by the seller and when
it is sold for fiat. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that there
currently exist a number of services that protect merchants from
market losses (since they allow for near instant Bitcoin to fiat
conversions to take place).

One of the prominent examples of such a service is Bitpay, a

platform that allows users to instantly exchange their BTC to fiat —
with the converted funds being transferred to the merchants linked
bank account within a matter of minutes. Additionally, BitPay also
provides its users with a guarantee that they will only be charged a
total tx fee of 1% fee — an amount that is substantially lower than
what most Bitcoin ATMs charge to convert a users BTC holdings to
fiat.

Other facets of BitPay worth noting:

The platform comes with a full fledged BTC payment system that
requires merchants to simply download the BitPay app on their PoS
device. The app not only sets up a wallet for the retailer but it also
serves as a one stop shop for the user to start accepting BTC in a
completely hassle free manner.

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The only conceivable downside to using BitPay is the fact that it is
a centralized platform and is linked to various banking institutions.
As a result of this, merchants could have their monetary inflow
blocked by a bank for no reason at all.

Another easy way of accepting bitcoin payments is through the use

of the widely employed ‘Blockchain Wallet’ (a storage solution that
does not require users to complete certain ID checks and is
completely decentralized). Similarly, biz owners can also choose to
install a BTC ATM directly in their store, a move that will not only
help in seamless crypto-fiat conversions but will also attract more
businesses to this lucrative financial instrument.

Lastly, a merchant can also send his/her BTC to an exchange and

then convert it for the fiat currency of his/her choice. This process
is quite simple but can be quite time consuming and costly (because
of the higher tx fees involved). Not only that, owing to the time lag
that exists between transferring one’s BTC to a crypto exchange and
then withdrawing it, the flagship cryptocurrency may end up losing
some of its intrinsic monetary value.

MERCHANTS CAN CHOOSE TO HODL

Many merchants these days choose to forego converting their

Bitcoin (BTC) to fiat so as to hold on to their crypto assets. This is
because many business owners have started to realize the true
financial potential of Bitcoin and its expected future value. Similarly,
some retailers want to own BTC so that they can spend it later for
their personal use. With that being said, if a merchant does decide
to hold on to their BTC in the long-term, he/she must make sure
that their holdings are kept safe in a hardware wallet that can be

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maintained offline. Many may choose to do this given the bullish
bitcoin price predictions that exist in the community as a whole, but
it will come down to making sure everything matches up on your
balance sheet and can cover your day to day expenses.

Not only that, merchants should always maintain a copy of their

private keys or the seed for their Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, so that if in
the future any problem arises, their funds can be recovered with the
touch of a button. However, these seed keys should never be stored
on one’s computer device, since it is relatively easy for hackers to
obtain access to a person’s PC, laptop or tablet.

TOP BITCOIN PAYMENT GATEWAYS

Crypto payment gateways are payment networks that are not

limited by borders of any kind. As such, they allow quick and easy
transfers of money in the form of digital currencies, which is
extremely useful to merchants and others who wish to make near-
instant transactions around the world.

Those payment gateways that allow the use of Bitcoin are,

therefore, known as Bitcoin payment gateways. They often also

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accept a number of altcoins, such as Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin
Cash, Litecoin, and others. Another thing that payment gateways
allow is the conversion of BTC into other cryptocurrencies, or even
traditional currencies, such as USD or EUR.

This is a feature that had seen a lot of use in the last year, as the
crypto market entered a so-called crypto winter — period when
prices were on a constant decline. Those who earned
cryptocurrencies in one way or another needed a way to cash out
quickly before their payments reduced due to the drop in price.

Luckily, payment gateways allow immediate conversions, and the

increase in demand has inspired the creation of numerous platforms
that have since started working as payment gateways. They feature
numerous tools for many different purposes, including the
automatic transfers of coins, monitoring the market, and more.

WHY DO MERCHANTS CHOOSE TO

ACCEPT BITCOIN?
The number of crypto users continues to grow, despite the low
prices. Numerous countries around the world already recognized
this growth, and they are in the process of creating cryptocurrency-
related regulations that would protect investors and reduce the
potential for scams, theft, and other similar crimes.

With all the attention going toward cryptos, there are numerous
benefits that merchants can enjoy if they choose to start working
with them. For example, crypto transactions allow users full control,
which makes it safer for merchants and customers alike to use
crypto. Next, accepting cryptos as a payment option might allow
merchants to expand their reach and include more customers. The
payment methods are discreet, while all payment information is
stored on the blockchain.

The security is much greater, as there are no risks of fraud, while

merchants and customers alike can keep their private data

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confidential. In addition, transaction fees are much lower when
compared to traditional payment methods.

Further, the expansion of cryptocurrencies means that they can be

extremely useful for international trips. This also means that cross-
border payments are instant and that they require no third parties,
and suffer no payment delays. There are other benefits as well, but
rather than listing them, we will discuss some of the top crypto
payment gateways that accept Bitcoin, and that can be used for
enjoying all of the benefits mentioned earlier.

1) COINBASE

Coinbase is the largest and most popular crypto exchange in the US,
and also one of the largest ones around the world. By simply
downloading the merchant app, business owners can start accepting
Bitcoin and a handful of other coins. Furthermore, one of the
greatest benefits is that it is possible to instantly convert Bitcoin into
fiat, and vice versa.

Coinbase has a number of other features as well, such as great

speeds and no transaction fees when it comes to accepting coins;
integration with numerous services (Shopify, OpenCart,
WooCommerce, etc.), it adds a payment button to merchant's
website, and it is integrated with API.

2) COINSBANK

CoinsBank is also a very popular service which can easily be synced

with a debit card. It also offers a mobile app that is available for iOS
and Android devices. Apart from that, it allows instant withdrawals
and deposits, and it features greater security due to two-factor
authentication. It works with most major fiat currencies, such as the
USD, GBP, EUR, or Russian Ruble. Both the service and the support
system are available at all times. The exchange also does everything
in its power to provide minimal risks and maximum profits.

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 3) BITPAY

BitPay is another US-based service, and one of the oldest Bitcoin

payment gateways in the world. It has been around since 2011, and
using it is easy. All that users need to do is download the exchange's
app, and they will be ready to start accepting payments in crypto. It
also offers its own Bitcoin Debit Card for easy transactions and
crypto-to-fiat conversion.

It also features open-source plugins for eCommerce platforms, and

it even allows Bitcoin donations. It should be noted, however, that
all payments transactions can be made wth Bitcoin. BitPay also uses
PoS mechanism, it is accepted around the world, and it allows bank
deposits in around 38 different countries, while it supports 40
different languages.

Its interface is simple and user-friendly, while it also features two-

factor authentication for greater security. The speed of transfers
can also be manually set, in accordance with users' needs. Finally, it
is compatible with all Bitcoin Cash (BCH) wallets.

4) COINGATE

Next, we have CoinGate, which allows the use of Bitcoin and

altcoins, while it accepts payments in multiple currencies, including
BTC itself, as well as EUR and USD. It also uses POS applications for
different platforms, including iOS, Android, and web browsers. It
also comes with plugins for eCommerce platforms, and it supports
numerous digital currencies.

5) BLOCKCHAIN

Blockchain is also among the oldest payment gateways for Bitcoin,

similarly to BitPay. It is a great payment gateway for personal use,
as well as for businesses. It supports only three cryptocurrencies,
however, which include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash. It is
also a well-known (free) crypto wallet, but it goes beyond that, as it
serves as a repository of information, developments, and statistics.

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Next, it provides Bitcoin payment APIs, although the
implementation process is more complex than those of previous
entries. As such, it requires a bit of technical know-how, but it is
easy to use it as a mobile app for Android.

6) BTCPAY SERVER

BTCPay Server is an open-source, self-hosted, free Bitcoin payment

gateway which also supports multiple altcoins. It allows merchants
and regular users to accept payments into their wallets directly, with
no additional fees or transaction cost. This is seen by many as the
service's biggest advantage.

It also features great speeds due to the lightning network, and it

offers greater security and privacy. Sending payments is easy thanks
to the BTCPay button.

7) BLOCKONOMICS

Blockonomics is another very popular and useful crypto gateway

which is permissionless, and it requires no authentication from third
parties. It also does not need additional API integration in order o
work. Making payments is easy, and all that potential customers
need to do is scan the QR code. This makes it extremely secure, with
increased anonymity for everyone involved. It also supports several
cryptocurrencies, many of which are from Bitcoin's ecosystem, as
well as some of the most well-known and used wallets, like Ledger
Nano S, Trezor, and alike.

8) SPICEPAY

SpicePay is also a great choice, as it allows accepting and exchanging

coins quickly and easily, in addition to providing a secure wallet for
storing them. It has a number of features, such as increased security
and convenience, support for numerous fiat currencies, like USD,
GBP, EUR, and CAD. It also allows withdrawals to SEPA or PayPal,
and it features e-commerce and retail plugins. Finally, it allows users
to save around 2% on every transaction, while its BitGo feature
allows the use of its app on the desktop and mobile systems alike.

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 9) COINPAYMENTS

Next, there is CoinPayments, which is specially designed for online

merchants. It supports over 1200 different cryptocurrencies,
including BTC, XRP, BCH, and LTC. Furthermore, the merchants are
charged 0.5% per transaction.

It offers plugins for all of the most popular webcarts out there, and
it makes the payments faster by supporting GAP600 Instant
Confirmations. It also rewards users through the coin and token
airdrops, and it can converge coins automatically.

10) SPECTROCOIN

SpectroCoin is yet another free wallet that can allow users to

exchange their funds instantly. It works with over 30 cryptos, and it
has quite high withdrawal and deposit limits. It also features e-
commerce plugins, a Bitcoin debit card, and a SpectroCoin API,
which allows purchase or sale of numerous coins.

11) GOURL.IO

This is a completely free Bitcoin wallet which is also open-source. It

is also among the most trusted wallets on a global level due to its e-
commerce plugins and API interface. It allows users to sell much
more than coins, however, including videos, music, images, URLs,
and even text, all in exchange for cryptocurrencies.

It does not require a bank account authentication or an ID, which

increases the users' privacy. Users can easily sell any product and
get Bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency in exchange. It also offers
an Affiliate Program which also allows participants to earn more.

12) SHOPIFY GATEWAY

Shopify is a great e-commerce payment gateway, with a massive

user base. Its transaction fees are extremely low, while all
transactions are secure and fast. Payments can be received at any

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time or place, while its POS apps allow users to use the wallet on
multiple devices. It also does not require PCI compliance.

13) ALFACOINS

Approaching the end of the list, we have ALFAcoins, which is also

among the most trusted Bitcoin payment gateways. It also supports
some of the newest coins as well. It also has a unique feature, which
is a BitSend payout system. The system makes payments easy and
quick, which is perfect for paying salaries or bonuses in crypto. The
platform works with a number of top coins, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin
Cash, XRP, Ethereum, Litecoin, and DASH.

It also has loyalty programs, financial services, and digital gaming, all
of which allow users to earn additional funds. Payments are easy to
make, and funds are transferred rather quickly. Furthermore, the
service is available around the world, even in countries such as
North Korea or Iran.

14) BITCOINPAY

Finally, there is Bitcoin pay, which is one of the simplest, and likely
the most popular ways to accept crypto payments into a wallet or a
bank account. It features zero fees, and it is easy to use. Its customer
support is also available at all times, while the service can be used
on iOS and Android as well. Users can request payments via email,
and make them instantly.

Furthermore, it supports e-commerce plugins from over 196

countries around the world, and it works with other platforms such
as Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, WooCommerce, and more.

CONCLUSION
In rounding off this piece, it should be made absolutely clear that
the most decentralized way for accepting BTC payments is for
merchants to make use of a wallet that does not require any
confirmations. Additionally, merchants should ensure that their

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online payment system has no leaks/failure points and has all of its
required security protocols in place.

In case a merchant is making use of Bitpay or some other similar

service, he should make sure that he does not get involved in any
illegal activities, since he risks losing all of his payments.

We hope this guide has been helpful to you and can, in some way,
assist you in setting up a business that is fully capable of accepting
Bitcoin payments (both in their digital or physical form).

masterthecrypto.com
 CHAPTER 7
BITCOIN CHART ANALYSIS
HOW TO TRADE BITCOIN USING CHARTS

BITCOIN TRADING GUIDE FOR

INTERMEDIATE CRYPTO TRADERS
This bitcoin chart analysis guide is built to be your one-stop-shop
tutorial for intermediate crypto trading.

Crypto trading seems complicated at first glance. Fortunately, it’s

not nearly as perplexing as you think. Once you learn how to read
charts and perform basic technical analysis, it all starts to come
together.

While this bitcoin trading analysis review is not catered

to newbie's and more geared towards intermediates. And yes, there
are differences between crypto investing vs crypto trading or using
a automated bitcoin trading bot if you want to start analyzing BTC
price charts and understanding crypto market graphs. For this
bitcoin chart analysis guide, we assume you have some basic

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knowledge of how crypto works, what bitcoin is, how
cryptocurrency exchanges work, the types of crypto categories, and
how blockchain functions.

All successful bitcoin traders come to realize understanding these

common chart patterns can translate into learning timeless skills
that will accelerate results and produce profitable entries and exits
no matter what the price of bitcoin is in BTC/USD.

THE BASICS: HOW DOES BITCOIN

TRADING WORK?

In the early days of Bitcoin (2009 to 2014), there essentially was

only one coin (BTC) and trading cryptocurrencies was overly
complicated. Today, in 2019, crypto trading is still inherently risky,
speculative and highly volatile – but it’s easier than ever before with
even more market data to cross check and measure.

You can find plenty of great crypto exchanges, including exchanges

that accept your local currency and bank transfers. You can also
find plenty of amazing wallet apps, portfolio manager apps, and
other tools to maximize your crypto trading experience.

Here’s the basic process behind crypto trading (although plenty

of common pitfalls):

• Step 1) Sign up for a cryptocurrency exchange

• Step 2) Deposit funds into the platform
• Step 3) Buy cryptocurrency

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That’s it! It’s not that complicated. If you want to use a unique fiat
currency (like CAD, AUD, or RUB), then you might need to use a
local exchange. If you already have a major fiat currency (like USD
or EUR), then you have a wider range of options available.

Once you have bought your first cryptocurrency, you can keep it in
your exchange wallet, leaving it on the exchange for future trading
or investment. Or, you can withdraw funds to your own wallet –
like a mobile app on your phone.

CRYPTOCURRENCY TRADING
GLOSSARY: MOST POPULAR TERMS

The crypto trading industry is filled with its own jargon. Here is a list
of the 26 most popular terms with definitions you should know
before getting into bitcoin chart analysis:

Fiat Currency: Fiat currencies are government-issued currencies

like the US Dollar or Euro. These currencies exist in contrast to
cryptocurrencies (although some countries are debating launching
their own cryptocurrencies, which would blur the line between fiat
and crypto). ‘Fiat’ is Latin for ‘by decree’. These currencies have the
value ‘by decree’ or ‘by the statement’ of the government.

Crypto asset: A crypto asset is any token, coin, or digital currency

with value. Sometimes, people will link a crypto asset to a specific
technology. They might describe Ether (ETH) as the crypto asset for
the Ethereum blockchain, for example.

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Altcoin: Altcoins are ‘alternative coins’. Generally, this term is used
to refer to any coins that aren’t bitcoin. It’s a popular term among
bitcoin maximalists who believe bitcoin is superior to all other coins.

Stablecoin: A stablecoin is a digital token deliberately designed to

hold a steady price. Typically, stablecoins track a specific fiat
currency, and most track the US Dollar. Stablecoins work in
different ways, although most stablecoins are simply backed 1:1
with US Dollar reserves, and users are allowed to swap their 1 USD
stablecoin for 1 USD cash at any time, giving the token stable value.

Crypto Exchange: An exchange is a website or platform where you

can buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Some exchanges only list
cryptocurrencies, while others list fiat currencies and
cryptocurrencies. Major exchanges today include Kraken, Gemini,
and Binance, among others.

Bid Price: The bid price for a given asset is the maximum price
someone is willing to pay for that asset. It’s the ‘demand’ side of the
supply and demand that governs crypto markets.

Ask Price: The ask price for a given asset is the minimum price at
which someone is willing to sell an asset. This is the ‘supply’ side of
supply and demand.

Bid-Ask Spread: The bid-ask spread is the difference between the

bid price and the ask price for a specific asset. In highly-liquid, high-
volume markets, the bid-ask spread will be quite small. In smaller,
lower liquidity markets, the bid-ask spread will be much larger.

Volatility: Volatility is used the same way in crypto markets as it’s

used in traditional financial markets. It’s a measure of how
unpredictable the markets are, or how wildly prices are currently
fluctuating.

FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. If LTC suddenly jumps 10% in a 2-hour

period, then it might rise a further 15% because investors have a
‘fear of missing out’ when a coin jumps in value.

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FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Bitcoin has been bombarded
with FUD since the day it launched. Some cryptocurrency
communities spread FUD about other coins. It’s the irrational worry
that a specific coin will collapse or lose its value.

Buying the Dip: When a specific crypto asset drops significantly, but
you see it as a buying opportunity. Let’s say bitcoin drops 5% today.
You ‘buy the dip’ by buying bitcoin in the hopes that it will increase.

Bull and Bear Markets: The terms bull and bear have the same
meaning in crypto as they do in traditional markets. A bull trend is a
long-term, upward trend in overall cryptocurrency markets, while a
bear trend is a long-term decline in the overall cryptocurrency
market. If someone is ‘bullish’, they expect prices to increase. If
someone is ‘bearish’, they expect prices to decrease.

Market Makers and Takers: A market maker is someone who

‘makes’ or posts a trade to the exchange. A market taker is someone
who ‘takes’ or accepts that trade.

Liquidity: Liquidity, in the crypto world, refers to the volume of a

specific exchange, or how easy it is to make a trade on a particular
exchange. A good, high-volume exchange is said to be more liquid
and have higher liquidity.

Whale: Whales are individuals or organizations that hold an

enormous amount of crypto. Some are institutional hedge funds
dipping their toes into crypto. Others are people who accumulated
bitcoin early and never sold.

Return on Investment (ROI): How much money are you earning

from a vested amount? If you bought $100 of bitcoin, then bitcoin’s
price rose 50%, then you made $150 and your ROI is 50%.

Wallets: Wallets let you manage your crypto holdings. It’s the place
where you store your cryptoassets – just like an ordinary wallet is a
place where you store your cash and credit cards.

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Hot Wallets: Hot wallets are online wallets connected to the
internet. They’re typically seen as less safe than cold storage wallets,
although they’re safer than exchange wallets.

Cold Wallets: Cold wallets, or cold storage wallets, are wallets that
are not connected to the internet. They’re the most secure form of
storage because your private keys are kept away from places where
hackers can access them.

Exchange Wallets: Most exchanges have customer wallets where

users can store their funds. These exchange wallets are seen as the
least safe option because the exchange is in complete control of
your funds.

2-Factor Authentication (2FA): 2-factor authentication refers to the

use of multiple verification methods to sign in to your crypto
account. Most exchanges let you set up 2FA. Some exchanges will
send you a text message or email to confirm a login. Other
exchanges let you set up 2FA for every time you make a trade.

Hodl: Hodl or hodling refers to the crypto investment strategy of

holding crypto assets through all market conditions. Bitcoin has
risen and fallen numerous times, but hodlers have been able to
survive the FUD and continue holding bitcoin to this day.

Diversification: Diversification refers to the idea of owning multiple

cryptoassets. Instead of having 100% of your portfolio in bitcoin, for
example, you might invest 50% of it in altcoins.

Arbitrage: Arbitrage is the strategy of buying coins at one price,

then selling them for a higher price in a different place. You might
buy bitcoin from Binance, for example, then sell it through
LocalBitcoins at a higher price in your own local fiat currency.

Pump and Dump: Pump and dump is a trading scheme that involves
artificially inflating the price of a targeted asset (‘pumping’), then
selling that asset after prices have increased (‘dumping’).

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Now that you know these basic crypto trading terms, it’s time
to look at specific aspects of crypto trading.

TYPES OF BITCOIN TRADES IN THE

CRYPTO MARKET

For the most part, beginners will only want to make market orders.
With a market order, you buy or sell cryptocurrency at the best
available price. More advanced traders, however, can take
advantage of limit orders, stop-loss orders, leveraged trading, and
more. Types of crypto trades include:

Market Order: With a market order, you’re buying or selling crypto

at the best available price. The exchange will look at the last price
someone paid for bitcoin (if you’re selling) or the last price someone
sold for bitcoin (if you’re buying).

Limit Order: With a limit order, you’re buying or selling crypto at a

specific price. You might put a buy order to buy bitcoin if it drops
below $5,000, for example. If the price point never ends up being
reached, then your order may never be executed. Some exchanges
let you put a time limit on limit orders.

Stop-Loss Order: Stop-loss orders let you set up a specific price at

which an exchange will execute a trade to limit your losses. If the
price of bitcoin drops 10%, for example, or hits a price of $7,500,
then you can issue a stop-loss order to limit your losses.

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Take-Profit Order: Take-profit orders let you set up a specific price
at which an exchange will execute a trade to maximize your profits.
If bitcoin rises 10%, for example, then your take-profit order will
automatically execute, giving you guaranteed gains of 10%.

There are plenty of more advanced order types, including over the
counter (OTC) trades, gorilla trades, polar bear trades, immediate-
or-cancel (IOC) trades, fill-or-kill (FOK) trades, and all-or-non (AON)
orders. Most beginner and intermediate traders, however, will be
fine with the four trade types above.

HOW MUCH DOES CRYPTO TRADING

COST? AVERAGE PRICING

Trading cryptocurrencies isn’t free. You’ll pay exchange fees,

withdrawal fees, and other charges on most exchanges. Costs of
crypto trading include:

Trading Fees: Most exchanges charge maker fees and taker fees of
between 0.1% and 0.5%. Typically, the taker fee is higher. You’ll pay
this on every trade. If you’re trading a significant volume (say, over
$500,000 per month), then the exchange might offer volume
discounts, which can drop trading fees significantly.

Deposit Fees: Some exchanges charge a fee to deposit money into

the platform, although this is becoming less common.

Withdrawal Fees: Withdrawal fees are far more common on most

exchanges. Typically, withdrawal fees are flat fees. You might pay

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$5 USD to withdraw money from the platform, for example. Some
exchanges also have minimum withdrawal amounts.

Fees can vary widely between exchanges. Typically, the better-

regulated exchanges (like Coinbase and Kraken) charge higher fees,
while the lower-regulated exchanges (like Binance and KuCoin)
charge lower fees.

INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED
BITCOIN ANALYSIS: HOW TO STUDY
MARKET CHARTS
Master The Crypto is one of the most popular cryptocurrency
investment trading guide portals on the Internet and this section of
our bitcoin trading chart analysis guide is geared to help everyone
who is not a complete beginner get better at trading bitcoin for
optimal results.

HOW TO ANALYZE CRYPTO

MARKETS: FUNDAMENTAL AND
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Crypto analysis falls into two major categories: fundamental
analysis (FA) and technical analysis (TA).

Fundamental Analysis (FA): Fundamental analysis is a non-

statistical analysis method that evaluates the value of an asset-
based on economic and financial growth factors. Fundamental
analysts seek to determine the profitability of an asset based on its
potential. They analyze the present value of the asset, then project
the future growth of that asset. You might read the project’s
whitepaper and check the team, for example, to determine if the
project has growth potential.

Technical Analysis (TA): Technical analysis is a purely statistical

method that involves examining price charts, trading volume, and

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other related numbers. Technical analysts believe the price of an
asset reflects market sentiment and all the necessary information
at any given time, which is why they exclusively focus on
statistically analyzing the price action of the asset.

These two analysis methods might seem contradictory, but they

work best when used together. Smart investors take all available
analysis methods into consideration.

CRYPTO MARKET TRENDS

Crypto markets are highly volatile and unpredictable. However, we
still see plenty of crypto market trends. A market trend refers to the
direction in which the price is perceived to be headed.

In a bull market, prices are trending upward (remember: bulls attack

‘up’ with their horns), while in a bear market, prices are trending
downward (bears swipe ‘down’ with their paws).

Some people also use terms like a secular trend. A secular trend is a
long-term market trend that lasts several decades – say, 30 years. A

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secular trend can be bearish or bullish, and there can be multiple
mid-term primary trends within the broader secular trend.

A primary trend, meanwhile, is a smaller, short-term trend within a

broader secular trend. It may run opposite of the secular trend.

There can also be secondary trends within primary trends. If a

secondary trend is bullish in a bearish market, then it could be called
a ‘sucker’s rally’. After months of declining prices (primary trend), the
markets might seem to be suddenly going up after a week of positive
movement (secondary trend), only to continue dropping for the next
four weeks.

Unregulated, new markets like crypto are more prone to short-term

volatility than traditional, well-established markets. With crypto
investing, you can expect to see more short-term secondary trends
and frequent pumps and dumps than you would see, say, on the S&P
500 index.

SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE LEVELS

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Crypto market analysts will frequently refer to terms like support
and resistance levels. These levels play a crucial role in how crypto
markets function.

Picture support and resistance levels as the ‘battle lines’ between

bears and bulls.

• Support Level: This is the lower level of a trend at which the

price is expected to bounce.
• Resistance Level: This is the upper level of a trend at which
the price is expected to fall.

Bitcoin might have resistance at the $10,000 mark, for example,

which causes the price of bitcoin to constantly rise toward that level
but never exceed it. Bitcoin might have support at the $6,000 mark,
meanwhile, which causes the price of bitcoin to drop towards that
level but not past it.

When the price of a cryptoasset reaches a specific support or

resistance level, it’s said to be testing that level. Sometimes, the
support or resistance level holds. In other cases, the support or
resistance level breaks.

Looking at bitcoin’s price history, we can also see incidents where

bitcoin’s price level broke a resistance level, and then that new
resistance level became a support level. Let’s say bitcoin breaks the
$10,000 level and surges all the way to $11,500. Suddenly, $10,000
might become the new resistance level while $12,000 becomes the
new support level.

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Similarly, when the price drops below a support level, the support
level could become the new level of resistance. If bitcoin’s price
drops below $6,000, for example, then the $6,000 limit could
become the new resistance level, while a lower limit like $4,500
becomes the new support level.

In a fluctuating industry like crypto, support and resistance levels

rarely stick around for long.

BUY WALLS AND SELL WALLS

Support and resistance levels are often established because of buy
walls and sell walls. You can see these walls when looking at an
exchange’s order books.

A buy wall is a large number of buy orders placed at a specific price

limit, while a sell wall is a large number of sell orders placed at a
specific price limit.

Sometimes, these are limit orders, where traders have set a specific
price at which they want to buy or sell. In other cases, they’re take-
profit orders or stop-loss orders where traders are attempting to
realize gains or limit losses.

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In many cases, these buy walls and sell walls organize around
recognizable price points. There might be a wall of sell orders at
$15,000, for example, as traders seek to lock in their profits. There
might be a wall of buy orders at $5,000, meanwhile, as traders seek
to buy the dip. Sudden price surges or drops can easily be halted by
a wall of sell or buy orders.

HOW TO READ BITCOIN PRICE

CHARTS AND CRYPTO MARKET
GRAPHS

Crypto charts might look complicated at first glance. Once you

understand what everything means, however, it will seem much less
complicated.

Here is what an average crypto price chart looks like:

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This chart shows the BTC/USD perpetual contract on BitMEX for a
two-month period from February 1 to April 1. Each candlestick (each
green or red bar) represents a 6-hour interval.

You can adjust the timescale of a chart however you like. Some
charts let you use intervals as small as 30 seconds, for example,
while others let you use intervals of up to a year.

As with most financial charts, the Y-axis (the vertical axis) represents
price, while the X-axis (the horizontal axis) represents time.

You can see the price scale on the right side of the chart. This is the
interval between two price points. On this chart, the price scale is
50, which means the difference between the two price points is 50.
Price scale can be linear or logarithmic:

Linear Price Scale: With a linear price scale, the distance between
any two points of the same numerical difference, regardless of
value, is equal. The distance between 1 and 2 is the same as the
distance between 9 and 10, for example.

Logarithmic Price Scale: With a logarithmic price scale, the distance

between price points is linked to the ratio of the two values. The
distance between 1 and 2, for example, is equal to the distance
between 4 and 8 or 12 and 24.

The difference between linear and logarithmic price scales is

significant. Below, you’ll see two charts of bitcoin’s all-time price
history. The first chart uses a linear price scale, while the second
charts uses a logarithmic price scale:

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The two charts show the exact same thing: bitcoin’s price from 2011
to the present day. However, the logarithmic chart tells a much
different story than the linear chart.

With the linear chart, it looks like bitcoin’s price did absolutely
nothing for the first four years of its existence. Then, there was a
small price surge, a long period of limited price movement, and then

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bitcoin surged to a ridiculously outlying all-time high of $20,000 in
December 2017 before plummeting back down.

On the logarithmic chart, bitcoin’s price movement is much less

dramatic. The early days of bitcoin look especially impressive
relative to the first chart. We see bitcoin’s price doubling the
number of times. The difference between $2 per BTC and $200 per
BTC is significant – even if it looks like a flat line on the linear chart.
The jump from $5,000 to $20,000 per BTC that occurred in 2017,
meanwhile, looks much less significant.

TYPES OF BITCOIN CHARTS FOR

CRYPTO ANALYSTS

There are four general types of crypto charts, including line charts,
bar charts, candle stick charts, and point and figure charts. We’ll talk
about each chart and its unique advantages below.

LINE CHART

A line chart is a simple, common chart type where the ‘line’ connects
the closing prices of every time interval.

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Some line charts use open, high, or low prices for each period. In
most cases, however, the price reflects the closing point for each
interval. If bitcoin closed at $5,000 at 3 pm and $5,100 at 4 pm, for
example, then the line would be drawn between $5,000 and $5,100.

BAR CHART

A bar chart presents a more detailed representation of price action

than a line chart. It shows the price at which bitcoin opened, for
example, as well as the price at which it closed. Instead of just seeing
one number (the closing price), you can see what bitcoin’s price did
during any particular day. The high, low, and close prices are
represented using a series of vertical lines with a horizontal dash on
each side.

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Some people also call a bar chart an ‘open high low close’ or OHLC
chart. The vertical line is called the range line, and it represents the
range of price for each time interval, including the high and low. The
horizontal dashes, meanwhile, represent the open and close for each
interval.

Here’s what a bar chart looks like when representing a period of

time:

The bar chart above also uses color to indicate rising and falling
intervals. A black range is used to indicate a rising interval (where
the closing price was higher than the opening price), while a red

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range is used to indicate a falling interval (where the closing price
was lower than the opening price).

CANDLESTICK CHART

Some people call candlestick charts ‘Japanese candlestick charts’

because they were invented in the 18th century by a Japanese rice
merchant, although they didn’t appear in western markets until the
early 1990s.

Today, candlestick charts work in a similar way to bar charts. They

allow you to see the high, low, open, and close for a particular day.
However, these numbers are expressed in a slightly different way.

With candlestick charts, there is a hollow or filled body with upper

and lower shadows to represent open, close, high, and low prices.
The length of the body of a candlestick and its shape is also used to
represent the intensity of trading activity for a specific time interval.

Here’s what each of the above candlesticks represents:

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The candlestick is mostly composed of the body (the shaded area),
which represents open and close prices. The upper and lower lines
(the ‘wicks’ of the candle) represent high and low prices.

Essentially, you’re getting the same information as a bar chart, but

this information is represented in a slightly different way.

The shaded area also plays a role. If the price closes higher than it
opened, then the candlestick will be shaded green (bitcoin’s price
rose during that interval). If the price closes lower than it opened,
then the candlestick will be shaded red (bitcoin’s price fell during
that interval). Some candlestick charts also use a fill or unfilled
pattern, with the candlestick being full or shaded when prices rise
and being unfilled and empty when prices fall.

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 POINT AND FIGURE CHART

Out of the four charts listed here, a point and figure chart are the
least common. Nevertheless, a niche group of technical traders
continues to use point and figure (P&F) charts to this day.

A point and figure chart shows only price movements. The X column
represents rising prices and the O column represents falling prices.
Time and volume are not indicated. If there is no significant price
movement for a length of time, then the chart shows no new data.

With P&F charts, the value represented by each X and O is

determined as a set price interval. Any price change below this value
is ignored. The chart shifts to a new column (called a reversal) when
the price changes in the opposite direction represented by a certain
number of X’s or O’s.

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In the chart above, each X or O represents a rise or fall of two
dollars. A reversal occurs if there is a change in the opposite
direction by a value of at least four dollars. Time can be represented
in the X-axis, although it is never used as a factor in P&F charts.

What’s the point of this unique charting tool? The point is to remove
the distraction or skewing effect that occurs in other chart types
when accounting for time intervals with insignificant price
movements. The chart only indicates significant price movements.

Nevertheless, point and figure charts are very uncommon in the

crypto world today.

Also, as an additional bitcoin chart pattern resource, here is a look

comparing the bullish trading charts vs the bearish trading

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graphs:

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bitcoin trading chart analysis bull vs bear patterns from the Crypto Trading
Book

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BITCOIN CHART PATTERNS
Crypto traders will analyze charts to unveil different patterns. There
are all different types of patterns. Typically, however, patterns are
separated into three specific categories:

Continuation Patterns: These patterns indicate a brief consolidation

period, after which the prevailing trend will continue in the same
direction.

Reversal Patterns: These patterns indicate a shift in the balance of

supply and demand, typically leading to a trend reversal. These
patterns are sub-divided into top and bottom formations.

Bilateral Patterns: Bilateral patterns are triangle formulations that

indicate a trend could sway either way.

Pattern analysis isn’t black and white. Some people might analyze a
chart and see a continuation pattern, for example, while others will
see a bilateral pattern. Based on the interval and previous trends,
analysis can vary.

Below, we’ll talk about some of the specific types of patterns that
can represent continuation, reversal, and bilateral patterns as
indicated above.

CUP WITH HANDLE PATTERN

A cup with handle pattern can be either a continuation or a reversal

pattern depending on the previous trend. It looks like this:

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A cup with handle pattern in an uptrend (as indicated above) is a
bullish continuation pattern. Aside from a small blip (the cup), the
upward trend will prevail. Some cups are U-shaped, while others are
V-shaped. In ideal conditions, the cup has equal highs on either side
before consolidating at a specific price point (the handle). The
estimated price target for the next breakout after the consolidation
is symmetrical to the height of the cup.

Of course, cup with handle patterns can indicate different things in

a prevailing downtrend:

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In this chart, the same cup with handle pattern signifies the end of a
downtrend and a breakout into an uptrend. Once the cup formation
transitions to a handle formation, the price must not decline beyond
half the height of the cup. If the price declines more than half the
cup’s height, then selling momentum is too significant and it’s no
longer considered a cup with handle pattern (the ‘handle’ broke).

The longer it takes for the cup with handle pattern to form, and the
deeper the cup formation, the greater the momentum behind the
breakout and the higher the price target. When you add the height
of the cup to the breakout point, it provides a good indication of the
short-term price target.

FLAGS AND PENNANTS

Flags and pennant patterns are continuation patterns. They’re

formed when prices consolidated for a brief period before the
market resumes moving in the same direction.

Here’s what it looks like on a traditional chart:

In this chart, we see the consolidation phase in the middle. The long-
term trend takes a brief brake, creating a rectangle shape on the

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chart. Then, the long-term uptrend continues, the rectangle breaks,
and prices continue moving upwards.

You can also have both bearish and bullish flags. With these flags,
the pennant is formed by a slight sloping move in the direction
opposite to the prevailing trend.

There’s also a difference between a flag and a pennant pattern. A

flag is a rectangular shape, while a pennant is a triangular shape:

Flag and pennant patterns are typically preceded by a sharp rally or

decline. This rally or decline forms the ‘pole’ of the flag. The distance
from the support or resistance level to the ‘flag’ or ‘pennant’ is called
the flag pole.

You can analyze a price target from a flag or pennant chart.

Typically, you do this by adding the length of the flag pole to the top
of the formation in an uptrend and by subtracting the length of the
flag pole from the bottom of the formation in a downtrend.

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 HEAD AND SHOULDERS

Head and shoulders (HS or H&S) patterns are some of the most
reliable reversal patterns.

Some HS patterns are considered head and shoulders top

patterns or ‘HS tops’. It’s a bearish reversal pattern that includes
three parts, including two smaller peaks beside a taller peak:

By connecting the low of the left shoulder with the low of the head,
we can create the ‘neckline’ of the chart. Once prices fall below the
neckline, the upward trend breaks down, and markets enter a
bearish trend, as seen in the chart below with the pullback and
target line.

Head and shoulders bottom charts, meanwhile, are also known as

HS bottoms or inverse HS charts. It’s a bullish reversal pattern
(instead of a bearish reversal pattern) where the prevailing trend is
downward.

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Just like the HS top chart, the HS bottom chart consists of three
parts, including two shallower valleys or higher lows on either side
of a deeper valley or lower low.

You can calculate price targets from head and shoulders charts. For
HS top charts, you can estimate the price based on the ratio of the
higher high to the breakout point along the neckline. If the higher
high is 40, for example, and the breakout point is 20 (a 50% decline),
then the estimated target for the breakdown below the neckline
would be 10, which is a further 50% from the neckline.

For HS bottom charts, meanwhile, you can calculate a price target

by adding the height of the head to the breakout point using a similar
method. If the lower low is 20 and the breakout occurs at 30 (a 2:3
ratio), for example, then the target price is 45.

DOUBLE TOP CHARTS

Double top charts are bearish reversal patterns in a prevailing

uptrend. With a double top chart, you’ll see a brief pullback followed

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by an abortive rally, then a second pullback at the previous high,
which then results in the price breaking down below the earlier low:

It’s easy to be lured into a double top pattern. Ideally, you’ll wait
until the price drops below the first pullback low after retesting the
top because this is when the formation is complete, and it’s the low
point in the chart.

To calculate the price target of a double top pattern, you can either
subtract the height of the formation from the point where support
breaks. Or, you can analyze the ratio between the formation’s top
and pullback low. If the formation’s top is 20 and the pullback low is
10 (2:1), then the price target for the breakdown is set at 5.

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 DOUBLE BOTTOM

A double bottom chart formation is what happens if you flip a

double top formation upside down. The double bottom formation is
a bullish reversal pattern in a prevailing downtrend. After hitting the
bottom once, rising once, and hitting the bottom again, the double
bottom occurs when prices break through the neckline to complete
the ‘W’ formation.

Prices may rally to a recent high following a downtrend, then fall

again to the level of the previous low, before rallying a final time to
break out above the previous recent high to complete the formation
and reverse into an uptrend.

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To calculate price targets for double top highs, you can add the
height of the formation to the breakout point. Or, you can analyze
the ratio between the formation’s bottom and the first rally’s high.
If the bottom of the formation is 5, for example, and the first rally
reaches 10, then the price target would be 20.

TRIPLE TOP & TRIPLE BOTTOM

Making the above formations even more complicated is that we can

sometimes have triple top and triple bottom formations that look
similar to double top and double bottom formations. Like double
top/bottom formations, triple top/bottom formations are also
reversal patterns. They go against a prevailing uptrend or
downtrend.

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As you can see here, the triple top formation consists of three equal
peaks split by two valleys.

The triple bottom formation, meanwhile, is flipped upside down,

consisting of three identical valleys and two abortive peaks.

To calculate the price target for a triple top or bottom formation,

you add or subtract the height of the formation to or from the
breaking point, similar to how you calculate price targets in double
top/bottom formations.

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 ROUNDING BOTTOM

The rounding bottom or saucer bottom formation is a bullish

reversal or continuation pattern. With this pattern, you’ll see a
steeper cup or bowl formation than a cup and handle pattern. It’s
similar to the head and shoulders pattern, but without discernible
shoulders. You can connect low prices within the bottom to form a
rounded shape representing the bottom of the saucer:

The formation first begins to form with selling pressure, causing

prices to drop. This pressure eventually loses steam and transitions
to an uptrend. Buying pressure subsides, causing prices to drop to a
new low, and this trend repeats several more times until the lowest
low is hit. Then, buying pressure takes over, eventually leading to a
breakout and completing the rounding bottom formation.

To calculate short-term price targets for rounding bottom

formations, you add the height of the cup to the resistance line.

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 WEDGES

There are two types of wedge patterns, including rising wedge

patterns and falling wedge patterns. These patterns can be
continuation or reversal patterns depending on what markets were
doing before the pattern formed.

In an uptrend, a rising wedge pattern indicates a bearish reversal.

Markets are turning and prices are starting to drop. In a downtrend,
a rising wedge pattern is seen as a continuation as prices continue
to drop.

The falling wedge, meanwhile, is considered a bullish pattern. The

falling wedge indicates a bullish reversal when formed in a prevailing
downtrend, for example. When formed in a prevailing uptrend, the
falling wedge indicates a continuation as prices continue to rise.

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 RECTANGLES

Rectangle patterns form when prices are bouncing between roughly

equal highs and lows for a certain period of time. When drawing
lines around the highs and lows of this period, you can see
rectangles start to form.

The rectangle, also known as the trading range or consolidation

zone, is a continuation pattern where the price ranges between
parallel support and resistance lines. It’s an impasse where markets
can’t really figure out what to do. During this impasse, the price will
test support and resistance levels several times before breaking out.
When the price breaks out, it will either reverse the previous trend
or continue it (moving either upward or downward).

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To calculate price targets during a rectangle formation, you add the
height to the point of the breakout or breakdown.

BILATERAL PATTERNS (TRIANGLES)

Bilateral patterns consist of three different triangle formations,

including symmetrical triangles, ascending triangles, and
descending triangles.

ASCENDING TRIANGLE

Ascending triangles are typically bullish continuation patterns in a

prevailing uptrend. However, ascending triangles can also form as a

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reversal pattern in a downtrend. An ascending triangle pattern
consists of two or more roughly equal heights and increasing lows.
The resistance line is horizontal, although the extended support line
slopes upward and convers with the resistance line, which is how
the triangle is formed.

For an ascending triangle to form, each swing or low must be higher

than the previous low. The formation is typically considered to be
complete when the price breaks out past the upper resistance line.

To calculate the price target in an ascending triangle, you can add

the height of the triangle’s basis to the breakout point. The stop loss
should be placed at the most recent swing low.

DESCENDING TRIANGLE

The descending triangle is the opposite of the ascending triangle.

Typically, it’s a bearish continuation pattern formed as prices
continue to gradually drop over time as part of a broader
downtrend. However, it can also form a reversal pattern during an

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uptrend. As with an ascending triangle, the price can occasionally
break out upwards, which is why it’s important to play the pattern
as it develops and use tight stops.

The descending triangle is formed as equal lows create a horizontal

support line while decreasing highs create a downward sloping
resistance line, creating the same type of right-angle triangle seen in
the ascending triangle above.

To calculate the price target in a descending triangle formation, you

subtract the height of the base of the triangle to the point where
support breaks down.

SYMMETRICAL TRIANGLE

A symmetrical triangle, as you might have guessed, forms

somewhere in between an ascending and descending triangle
pattern. It’s a typical bilateral pattern where it’s difficult to
determine the outcome of the pattern until a clear breakout has
been confirmed.

With a symmetrical triangle, we’ll see a series of lower reaction highs

and higher reaction lows, with the price eventually consolidating at
a point. This point forms the tip of the triangle. The support and

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resistance lines, meanwhile, form the two sides of the triangle,
eventually meeting at the point.

Since the breakout direction is difficult to determine, some traders

will play both sides in a symmetrical triangle pattern, placing a long
and short order, then closing one when the other hits.

To calculate the price target in a symmetrical triangle, add or

subtract the base of the triangle to the breakout point. You can
calculate a long-term price estate by drawing an extended trend line
parallel to the support line (assuming the pattern breaks upward) or
parallel to the resistance line (if the pattern breaks downward)
passing through the other vertex of the triangle’s base.

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TOP FIVE MOST PROFITABLE
PATTERNS FOR BITCOIN TRADERS
Certain patterns present a more powerful profit-earning
opportunity than others. Historically, the following five patterns
have given traders the best opportunities:

• Triangles (ascending, descending, and symmetrical

triangles)
• Head and shoulders patterns
• Double and triple top and bottom patterns
• Cup with handle patterns
• Flag and pennant patterns

TECHNICAL INDICATORS: HOW TO

READ CHARTS LIKE A MASTER

So far, we’ve focused mostly on broader chart patterns. Next,

however, we’ll talk about technical indicators, including the signals
that traders use to build their strategies.

Picture the broader chart patterns we discussed above as like the

climate as it changes from spring to summer to fall and winter. We
see the broader changes in the temperature, daylight, and weather
throughout the year.

Technical signals, meanwhile, are the short-term information you

read to predict which season is coming next. You might notice the

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temperature drop from 40 to 30 in a week, for example. This signals
that winter is coming.

When analyzing technical indicators, it’s important to remember

that any single technical indicator on its own is not particularly
telling. You need context to understand what that technical
indicator means. You can derive context by looking at information
like a prevailing trend, chart pattern, and more. It’s like a piece of a
jigsaw puzzle: it only makes sense when it’s all put together to create
a coherent picture of the market.

Indicators can be categorized into overlays or oscillators:

Overlays: Overlays are indicators that use the same scale as the
price and are plotted on top of the price chart.

Oscillators: Oscillators are displayed independently on a different

scale below the price chart and will oscillate between a minimum
and maximum value.

Certain technical indicators are considered leading indicators. A

leading indicator has strong predictive qualities and can indicate the
direction of the market before the price follows through. leading
indicators can be effective in signaling an imminent change in trend
or momentum before the market begins to show that change. The
best-known leading indicators include the Relative Strength Index
(RSI), Stochastic Oscillator, and On Balance Volume (OBV).

Other technical indicators, meanwhile, are considered lagging

indicators. Lagging indicators follow market trends. They indicate a
shift in market trends, but they tend to lag behind that shift.
Typically, a lagging indicator is used to confirm a trend after a trend
has already begun to emerge. However, lagging indicators have less
valuable in a volatile market with no clear trend. The two best-
known lagging indicators are Bollinger bands and moving averages.

MOVING AVERAGES

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Moving averages are trend overlays that can indicate short, medium,
and long-term trends. To calculate the moving average, we take the
average price over a certain period of time. A moving average
removes a lot of the ‘noise’ on the chart, including short-term
volatility and price movements. It can make trends easier to spot.

There are two common ways to calculate moving averages,

including simple moving averages and exponential moving averages.
Both are considered lagging technical indicators.

A simple moving average (SMA) is just the sum of all closing prices
over a particular time period divided by the number of periods. A 5-
day SMA, for example, can be calculated by adding the closing prices
for each day and dividing the sum by five. Over a longer time period,
there’s greater lag. Longer scales smooth our price movements and
tend to be less responsive than shorter time scales.

Check out the chart below to see how this works in practice. The
50-day moving average lags behind the price movements, while the
10-day moving average tightly hugs the price movements:

Exponential moving average (EMA), meanwhile, places greater

weight on the most recent data points. This can ‘tighten’ the moving
average to price movements, making the moving average more
responsive to recent price movements.

Exponential moving averages use a weighting multiplier to give the

most recent data points greater weight. This weighting multiplier

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can be calculated using the formula [2 / (Time Period + 1)]. In a 10-
day EMA, the weighting given to the most recent price would be [2
/ (10 + 1)] = 0.1818, or 18.18%.

There are also current exponential moving averages (EMAs), where

you take today’s price x the weighting multiplier + yesterday’s EMA
x (1 – weighting multiplier).

You don’t have to memorize these formulas. Charting tools apply

these formulas automatically. However, it helps to know where
these formulas are coming from.

SIMPLE MOVING AVERAGES VERSUS EXPONENTIAL

MOVING AVERAGES

Simple moving averages and exponential moving averages are two

ways to outline the same trend. One is not necessarily better than
the other. They each have their own advantages.

An exponential moving average, for example, responds faster to

recent price movements and hugs the price curve more closely.

A simple moving average, meanwhile, is ideal for identifying long-

term support and resistance levels. The slope of the simple moving
average is also used to gauge momentum towards a specific trend.

Typically, the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) chart and the
50-day SMA chart are the two most popular scales for identifying
medium to long-term trends. These two charts are also useful for
identifying support and resistance levels, bullish and bearish
crossovers, and divergences.

When the simple and exponential moving averages come together,

it creates a crossover. This is considered a pivotal event that could
signal a trend change.

There are bullish crossovers, for example, which are also known as
golden crosses. A bullish crossover occurs when the shorter scale
moving average crosses above the longer scale moving average.

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There are also bearish crossovers, also known as death crosses. A
bearish crossover occurs when the shorter scale moving average
crosses below the longer scale moving average.

Meanwhile, if the current price crosses above the long-term moving

average, it’s indicative of a bullish breakout. If the current price
crosses below the long-term moving average, it indicates a bearish
breakout.

MOVING AVERAGE CONVERGENCE

DIVERGENCE (MACD)
Moving average convergence-divergence, or MACD, is a trend-
following oscillator popular for gauging momentum. MACD takes
two exponential moving averages (like the 12-day and 26-day EMA),
then plots them against the zero lines to measure the momentum of
a trend.

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We also see the MACD histogram, which measures momentum
based on the relationship between MACD and its signal line (the 9-
day EMA of MACD).

A modern MACD oscillator indicator consists of four elements,

including the MACD line, zero line, signal line, and MACD histogram:

• MACD Line: The MACD line is the 26-day EMA subtracted

from the 12-day EMA.
• Zero Line: The zero line is the point where the two EMAs
are equal.
• Signal Line: The signal line is the 9-day EMA of MACD.
• MACD Histogram: The MACD histogram is plotted as bars
along the zero line. It’s the difference between the MACD
line and the signal line.

A positive MACD occurs when the 12-day EMA is above the 26-
day EMA. It indicates that the market is bullish. The higher the value,
the stronger the upward momentum.

A negative MACD, meanwhile, indicates that the market is bearish,

with lower values indicating strong downward momentum.

Pivotal events include convergence, crossover, and divergence from

the zero line and the signal line.

• Convergence: Indicates relenting momentum.

• Crossover: Indicates a shifting of market forces.

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 • Divergence: Indicates rising momentum.

RELATIVE STRENGTH INDEX (RSI)

Relative strength index, or RSI, is a way to indicate momentum.

Momentum can identify the strength of market trends, giving you a
good idea of when to buy or sell based on whether markets are
overbought or oversold.

RSI oscillates between 0 and 100, with the typical timeframe being
14 days. When RSI is below 30, it indicates the market is oversold.
When the RSI is above 70, it indicates the market is overbought.
However, some traders use 20 and 80 as the boundaries instead,
which can be more telling for highly volatile markets (including
crypto).

Because RSI is a leading indicator, the slope of the RSI can indicate
a trend change before that trend is observed in the general market.
For that reason, RSI is one of the most common ways of analyzing
market conditions.

RSI = 100 – (100/1+RS)

In this formula, relative strength (RS) equals average gain over the
average loss (RS = Average Gain/Average Loss).

A gain is a period where the price closes above the previous day’s
closing, while a loss is a period where the price closes below the

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previous day’s closing. These values are absolute, which means that
losses are calculated as positive values.

Although RSI divergences can be helpful, they’re only helpful within

the appropriate context. As with other indicators here, it’s an
important reminder to avoid using any single indicator as a signal
without proper context.

You can see a bullish divergence when the price hits a lower low and
RSI hits a higher low. A bearish divergence, meanwhile, occurs when
the price hits a higher high and RSI hits a lower high.

We can also use RSI to observe RSI failure swings, which are seen
as indications of potential trend reversals in a bearish or bullish
direction.

A bullish failure swing occurs when RSI falls below 30, bounces past
30, falls back, but does not fall below 30 and makes a new high.

A bearish failure swing, meanwhile, occurs when the RSI breaks

above 70, falls back, bounces without breaking 70, and falls back to
a new low.

PARABOLIC SAR (STOP AND REVERSE)

Parabolic stop and reverse (SAR) is an overlay lagging indicator
based on the idea that price typically moves in parabolic curves

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when it’s trending. That’s why the parabolic SAR indicator is most
effective in trending markets. SAR will stick close to price
movements over time, falling below the price curve during uptrends
and above the price curve during downtrends. Because of this
nature, traders use the parabolic SAR indicator to set trailing stops
and protect against losses.

There are separate formulas for calculating rising and falling SAR.
The formula takes data from one period behind.

• Rising SAR Formula: Current SAR = Last Period’s SAR + AF

(EP – Last Period’s SAR)
• Falling SAR Formula: Current SAR = Last Period’s SAR – AF
(EP – Last Period’s SAR)

In these formulas, EP is the extreme point (either the highest high

or the lowest low of the current trend) and AF is the acceleration
factor. The acceleration factor is initially set to a value of 0.02, with
AF increasing by 0.02 for each new high or low made by the extreme
point.

When you increase the acceleration factor (AF), it increases SAR

sensitivity, pushing SAR closer to the price curve. Lowering AF,
meanwhile, moves SAR further away from the price curve. When
you set AF too high, it can create too many whipsaws, creating false
reversal signals.

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SAR is best used in conjunction with the Average Directional Index.
We’ll talk about the Average Directional Index next and how it’s
used to determine the strength of a trend.

AVERAGE DIRECTIONAL INDEX (ADX)

Average directional index (ADX) has risen in popularity in recent
years to become a preferred indicator for estimating the strength of
a trend. As a lagging oscillator, ADX offers little insight into the
future trend direction, although it does indicate the magnitude of
market forces behind a trend.

ADX oscillates between 0 and 100, with ADX typically below 20 in

a ranging market and above 25 in a trending market. An ADX above
40 indicates a strong trend.

When calculating ADX, we need to determine the positive

directional indicators (+DI) and negative directional indicators (-DI),
which together create the directional movement indicator (DMI).
We calculate DMI by collating the highs and lows of consecutive
periods.

• +DI = (Smoothed +DM / ATR) x 100

• -DI = (Smoothed -DM / ATR) x 100

In this formula, +DM is the high for the current period minus the
high for the previous period. -DM is the low of the previous period
minus the low of the current period. The ‘smoothing’ part of the
equation, meanwhile, involves taking the average of the last 13
periods, adding the most recent value, and then dividing the sum by
14.

ADX also takes into account average true range, or ATR, which
indicates volatility. True range (TR) is the absolute value of the
greatest among three price differences (the current period’s high
minus the current period’s low, the current period’s high minus the
previous period’s close, and the current period’s low minus the
previous period’s close.

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 • ATR = [TR of Last 13 periods + Current TR] / 14
• Directional Index (DX) = [(+DI – -DI) / (+DI + -DI)] x 100
• ADX = [DX of last 13 periods + current DX] / 14

These formulas may seem complex. However, as mentioned above,

you don’t need to memorize these formulas. There are plenty of
tools that implement these formulas for you. If you want to be an
informed technical trader, however, then it helps to understand
where these formulas come from.

ATR offers no indication of trend direction. However, +DI and -

DI do indicate trend direction. Traders can use ADX to determine
the strength of the trend, then use crossovers of +DI and -DI to
create signals that indicate potential reversals.

Let’s say, for example, the +DI line is crossing above or diverging
upward from the -DI line with ADX above 40. This is a strong bullish
signal. However, crossovers and divergences when ADX is below 20
are not signals of much consequence because there isn’t as much
momentum behind these movements.

This chart explains how to read ADX within the context of parabolic
SAR:

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FIBONACCI RETRACEMENT
Fibonacci retracement, as you may expect, is connected to the
famous Fibonacci sequence or Fibonacci number. The sequence
starts with the numbers 0 and 1, with each successive number in the
sequence behind the sum of the two preceding numbers.

Fibonacci retracement in financial/crypto analysis, meanwhile, is a

technical trading concept that identifies the extent of a corrective
retracement after a rapid increase or decrease in prices. It seeks to
quantify how much of a pullback we can expect after a surge or drop
in prices.

In the Fibonacci sequence, the ratio of any number to its successor

is 0.618, or 61.8%. This is the golden ratio, a number that plays a
significant role in biology and mathematics.

Fibonacci retracement uses this same ratio to identify support and

resistance levels. These levels are called alert zones, and they’re
found at 23.6%, 38.2%, 61.8%, and 78.6%. Fibonacci retracement
also has a 50% alert zone, which has nothing to do with the
Fibonacci sequence but comes from Dow Theory, which theorizes
that corrections typically result in a 50% retracement from the
previous move. Retracement levels are drawn on a price chart after
marking the high and low point of a trend.

Why are these numbers important? Well, a 23.6% retracement is

typically seen in shorter timescales. A bounce from this level is less

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common if the correction has momentum. 38.2% and 61.8%
retracements, meanwhile, are more likely to bounce (or reverse the
trend). The 61.8% zone especially is known as the golden
retracement.

Some analysts also use a derivative of Fibonacci retracement called

the Fibonacci extension to identify how far a rally might go. Under
the Fibonacci extension, zones can be found at 78.6%, 100%,
161.8%, 261.8%, and 423.6%.

ELLIOTT WAVE PRINCIPLE

The Elliott Wave principle was created by American accountant
Ralph Elliott in 1938. Elliott studied American markets for a decade
during his retirement, then theorized that prices inevitably – and
constantly – move in a fractal wave pattern. This fractal wave
pattern is linked to natural laws, and you can outline the fractal wave
using the Fibonacci sequence.

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Elliott theorized that market prices moved in two types of waves,
including impulse waves and corrective waves.

Impulse Waves: Impulse waves, also known as motive waves, move

in the direction of the prevailing trend and consist of five smaller
waves, including three trend-advancing or actionary sub-waves split
by two corrective sub-waves.

Corrective Waves: Corrective waves that can be part of a larger

impulse wave move against the direction of the prevailing trend and
consist of three smaller waves, including two corrective sub-waves
split by one actionary sub-wave.

This theory is known as the Elliott 5-Wave Pattern or the Elliott

Wave Principle:

When combined together, an impulse wave and a corrective wave

create 8 sub-waves to create the ‘5-3’ structure. This 5-3 structure
makes up each Elliott wave cycle.

We saw this pattern in real bitcoin markets during 2018. This chart
also shows prices holding at the 78.6% Fibonacci support level.

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Fibonacci retracement levels and Elliott wave patterns are just two
types of technical indicators that form a partial picture of crypto
markets. When prices retrace to Fibonacci alert zones, it’s best to
look at other indicators to see if your signals corroborate the
reversal at these alert zones. If all of the signals are pointing towards
a similar result, then you have a more informed view of the market.

BOLLINGER BANDS
Bollinger bands trace their origin to American financial analyst John
Bollinger, who developed the theory in the 1980s. Bollinger band
analysis uses a moving average-based overlay to measure price
volatility. The theory involves three bands, including a middle
band to represent the simple moving average and an upper and
lower band to represent standard deviations.

For the middle band, analysts typically use the 20-day simple
moving average (SMA). The upper band, meanwhile, is the same
SMA with two standards of deviation added, while the lower band
subtracts two standards of deviation. Analysts can adjust the
number of periods based on their trading preferences. However,
analysts will use the same number of periods to calculate SMA that
they use to calculate standard deviation.

The width of the Bollinger bands indicates volatility.

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 • When the bands are wide, it indicates that markets are
volatile and trending.
• When the bands are narrow, it means volatility is dwindling
and the market is ranging.

Approximately 90% of price movements occur within the Bollinger

bands. When the price suddenly moves outside of the upper or
lower band, it indicates a breakout could be upcoming.

During a strong uptrend in markets, prices tend to hug or move out

of the upper band, for example, while during a strong downtrend,
price activity is focused around the lower band. During market
swings, the middle bands acts as a resistance for downtrend
movements and a support level for uptrend movements.

Traders look for two crucial patterns within Bollinger bands,

including double top (‘M top’) and double bottom (‘w bottom’)
patterns. There are multiple variations of these patterns.

M Tops: M top or double top patterns occur in an uptrend and are

indicative of a bearish reversal. In this formation, the price hits a
point high above the upper band, then retreats below the middle
band. The band moves up again but stops short of the upper band.
When the second surge fails to reach the upper band, it signals a
weakening trend and likely reversal.

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W Bottoms: The W bottom or double bottom formation is what
happens when the M top formation gets flipped upside down. It
signals a bullish reversal. It starts with the price plummeting below
the lower band, then rallying past the middle band before dropping
again. During the second drop, the price does not touch the lower
band, then rallies past the earlier swing high to break out
into a bullish reversal, ultimately forming a W.

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ON BALANCE VOLUME (OBV)
On balance volume (OBV) is a volume-based oscillator and leading
indicator. The signal quantifies volume, using cumulative trading
volume to measure the strength of trends in upward or downward
directions.

The idea behind on balance volume is that significant changes in

volume often precede price movements, and that volume tends to
be higher on days when the price moves in the direction of the
prevailing trend. OBV adds volume during periods when the close is
higher than the previous close, then subtracts volume during
periods when the close is lower.

OBV technical analysis focuses less about the actual value of the
volume. Instead, it looks at the rate of change or the rise and fall.
This rise and fall, according to OBV theory, is what indicates the
strength of buy and sell pressure. As OBV rises, it pushes buy
pressure higher, leading to higher prices. When OBV is falling, it
indicates a price decline is imminent.

We can seethe effect of OBV in action here, including the bearish

divergence:

Analysts use the OBV oscillator to identify support and resistance

levels, then look for breakouts that precede price breakouts. They’ll
look at OBV diverging from the prevailing trend, for example, which
could indicate an upcoming bearish or bullish reversal.

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We see this effect in action in the next graph. We see the price make
a higher swing high while OBV makes a lower swing high, indicating
a weakening uptrend. In a similar fashion, when the price hits a lower
low and OBV makes a higher low, the downtrend is losing steam,
and a bullish breakout could be upcoming.

This is where analyzing your other trading signals can come in

handy. You might notice OBV diverging from the prevailing trend,
for example, then use your other signals to better inform your next
decision.

STOCHASTIC OSCILLATOR
Stochastic oscillator is a leading oscillator that measures
momentum, then uses that momentum to predict where markets
will move next. The method was developed in the 1950s based on
two key concepts:

Rule 1) Momentum always shifts before price

Rule 2) Variations in momentum can predict a change in market

direction

With that in mind, stochastic oscillator analysis measures the

relationship between closing prices over a given period as well as
the trading range (high price and low price) of that period. Based on
this relationship, the stochastic oscillator measures potential trend
reversal, including overbought and oversold conditions.

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The indicator oscillators between 0 and 100. These numbers
indicate the bottom and top of the trading range over a specific time
scale. That time scale is typically set to 14 periods.

The oscillator consists of two lines, including the slow oscillator (%K)
and the fast oscillator (%D). Here’s how the formula breaks down:

• %K = [(Current Period's Close – Lowest Price of All Periods)

/ (Highest Price of All Periods – Lowest Price of all
periods)] x 100
• %D = 3-Period Simple Moving Average of %K

Values higher than 80 indicate an overbought market, while values

lower than 20 indicate an oversold market. However, these numbers
do not always indicate a reversal. During strong trends, the price can
hover at these extreme ends of the range for a lengthy period of
time.

Stochastic oscillator analysis can, however, indicate a reversal or

surge in momentum in certain instances. When crossovers and
divergences occur over and under the signal line (%D), it indicates a
reversal and surge in momentum.

Stochastic oscillator theory is also based on the idea that closing

prices tend to hover in the upper half of the trading range during an
uptrend while hovering near the lower half during a downtrend.
Analysts will look for crossovers at the midpoint to indicate a
shifting trend.

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Bullish divergences occur when the price hits a lower low while the
oscillator hits a higher low. Bearish divergences, meanwhile, occur
when the price hits a higher high while the oscillator swings to a
lower high. These reversals can also be confirmed when the price
breaks past the most recent swing high (in a bullish divergence) or
the most recent swing low (in a bearish divergence). Both of these
things can confirm the reversal.

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When the inverse of these bullish and bearish divergences occurs, it
creates what’s called a bull or bear set-up.

During a bull setup, the oscillator hits a higher high as the price hits
a lower high. When the price swings to a lower high, market
momentum continues to surge, and the price will likely rise even
further.

During a bear setup, the oscillator hits a lower low as the price hits
a higher low. In this situation, progressive downward momentum
indicates that a continued upward surge is unlikely even though the
price is diverging upwards.

There are two variations of the stochastic oscillator, including slow

and full versions.

• Slow Version: The slow version of the oscillator includes a

smoothing formula. A 3-period smoothed SMA of %K is
used to streamline the %K line.
• Full Version: In the full version of the oscillator, the formula
is fully customizable and traders can set custom lookback
and smoothing periods as they like.

When checking stochastic oscillator analysis, you might also find

something called StochRSI. This is a derivative of stochastic
oscillator theory that applies the oscillator to the relative strength
index (RSI) instead of the price. In that sense, StochRSI is a
momentum oscillator of a momentum oscillator. StochRSI indicates
the relative position of RSI with regard to its high-low range for a
specific set of periods. You calculate StochRSI using the same
formula as you would for stochastic oscillator analysis, except that
you replace the price values with RSI values.

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SPOTTING AND CONFIRMING
SIGNALS WITH CANDLESTICK
PATTERNS

Technical analysis works particularly well for developing medium

and long-term insights. However, it can be more difficult when
dealing with fewer trading periods and shorter time scales.

That’s why candlestick pattern analysis has become particularly

popular for short-term traders in recent years. Candlestick patterns
are used in conjunction with chart patterns and technical indicators
to provide further confirmation for expected breakouts.

We explained the basics of candlestick charts up above. We told you

how a candlestick pattern works, including what the body and wick
of the candlestick means.

Candlestick pattern analysis is particularly useful because

candlestick charts contain more information for a single trading
period than any other type of chart. At a glance, you can see how
markets performed that day based on the body of the candlestick,
the size of the wick, and the relationship between the upper and
lower wick and the body. Each candlestick tells you whether buyers
or sellers were in control during that particular trading period and
how other market forces competed against each other.

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Learning to read candlestick charts can be one of your best skills to
develop as a trader. Here are some of the features common in
candlestick charts.

SINGLE PERIOD PATTERNS

SHORT DAY

These candlesticks indicate uneventful trading periods. The

candlestick tells us that the price moved very little from open to
close during this period. It also shows us that the trading range – the
spread between the highest and lowest prices during the day – was
small. Regardless of the color of the body of the candlestick, this
candlestick shows that bulls and bears are holding steady for this
period.

LONG DAY

An intense trading session where the price moved significantly from

open to close might look like the candlesticks above. The green
candlestick shows that buyers dominated the session, telling us it
was a bullish market. The red candlestick shows that sellers
dominated, giving the market bearish momentum.

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 SPINNING TOPS

You may hear analysts talk about spinning top candlesticks. On

these candlesticks, the wicks are relatively long. This is a neutral
pattern regardless of the color of the body. With this pattern, the
body of the candlestick is similar to a short day, although the
shadows indicate a more significant trading range. Buyers and
sellers both pushed the market at various points, although the
session ultimately closed near to where it opened.

LONG SHADOWS

The color of the body of this candlestick is not very important for
this pattern. What’s more important is whether the body sits at the
top or bottom. When the body is near the bottom with a long upper
shadow, it indicates that buyers made an effort to push the market
up, but strong selling momentum forced the price to settle back
down low, signaling a bearish market. Conversely, when the body is
at the top of the range with a long lower shadow (wick), it’s
considered a sign of a bullish market. Sellers tried to take control,
although strong buying momentum eventually pushed it near the
top.

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 MARUBOZU

Marubozu means ‘shaven head’ in Japanese. A marubozu

candlestick only has a body and there are no noticeable shadows
(wicks) on either side. This candlestick occurs when the open and
close of a session are close to the high and low. A green marubozu
candlestick tells us that the session’s open equaled its low and the
close equaled its high, which means buyers complicated dominated
the session, signaling a bullish market. A red marubozu candlestick
tells us that the session opened at its highest point and closed at its
lowest point, indicating strong selling pressure throughout the
period. The longer the body, the greater the momentum in either
direction.

HAMMER

A hammer candlestick pattern forms after a session of declining

prices. The session closed near the top with no upper shadow and a
lower shadow twice as long as the body. The hammer pattern
indicates that buyers are starting to push back. It’s a bullish pattern
regardless of the color of the body. The only requirement here is
that the candlestick needs to close higher in green to validate the
pattern.

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 HANGING MAN

The hanging man candlestick pattern is identical to the hammer

pattern at first glance. However, the hammer pattern becomes the
hanging man pattern when it’s observed after a series of advancing
prices. Just like the hammer, the hanging man can be either green or
read. During an uptrend, the hanging man is seen as a warning: there
was downward activity but buyers pushed the price up towards the
end of the session. If the next candlestick closes lower, than the
hanging man candlestick can signal a bearish reversal.

INVERTED HAMMER

An upside down or inverted hammer after a downtrend is

considered a bullish reversal pattern but only if the next candlestick
closes higher. This candlestick tells us the session ultimately closed
near its opening price, although the upper shadow is an early
indication that buyers are challenging sellers for the market.

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 SHOOTING STAR

A shooting star is identical in appearance to an inverted hammer,

but it forms in an uptrend instead of a downtrend, making it a
bearish signal. Although the shooting star candlestick indicates
further continuation of the uptrend (as shown by the long upper
shadow or wick), the session ultimately closed near the bottom of
its range, which indicates weakening upward momentum.

DOJI

This is where we start getting into the weird and unique candlestick
signals. A doji is a neutral cruciform pattern that indicates a state of
near-equilibrium in the market. The session traded high and low, but
ultimately closed exactly where it opened. With the doji candlestick,
the upper and lower shadows may or may not be equal. Sometimes,
the doji indicates relenting momentum or a potential reversal – say,
when it forms next to certain other patterns.

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 DRAGONFLY DOJI

The dragonfly doji candlestick pattern has a long lower shadow and
no upper shadow, and the open and close are equal to the high for
the session. When the dragonfly doji candlestick pattern forms in a
downtrend, it’s considered to be a sign of bullish reversal.

GRAVESTONE DOJI

A gravestone doji has along upper shadow and no lower shadow,

and the open and close are equal to the low for the session. The
gravestone doji candlestick in an uptrend signals a bearish reversal.
On both the dragonfly and gravestone doji candlesticks, the length
of the shadow is a good signal of the momentum behind a reversal.

MULTIPLE PERIOD PATTERNS

Up above, we analyzed candlesticks based on a single candlestick
for a single session. In most cases, however, candlestick analysis
involves reading multiple candlesticks to discern a pattern. We’ll
discuss some of the most common (and most useful) multiple period
patterns below, including two-period, three-period, and five-period
patterns.

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Note: It’s important to note that many of these two-period patterns
do not have to be directly adjacent to one another. They can occur
in two subsequent trading sessions. Or, they can occur in close
proximity to one another.

BEARISH ENGULFING

A bearish engulfing pattern is a two-period pattern that signals a

bearish reversal when seen during an uptrend. The pattern starts
with a short green body followed by a longer candlestick with a red
body. It’s called an ‘engulfing’ pattern because the body of the
second candlestick fully engulfs the first candlestick (although the
shadows do not necessarily have to engulf).

BULLISH ENGULFING

A bullish engulfing signals a bullish reversal pattern in an uptrend.

It’s a two-period candlestick with a short red body first and a second,
green candlestick that engulfs the first.

Overall, engulfing patterns are some of the strongest indicators that

we’re about to see a reversal. They not only indicate a shift in the
movement of markets, but they also indicate a significant change in
momentum.

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 BULLISH HARAMI

Harami, interestingly enough, is the Japanese word for ‘pregnant’. It

makes sense when you look at the two-period candlestick. A bullish
harami forms in a downtrend when a long red candlestick is followed
by a small green candlestick. The complete trading range of the
latter candlestick needs to be within the body of the former
candlestick (hence the ‘pregnant’ name).

BEARISH HARAMI

A bearish harami consists of a large green candlestick fully covering

the entirety of the red candlestick.

Harami patterns typically suggest relenting momentum after a

strong trend. A harami is considered to be reversed only if the next
candlestick closes favorably, which means it’s the same color as the
second candlestick.

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 HARAMI CROSS

A harami cross is a two-period pattern similar to a harami, except

that the second candlestick is a doji (the cross image we discussed
above), with the doji fully engulfed by the body of the first
candlestick. The harami cross indicates weakening momentum or
indecision in the market instead of a complete reversal. For this
pattern to indicate a reversal, the third candlestick following the doji
must be in concurrence.

If a harami cross forms in an uptrend, then the candlestick after the

doji must close below the doji’s trading range in red. If it closes
above in green, then it could mean the harami cross was simply a
brief consolidation before the uptrend continues.

If a harami cross forms in a downtrend, then the candlestick that

follows the doji must close above the doji’s trading range in green to
indicate a bullish reversal.

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 TWEEZER TOP

A two-period tweezer top candlestick pattern forms when at least

two candlesticks have even tops, regardless of their bottoms. When
formed during an uptrend, the tweezer top is considered a potential
reversal pattern. The candlestick tells us that the upper limit price
has been repeatedly rejected at the same level, which suggests
strong resistance at that level. As more candlesticks form even tops
around these sessions, it provides greater evidence for resistance at
that level. The reversal is confirmed by a bearish close in red below
the midpoint of the first candlestick in the pattern.

TWEEZER BOTTOM

A tweezer bottom is the inverse of the tweezer top: the bottoms of

the candlesticks are even, but the tops are not. A tweezer bottom is
a potential reversal pattern in a downtrend. When multiple
candlesticks have even bottoms, it suggests that the market has
repeatedly rejected the same low, which indicates strong support at
that level. Bullish reversal is complete when the pattern is followed
by a higher close.

With both tweezer top and tweezer bottom reversal patterns, only
the tops and bottoms of the candlesticks’ bodies are used to validate
the pattern. The shadows are not considered.

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 DARK CLOUD COVER

Dark cloud cover is a two-period bearish reversal pattern in an

uptrend. For this pattern to form, a long-bodied bullish candlestick
is followed by a bearish candlestick that closes below the midpoint
of the first candlestick’s body. The first candlestick must also close
near the session’s low without a much lower shadow.

PIERCING LINE

Piercing line is a two-period bullish reversal pattern in a downtrend.

It’s the opposite of the dark cloud cover pattern. For a piercing line
to form, the long-bodied bearish candlestick must be followed by a
bullish candlestick that closes above the midpoint of the first
candlestick’s body. Dark cloud cover and piercing line patterns are
similar to bearish and bullish engulfing patterns, although the
momentum behind the reversal is less significant.

MORNING STAR

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The morning star is the first three-period pattern on our list. it’s a
bullish reversal pattern that is similar to the piercing line, but with a
middle candlestick with a short body. A morning star pattern forms
when we have a long red body followed by an uneventful red or
green body and then a third candlestick that closes above the
midpoint of the first candlestick.

EVENING STAR

The evening star is the inverse of the morning star pattern. It’s a
three-period bearish reversal pattern that, like the morning star, is
distinguished by the presence of a middle candlestick that has a
short body. The evening star forms with a long green body followed
by a short green or red body and a third candlestick in red that closes
below the midpoint of the first candlestick. An evening star
candlestick indicates a bearish reversal.

MORNING DOJI STAR

A morning doji star pattern is similar to the two ‘star’ patterns above,
but where the middle candlestick is a doji. The doji signals there was
indecision among traders before the market eventually decided on
a bullish reversal. For the morning doji star to form, the third
candlestick must close above the midpoint of the first.

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 EVENING DOJI STAR

The evening doji star candlestick pattern indicates a bearish

reversal. The bearish reversal is complete when the third candlestick
closes below the midpoint of the first, along with the doji in the
middle.

THREE WHITE SOLDIERS

Three white soldiers is a three-period bullish reversal pattern

indicated by three long green candlesticks after a period of declining
prices. For the three white soldiers pattern to form, each candlestick
in the pattern must close near the session’s high, with only a short
or shaved upper shadow. Each candlestick in the pattern must also
be bigger than or at least the same size as the first candlestick.

THREE BLACK CROWS

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The three black crows candlestick pattern is a three period reversal
pattern in an uptrend. The pattern includes three long red
candlesticks, with each candlestick closing near the session’s low,
with a small lower shadow. The second and third candlesticks must
be the same size or larger than the first candlestick.

RISING THREE METHODS

Rising three methods is a five-period pattern that indicates a bullish

continuation. The pattern is formed with a long green candlestick
followed by three small red candlesticks contained within the body
of the first. The pattern is complete when these four periods are
followed by a final long green candlestick. The pattern shows that
sellers tried to push back and reverse the trend, although prevailing
momentum was not enough to complete a reversal. For the pattern
to be confirmed, the fifth candlestick must close higher than the
first, which confirms that the reversal attempt was not successful.

FALLING THREE METHODS

The falling three methods pattern is the inverse of the rising three
methods pattern above. It’s a five-period bearish continuation
pattern that indicates there was some buying pressure, although it
was not sufficient to overturn the prevailing downward pressure.
The pattern forms when a long red candlestick is followed by three
small green candlesticks contained within the body of the first and
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another long red candlestick. The fifth candlestick needs to close
below the body of the first to confirm continuation of the
downtrend.

HOW TO QUICKLY READ ANY

CANDLESTICK CHART: 3 QUESTIONS
TO ASK
Sure, you could memorize all of the candlestick patterns above –
and there’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s a lot to memorize.

We have a better idea. You can analyze a lot of candlestick charts

simply by answering three simple questions:

What Was the Preceding Trend? This tells you if there is a trend
that can be reversed, or if markets are wavering without any clear
direction (which makes it difficult to perform accurate analysis).

Where Did the Last Session Close Relative to Its Trading Range? A
close near high is bullish, while a close near low is bearish. Longer
shadows indicate significant price rejections.

How Large Was the Candlestick’s Body Compared to Adjacent

Candlesticks? Candlesticks with larger bodies than surrounding
candlesticks tell us there was relatively greater momentum for that
period, suggesting a major shift from open to close. A candlestick
with a small body after a strong trend, meanwhile, suggests that
there was relenting momentum, respite, or indecision in the market.

The answers to these three questions can give us strong signals of

what markets will do next. In a declining trend, a long-bodied close
near the top of the session’s range indicates a strong likelihood of a
bullish reversal. In a rising trend, a long-bodied close near the
session’s low indicates a bearish shift in the market.

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DISADVANTAGES OF CANDLESTICK
ANALYSIS
Candlesticks pack a lot of information into a simple symbol.
However, they’re not perfect.

Candlesticks do not describe the chronological sequence of price

action during the session, for example. We know where the session
opened and closed and what the high price and low price were for
that session. However, we don’t know if the session plummeted at
the open, skyrocketed, or flip-flopped throughout the day. A line
chart lets us see how a particular session played out from open to
close.

Of course, you can adjust the time frame of your chart to get a more
accurate idea of how markets performed during a specific period of
time.

APPLYING CANDLESTICK PATTERN

ANALYSIS TO REAL MARKETS
Candlestick patterns sometimes tell us the story of a market, but not
always. Let’s take a look at a real-world market to see if we can use
candlesticks to identify some trends.

This is a chart of BTC/USD:

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The chart shows that the relative strength index (RSI) stops
breaking down just above 40 during the second week of
November. It enters overbought status within a week, then steadily
surges for a month.

RSI stays overbought for weeks, suggesting that a bearish reversal

is imminent. However, there’s no indication of a reversal despite the
fact that sell pressure is virtually non-existent.

In the second week of December, the price hits a new

high, although RSI diverges to a lower high. Next, we see
confirmation of sell pressure when an evening star candlestick
pattern forms.

If you look closely, however, there’s a doji star between the star
and the last candlestick in the pattern. For certain patterns,
candlesticks do not necessarily need to be adjacent to one another.
The doji is neutral and indicates that the markets were indecisive.
During these scenarios, we can merge two candlesticks, the star, and
the doji, and the result is still a star.

The last candlestick in the chart closes significantly below the

midpoint of the first candlestick’s body. When we consider this
signal in conjunction with bearish RSI divergence, it indicates strong
bearish momentum getting ready to hit the market.

Thus, the trader performing the candlestick analysis might take a

short position here and stop at the most recent high. We don’t
know if the head and shoulders (H&S) pattern here is going to be
completed. However, despite several brief rallies, RSI continues to
diverge bearishly. All signs are pointing towards a bearish turn, so
you stick with your short position.

By the time the second week of January arrives, the H&S top
pattern has formed. The surge in volume breaks the neckline of the
pattern, further confirming the trader’s position. The stop can be
moved to the most recent swing high within the pattern to cover
the trader’s profits.

masterthecrypto.com
TOP 6 WAYS TO TRADE BITCOIN:
USEFUL CRYPTO TRADING
STRATEGIES TYPES

We’ve told you about the different patterns and strategies available
to you, but there are plenty of different ways to execute these
trading strategies:

MICRO TRADING OR SCALPING

This trading strategy involves using small price movements to

accumulate profits throughout the day. A scalper typically uses a 5
or 15 minute chart, then identifies a local range and trades based on
candlestick patterns. With informed candlestick analysis and a little
bit of luck, a talented scalper may be able to earn a profit.
Nevertheless, micro trading or scalping is very risky, and a single bad
trade can undo a day’s worth of profit.

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 DAY TRADING

Day traders identify the potential range of the trading day using
various indicators, then capitalize on price fluctuations. A day trader
typically uses an hourly chart to set the entry and exit positions. Day
traders can use candlestick patterns, momentum indicators, and
volatility indicators to inform their trades.

SWING TRADING

Swing trading is a short to mid-term trading strategy where trades

last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Swing traders
identify local support and resistance levels within a short-term
trading range, typically during a consolidation spell. Then, they make
trades based on the highs and lows within this range and their
analysis.

POSITION TRADING

Position trading is the type of trading activity where you hold (or
hodl) a position over a set period of time. You’re not trading at all,
but instead investing in an asset based on your analysis. A position
trader’s analysis can include fundamental analysis and weekly or
monthly chart viewing with the goal of earning long-term profits.

MARGIN TRADING

Margin trading is popular among day traders and swing traders.

Margin traders use leverage borrowed from an exchange or broker
to increase the value of their trades by anywhere from 2x to 100x.
Essentially, you’re betting on the price going up (long) or down
(short) within a certain period of time. This is the only type of trading
on this list where it’s possible to lose more money than you invested,
making margin trading vary risky. Of course, profits are also
multiplied by the ratio of leverage. It’s a high-risk, high-reward type
of trading.

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 ALGORITHMIC TRADING

Algorithmic trading or automated trading involves using software

programs – like trading bots – to execute trades based on pre-
specified criteria. You might buy trading algorithms from a
marketplace. Or, you could create your own algorithm based on
trading signals, using things like volume, range, moving averages,
and momentum to equip your bot to make the best possible trades.

TOP TEN TECHNICAL TRADING TIPS

Trading cryptocurrency is easy. Actually making a profit from

trading cryptocurrency, however, can be difficult. Here are our ten
favorite tips for new and advanced traders alike:

Spend More Time Studying Charts: Most traders – especially

beginners – don’t spend enough time studying charts. If you want
to perfect your ability to analyze markets, then you need to become
a competent chart reader.

Take Advantage of Paper Trading: Today’s biggest exchanges offer

paper trading, letting you play with fake money before you start

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trading the real thing. Implement some of your strategies and
analysis to see how you perform.

Trust the Trend: After reading the technical analysis tips above, you
might assume that most signals indicate a reversal in a trend.
However, trends are trends for a reason, and you should never bet
against the trend in a trending market unless you see multiple
confirmations of a reversal.

Stop-Loss Orders Are Amazing: Even the most experienced traders

can watch their positions get liquidated as markets take an
unexpected turn. When markets turn unexpectedly, stop loss orders
are your best friends. Use trailing stop loss orders to protect profits
you have earned.

Avoid the Beginner’s Luck Trap: Many rookie technical traders get
some early beginner’s luck, then assume they’re the greatest
technical traders in the world. Experienced technical traders,
meanwhile, are smart enough to never become complacent. Avoid
getting too high or too low while trading no matter the outcome.

Greed Kills: This tip builds off the tip above. Many capable traders
fail to retain their profits simply because of greed. Why sell now
when I can sell next month and make twice as much?
That sounds good – until markets drop and wipe out all of your
profits. Set your targets, stick to them, take your profits, and wait
for the next opportunity.

You Don’t Have to Make Every Trade: Sometimes, a trade just

doesn’t feel right. Maybe your analysis isn’t giving you a clear signal.
In some cases, you might just want to avoid making a trade. Be
patient and know which hill to die on.

Diversifying with Altcoins Isn’t Really Diversifying: Some crypto

fanatics will recommend diversifying your portfolio by buying
altcoins. Unfortunately, bitcoin is still the king of the crypto markets,
and most altcoins simply follow in its wake. In many cases, altcoins
move in lockstep with bitcoin. Never lock all your funds into crypto.

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Unregulated Markets Are Dangerous: Crypto markets are still
largely unregulated and uncontrolled. Despite what crypto
enthusiasts say, a large amount of crypto volume is linked to illegal
activity. Crypto trading is risky for all sorts of reasons.

Your Profit Might Disappear with a Single Bad or Hacked

Exchange: You might be the world’s best technical trader. You might
have tripled your investment in a single day of trading.
Unfortunately, those profits mean nothing if you leave your private
keys unsecured. Make sure you are in control of your private keys,
and never leave more than you can afford to lose on an exchange.

BITCOIN CHART TRADING ANALYSIS:

FINAL WORD
Finally, from our trading pioneers (who helped engineer this user
guide) to all of our sincere peers, we hope this premiere bitcoin
trading guide is career-changing. Yes, knowledge is power but
taking massive action on what you absorbed above is one of the best
remedies for losing fear (uncertainty and doubt too) as adhering to
a new frontier and atmosphere such as the cryptocurrency market
can be a game changer for those who apply and implement the right
strategies and tips outlined.

Any trader of bitcoin or digital asset investor who made it this far
into our crypto chart analysis review is bound to have learned
multiple methods that will optimize your results of how bitcoin
trading and cryptocurrency chart analysis works.

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 CHAPTER 8
BEST BITCOIN TRADING BOT
USER REVIEW GUIDE

The ability to trade bitcoin within an emerging cryptocurrency

market asset class is nothing short of amazing.

Trading has always been known as the life blood of marketplaces.

And the blockchain-based Bitcoin era has brought with it new
challenges that traditional, on-the-floor stock traders never faced
given the 24/7/365 on-all-the-time nature of the crypto industry.
The bitcoin trading trend has no end in sight, so let's begin.

Learning how to use the best bitcoin trading bots of 2019 will not
be easy nor will instant profits flow in right away. However,
awareness is the first threshold key to unlock in order to optimize
for the smartest trades.

We recommend reviewing each of the 15 auto-trading bot systems

below to start with today.

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The following bitcoin trading bot rankings used these components
as criteria to help rate and review:

• easy to setup, install and use properly – also ability to make

changes fast (without super technical skills)
• trading strategy (arbitrage, market making, copy trading,
shorting, stop-loss, scalping, skill simulations)
• exchange integrations (Binance, Coinbase, Bittrex, Bitfinex,
Bitstamp, Poloniex, KuCoin, Huobi etc)
• pricing and cost flexibility (free trials, monthly, annual or
lifetime license options)
• type (cloud-based, windows / macOS / Linux, automated 1-
click trading feature)
• external signals (via TradingView or other third-party indicators
etc)
• number of active positions (how many open trades at any given
time)
• coin diversity (how many different tokens are available to trade)
• company reputation, product history and overall longevity
• customer support and service accessibility (plus software
system upgrades)

Once these characteristics are evaluated per platform, identify

which are your most favorable strategy execution features of your
liking and start examining in full. Start small, use tolerable amounts
when setting up any automatic cryptoasset trading bot based in
bitcoin. Last thing any hands-off semi-auto pilot trader wants to
experience is performing bitcoin trades at a loss, especially without
your knowledgeable ‘consent' that manual transactions inherently
possess (also known as setting and forgetting gone wrong).

Humans, aka investors and traders, are full of biases and prone to
emotional reactions (aka FOMO, FUD).

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This puts bitcoin buyers and sellers in a minor disadvantage at times,
leading to miscalculations and jeopardizing trade results due to over
analyzing sentiments and ‘trending' cryptocurrency news.

Crypto-related platforms are all gearing up for the ‘high-frequency-

trading' boom in the budding bitcoin sector. When combined with
the non-stop price volatility movements, it can be frustrating for day
traders to compete globally or continuously with any peace of mind,
especially if any real amount of money is at stake. To make it
tougher; the borderless, permissionless, peer to peer market never
sleeps or gets turned off ‘after-hours'. This can become a highly
stressful situation for investors to exist in. Master The Crypto's
guide on the best bitcoin trading bots list hopes to help see how
each stacks up bit by bit, bot by bot.

The benefits of using a bitcoin bot to execute trades is pretty

straightforward. They enable 24/7 exchanging, quick executions,
removes human error and emotion, provides diversity and even a
testing playground to practice putting your bot money on the line in
live markets. Of course, as many know, sometimes you have to take
the good with the bad. These bots may provide a digital leg-up
advantage, but offer their own risks like low quality software, set
and forget fear, poor strategies, failed stop-loss limits executed or
overall scamy schemes promising ‘guaranteed gains'.

In their infancy, they were not the greatest choice to trust large
amounts of money with but they have come a long way since then.
Trading bots can now be considered highly sophisticated and have
all manner of functions for your comfort level and needs. The top
software systems available can give investors a legitimate edge by
trading on their behalf, with specific parameters set up, thereby
optimizing the time, effort, and resources of the human involved.
Whether thinking of your personal bitcoin trading bot being akin to
your artificial assistant, there is only one of two options to choose
from; DIY, aka build your own, or use a preprogrammed bot. It's time
to focus on the latter and see what the bitcoin market has to offer
in the growing world of automated crypto trading bots.

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Que the development of trading bots, the programmable robots
designed to enable around the clock trading morning, noon and
night.

TOP 15 BITCOIN TRADING BOTS

HAASBOT

Hassbot is one of the more popular automated trading solutions and

can also integrate with all major exchanges. It is regularly used by
the financial gurus who teach others about cryptocurrency
(something that always results in the best secrets of the trade being
kept to themselves- like trading bots). It operates 24/7, can identify
candlestick patterns in trading recognition, and can be bought as a
three month at a time use.

Since the inception of HaaSOnline Automated Investment Software

in January 2014 conception by Stephen de Haas, the software has
had 2 major revisions and third is about to release this year. The
updated version has been reviewed and is not able to connect to
every major platform but they are working on a solution to that now.

The bot is supported on Windows, MacOS, and Linux but requires

1.2 GHz or higher, as well as 4 cores, at least 2GB of memory space,
and a super fat internet connection (5mbit download speed) to
function properly. HaaSOnline does offer 15 different bots to
choose from though, based on how often you want to trade and the
range offers many ways to personally configure preferences.
Because they offer so many different kinds of systems, there is

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something for everything. However, the price being between .12
BTC and .32 BTC per three months use, we recommend this one
only for users who are committed to extracting significant use from
the bot itself. Otherwise, it’s just not worth the price.

3COMMAS

3Commas is a popular, easy to use bot that supports BitFinex,

Bittrex, Bitstamp, Binance, GDAX, KuCoin, Poloniex, YoBit, Huobi,
and Cryptopia. It adds new exchanges all the time and allows you to
access all of them at the same time from a convenient platform.
Although based in Toronto, a majority of it appears to be run from
Russia with Russian based employees. You can see about a dozen
employees listed, along with their LinkedIn profiles, on the website
and the company itself has a very active social media account.

The platform boasts a smart trading terminal with portfolio

management tools, allowing for personalization. There is a “trader’s
journal” that keeps track of all your trades across different
exchanges in one easy to see location and you can set up trade types
on platforms that normally do not allow that type through this
service. The bots even allow you to do multiple trades
simultaneously. Probably one of the more cool features is the ability
to follow and copy someone else’s trading style. So if you see
someone who’s trading abilities you admire, you can trace them and
follow suit with one easy click- and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

To see what their dashboard looks like, you can set up an account
with your email and a password for free. Monthly subscriptions for
trade and bot use range from $30 to $100 a month, depending on

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what it is you are looking for, including a starter, advanced, pro, and
enterprise package that you can purchase in 1 month, 6 month, and
yearly intervals. There is a 0.25% commission fee but it is only
charge on the money you deposit directly into your 3commas
account, not with the individual exchanges, and there is a $10
signup bonus.

All of 3commas can be access through a web browser on desktop or

mobile but iOS has an app available and they are currently working
on one for Android.

CRYPTOHOPPER

CryptoHopper is a crypto trading platform based on the cloud

technology, meaning it can make trades for you even when your
computer is off. There is a setting allowing for third-party trusted
sources to determine what signals the bot should look for which is
useful for newer traders. Experienced traders have over 120
indicators and candle patterns to choose from as well as over 30
signal groups from around the world to create a unique trading
approach matching the style you wish to use.

Cryptohopper has created a reputation for itself as a reputable,

quality trading platform with features like trading designer strategy,
automatic robots, copy trading, and its own trading marketplace. For
those who are uncertain of their skills, they also offer “paper
trading” which simulates the real markets but does not use real
money. This allows you to practice as much as you want/need
before stepping in with real cash.

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Founded in 2017 by two brothers, he main goal of CryptoHopper is
to make advanced automated trading simple, a goal it appears to
have reached, and is based in Amsterdam. Like some other bot
platforms, it allows you to access multiple exchanges from one place
but what separates them is their lack of fee for doing so. It can
connect to the top 12 exchanges around the world.

We recommend this platform specifically because of its ease of use,

“training” program, and its ultimate control giving to the user
without any push in one direction or another. Their monthly
subscriptions range from $19 to $99 a months, depending on the
features you want and the budget you have, including the explorer
hopper, adventurer hopper, and hero hopper packages. If you’re still
not convinced or are nervous, they do offer a free 7-day trial for
anyone who signs up.

GEKKO

Gekko is a unique trading bot in that it is entirely programmable and

is available on GitHub as a completely open source. It supports 18
major exchanges and offers an adaptable plugin system to integrate
with IRC, Telegram, and emails.

Overall, Gekko is meant for users who value simple automation and
optimization to execute basic trading strategies. They have a web
interface that allows for inputting historical data and live data,
calculate indicators as well as profit/risk metrics, simulate markets
and order execution, and graph results for ease of understanding. It
also features viewing coin prices in real time and executing live
orders.

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It’s not an overly abundant service and has limited functionality, but
it’s also simply and easy to understand. Gekko gets the job done and
is not only useful but completely free.

GUNBOT

Gunbot is one of the most popular automated bitcoin trading

systems available today, with some touting its extensive
customization options and others describing its ability to keep
novices and advanced users happy.

This platform allows users to connect to just about every popular

exchange (with each update adding more) and is one of the few with
the trading tools available to completely customize your bot’s trade
technique. Its popularity brings with it a large and active community
as thousands of people using it daily. Any problem you might come
across with the software will most likely have forums directing you
how to solve it.

Gunbot is desktop software and can run on PC, Mac, Linux, or a VPS.
It comes at three price points ranging between 0.04 BTC and .3 BTC.
Your purchase includes lifelong updates and you can get a lifelong
license for between 0.035 BTC and 0.165 BTC.

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 CRYPTOTRADER

Cryptotrader is a fantastic but not well known platform. It is a cloud-

based trading bot that allows traders to build their own
customizable trading bot solution in minutes and does not require
installation of software whatsoever.

A unique feature of this platform is their strategies marketplace,

where you can buy and sell successful strategies. Cryptotrader even
allows for back testing strategies on past market data. It also
supports all major cryptocurrency exchanges and uses a multitude
of coin types, not just Bitcoin.

The cost is between 0.0026 BTC and 0.0316 BTC on a monthly basis
(although they also accept Litecoin).

BTC ROBOT

BTC Robot guarantees profits with a self-described automated

trading tool and is one of the earliest trading bots to be commercially

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available. What separates them from other platforms also claiming
to be the best is they actually have evidence supporting this and
claims to it works by constantly analysing prices across all Bitcoin
exchange markets in order to exploit the gaps.

Their set up is simple and user-friendly, but have a track record of

mixed reviews. Some claim regular small returns but others have
stated it is difficult to get it to work properly and does not generate
a significant ROI.

Despite this, it is a safe bet to at least try because they are backed
by a 60-day, 100% money back guarantee.

ZENBOT

Zenbot is an open source, anonymous trading bot that is currently

under active development and in its third iteration. It’s completely
free but does require some knowledge of its code because it allows
for personalized editing through Github.

The bot works with a lot of cryptos and can execute multiple trading
strategies. It’s also one of the only autonomous trading solutions
that is even capable of high-frequency trading and supports multiple
trading at the same time. They boast the capability of a lot of
features but do not recommend its use if you want to trade large
amounts.

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 COINBOT.CLUB

Coinbot.club is a crypto bot rental service with an open source code.

One of the best things about this company is just how overly
transparent they are. The website has a description of algorithms
used (including their Conservative Algorithm and Aggressive
Algorithm), info on the team, and a link to their Github page:
https://github.com/coinbitbot.

The sheer amount of features is a point of pride and part of what

makes them one of the most popular automated Bitcoin trading bots
on the market today. They have three types of bots, and three bonus
modules; the social analyser module that analyses information on
various social media sites for info relating to your choice of crypto
and does so through human team members, the arbitration bot that
scans for opportunities across various exchanges, and the telegram
assistant which allows you to execute trades over a familiar platform
interface. All three are customizable.

It is important to remember that they have a multi-tier commission

program so if you get sent a link from a friend talking about how
great it is, they may not be being completely forthcoming because
they would make money if you sign up through them.

Overall, Coinbot.club puts a special emphasis on community and

transparency that is alluring. As an industry about personal gain and
typically valuing anonymity, it makes for a nice change that they
make a point of proclaiming and acting in a way that is opposite.
They also distinguish themselves by promising to offer real profits
and losses, sending out an alert if the bot has made a loss of -10%.

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If you’re interested but unsure, they do baost a 7-day free trial. You
can register for a test the bots free of charge as long as your trading
volume does not exceed 0.001 BTC. This makes it a great option iof
you wish to get a feel for what you would be in for upon actual
purchase.

MARGIN.DE (FORMERLY LEONARDO)

Margin.de is a trading bot platform put out by Margin and is made

with integrated parts that it bought from a previously shut down
trading bot by the name of Leonardo. Their emphasis is in security,
clean layouts, and effective bots, and the site shows a significant
level of transparency.

This is a once pay system with the starter package being $89 and
the professional plan being $1,699. It supports a surprising amount
of exchanges and it allows payment options from multiple sources
(Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and BitPay).

They arguably have the most attractive and clearly invested a lot
into the appearance of the interface. You can also find a
comprehensive FAQs section on the website and a multitude of
online tutorials.

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 AUTONIO

This bot claims to be the first completely decentralized trading app

that is powered by AI. Because of this, Autinio’s source code can be
checked and verified by any user.

Autinio is marketed to both novice and professional users with a lot

of customizable options to make a trading style you want for your
bot. However, they also have a marketplace where you can buy
someone else’s.

The platform’s app is on the Ethereum Blockchain and uses its own
ERC-20 token called NIO. You can purchase NIO tokens on major
exchanges like Bitfinex, Ethfinex, and others, as you will need them
to trade on the app.

As of October, the app has over 3,000 daily active users and is
available for download on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and Android.
The subscription price is currently $50 per month.

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 ZIGNALY

Zignaly is an incredibly new bitcoin trading bot, still in its beta stage,
and currently only supports Binance and allows users to directly
execute trading strategies. It best feature so far is no limit on trading
pairs (other platforms cause you to pay more to have access to
more).

The website also offers a lot of transparency, including links to the

co-founders’ social media profiles. Currently it is free but when
there is an official release, it will have a cost and they will have
added more exchanges.

Reviews are good so far so keep an eye out for the future release of
its main platform!

PROFIT TRAILER

ProfitTrailer has a modest amount of transparency but does not list

it’s creators on the site at all. Despite being formally registered in

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Curaco, the headquarters and employees are actually in the
Netherlands and claims 3,000 users worldwide.

This bot is capable of “trailing trends,” allowing users to jump on the

latest trends faster with less risk. But what makes it particularly
unique is its wiki. The wiki has plenty of how-to pages, with the
support team talking the time to create 50+ videos showing people
extensive uses. It’s one of the many things that inspires users to
leave good reviews.

Features for this platform include (but are definitely not limited to)
over 20 buy and sell strategies, help for beginners, portfolio
overview, multiple exchanges and hundreds of cryptos, notifications
tracker to Telegram and Discord, and many more. Subscriptions
come in 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 1 year intervals,
ranging in price from €39 to €89 a month. All subscription types give
you access to all exchanges and 24/5 support. They also offer a
service where you cn buy a VPS (virtual private server).

ProfitTrailer is available on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. You can

download the software and use it on any internet-connected device.

PRO CRYPTO BOTS (GOLDMAN BOT)

Unfortunately, Pro Crypto Bots offers a significant lack of

transparency. The website has no about us page and it is not clear
who is running their service or from where, although the name is
registered in Toronto. The only clues to its legitimacy comes from
online reviewers and its biggest online name connection comes from
the brokeback packer.

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According to the site, the platform uses Fibonacci trading bots to
give users “incredible opportunities to grow your crypto investment
with minimal risk, even during volatile market conditions,” and
attempts to dazzle with stories of users gaining enormous returns
after implementing their trading strategies even if prices go down.

The bots themselves were allegedly created by anonymous user

@Fibonacci30, with one for ETH/USD that operates on a 2 hour
timeframe and another for BTC/USD that operates on a 4 hour
timeframe. Both are fully automated and take place only through
Bitmex and Deribit. Because of this, it is not available in the United
States as those two exchanges are banned (some online users
suggest using a VPN to get around this).

Their features include easy set-up, runs through amazon web

services instead of on your computer, offers a discord support
group, is encrypted, claims large returns, and can buy/sell futures.
All it requires is a Bitmex or Deribit account, Bitcoin (they suggest a
minimum of .5 BTC but it’s not required), and a PayPal to sign up for
the subscription. There is only 1 package and it costs a staggering
$350 a month, payable only through PayPal.

Overall, the limited information on the company and the platform

makes it difficult to obtain a full understanding of Pro Crypto Bots.
However, they do offer a free 14-day trial and your Paypal will not
be charged if you cancel before the 14th day. The lack of
transparency is unusual for such an expensive service so proceed at
your own risk.

CRYPTO WORLD EVOLUTION (CWE)

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CWE is listed just to show you how quickly these bitcoin trading
bots can ‘wear out'. Crypto World Evolution, once considered a top
tier system with a large membership and active users, has had quite
a fall from grace in the auto-crypto trading bot space. It's biggest
appeal was the amount of individual control you have over what it
trades and how – even to individual coins of your choice. While it
only used bitcoin in its trading orders, it did have the option to select
up to 15 different coins to trade within and essentially try to profit
via ‘microbetting', or microselling and microbuying.

The trades this bot did were on average worth .01 BTC so if you
select a limit of .1 BTC then it’s possible the bot will open 10 trades
at once to meet this limit. Trades remain “pending” until the desired
level is reached or until you press sell yourself (again, leaving you
with ultimate control). Now, in late 2019, this bitcoin trading bot
seems to have faded into the oblivion and needs to be checked up
on before any careful consideration of using the auto trading bot
software to ensure it is up to date and functioning properly.

Back during its peak, on average, trades looked to close at around

2% but it can be seen closing at 1-10%. Because markets are volatile,
it could make several trades a day or none at all. It really just
depends on what it sees as worthy which means you can sit back
and relax instead of constantly watching the up and down. While
you can use any trade platform with this bot, we recommend
Binance for now because their API is allowing for choice of altcoin
more freely to trade against your Bitcoin. However, as noted, please
access their latest version of the bitcoin trading bot portal to give it
a good gut-check questioning before using. We will update the
review on CWE trading bot software once more intel comes back to
us.

MORE BITCOIN TRADING BOTS TO

REVIEW
The 15 most popularly used bitcoin trading bots are listed for further
review and guidance. However, there's more coming soon.

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• Apex Trader Automated Trading Platform (works on Binance
and KuCoin)
• SuperOrder Automatic Cryptocurrency Trading Bots (works on
BitMEX)
• Quadency Smart Crypto Asset Trading and Management (works
on over 10 exchanges)
• Kryll
• Shrimpy Universal Crypto Trading and Portfolio Management
App (all major platforms)
• HodlBot Cryptocurrency Trading Bot (lightweight, easy to
customize)

HOW HUMANS COMPARE TO AUTO

CRYPTO TRADING

Going inside cryptocurrency's new warfare on the bitcoin trading

battlefront can be daunting as trading bots are essentially special
programs using complex indicators to analyze the condition of the
market, predict its next move, and execute trades. Sounds
complicated, right? But let’s take a look at the ups and downs of this
new avenue of trading.

THE DOWNSIDE

• Scams- in the early days of trading bots, most were just scams
and this can put a damper on any party.

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• Hidden Fees- not all is as it seems, some services have extra
fees tacked on to a monthly subscriptions.
• Updates- keeping up with updates is something that is made
fun of online because people do not like to do it, but in this case
it is vital to keep the software updated so the bot can stay
relevant to market changes.
• Limitations- depending on the bot you choose, it may not be
factoring in breaking cryptocurrency news, analysis, insider
knowledge, or more that a human would.
• Pattern matching- this is when a trading bots’ operational
algorithm becomes identified, making them potentially less
profitable.
• Artificial Intelligence- AI is still limited and struggles to replace
human experience and instinct.

THE UPSIDE

• Efficiency- human error does not exist in these bots, their speed
and ability to avoid mistakes makes them highly profitable.
• 24/7- this market never sleeps but humans have to, a bot can
cover you without having to stressfully be apprised of as much
as possible as often as possible.
• Intuitive Algorithms- machine learning algorithms can quickly
factor in many things, including social media, to determine the
best investment opportunities.
• Lack of Emotion- means lack of impulse buying or otherwise
emotionally driven choices that human would make, especially
ones based in fear.
• Personalization- while keeping constant track of markets
worldwide, you can also program your bot to look out for key
indicators that you have preference for via easy to use interface
buttons.

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 OTHER KEY POINTS WORTH NOTING:

Institutional bots are designed to reduce problems associated with

market manipulation and crypto volatility.

Traditional crypto bots comprise of largely automated systems that

are designed to perform actions such as real-time information
exchange, fiat-crypto trades, resolution of customer queries etc.

In an ideal world, you may want to consider using bots that combine
the automatic system with human expertise. For example, eToro
offers the CopyTrader tool that lets you copy exact trades that other
traders make. It is more of a trading bot working with the help of a
human trader.

Even so, they continue to evolve at all times, and their functionality
and sophistication are constantly increasing. New ones are
appearing all the time, and there are dozens of them on the market
right now, waiting to be used. They can be free, or subscription-
based. Such bots can even be quite expensive and are often used by
professional traders. Still, they are all usable, and can even be quite
profitable.

While there are numerous benefits of using trading bots, users

should remember that there are some serious second-thought risks
involved as well. After all, you are giving the control over your
money to a third party. Trading bots are still a new technology that
has yet to develop. Not only that, but they work with cryptos, which
are only a few years older tech than the bots themselves.

One of the biggest risks involves flawed software. Not all of the bots
are of equal quality, and bad coding can make a lot of damage. If you
decide to trade large amounts through the bot, the risks are that
much bigger. Of course, flawed software is not a purposeful defect,
but it can cost you a lot of you use a bot that has it.

There are also Flash crashes that you should watch out for, as you
can experience quite heavy losses if you fail to set stop-loss limits.

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Flash crashes can be quite often, and it is highly advisable to be on
a lookout for such occurrences.

Finally, we should not forget about scams. Scammers are a curious

breed, and they evolve with technology and market. As soon as
trading bots emerged, scammers figured out how to use them to
their advantage. They started creating fake trading bots that the
traders would start using, give them their money, never to see it
again.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE TRADING

BOTS TO THE BITCOIN MARKET?

Cryptocurrency is absolutely a new tech that’s fast becoming the

darling of the world. Even more, it is increasingly becoming a live
laboratory procedure for trading at a higher frequency, as well as an
area for the advancement for trading bots.

While there has been a vast number of trading bots and algos used
by Wall Street companies for conventional trading disciplines,
cryptocurrency markets are now seen as a new trading platform for
exploring new methods and employing some marketing strategies.

his has been confirmed by Forbes which reported that the

development of tools or trading software and decentralized
exchanges will herald a new era of automated trading bots.

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While companies are increasingly working on different software for
crypto trading, it is still a sector that guarantees lots of
improvements which will be revealed by the continuous expansion
that artificial intelligence provides.

While the future of exchanges and blockchain tech is still not really
clear, it is becoming increasingly obvious that artificial intelligence
will play a large role in the near future.

Professional traders and institutional investors will need them to

help curtail the risks while executing high volume trades in a semi-
automated or hands free way.

Trading bots effectively help with minimizing trading limitations and

makes it easy for retail investors, to efficiently use simpler tech
applications through a well secured process. In fact, these trading
bots can be designed to take advantage of trade inconsistencies
caused by some manipulation, thus helping an investor or trader
make even more money.

Trader bots with artificial intelligence, will also help improve the
ease of trade monitoring as well as investment portfolio. As a result,
traders can then focus on growing their portfolio thanks to the
reliable and predictable returns.

Also, traders using bots are more likely to eliminate all forms of
human error from their trades. In fact, last year, lots of traders made
a lot of fortune from using trading.

THE LONG TERM EFFECTS

These days, experienced traders make use of advanced trading tools

as conventional traders are not familiar with them. As it stands,
there is a common API for crypto trading, which makes it more
challenging to use bots. Ironically, most of them don’t perform well
when it comes to low volume trades.

The volatility of the cryptocurrency market necessitates the need

for trading bots which are becoming increasingly popular among

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traders. These programmable software algorithsm allow investors to
remain in trading at all times, with the bot making automatic bids
even while the trader is asleep and the other half of the world is just
starting to wake and rise.

While crypto trading bots sound amazing, there is a need for due
diligence if it involves automatic software since human alone is not
infallible when it comes to matters of trading. Even Warren Buffet,
a seasoned Wall Street legend loses out from time to time and
crypto trading bots could be useful at making sure such investors
stay ahead of others.

Nevertheless, their continuous use in trading comes with huge

costs. In the end, it is certain that bots will continue to be improved
upon to meet the varieties of trading needs. This will be even more
so when the crypto industry stabilizes, as they’ll play a role in helping
developers with AI’s deep learning capabilities.

LAST AUTOMATIC BITCOIN TRADING BOT

THOUGHTS

There you have it – we will do our best to update with on-going

research about the latest and great bitcoin trading robots. As fast as
the FinTech and virtual currency worlds are growing, a lot can
change in a short amount of time.

As innovation and insight begin to stack up and showcase strengths

in all kinds of transformative and disruptive ways, there will be a lot
of hog wash with the bacon. But just like the meat isn't the key,
protein is where the solution lies. No matter what list you stumble

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upon and read up on next, never invest more than you can risk to
lose as many cryptocurrency related laws, rules and regulations are
yet to be handed down by the alphabet governing bodies.

One last thing to remember regarding the trading bots is that they
are, and should be seen and used as, tools. They are not a passive
income solution that will make a profit for you while you're doing
something else just because of the buzzword automated. Of course,
you can set up specific parameters on some of them, and have your
trading somewhat secured, but the market is growing and changing
all the time, and your parameters need to follow these changes
especially as daily crypto news and cycles continue.

Because of that, you cannot just set up a bot and forget about it.
They still require your supervision, and often even interference. The
right strategy is also important, and if you do things right, then the
trading bots can turn out to be quite profitable tools. If you don't —
expect some serious losses.

In closing out this piece, it is worth remembering that unlike humans,

commercial robots are never swayed by emotions or other
psychological factors that are known to influence a lot of traders.
With that being said, they don't call the intellect “man’s greatest
asset” for nothing.

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 CHAPTER 9
BITCOIN FUTURES
BEST EXCHANGES + HOW TRADING WORKS

WHAT ARE BITCOIN FUTURES? HOW

DO BITCOIN FUTURES WORK? WHAT
ARE THE BEST BITCOIN FUTURES
EXCHANGES?
Bitcoin futures are alive and well in 2019. On an average day,
investors exchange over $5 billion in bitcoin futures contracts.

But what exactly are bitcoin futures? How do bitcoin futures work?
How can I start trading bitcoin futures?

Today, we’re explaining everything you need to know about bitcoin

futures trading.

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WHAT IS A FUTURES CONTRACT?
A futures contract allows the investor to buy or sell an asset at a
certain price on a certain date set at some point in the future.
Investors in bitcoin can trade futures contracts in futures
marketplaces.

Traditionally, the most active futures markets have involved gold,

oil, or various commodities.

The futures contract itself contains details of the asset class being
traded. The contract also lists the purchase size, final trading day,
maturity date, and the exchange on which the contract is being
bought or sold.

Because the futures contract is linked to the value of the asset, the
underlying value of the futures contract for a particular instrument
is priced according to the actual asset itself.

HOW DOES FUTURES TRADING

WORK?

A futures trade involves two parties. One party goes long on an

asset class while the other goes short. While we have covered in
great detail the bitcoin chart analysis, learning how to trade bitcoin
futures is a different category to understand as a whole.

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The futures contract is created based on demand: the contract is not
automatically offered in the marketplace. A futures contract is
created when a buyer is matched with a seller.

A short position is used to secure a sell price now in order to protect

someone – like a hedger – against declining prices in the future. The
short position wins if the price continues to fall.

A long position is used to secure a buy price now to take advantage

of rising prices in the future. The long position wins if prices
continue to rise.

With both of these positions, the trader has locked into the contract
at a specific price point.

Futures contracts start as an agreement between two parties,

although the contract will likely change hands multiple times before
the contract expires.

When the futures contract expires, the settlement can be either

physical (in the case of commodities) or via a cash settlement (in the
case of most bitcoin futures exchanges).

When a futures contract is physically settled, the goods are

delivered at the agreed-upon price. Typically, futures contracts are
used by investors to hedge physical exposure to a particular
instrument, or by speculators, neither of whom are looking for
physical delivery of the asset.

When a futures contract is cash-settled (also known as financially

settled), no physical exchange of goods takes place; instead, an
equivalent amount of cash is exchanged. The contract is settled by
taking the difference between the price of the contract at the time
it was purchased and the price at settlement.

Bitcoin futures trading takes a similar approach. Cash-settled bitcoin

futures let traders gain exposure and/or hedge their exposure to the
crypto asset without actually having to manage their private keys or
create a crypto account to buy bitcoin. Physically-settled bitcoin

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futures, like the product offered by Bakkt, require physical storage
of Bitcoin.

FUTURES CONTRACTS IN PRACTICE

In practice, futures contracts are most often used by hedgers and

speculators. An airline might hedge itself against rising oil prices, for
example, while a speculator might buy bitcoin futures contracts
today anticipating a rise in bitcoin prices moving forward.

Hedgers can go either long or short. A short position is taken to

secure a price now to protect the hedger from declining prices in the
future, while a long position protects against rising prices in the
future.

Speculators go short when they expect prices to fall in the future.

They go long when they expect prices will rise in the future.

All airlines, for example, protect themselves against fluctuations in

oil prices by buying futures contracts. The airline will buy a futures
contract for crude oil today. That contract will have a specified price
and delivery date in the future. This insulates the airline from the
cost fluctuations of crude oil: the airline is affected by the cost
fluctuations of crude oil as a physical commodity, but it has
protected itself in the futures market.

A speculator, meanwhile, might buy a bitcoin futures contract today.

That futures contract guarantees that the speculator can buy bitcoin
one year from now at a price of $8,000. If the price of bitcoin rises

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to $15,000 by the contract’s expiry, then the speculator has made a
significant amount of money. If the price of bitcoin drops to $5,000
by the contract’s expiry, then the speculator has lost money.

Or, let’s consider the case of a bitcoin miner. A bitcoin miner, for
example, might sell bitcoin futures as a hedge against price volatility.
The bitcoin miner is like a soybean farmer trading soybean futures:
the miner will ‘harvest’ BTC at some point and want to sell it. To
hedge against the risk of bitcoin’s price falling, the miner could lock
into a specific price of BTC for a specific future date.

HISTORY OF FUTURES MARKETS

Futures markets aren’t new; the first futures market, called the
Dojima Rice Exchange, was launched in Japan in 1710. Traders
would buy or sell futures contracts based on the price of rice.

Some argue that the London Metal Exchange operated similarly

back in the 16th century. Others point to the Hammurabi Code from
1750 BC that allowed the sales of goods and assets to be delivered
of ran agreed price at a future date.

In any case, futures markets have been around for a while. Bitcoin
futures trading, however, is extremely new.

HISTORY OF BITCOIN FUTURES

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The first bitcoin futures markets launched in December 2017.
Officially, Cboe Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) was the first to list
bitcoin futures. The organization’s cross-town competitor, however,
CME Group, was the first to announce the launch of bitcoin futures
trading, although they didn’t launch their exchange until December
17.

Today, Cboe and CME are the two largest and best-regulated
bitcoin futures exchanges, although plenty of other competitors
have emerged.

Why did we need bitcoin futures exchanges? Well, just like in

commodity markets, investors needed a way to hedge.

Prior to the launch of bitcoin futures trading, miners faced an

unknown future and fixed operating costs. Miners were mining
bitcoin and holding bitcoin, then spending money on utility bills and
operating expenses, but they weren’t sure how much their bitcoin
was ultimately going to be worth. Just like airlines, miners needed a
way to hedge their bets. That’s why we need bitcoin futures
contracts.

Although Cboe and CME Group are the two largest and best-known
bitcoin futures exchanges, they’re not the only players in the game.

One bitcoin futures trading exchange traces its history back to

2011. OrderBook.net launched in 2011 (originally known as iCBIT).
The exchange lasted until around 2016. At its peak, OrderBook.net
sold millions of futures contracts each month. OrderBook.net has
since shut down.

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More recently, TD Ameritrade has entered the bitcoin futures
trading space, for example. Anyone with a TD Ameritrade account
can actively trade bitcoin futures. TD Ameritrade offers bitcoin
futures trading, although you’ll need to meet certain requirements
to qualify (as a minimum account balance of $25,000).

Today, we have dozens of major crypto futures trading platforms.

Most of the best-regulated institutional platforms continue to focus
on bitcoin and USD futures contracts. However, many other
providers now offer futures trading in Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC),
Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ripple (XRP).

Kraken, for example, offers all of the following crypto futures

contract pairs: BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, BCH/USD,
XRP/USD, and XRP/BTC.

Meanwhile, two unregulated marketplaces, OKEx and BitMEX, each

have average daily volumes exceeding $1 billion on average, making
them the two largest bitcoin futures exchanges available today.

THREE MAIN REASONS TO TRADE

CRYPTO FUTURES

There are three main reasons why a company, an investor, or an

institution would trade bitcoin futures:

Hedge Price Risk: Investors holding digital assets can mitigate the
risk of a falling price by simultaneously taking a short future position

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on the asset in question. If the price falls, the short position will
mitigate losses by providing additional revenue.

Speculate on Market Direction: Cryptocurrency futures trading

allows investors to speculate on whether prices will go up or down.
If you believe the price of bitcoin is about to sharply increase, or
example, then you can go extra long on bitcoin futures to multiply
your returns. If you believe ETH is about to plummet, then you can
short ETH futures.

Stabilize Price Fluctuations: Airlines stabilize oil price fluctuations

by buying crude oil futures. Some do the same with bitcoin futures.
A miner with expected bitcoin flows or an ATM operator with
inventory to manage, for example, might smoothen exposure to
price fluctuations using bitcoin futures.

Generally, most bitcoin futures traders fall into one of the categories
above.

LEVERAGE AND CRYPTO FUTURES

TRADING

Leverage plays a crucial role in futures trading. You’ll see many

futures exchanges advertise how much leverage they offer. CME
and Cboe offer leverage of 3x to 5x, on average, while unregulated
exchanges offer leverage of 20x to 100x.

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Futures are extremely capital efficient, which means less money is
required to open positions than if you were spot trading (1x) or
margin trading (3 to 5x).

That’s why many bitcoin futures marketplaces – like Kraken – let

you leverage your position up to 50x over, assuming you have
sufficient collateral.

Let’s say you have 10 BTC and are scared of declining prices. With
spot trading, you need to trust 100% of your money to the spot
exchange to sell. With a margin exchange, you’d need to trust 20%.
With 50x crypto futures like we see on Kraken, you can trust as low
as 2% of your money on the exchange.

Because crypto futures use collateral as low as 2% of the notional

amount, crypto futures allow you to take positions with up to 50x
leverage, giving traders the flexibility to position themselves in the
market while maintaining lower exchange risk than they would have
on spot or margin trading platforms.

THE BEST BITCOIN FUTURES

EXCHANGES AVAILABLE TODAY
Today, Cboe and CME remain the two largest and best-regulated
bitcoin futures marketplaces in the world.

Other competitors have also entered the market. You can now
trade crypto futures on well-regulated crypto exchanges like
Kraken, for example. You can also trade futures on unregulated
crypto exchanges like Deribit, BitMEX, and OKCoin.

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 CHICAGO BOARD OF EXCHANGE (CBOE)

Cboe was the first regulated marketplace to launch bitcoin futures

trading. The company beat its crosstown competitor, CME Group,
to launch, even though CME Group announced its futures trading
weeks earlier. Key features of bitcoin futures trading on Cboe
include:

• Listing Date: December 10, 2017

• Ticker Symbol: XBT
• Contract Unit: Equal to 1 BTC
• Description: Cash-settled futures contracts based on the
Gemini Exchange auction price for bitcoin in USD.
• Pricing: USD
• Settlement: The final settlement value will be the auction
price for bitcoin in USD determined at 4 pm EST on the
final settlement date by the Gemini Exchange.
• Trading Hours: 830am to 315pm Monday to Friday
• Margin Rates: 40%
• Clearing: Options Clearing Corporation
• Contract Expirations: Weekly, monthly, quarterly

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 CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (CME) GROUP

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group launched its bitcoin

futures trading marketplace just a week after Cboe. Today, the
platform functions in a similar way to Cboe’s offering, although
there are small differences between the two options.

• Listing Date: December 17, 2017

• Ticker Symbol: BTC
• Contract Unit: Equal to 5 BTC
• Description: Cash-settled based on the CME CF Bitcoin
Reference Rate (BRR), which serves as a once-a-day
reference rate of the USD price of bitcoin.
• Pricing: USD
• Settlement: The contract is priced using the CME CF BRR,
which has been built around the IOSCO Principles for
Financial Benchmarks. BRR takes data from Bitstamp,
Coinbase, itBit, and Kraken to calculate pricing.
• Trading Hours: Sunday to Friday from 6pm to 5 pm, with
one-hour break at 5pm.
• Margin Rates: 35%
• Clearing: CME ClearPort
• Contract Expirations: Every two months

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 TD AMERITRADE

TD Ameritrade recently launched bitcoin futures trading to

qualifying users. Anyone with a TD Ameritrade account who meets
the qualifications can start trading bitcoin futures from directly
within their accounts. TD Ameritrade has partnered with CME
Group to offer bitcoin futures trading: you’re trading through your
TD Ameritrade account, although all trades are placed over the CME
Group marketplace.

To qualify for TD Ameritrade bitcoin futures trading, your account

needs to meet the following qualifications:

• Margin enabled
• Tier 2 spread option approval
• Advanced features enabled
• Futures trading approval
• Account minimum of $25,000

TD Ameritrade’s requirement for trading bitcoin futures is 1.5 times

higher than exchange margin requirements. Once approved, you’re
ready to start trading bitcoin futures immediately.

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 KRAKEN

Kraken has one of the most robust crypto trading platforms

available today. Kraken lets you trade a variety of cryptocurrencies
in multiple pairs. Key features of Kraken’s crypto futures trading
marketplace include:

• Multiple Currency Pairs: BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD,

BCH/USD, XRP/USD, and XRP/BTC.
• Leverage: Up to 50x leverage (available across all pairs)
• Timeframe: Perpetual, monthly, and quarterly (only
perpetual and quarterly timeframes available for XRP/BTC)
• Contract Size: 1 USD (1 XRP for the XRP/BTC pair)
• Collateral: BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, or XRP
• Type: Inverse (Vanilla for XRP/BTC pair)
• Fees: 0.075% taker, 0.02% maker
• Settlement: Profit from trading is instantly settled and
available. Contracts mature at the expiration date and the
open interest is cash-settled in the collateral asset.

One of the biggest advantages of trading crypto futures with Kraken

is that you can leverage up to 50x across all pairs.

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 BAKKT

Bakkt is the newest entrant to the crypto futures trading space.

Bakkt is a crypto startup launched by Intercontinental Exchange
(ICE), the same company behind the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE). Originally announced in 2018, Bakkt’s launch date was
pushed back over a year.

Finally, Bakkt launched in September 2019 with its first product: a

bitcoin futures contract aimed at institutional investors who want to
make bets on the future price of bitcoin.

One of the biggest differences between Bakkt and its competitors

is that Bakkt’s futures contracts are physically settled in ‘real’
bitcoin. Unlike traditional futures contracts on other exchanges,
which are simply derivatives of bitcoin, Bakkt uses physical bitcoin.

Other key features of Bakkt include:

• Custody: Unlike any other crypto futures marketplace,

Bakkt stores physical bitcoin. The company has invested
significantly in state-of-the-art physical and cybersecurity,
ultimately allowing it to create an institutional-grade custody
service suitable for retail and institutional investors alike.
• Same Technology as ICE and NYSE: Bakkt may be the most
secure crypto exchange available. The exchange is built on
the same technology that powers major international
exchanges like the ICE and the NYSE.
• Physically Delivered Contracts: Unlike all other crypto
futures exchanges listed here, Bakkt uses physically-

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 delivered bitcoin futures contracts. Instead of just trading
derivatives of bitcoin and settling in cash, Bakkt users settle
contracts in real bitcoin.
• Compliant: Bakkt is built for compliance from the ground up.
Users must complete KYC and AML verification. Bakkt also
has on-chain analytics and surveillance for all crypto
deposits and withdrawals. Overall, Bakkt is positioning itself
as a safe and regulated trading environment.

Today, Bakkt only offers physically-settled BTC/USD futures

contracts. Moving forward, however, Bakkt plans to launch
additional pairs and offerings.

INTERACTIVE BROKERS

Interactive Brokers lets you buy long contracts with a 50% margin
requirement, which is the best in the market. Although Interactive
Brokers charges slightly higher fees than the competition, the
platform also accepts a range of different currencies. Plus,
Interactive Brokers lets you buy futures contracts on either Cboe or
CME.

Key features of Interactive Brokers include:

• Accepted currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, and CAD

• Deposit Methods: Bank wires, ACH, BPay, EFT, checks
• Fees: $5 fee on CBOE, $10 on CME

The main downside of Interactive Brokers is that shorts need to

provide excess margin, which means you need to control more than
the nominal value to open a short, removing much of the incentive
for a trader to open a short in the first place. The other downside of
Interactive Brokers is the high fees of $5 to $10.

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 TRADESTATION

TradeStation has some of the cheapest fees in the bitcoin futures

trading industry. The main drawback of TradeStation is that you
need to put down 66% of your position’s nominal value as a margin
requirement, which defeats some of the benefits of futures contract
trading.

TradeStation does, however, offer access to both the CME and

Cboe bitcoin futures trading markets, and the $1.50 fees are very
cheap.

E TRADE

E Trade is an American trading giant that recently started offering

bitcoin futures contracts to customers through the Optionshouse
trading platform. Users can trade both CME and Cboe contracts
with an 80% margin required. Trades are collateralized in USD.

E Trade also has reasonable (if slightly high) fees of $2.50.

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 CRYPTOFACILITIES

CryptoFacilities is licensed and regulated by the United Kingdom’s

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), giving it an extra layer of
authority over BitMEX, Deribit, and some of the unregulated
providers on this list.

CryptoFacilities also has a competitive fee structure for bitcoin

futures trades, including $0 maker fees and taker fees as low as
0.0008. One of the unusual things about CryptoFacilities is that the
platform only accepts crypto for deposits. However, users are
accepted from anywhere in the world (except for the United States
and sanctioned countries.

Key features of CryptoFacilities include:

• Trading Hours: 24/7

• Timeframes: Perpetual, monthly, and quarterly
• Leverage: Up to 50x
• Crypto Pairs: BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, and BCH

One of the major advantages of CryptoFacilities is that it offers

Ripple (XRP) markets. Trades in the XRP/USD and XRP/BTC pair can
be collateralized in XRP itself. This feature makes CryptoFacilities
are particularly popular option for investors holding large amounts
of Ripple.

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 BITMEX

BitMEX is an unregulated crypto futures trading marketplace with

few rules but lots of liquidity. It’s one of the world’s largest crypto
futures marketplaces, dwarfing its better-regulated competitors like
Cboe and CME Group. On an average day, BitMEX will see over $2
billion of crypto trades in a 24 hour period.

BitMEX charges a maker fee of 0.025% and a taker fee of 0.075%.

One of the biggest advantages of BitMEX is that the exchange offers

leverage up to 100X, much higher than any competitors listed here.
Traders can set leverage anywhere from 1 to 100 based on their
aversion to risk.

Other key features of BitMEX include:

• Trading Hours: 24/7

• Timeframes: Perpetual, quarterly, and bi-quartlery
• Expiry: Last Friday of the contract month at 8 pm EST
• Leverage: 1x to 100x
• Crypto Pairs: ADA, BCH, EOS, ETH, LTC, TRON, and XRP
• Banned Countries: United States, Canada, Cuba, Crimea,
Iran, Syria, and North Korea
• Volume: $2 to $4 billion in daily trading volume (2019)

BitMEX uses a 50/50 split between Coinbase and Bitstamp as its

underlying bitcoin price index, giving the exchange an extra layer of
legitimacy.

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 OKCOIN / OKEX

OKEx is the international arm of the OKCoin exchange, which was

founded in 2013. The exchange is registered in Malta but run from
Hong Kong, catering mostly to traders in China and other Asian
countries.

Today, people tend to use OKCoin and OKEx interchangeably.

Whatever you call it, OKCoin/OKEx is frequently the largest bitcoin
futures trading marketplace on the internet, although it’s
occasionally beat by BitMEX. OKCoin is particularly popular among
Asia-based crypto futures traders.

OKCoin offers leverage up to 20X on three different

cryptocurrencies. It also offers low fees. Users can go through two
different levels of verification based on how much they want to
trade and how they want to withdraw their money.

Key features of OKEx include:

• Trading Hours: 24/7

• Timeframes: Weekly, Bi-Weekly, and Quarterly
• Expiry: Friday at noon of the expiration week
• Leverage: 10x to 20x
• Crypto Pairs: ETH, ETC, BCH, XRP, EOS, and BTG
• Volume: $1.5 to $3 billion per day (2019)
• Banned Countries: United States, Hong Kong, Cuba, Iran,
North Korea, Crimea, Sudan, Malaysia, Syria, Bangladesh,
Bolivia, Ecuador, and Kyrgyzstan

Overall, OKCoin offers strong liquidity from an exchange with a

less-than-transparent history. Like BitMEX, there are some
concerns over dealing with an unregulated exchange. However,

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OKCoin continues to be popular among Asia-based crypto traders
wanting to access futures contracts.

DERIBIT

Deribit is the newest bitcoin futures contract competitor for BitMEX

and OKEx. The Netherlands-based exchange specializes in crypto
futures trading.

Key features of Deribit include:

• Trading Hours: 24/7

• Leverage: Up to 100x
• Timeframes: Perpetual and quarterly
• Crypto Pairs: BTC and ETH

HOW DO BITCOIN FUTURES AFFECT

BITCOIN TRADING?
There’s some debate over how bitcoin futures affect bitcoin trading.
When bitcoin futures trading was first announced in late 2017, the
markets went crazy with anticipation. Long-term bitcoin hodlers
saw this as a sign that bitcoin was becoming mainstream. They
thought trillions of dollars of institutional capital was about to pour
into bitcoin.

Within a week of the launch of the first regulated bitcoin futures

trading market, the price of bitcoin went up to its all-time high of

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$20,000. The price crashed soon after and remains at around
$9,000 today.

So how do futures markets affect bitcoin – if at all? Are futures

markets good or bad for the world’s largest cryptocurrency?

The answer is complicated.

The general theory argues that the ‘smart’ institutional money will
pour into the futures market, and that other markets will follow. We
saw this with the initial launch of bitcoin futures. Bitcoin futures
prices rose. The market, taking note of the higher futures market
prices, followed, causing the market price of bitcoin to rise. People
began looking to futures markets as a guide to the future direction
of bitcoin – similar to how commodity, oil, and gold futures markets
work.

Increased appetite for lower bitcoin prices could see the value of
bitcoin futures contracts drop, likely leading to a decline in the price
of bitcoin itself.

We see a similar effect on traditional markets. Daily movements in

the Dow mini and the S&P 500 futures markets, for example, have
a material impact on the direction of the main indexes each day.

Futures markets don’t always control the underlying market,

however. News that occurs during the market’s trading hours, for
example, can disrupt the trajectory that we were starting to see with
futures markets. Which as a noble sidenote, it may be worth
learning how to earn bitcoin as an alternative to trading bitcoin
futures.

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FAQS ABOUT BITCOIN FUTURES
CONTRACTS
We get a lot of questions about bitcoin futures contracts. Below,
we’re answering some of the most common questions we receive:

Q: How are bitcoin futures contracts related to the underlying

market price or spot market of bitcoin?

A: Bitcoin futures marketplaces draw prices from existing crypto

exchanges. CME, for example, uses its CME CF Bitcoin Reference
Rate (BRR), which draws price data from several major exchanges.
This price is used to settle all bitcoin futures contracts.

Q: How are bitcoin futures marketplaces regulated?

A: Bitcoin futures marketplaces in the United States are regulated

by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is the
regulatory body with exclusive jurisdiction over American bitcoin
futures markets. Overseas, other regulatory agencies perform
similar roles. Some bitcoin futures marketplaces aren’t regulated by
any government body.

Q: Do I need a digital wallet to trade bitcoin futures?

A: You do not need a digital wallet to trade bitcoin futures when the
futures are cash settled or financially settled (as is the case with
CME, Cboe, and most other bitcoin futures exchanges). However,
you will need a digital wallet (or at least a brokerage account) if
dealing with physically-settled bitcoin futures – like with Bakkt.

Q: Why are Americans banned from certain unregulated futures

exchanges?

A: Many of the unregulated futures exchanges above have banned

Americans. Exchanges do this to avoid liability issues. Futures
trading in America is regulated by the CFTC, and unregulated
exchanges are offering services that break CFTC regulations.

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Getting regulated for each American user is complicated, so most
exchanges just ban American users entirely.

Q: How old are bitcoin futures?

A: Regulated bitcoin futures first launched in December 2017 with

Cboe and the CME Group. Bitcoin futures, however, date as far back
as 2011 on unregulated marketplaces.

Q: What is shorting?

A: Shorting is the practice of placing a short bet without having to

first borrow the underlying security. When shorting an asset, you
are taking a position that the price will go down.

Q: What is hedging?

A: Hedging is the practice of taking a position on one asset to offset

your position in another. Because futures contracts allow for
leverage, it’s easy to hedge your position regardless of the number
of physical assets you hold.

Q: What is margin?

A: Margin is the amount of money a trader must initially deposit as

collateral when taking a futures position. For many heavily-traded
contracts, margin amounts are less than 10% of the underlying
contract. Regulated exchanges, including the CME Group and Cboe,
require margin of 35% to 40%.

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FINAL WORD: WHAT’S THE FUTURE
OF BITCOIN FUTURES TRADING?
Bitcoin futures trading activity continued to be strong throughout
2019. CME Group reported an average of about $300 million to
$500 million worth of bitcoin futures per day throughout 2019.

CME also claims that bitcoin futures are gaining interest among big
investors. Plus, when checking futures trading volume
on unregulated exchanges, we see volume of more than $4 billion
per day on many days.

Clearly, bitcoin futures trading plays a crucial role in the crypto

ecosystem – and it’s not going away anytime soon.

masterthecrypto.com
 CHAPTER 10
BITCOIN IRA
TOP CRYPTO INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENTACCOUNT
COMPANIES

A two-part Bitcoin IRA guide on how bitcoin retirement accounts

work and a review of the 9 best cryptocurrency-centric individual
retirement account company providers on the market in 2019.

BITCOIN IRA: HOW TO ADD BITCOIN

TO A RETIREMENT ACCOUNT
Bitcoin can now be added to your retirement account in America.
Yes, crypto IRAs are officially here.

Today, we’re explaining everything you need to know about how

bitcoin IRAs work, the pros and cons of adding bitcoin to your
retirement account, and the most trustworthy bitcoin IRA
custodians on the market.

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WHAT IS A BITCOIN IRA?
First lets clarify, a bitcoin IRA is a self-directed individual retirement
account (IRA) that holds investments in bitcoin. A traditional IRA
holds precious metals, stocks, or bonds.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations do not specifically allow

you to hold cryptocurrency in an IRA. However, the Internal
Revenue Code does not specify which assets self-directed IRAs can
hold as investments: it only specifies which assets you cannot hold.
Bitcoin is not an excluded asset, so it’s perfectly legal to hold bitcoin
in your IRA.

The IRS has not excluded any cryptocurrencies from being held in
IRAs. This means you can have bitcoin in your IRA, but you can also
have Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, or whatever other
cryptocurrencies you would like to invest on.

HOW TO ADD BITCOIN TO YOUR IRA

Most individual retirement accounts (IRAs) in America are managed

by custodians or trustees on behalf of investors. The bank or broker-
dealer, for example, holds stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and
certificates of deposits in the investment vehicle.

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However, some Americans choose to have self-directed IRAs. With
a self-directed IRA, you can add different investment assets. You
can hold real estate, promissory notes, tax lien certificates, gold,
private placement securities, and even bitcoin in your self-directed
IRA.

There’s no such thing as a Bitcoin IRA per se, just as there’s no such
thing as a Gold IRA or a Stocks IRA or any other types of asset class-
specific IRAs. All of those are marketing terms that hold zero
practical significance. Under the law, there is only the IRA.

HERE’S THE BASIC PROCESS OF ADDING BITCOIN

TO YOUR IRA:

Step 1) Open a self-directed IRA through an IRA custodian

Step 2) Find a bitcoin IRA facilitator or buy bitcoin yourself from an

exchange

Step 3) Fund your self-directed IRA via a rollover or transfer

Step 4) Hold bitcoin in your IRA until you’re 59.5 years old (or pay a
penalty to withdraw your bitcoin early)

Your self-directed IRA has the same regulatory requirements as an

ordinary IRA. You cannot access your money until you are 59.5
years old or else you face a penalty for early withdrawal.

Plus, with a self-directed IRA, you are in charge of your own

investment decisions.

For many people, adding bitcoin to the IRA gives them some much-
needed diversification. Some believe bitcoin gives their portfolio the
highly-desirable “alpha”. Bitcoin isn’t tied to the economic success
of one specific country, for example, nor is it tied to real estate
prices, gold, or other assets. It moves in its own ways for its own
reasons, and that’s why some investors are happy to add bitcoin to
their portfolio.

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For clarity, the IRS clarified that cryptocurrencies were treated as
property for tax purposes in a notice issued in 2014. As of that
announcement, Bitcoin enthusiasts got the green light to proceed
with confidence knowing that the IRS viewed their asset-of-choice
as personal property — similar to shares of stock — which ultimate
allows cryptocurrencies to be included in IRAs.

The specific procedure for opening a bitcoin IRA varies between

providers. One major company has partnered with BitGo as its
digital wallet and security provider for crypto retirement assets, for
example. The company uses BitGo’s institutional custody service to
hold customers’ bitcoins. If you want to access your bitcoin, then
you’ll need to complete government-issued identification and voice
verification.

PROS AND CONS OF ADDING

BITCOIN TO YOUR IRA
There are advantages and disadvantages of adding bitcoin to your
IRA. Advantages and disadvantages include:

PROS

• Diversification: Bitcoin moves independently from

individual markets, economies, and currencies. It can add
much-needed diversification to your portfolio. It could even
insulate your account from huge losses during a downturn.
• Limit the Effects of Inflation: Bitcoin has a fixed total supply,
which means it is not subject to artificial inflation. Billions of
US Dollars are printed every year, which is why the value of
1 USD gradually drops over time.
• Cut Out Banks: With bitcoin IRAs, you can avoid relying on
banks to manage your money (although you still need to rely
on a self-directed IRA custodian).
• Avoid Capital Gains Tax and Enjoy Tax-Free
Growth: Holding bitcoin in your IRA insulates your bitcoin
from taxes. You won’t pay 15 to 20% capital gains tax on any
profits you make from holding bitcoin.

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• Easy Bitcoin Purchasing: When buying bitcoin in your IRA
through a bitcoin IRA service provider, you don’t go through
a traditional exchange interface. Instead, you file an order
with the custodian, and the custodian buys bitcoin on your
behalf. It’s an easy process that does not require you to sign
up for an exchange, complete additional KYC verification, or
manage your own wallet.
• Built-in Custody Solution: With a bitcoin IRA, the IRA
custodian holds your bitcoin. They are the custody solution.
You don’t have to trust an exchange to hold your money, nor
do you have to worry about your own wallet or private key
management.
• No Minimum Investment Limits: Some bitcoin IRA firms
have minimum investment limits, while others do not.

CONS

• Initial Setup Fees: Self-directed IRAs come with their own

fees. Setting up a $50,000 self-directed IRA account for
trading can cost as much as $6,000 in fees for the initial
setup, for example. Fees vary between providers. Bitcoin
IRA services, however, are particularly costly because there
are few providers in the space.
• Custody and Maintenance Fees: You don’t just have to pay
to set up your self-directed IRA; there are also recurring
custody and maintenance fees charged by self-directed IRA
providers.
• Transaction Fees: In addition to all of the fees above, you
still need to pay costly fees per transaction. Most bitcoin IRA
providers charge a fee of around 3.5% per transaction for
each purchase and 1% for each sale. Put into exchange
terms, you’re paying 3.5% taker fees and 1% maker fees,
which is 10x to 30x more than you pay on an ordinary
exchange. Some bitcoin IRA providers charge purchasing
fees of 5%, while others charge $150 per sale.
• Premature Withdrawal Fees and Taxes: If you decide to
close down your self-directed IRA and withdraw your money
before age 59.5, then you’ll pay additional fees. You might
also have to pay capital gains tax. Avoiding capital gains tax

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 was the main reason you set up a bitcoin IRA in the first
place.
• Minimum Investment Limits: Some bitcoin IRA providers
have minimum investment limits of $10,000 to $30,000.
• You’re Still Relying on Financial Service Providers or
Middlemen: There’s no real way to open a self-directed
retirement account in the United States without a
middleman or financial services provider. You still need a
custodian for your self-directed IRA. Some people like
bitcoin because it provides ‘true freedom’ from the current
financial system. With a bitcoin IRA, you’re still tied to the
financial system in some way.
• You May Not Be in Complete Control of your Private
Keys: One of the best parts about bitcoin is that when you’re
in control of your private keys, you’re in control of your
money. With a bitcoin IRA, that’s not necessarily the case.
Key management policies vary between companies, but
typically at least one key is held by your IRA custodian.
• Cumulatively, all of the fees can quickly negate the tax
advantages of an IRA. You’ll pay 15 to 20% capital gains tax
on bitcoin today, and you can avoid that tax with a Bitcoin
IRA. However, after paying all of the fees listed above, you
might not come out ahead in the long run. Some providers
charge 10% to 25% initial setup fees, for example, which can
instantly negate any initial tax savings.

Overall, bitcoin IRA fees are extremely high right now. Bitcoin is
trendy, and there are few providers in the space.

However, that may change in the future. Institutional players like

Fidelity are entering the space, and it’s possible for fees to plummet.

As soon as industry giants like Vanguard or Fidelity get involved in

the bitcoin IRA space, it will become much more affordable to hold
bitcoin in your IRA.

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IS A BITCOIN IRA LEGAL?
The IRS doesn’t specifically endorse holding bitcoin or other
cryptocurrencies in your IRA. In fact, the IRS doesn’t specifically
approve any investments as IRA investments.

Instead, the IRS has a list of excluded assets that cannot be held in
your IRA.

In a 2014 ruling, the IRS clarified the tax status of bitcoin. Since then,
the IRS has treated bitcoin as non-currency personal property,
which means it’s similar to stocks. You pay capital gains taxes every
time you sell.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

A BITCOIN IRA PROVIDER, A
CUSTODIAN, AND A CUSTODY
SOLUTION?
When searching for bitcoin IRA information online, things can
quickly get confusing. People start talking about IRA ‘facilitators’,
self-directed IRA custodians, wallets, and other agencies.

Typically, getting a bitcoin IRA requires dealing with three different

agencies:

Bitcoin IRA Services: Bitcoin IRA services are considered ‘financial

conduits’. These are the agencies you deal with when you want to
add bitcoin to your IRA. Most bitcoin IRA services are not regulated
by the SEC like traditional banks or IRA custodians.

Self-Directed IRA Custodians: Self-Directed IRA custodians hold

assets in your individual retirement account. Unlike with a
traditional IRA, a self-directed IRA lets you hold assets like real
estate, gold, and cryptocurrencies. Self-directed IRA custodians
include banks, credit unions, and other entities.

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Custody or Wallet Providers: Most bitcoin IRA services have
partnered with a specific wallet or custody solution. This is the
agency that actually stores your bitcoin.

WHO HOLDS MY PRIVATE KEYS WITH

A BITCOIN IRA?

One of the best parts about bitcoin is that you’re in complete control
of your money. As long as you have your private keys, nobody else
can touch your money no matter what happens.

That’s not the case with a Bitcoin IRA. Companies have different
procedures for private key management, but you will not be in full
control of your private keys with a Bitcoin IRA.

One major bitcoin IRA provider, for example, creates three unique
private keys when setting up a bitcoin IRA:

One key is stored with the wallet provider (like BitGo)

Another key is given to the IRA custodian

A third key is given to a startup company (keytern.al) that provides

recovery services if your key is lost or damaged

All of these keys are stored off the internet in cold storage locations.

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HOW MUCH DO IRA SERVICE
PROVIDERS CHARGE?

IRA service providers charge enormous – even ridiculous – fees for

their convenience. One of the biggest players in the space is called
Bitcoin IRA. They charge 10% to 15% upfront fees.

On top of that, the self-directed IRA custodian may charge its own
setup fees. All IRA custodians also charge ongoing maintenance fees
– typically around 1% per year on the total value of your assets.

Other companies charge fees as high as 25%. These fees are more
common when investing in alternative cryptocurrencies.

CAN I CREATE A BITCOIN IRA

WITHOUT A BITCOIN IRA SERVICE
PROVIDER?
Yes! You can certainly create a self-directed Bitcoin IRA without
using a bitcoin IRA service provider. These companies speed up and
simplify the process, but you can certainly create a bitcoin IRA
without their help.

Just talk to a lawyer to get started. You may need to set up an LLC
to buy the cryptocurrency, then select an IRA custodian. Visit an
exchange, find a secure wallet, and you’re set.

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Today, a growing number of law firms specifically advertise
cryptocurrency IRA services. The fees are often much cheaper than
bitcoin IRA service providers.

FAQS ABOUT BITCOIN IRAS

Where is My Bitcoin Stored? With a self-directed Bitcoin IRA, the

custodian typically controls your bitcoin. The custodian is
responsible for the custody of your bitcoin. That’s why you pay
maintenance fees and setup fees.

What is an IRA Custodian? The IRA custodian is the institution in

charge of your self-directed IRA. The custodian is licensed and
regulated by the IRS. Most custodians are banks, credit unions, or
trusts, although some providers are considered ‘non-bank
custodians’.

Does the IRS Consider Cryptocurrency to Be a Retirement

Asset? The IRS doesn’t specifically list which items can be included
in your self-directed IRA, but they do list which items cannot be
included in your IRA. Cryptocurrency isn’t mentioned in IRS
retirement savings regulations at all, but cryptocurrency is still
technically allowed in your account.

Is My Bitcoin IRA 100% Safe? The safety of your bitcoin IRA

depends on the trustworthiness of your custodian. Some custodians
are FDIC insured, which means the value of your account is
protected up to a certain limit (say, $500,000). You can protect your

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account further using two-factor authentication (2FA) and a secure
password.

What About Other Cryptocurrency IRAs? You can hold bitcoin and
any other cryptocurrency in your self-directed IRA. In fact, you can
hold virtually anything in your self-directed IRA – as long as it’s not
on the IRS’s specific list of exclusions. Today, major bitcoin IRA
providers also offer Ethereum IRAs, Ripple IRAs, Litecoin IRAs, and
IRAs for other major cryptocurrencies.

How Can I Find a Bitcoin IRA Custodian? There are thousands of

self-directed IRA custodians across the United States. You can find
certain bitcoin IRA custodians on the IRS-approved nonbank
trustees and custodians list. From that list, contact different
custodians to ask about their services, fees, securities, procedures,
and more. Be aware that some cryptocurrency IRA companies only
work with specific custodians. If you want to work with a specific
facilitator, then you may need to work with their specific custodian.

BITCOIN RETIREMENT ACCOUNT

OVERVIEW
Depending on your retirement goals, a bitcoin IRA may be the right
solution for you. As more cryptocurrency-centric service providers
enter the space, it will become easier and cheaper to open a bitcoin
IRA.

As cryptoassets has exploded with growth, so too have

cryptocurrency investment options.

With so many different crypto IRA providers from which to choose,

it can be difficult to know which one will offer the best services.
Next, as a part two of this Bitcoin individual retirement account
guide, let's cover the best 9 cryptocurrency IRA companies and
compare how they work and what they offer as custodian providers.

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BEST BITCOIN IRAS AND CRYPTO IRA
COMPANIES
Today, we’re listing the best bitcoin IRAs and crypto IRA companies
in the most factual, unbiased way possible.

BROAD FINANCIAL

Minimum Investment: $0

Broad Financial offers two core products, including Self-Directed

Bitcoin IRAs and Solo 401(k)s with Checkbook Control. From the
Broad Financial dashboard, investors can buy virtually any
alternative asset allowed in an investment account – including
bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. There’s no minimum investment
amount required.

Unlike certain other companies listed here, Broad Financial doesn’t

use a third party custodian: they are the custodian.

Another nice thing about Broad Financial is that the company

doesn’t charge asset-based fees. Some other companies here charge
fees of 1% per year on your total asset value, which means your
savings slowly get chipped away over time. With Broad Financial,
you pay flat-rate fees instead, making this an attractive option for
all levels of investors.

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Broad Financial offers both Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. Plus,
you get to choose the cryptocurrency exchange you want to
use. And, you get to use the digital wallet of your choice.

We also appreciate the transparent fee structure. While

other Bitcoin IRA companies listed here refuse to disclose their fees
upfront, Broad Financial displays their fees publicly on their website.
You’ll pay a flat-rate fee of $1,295 to set up your account, for
example, instead of the 15% to 25% charged by other bitcoin IRA
companies.

Overall, Broad Financial is one of the more trusted providers in an

industry with lots of sleazy competitors.

BLOCKMINT

Minimum Investment: $10,000

BlockMint is one of the top options among bitcoin IRA companies.

The company frequently appears at the top of lists of best bitcoin
IRA services. BlockMint is backed by Lear Capital, which has been
one of the biggest names in the precious metals IRA space for 20
years. The main ‘catch’ is that you need to invest at least $10,000,
although other bitcoin IRA options on this list have higher minimum
investment requirements.

Most BlockMint customers have good things to say about the

company. They claim the company has good customer service and
an easy-to-use exchange interface. Experts are patient and

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knowledgeable with customers whether this is your first time buying
crypto or you’re a seasoned expert.

In exchange for that high level of customer service, BlockMint’s

customers pay hefty fees. You’ll pay 15% fees when buying
cryptocurrency, for example, although small discounts are available
based on volume.

You also need to meet the minimum investment amount of $10,000

for each type of coin. You cannot buy $7,000 of BTC and $3,000 of
ETH to meet the minimum investment amount of $10,000, for
example; you need to buy at least $10,000 of each type of coin.

You’ll also pay fees to BlockMint’s custodian, which is New Direction

IRA Services. The company charges $200 per year as an annual
storage fee along with an administration fee of $450 to $725 per
year based on your account balance and the number of
cryptocurrencies held.

BITCOIN IRA

Minimum Investment: $5,000

Bitcoin IRA was one of the first bitcoin IRA companies in the
industry. Launched back in 2016, Bitcoin IRA is a Sherman Oaks,
California-based financial services provider specializing in setting up
bitcoin IRAs for clients. You pay fees of 10% to 15% at setup, then
ongoing fees of 1% to the company’s IRA custodian. In exchange for
those fees, you get all-in-one, hassle-free service from people who
are experts at setting up bitcoin IRAs.

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Technically, Bitcoin IRA doesn’t directly provide any actual bitcoin
IRA services: the company just acts as a customer service hub. They
connect exchanges, crypto wallets, and IRA custodians together
with investors.

Bitcoin IRA originally used Kingdom Trust as its IRA custodian. In

2019, however, Bitcoin IRA partnered with BitGo Trust to store
crypto holdings for customers. Bitcoin IRA’s retirement account
with BitGo Trust is insured for $100 million. Plus, customers can
diversify their holdings into 12 different digital assets while paying
30% lower wallet fees.

Bitcoin IRA benefited from the first-mover advantage in the crypto

space. The company began offering crypto retirement accounts in
2016, quickly growing to a client base of more than 5,000 hybrid
crypto IRAs. Since 2016, Bitcoin IRA has processed over $300
million in digital asset transactions. Overall, the company claims to
be the largest bitcoin IRA company in the space, and we see no
reason to doubt that claim.

FIRST DIGITAL IRA

Minimum Investment: $20,000

First Digital IRA lets you invest in BTC, ETH, or XRP through your
IRA. There’s a minimum investment of $20,000. First Digital IRA has
partnered with Kingdom Trust Co. to be the custodian for digital IRA
customers.

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Other advertised benefits from First Digital IRA include “tax-free
growth”, “security”, and “diversification”. First Digital IRA also claims
to take care of the entire process of setting up a bitcoin IRA from
start to finish. That includes the process of creating a self-directed
IRA account with a custodian, buying bitcoin, and storing bitcoin in
a wallet.

Like other shadier bitcoin IRA providers listed here, First Digital IRA
refuses to disclose its fees upfront. You have to request a guide to
see how much it costs. Typically, this means the fees are on the high
end, even costing as much as 10% to 25% just for acting as a
middleman. That’s a significant chunk of your initial investment
wiped out in unnecessary upfront fees alone.

COIN IRA

Minimum Investment: $30,000

Like Bitcoin IRA, Coin IRA is a facilitator company, which means they
don’t actually provide wallet, exchange, or custodial services: they
just connect investors with these services, acting as a middleman
while enhancing the user experience.

If you’re new to cryptocurrency and don’t mind paying a premium

for convenience and customer service, then Coin IRA is one option.
The company promises to give customers freedom from banks while
helping them secure their money in a tax-deferred account.
Customers' funds are insured in “hacker-proof” cold storage.

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Like other bitcoin IRA providers listed here, Coin IRA is a subsidiary
of an existing precious metals IRA company. Specifically, Coin IRA is
a subsidiary of Goldco, which is based in Woodland Hills, California.

BITIRA

Minimum Investment: $20,000

BitIRA is a relatively new crypto IRA provider launched by Birch

Gold Group. The company distinguishes itself from the competition
by ensuring assets against theft, fraud, hacks, and even mistakes.
That gives investors an extra layer of security – particularly
investors who want to invest in crypto but are worried about the
risks.

BitIRA holds customer funds in cold storage in a guarded vault,

similar to most other custody solutions here. BitIRA also claims to
take care of the entire process for you, letting customers enjoy high
tax-free growth with minimal fees or risk.

That all sounds good, but a closer look reveals some issues with
BitIRA. The company’s website is filled with awkward testimonials
and headshots from Peter Thiel, Bill Gates, and Eric Schmidt, making
it seem like they all endorse this company. In reality, these three
have nothing to do with BitIRA. BitIRA is also just a third party
middleman: the company takes a cut of your investment in exchange
for connecting you with a wallet and custodian.

One of the biggest issues we have with BitIRA is that the company
refuses to disclose its fees upfront. When asked about custodial

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fees, the company simply responds, “fees for every account will
vary”. We assume BitIRA charges fees as high as 10% to 25% just
for operating as a middleman between you and an IRA custodian.

NOBLE BITCOIN

Minimum Investment: $20,000

Noble Bitcoin is an offshoot of Noble Gold Investments, a precious

metals IRA firm. The company aims to help anyone diversify their
IRA or 401(k) with bitcoin and digital currencies. Today, you can buy
BTC, ETH, LTC, and XRP directly through Noble Bitcoin while
enjoying the advantages of a Bitcoin IRA.

Other promised benefits with Noble Bitcoin include an efficient IRA

rollover process, a customer-first approach, and 25 years of
experience handling precious metals IRAs for customers.

Noble Bitcoin and its parent company Noble Gold Investments are
based in Pasadena, California. The company offers limited
information about its products, services, or fee structure upfront,
although customers can request a free guide to learn more.

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 REGAL ASSETS BITCOIN IRA

Minimum Investment: $5,000

Regal Assets lets customers invest in BTC, LTC, XMR, XRP, and ETH
through an IRA. There are two introductory package options
available, including the Merchant Package ($5,000 investment
required) and the Knighthood Package ($10,000 investment
required). For those willing to invest more money, there’s also the
$50,000 Knightshop Portfolio, the $100,000 Dynasty Portfolio, and
the $250,000 Coronation Portfolio.

Regal Assets claims its experts are available to chat 24 hours a day,
7 days a week. However, there’s an overall lack of transparency with
how Regal Assets operates, including its fee structure and other
information you want to know before sending your money to a
company.

BITVEST IRA

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Minimum Investment: $0

Bitvest IRA is one of the shadiest bitcoin IRA companies in the space
today. The company’s website looks like it was designed in the
1990s. The company also makes absurd promises, claiming you can
buy bitcoin for your IRA “with no commissions”. The Bitvest IRA
website is also filled with random testimonials and headshots from
investors like John McAfee, James Altucher, and Mike Novogratz
despite the fact they have nothing to do with this company.

In any case, if you’re willing to take a risk with a shady company,

then Bitvest IRA is one option. The company claims to have formed
a strategic partnership with Madison Trust Company, which they
describe as a “government approved and regulated, chartered trust
company” and “a leader in offering IRS approved self-directed
retirement services.”

Madison Trust Company is a New Jersey-based self-directed IRA

provider, while Bitvest IRA (also known as Bitvestmint LLC) is based
in Boca Raton, Florida.

13 THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN BITCOIN

IRA COMPANY

Bitcoin IRA companies are relatively new, and it can be hard to

separate good bitcoin IRA companies from bad ones.

Fortunately, we’re here to help. Here are 10 things we look for when
analyzing today’s bitcoin IRA companies.

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Initial Setup Fees: Some IRA custodians charge initial setup fees as
high as 15% to 25%. If you buy $100,000 of bitcoin today, then that
means you’re paying fees of $15,000 to $25,000. Sometimes, you’re
better off paying the capital gains taxes!

Maintenance Fees: Many IRA custodians charge annual

maintenance fees. With some companies, these fees are a flat rate
of, say, $100 per year. Others charge fees based on 1% to 3% of
your asset value, which can quickly erode your savings and any
gains.

Other Fees: On top of the initial setup fees and maintenance fees,
some IRA companies charge even more fees. Some companies
charge “administration fees”, for example, reducing your savings
even further. Some of the companies listed above charge
administrative fees of 1% of your asset value, for example, which
means your retirement account will drop in value by 1% every year
if all else stays the same. These unnecessary fees chip away at your
earnings and reduce growth.

Facilitator Companies Versus Custodial Companies: Some bitcoin

IRA companies don’t really do anything except act as the middleman.
Bitcoin IRA, for example, doesn’t provide wallet services, nor does
the company act as an IRA custodian: Bitcoin IRA is just a middleman
that charges a 10% to 15% fee for connecting an investor like you
to wallet and custodian services. Some investors are willing to pay a
premium for good customer service, while others are not.

Multiple Crypto Purchase Options: Some bitcoin IRA providers only

allow you to buy bitcoin for your IRA. A growing number, however,
now allow you to purchase ETH, XRP, and other major
cryptocurrencies. Some even allow you to buy 12+ cryptocurrencies
for your retirement account.

Security History: Does the bitcoin IRA company have a strong

security history? Do they use state-of-the-art security procedures
to safeguard accounts? Have they partnered with reputable third-
party banks and storage providers?

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Login Protection, Withdrawal Protection, 2FA, Etc.: Does the IRA
company protect your account against unauthorized login attempts?
Does 2FA safeguard your account against unwanted intrusions?
Login protection helps your crypto investments stay in your
account.

Insurance: Many bitcoin IRA providers now insure their funds

against losses, theft, and hacks. Insurance is good for two reasons.
First, it shows an insurance company was sufficiently impressed by
the company’s security procedures to provide a policy. And second,
it means customers like you are safeguarded against losses.

Account Setup Process: How quickly can you set up an account

with the bitcoin IRA provider? Does the company take days or
weeks to respond to your request? Or do they work with you 24/7
to set up an account quickly?

Access to Crypto Holdings and Private Key Management: Who

holds your private keys with your bitcoin IRA? Some bitcoin IRA
providers give multiple parties access to your private keys for
additional security. Others trust you to manage your private key.

Transparency: The bitcoin IRA space is relatively new, and that

means there are plenty of shady companies out there willing to take
your money while charging excessive fees. Most good bitcoin IRA
companies disclose their fees and terms upfront. Some companies,
however, refuse to disclose any information about how
cryptocurrencies are stored, who their custodial partner is, or how
much customers are charged in fees. This is information you need
to know before sending thousands of dollars to a bitcoin IRA
provider.

Withdrawal Fees: Some IRA custodians hold your money hostage,

charging excessive fees if you ever want to close down your
account. Make sure you understand any withdrawal fees if you plan
to rollover your IRA, withdraw your bitcoin, or close down your
account.

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Customer Ratings: Most bitcoin IRA companies are new, which
makes it hard to find trustworthy customer reviews online. We
checked reviews for all of the companies listed above, although we
took all reviews with a grain of salt.

FINAL WORD
The bitcoin IRA space is relatively new, and the industry is filled with
shady providers. While the first two options on our list (Broad
Financial and BlockMint) seem to provide good service at a
reasonable price, most other companies on our list charge excessive
fees with little reason.

Fortunately, there are other options:

Contact an attorney and set up a bitcoin IRA yourself. An attorney

can help you set up an LLC, create a self-directed IRA, and maximize
your tax-deferred bitcoin savings.

Wait for more reputable providers like Vanguard and Fidelity to

enter the space (both are rumored to be launching bitcoin
investment accounts in the near future).

No matter if you are an investor, trader or work to earn bitcoin,

looking into a BTC IRA is a smart choice to do. We will continue to
update our user review guide on Bitcoin IRAs as well as researching
all of the top cryptocurrency individual retirement account
companies to give you the best break downs and benefits of each
available.

masterthecrypto.com
 CHAPTER 11
BITCOIN SCAMS
BITCOIN SCAMS, THEFT AND EXIT SCAMS HISTORY

BITCOIN SCAMS FROM THE

BEGINNING: CRYPTO'S BIGGEST
HACKS, HISTORICAL TIMELINE AND
USER SECURITY GUIDE
Bitcoin, in all of its glory over the past decade since its inception in
January 2009, still has many red flags and black holes to overcome
such as fraudulent scams and malicious hacks, as well as smart
custody solutions.

This bitcoin scams guide is formulated into three major sections for
easy extraction and consumption:

1. the most popular ways scammers, hackers and bad actors

steal bitcoin (awareness)

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 2. historical timeline of all the crypto scams and bitcoin hacks
(knowledge)
3. the best ways to protect your cryptoassets and how to avoid
bitcoin scams (education)

These resourceful reference points of raising awareness, giving

knowledge and spreading education will benefit all bitcoin investors,
traders and ultimately users who want to learn how to properly
protect and safely secure your cryptocurrency holdings from the
charlatans and malefactors in the industry.

The truth is these crypto-centric cybercriminals have swindled

billions of dollars worth of bitcoin utilizing very skillful tactics and
promotional gimmicks to lure unassuming users into nefarious
investment opportunities, fake exchanges and wallet providers and
a whole host of other methods outlined below.

We will review how common cryptocurrency scamming strategies

work such as; suspicious email links for phishing personal data,
dodgy downloads installing malware and keyloggers, hackers
impersonating celebrities, controversial exchange owners and
operators, free crypto twitter giveaways, ransomware extoration
blackmail demands, smartphone SIM swapping, booby-trapped
pump and dumps, ICO exit scams, multi-level network marketing
pyramid schemes, brutual black market mischief, free trial business
opportunities, fake cloud mining farms, free matrix doublers and
guaranteed income multipliers / return on investment profit offers.
Unfortunately, all of these bitcoin scam tactics exist and are hard to
ignore as they should be considered immediate threats and risks to
your livelihood in 2019 and beyond.

Even bitcoin scams are starting to populate on popular social media

networks like Instagram, Youtube and Facebook that all prey on
attracting unsuspecting individuals based on supplying false
pretenses and taking advantage of people's trust and negligence
(after reading this not anymore!).

It is not easy to recover scammed bitcoin funds or to foolproof

yourself so you must adopt the eagle eyes approach and apply

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hawk-like tendencies across all airwaves online with sufficient due
diligence.

As law enforcement agencies play catch-up in learning the ropes of

the emerging cryptocurrency sector and blockchain-based
dencentralized finance era, new smart custody options will continue
to surface, but in the short term it is in everyone's best interest to
learn the tricks of the trade and store your bitcoin wisely.

While most are fixated on the rollercoaster ride of what is the price
of bitcoin, neglecting bitcoin's past history of scams and hacks is not
optimal as there are many take-home lessons and learning curves to
endure if any cryptoasset user wants to actually ‘become your own
bank' and avoid being duped by con artists.

Truth be told, there is really a very limited number of reasons or

instances in which your private key should ever be disclosed to
anyone, even if sending them a payment or doing business with
them.

Now that you have a 10,000 foot bird's eye view of what to pay
attention to for starters, let's jump right in and review all the
necessary bitcoin scam methods, history and safety tips to optimize
your bitcoin future.

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A MILLION WAYS TO LOSE YOUR
BITCOIN, HERE'S THE TOP 15

Before the list of the top 15 ways bitcoin scammers try to steal your
crypto funds, we know it can sometimes feel like every day brings a
new bitcoin related hack or scam scandal (and in some ways that is
not wrong). But far from being an unsafe, wild-west of money,
cryptocurrencies in general are becoming safer and more regulated
every day.

However, it is vitally important for the public to be aware not just of

the benefits of Bitcoin and cryptos as a whole, but the very real risks
associated with putting your money into it. This article aims to
highlight the different scams, hacks and frauds within the digital
financing world. The bitcoin hacks and scams timeline will serve as
a continually updated guide for anyone invested in cryptocurrencies
or considering the move in the future. By the end, you should have
the knowledge needed to identify potential security risks, pick safe
protection measures for your needs and personal risk assessment,
and be informed of the latest hazards within the market.

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 51% ATTACKS AGAINST BLOCKCHAINS

Understanding a 51% attack is easiest when thinking in terms of

stock. If a person, or company, buys 51% of a specific stock, they
essentially retain controlling decisions on the board of a company.
Now Blockchain is so secure that hacking into a chain itself is nearly
impossible. But, if a person or group of people acquires the tools
necessary (a lot of GPUs) to take up 51% of the “hash rate,” or
mining power, within a chain they essentially retain control over the
information in the blocks of the chain going forward until their
majority is lost. For those of you who do not know, hash rate is the
processing power of a Blockchain that is used to process and verify
information in each link. Contributing this mining power towards
verifying and processing information earns you more coin and is
park of what makes it so impossible to hack directly- because each
link could have different users responsible for the information and
is dependent on the information that has been confirmed around it.

A person or group with 51% control could rewrite information in the

links to steal money by double-spending the same coin, think if you
bought a candy bar with a dollar and then used that same dollar to
buy a water as well, making previous payments disappear but
retaining the benefits of it. Bitcoin is unique in that it is now so big
it is feasibly impossible for any one group to get that much control
over it. This is a much larger risk with smaller cyptocurrencies.

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 DNS AND WEBSITE REDIRECTION HACKS

This type of hacking results in a more sophisticated scam. A DNS

hack takes control of a website’s server information then makes it
redirect the user to their nearly duplicate website or a nearly
duplicate wallet. At this point, you unintentionally become tricked
into inputting person login information for the hackers to see, or
straight out send funds to the fake wallet for them. By the time the
team behind a specific ICO or exchange website has realized what
is going on, the hackers could have already collected an enormous
amount of funds.

FAKE EXCHANGES

Fake exchanges are most easily reached through a simple search

such as “bitcoin exchange.” One of the results on the search page
could actually be for a fraudulent exchange website that has been
set up in the hopes that people would deposit their funds to the
address for the purpose of exchanging with other users. This can
result in a kind of exit scam where you immediately notice a problem
when you do not see your funds and cannot access them or the

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creators of the fake website disappear with the funding at a later
date.

PONZI SCHEMES

Ponzi schemes or pyramid schemes have been around for a long

time, crypto has just given it a new face by which to trick
impressionable people into what is essentially a get rich quick
scheme. Some are obvious in that they promise high returns right
away and make it seem easier than it probably will be but others are
more nefarious, presenting themselves as more legitimate business
opportunities or use influencers to convince you they are worth
taking part in. They can also delve into the world of bitcoin mining,
a very new avenue by which to trick people. You pay with bitcoin
into a website for crypto mining hash rate, only you make money
solely from referring new people to the scheme itself instead of
from mining. Like all pyramid schemes, they eventually collapse.
These, too, can end in an exit scam.

FAKE CRYPTO PROJECTS AND ICOS

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Much like fake exchanges, fake projects are created to entice
people to deposit their cash in exchange for a coin or token that
they never intend to grow and that does not retain any value. ICOs
specifically are also rather flat projects, backed by flat companies
that wind up being entirely faked. The creators are there solely to
get your money and may or may not be trying to convince you of its
legitimacy. These frauds can also go hand-in-hand with Ponzi
schemes.

SITE CLONES AND PHISHING ATTACKS

There is a trend of fakes on this list and how faking something can
sometimes be adapted to accomplish the same end. Hackers can
create a website clone, essentially replacing the real thing. This
clone with then be directed towards a group in social media or sent
out via email to people already a part of the real website, hence the
term phishing. It’s just another way for a hacker to trick a person
into relinquishing personal information that gives them access to
your funds.

FAKE FORKING SCAMS

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Hard forks in blockchain are few and far between because they are
generally the result of mistakes and/or differences of opinion that
results in a coin to suddenly take two different paths, causing people
to pick sides as in the case of BTC and BTH or ETH and ETC. These
hard forks can cause confusion with consumers seeking to claim the
new version of the digital currency- and here is where hackers are
known to take advantage. They claim users can retrieve their forked
coins under fake instructions online, requiring users to upload
private keys to malicious addresses so their coins can be drained.

MALWARE

Malware is not a new concept but it is a major one threatening the

individual theft of cryptocurrencies, and getting more sophisticated
at that. They are designed to sit in your devices until something flags
what it was designed to look for. Currently, there is one on the
market called Cryptocurrency Clipboard Hijackers that sits in your
computer waiting for you to copy and paste a crypto website. This
lets the malware know to activate and it replaces the address with a
malicious one designed to steal your private keys as soon as you
enter them. There are also apps you can download to your phone
that have malware inside designed to scan your phone for crypto-
related information like crypto apps or private key use and steal that
information.

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 DIGITAL WALLETS

Bitcoin and other digital wallets are pieces of software and no piece
of software is infallible. There are hackers who will spend however
much time it takes combing through a specific piece of software to
find it’s weakness(es) in the code, then exploit them to steal as much
as they can from users wallets and sometimes even exchange
wallets. The latter can be particularly devastating if an exchange
makes the poor choice of keeping all or most of the funds they are
housing in a “hot wallet,” a wallet that is on a device that connects
to the internet. To add to the confusion, there are also digital
currency wallet programs designed specifically to steal your funds.
You download it, thinking it will be a safe place to store your coins
and tokens, only to have the software drain itself to another wallet
address.

FAKE SUPPORT TEAM SCAMS

There are scammers that advertise themselves as exchange support

or help for concerns related to an exchange that are as easy as a
google search away, when a user might google for help and happen

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upon a link directing them to fake help. These occurrences are even
more prevalent for exchanges that have limited personnel with
frustrated users not getting help fast enough. What it results in is
talking to someone through live chat or on mic who claims to be the
help you are looking for, only for them to steal your information.

PUMP AND DUMP SCAMS

Users have figured out how to create their own schemes, where a
group of crypto traders decide to band together on a platform, buy
up a lot of a specific crypto, then hype up the crypto in the
community. This causes the pricing to go up and a flood of people
to purchase, at which point they sell off what they purchased and
reap the rewards of their efforts.

PUBLIC WI-FI HACKS

If it’s not already a part of your daily life, you should never be using
public Wi-Fi to access any of your personal information whatsoever.
Not only does this leave you up for attack but sometimes hackers

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might substitute a different network that looks like the one you are
trying to connect to and use it to easily steal your information.

SIM JACKING AND CRYPTOJACKING

There is a new type of theft called SIM jacking. This is when a hacker
uses your phone number to convince a phone company to send
them a new SIM card under your number and essentially steals your
phone identity in the process which can give someone access to
everything connected to your SIM, including all of your accounts. As
unbelievable as this might sound, it has happened and is often done
by claiming a phone was stolen and getting information transferred
over to a new sim and a new phone. SIM jacking is essentially a
mistake made by the support team of your cell phone company.

SOCIAL MEDIA GIVEAWAY SCAMS

Amazingly, people still fall for giveaway scams. They started out in
emails but have since adapted to social media. Fake profiles are
made that put out social media ads claiming to people that they have

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cryptocurrency related giveaways, hoping if you follow their steps
that you will send them money or relinquish your personal
information so they can steal it. Sometimes, they will even hack into
real accounts and post the fake links to a real account to give it more
legitimacy.

CLOUD MINING SCAMS

Often related to Ponzi schemes, cloud mining was briefly gone over
already via bitcoin mining under that section. Essentially, it’s when a
scammers promises profits for a payment or monthly payment that
gives you a buy in to hash rate being used in mining. The reality is
you will never see that money again and neither will anyone else you
bring to the pyramid before it eventually collapses.

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A LIST OF ALL OF THE BITCOIN
SCAMS AND CRYPTO HACKS SINCE
THE START OF BTC

Does it need more explanation than that? An unofficial, official list

of some of the biggest, most unique, and/or first of its kind hacks
and losses of funds in bitcoin/cryptocurrency history.

BITCOIN SCAMS HISTORY AND

CRYPTO HACKS TIMELINE FROM 2011
TO 2019
ALLINVAIN BITCOINTALK HACK FROM USER’S
COMPROMISED WINDOWS SOFTWARE

Date: June 13, 2011

Amount Stolen: $502,750 USD / 25,000 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

The Allinvain Bitcointalk user hack was the first (alleged) recorded
theft of bitcoin, occurring June 13, 2011. A Bitcointalk user with a
compromised Windows computer had 25,000 BTC, or approx.
$500,000, stolen from him. It was also the largest individual bitcoin
theft during the early days of the digital currency, with the price of
Bitcoin still very much forming. Needless to say, it would be worth
significantly more today.

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 MT. GOX THEFT USING AUDITOR’S COMPROMISED
COMPUTER

Date: June 19, 2011

Amount Stolen: $35,540 USD / 2,000 BTC
Type: Hack of Vulnerable Third Party / Fraudulently Deflated
Pricing

On June 19, 2011, Mt. Gox had a major security breach. The hacker
allegedly used credentials from the computer of an auditor to steal
coins from the exchange, fraudulently selling bitcoin to his own
account which inadvertently brought the price down to $.01 per
bitcoin. Mt. Gox originally brought in the auditor to verify that they
had sufficient bitcoin and cash reserves to cover their holdings. It’s
estimated that the hacker was able to make off with 2,000 bitcoins,
with another 650 BTC being lost to those who purchased the coin
at a deflated price before the security breach was realized. None of
the bitcoins were ever recovered and the incident was known as the
first hacking breach of a crypto exchange, responsible for the loss
of around $35k.

BITOMART EXCHANGE WALLET.DAT FILE DELETED

Date: August 1, 2011

Amount Stolen: $223,890 USD / 17,000 BTC
Type: Update Glitch / Deleted Funds

The Bitomart Exchange performed an August 1, 2011 update that

resulted in one of the costliest mistakes in crypto history. The
update was using AWS Elastic Cloud when the wallet.dat file server
was accidentally deleted, with funds completely disappearing in one
night. The over $220,000 in lost user funds were impossible to
recover and Bitomart sold its debt to Mt. Gox later that month.

MYBITCOIN EXCHANGE HACK

Date: August 8, 2011

Amount Stolen: $1.2 million USD / 154,406 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

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MyBitcoin was known a user-friendly wallet platform catering to
crypto newbies with an interest in Bitcoin. Unfortunately, MyBitcoin
suffered one of the worst attacks in early bitcoin history, losing
154,406 BTC to a hack. The Bitcoin Show host Bruce Wagner was
one notable crypto personality who lost some of the over $1 million.

BITCOINICA HOT WALLET HACK

Date: May 6, 2012

Amount Stolen: $93,481.92 USD / 18,548 BTC
Type: Possible Hacking Theft / Suspected Exit Scam Theft

Bitcoinica announced that their hot wallet had been hacked on May
6, 2012. The exchange told users that they had “discovered a
suspicious bitcoin transaction that doesn’t seem to be initiated by
any one of the company owners.” However, the hot wallet hack was
initially suspected to be linked to Bitcoinica owner A. Vinnik, leading
some to suspect it was actually an exit scam disguised as a hack.
Nearly $100k was stolen.

BITCOIN SAVINGS AND TRUST PONZI SCHEME

Date: July 2, 2012

Amount Stolen: $1.002 million USD / 150,000 BTC
Type: Pyramid Scheme / Exit Scam

The Bitcoin Savings and Trust Ponzi scheme was the first pyramid
scheme or Ponzi scheme in the world of bitcoin. Operating like an
ordinary high yield investment program (HYIP), it promised users
enormous returns for investing a small amount today. The scam was
run by pirateat40, who described the investment opportunity as a
“virtual hedge fund”. On July 2, 2012, the virtual hedge fund
suddenly closed, disappearing with a suspected 150,000 BTC (over
$1 million). The actual number of lost funds has never been
confirmed.

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 BITFLOOR EXCHANGE HACK

Date: September 4, 2012

Amount Stolen: $247,200 USD / 24,000 BTC
Type: Hack of Unencrypted Wallet Key Backup

Bitfloor, an early cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it had

been hacked on September 4, 2012, leading to a loss of over
$240,000 or 24,000 BTC. The attacker allegedly “gained access to
an unencrypted backup of the wallet keys”, although Bitfloor
claimed the actual keys were stored in an encrypted area.

TROJAN WALLET HACK

Date: November 16, 2012

Amount Stolen: $39,548 USD / 3,457 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

In 2012, the realization that hackers could build software to steal

digital currencies was first conceived and with it, the 2012 Trojan
wallet hack and one of the first recorded instances of an ordinary
PC Trojan leading to a loss of bitcoins. The Trojan virus was
inadvertently installed on users PCs and began looking for private
keys and wallet.dat files, stealing them wherever possible. One user
on the Bitcointalk forums reported that he lost 2600 BTC during the
attack. A total of 3,457 BTC was sent to an anonymous bitcoin
wallet address, amounting to a nearly $40,000 loss.

VIRCUREX EXCHANGE HACK

Date: January 11, 2013

Amount Stolen: $50 million USD total, $23,490.60 USD in bitcoin /
1,666 BTC
Type: Mystery Hack / Theft

Vircurex was a popular early bitcoin exchange and in January 2013,

the exchange revealed it had been hacked. “We sadly need to
announce that our wallet has been compromised,” Vircurex on
January 11, 2013. The hackers targeted the exchange’s massive

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cash reserves, and Vircurex reportedly lost $50 million during the
attack along with 1,666 BTC (worth some $23k). This same
exchange also suffered two other hacks later in 2013 but were not
officially revealed to the exchange’s customers until 2014. Many
users had already withdrawn their funds after the first hack.

BITMARKET.EU EXIT SCAM

Date: February 14, 2013

Amount Stolen: $477,377.67 USD / 18,787 BTC
Type: Fake Hack / Exit Scam

BitMarket.eu was a popular Polish bitcoin exchange operating for

two years before losing all funds in a self-proclaimed hacking
incident. It was later revealed that the founders had setup a bitcoin
hedge fund through Bitcoinica and had actually pulled off an exit
scam when Bitcoinica was hacked in May 2012. The BitMarket
insolvency wasn’t revealed until February 14, 2013, with the stolen
coin worth over $470k on that day.

BTCGUILD MINING POOL HACK

Date: March 10, 2013

Amount Stolen: $60,982.02 USD / 1,254 BTC
Type: Glitch / Theft

BTCGuild upgraded its client March 10, 2013, in what was supposed
to be a smooth process. While the blockchain was being re-indexed
during the upgrade, however, the mining pool paid out BTC for
difficulty-1 shares. A total of 16 pool users emptied their hot wallets
after the mistake, leading to losses of 1,254 BTC, worth over
$60,000 at the time.

JUST DICE LOSS

Date: July 15, 2013

Amount Stolen: $125,463 USD / 1,300 BTC
Date: Loss of Funds / Mistake

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Just Dice was one of the most popular gambling platforms when on
July 15, 2013, they announced that it had lost over 1,300 BTC in
what is now considered one of the stupidest mistakes. A user asked
to withdraw his 1,300 BTC in gambling winnings from the site but
there wasn’t 1,300 BTC in their hot wallets. Normally, that would
mean an administrator withdraws the amount from the cold wallet
but that step was overlooked. This resulted in the player spending
the fake balance on the platform and eventually losing it anyways.
The mistake resulted in an over 125k loss for the company.

GBL EXCHANGE EXIT SCAM

Date: October 26, 2013

Amount Stolen: $1.929 million, $11,970,880 at peak / 9,640 BTC
Type: Theft / Exit Scam

GBL Exchange was a popular early bitcoin exchange based in China

that wound up being a fraud. On October 28 2007, the founders
suddenly shut down the operation, disappearing with all user funds.
The hackers chose an ideal time for the hack, as the price of bitcoin
peaked at $1,242 a month later, sky-rocketing their coins worth
from almost $2 million to nearly $12 million.

BIPS PAYMENT SERVICES HACK

Date: November 15, 2013

Amount Stolen: $559,038.55 USD, $1,608,390 USD at peak /
1,295 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

Crypto payment platform BIPS was hacked on November 15, 2013,

as part of a massive DDoS attack. The platform announced the hack
on November 19, claiming that over $1 million had been stolen
“despite several layers of protection.” Hackers targeted multiple
vulnerabilities within the system, eventually allowing them to gain
access to several user wallets. The price of bitcoin on the day of the
hack put their initial loss at about $560k, but with the year’s peak
two weeks away their loss became $1.6 million.

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 PICOSTOCKS COLD WALLET HACK

Date: November 29, 2013

Amount Stolen: $6.652 million USD / 5,875 BTC
Type: Suspected Insider Hack / Theft

Picostocks had a mysterious hack in November 2013, leading to the

loss of around $6 million worth of bitcoin. Picostocks claimed that
there were no signs of an intrusion into their systems, and that both
of their wallets had been located on different computers. “We
suspect that these [wallets] have been copied by people who had
access to the system in the past and decrypted,” announced
Picostocks on Reddit.

MT. GOX HALTS TRADING AFTER BIGGEST HACK IN

CRYPTO HISTORY

Date: February 7, 2014

Amount Stolen: $466.59 million USD / 650,000 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

The Mt. Gox hack was the single greatest BTC loss and largest hack
up to this point. Approximately 650,000 BTC was stolen from the
exchange cold wallets in multiple hacks throughout 2013, slowly
draining them of their funds. When Mt. Gox finally checked on the
cold wallets in 2014, they found their exchange was totally
insolvent. On February 7, 2014, Mt. Gox announced that it was
halting all BTC withdrawals from the exchange, claiming there was
a “transaction malleability bug in the core bitcoin software.” Users
became suspicious when withdrawals remained halted for two
weeks, although trading on the exchange continued and the prices
dropped “05 lower than anywhere else as a result. On February 24,
2014, Mt. Gox announced that it was suspending all trading activity
and went offline completely and permanently. Eventually, the
exchange’s “crisis strategy draft” was leaked, revealing that Mt. Gox
was completely insolvent and had lost 744,408 BTC of customer
funds. 100,000 BTC was recovered but the damage was done and
the case is still in courts in Japan.

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 FLEXCOIN HOT WALLET HACK

Date: March 3, 2014

Amount Stolen: $595,365.12 USD / 896 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

The Flexcoin hot wallet was hacked in 2014, causing the Canada-
based crypto wallet platform to entirely shut down. Flexcoin had
dubbed itself “the first bitcoin bank” but quickly lost a majority of
customer funds a week after reassuring users they had never stored
coins with Mt. Gox during their hack. Some customers were lucky
enough to have their funds returned to them from the company’s
untouched cold wallets. All in all, Flexcoin lost almost 900 of user’s
BTC which was worth nearly $600k at the time.

CRYPTSY EXCHANGE HACK

Date: July 2014

Amount Stolen: $9 million USD / 13,000 BTC
Type: Mystery Hack / Theft

Cryptsy was the second largest hack of 2014, after Mt. Gox, but
they refused to release further details on the hack itself until 2016.
Cryptsy claimed the hack was traced to the developer of an altcoin
called Lucky7Coin, who was able to exploit vulnerabilities in Cryptsy
servers to steal an enormous amount of user funds. Based on the
high and low worth of BTC in July 2014, because we do not have an
exact date, it’s safe to assume the exchange lost about $9 million.

MINTPAL EXCHANGE EXIT SCAM

Date: October 8, 2014

Amount Stolen: $1.32 million USD / 3,894 BTC
Type: Theft / Exit Scam

A cryptocurrency exchange called Mintpal completed a successful

exit scam in 2014, believed to be perpetrated by Moopay and
Moolah executive and founder Alex Green (also known as Ryan
kennedy) who is seen by the community as “shady.” Alex Green /

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Ryan Kennedy fled the crypto scene with nearly 3,900 BTC, worth
approximately $1.3 million at the time. As a side note, Alex
Green/Ryan Kennedy was convicted of rape in the UK in 2016 and
is currently serving an 11 year sentence there. It is unknown where
the funds currently are.

BITSTAMP HOT WALLET HACK

Date: January 4, 2015

Amount Stolen: $5.226 million / 19,000 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

Popular bitcoin exchange Bitstamp was hacked in late 2014 / early

2015, with Bitstamp announcing the hack on January 4, 2015.
Bitstamp initially suspended withdrawals and trading activity,
leading some users to believe the exchange was shutting down the
way some other exchanges have had to, but it restored ordinary
activity a week later. Although it’s unclear if the two were related,
they had received a ransom demand of 75 BTC shortly before with
Bitstamp saying “we do not negotiate with terrorists.” On the day
they announced that hack, the BTC lost was worth a little over $5.2
million.

EVOLUTION MARKETPLACE EXIT SCAM

Date: March 18, 2015

Amount Stolen: $11.8 million USD / 43,000 BTC
Type: Theft / Exit Scam

The first signs of trouble appeared on Reddit when a user called

NSWGreat published a post called, “EVOLUTION EXIT SCAM” in
March 2015, claiming to be a moderator for the site and accusing
the admins of “preparing to exit scam with all the funds.” Darknet
marketplaces disappearing from the internet overnight is nothing
new and Evolution Marketplace was yet another marketplace
pulling an exit scam, disappearing with over $11 million worth of
crypto funds from users. “I am so sorry, but Verto and Kimble have
f***ed us all,” explained the user in the Reddit post.

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 DAO HACK

Date: June 17, 2016

Amount Stolen: $76.6 million USD / 3.6 million ETH
Type: Hack / Frozen Funds

The DAO hack is one of the most notorious hacks in the history of
the crypto community, changing the trajectory of the world’s second
largest digital currency, Ethereum. The DAO was launched as a
crowdsourced hedge fund, where users would make collective
decisions about where to invest. A hacker later exploited a
vulnerability within the code and accidentally froze 3.6 million ETH.
The DAO debacle would eventually lead to the creation of ETH and
ETC, as the two sides disagreed on how to handle the hack (one
Blockchain path chose to go back in time and branch off, the other
chose to stay on the same path). The freeze resulted in the loss of
at least $76 million.

BITFINEX SECURITY BREACH

Date: August 2, 2016

Amount Stolen: $71.24 Million USD / 119,756 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

A Bitfinex security breach in 2016 led to one of the largest hacks in

crypto history with a loss of 119,756 BTC or approx. $72 million.
The exchange temporarily suspended trading, deposits, and
withdrawals and by August 4, confirmed that it had been robbed
while telling Reuters the amount lost from its users accounts.
Bitfinex remains operational to this day.

BITCUREX EXCHANGE HACK

Date: October 13, 2016

Amount Stolen: $1.476 million USD / 2,300 BTC
Type: Hack of Vulnerable Third Party

Poland-based crypto exchange Bitcurex was hacked on February

17, 2017, leading to the loss of nearly $1.5 million. It had previously

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been one of the largest crypto exchanges in Europe, especially for
Polish users, processing over $50 million in assets over the course
of 2016. On October 28, 2016, Bitcurex confirmed the loss and
announced it was shutting down. The problem was traced back to a
vulnerable third party performing an automated data collection.

ASIAN-EUROPEAN CURRENCY PONZI SCHEME

Date: April 24, 2017

Amount Stolen: $680 million
Type: Pyramid Scheme

The Asian-European Currency Ponzi scheme operated under the

guise of a legally registered company advertising as a get rich quick
scheme using multi-level marketing. The scam victimized 47,000
people total before being shut down. On August 10, 2017, the
Hainan City Police Department announced that a man titled,
“Suspect Xu” had been arrested for perpetrating the scam, along
with a number of other executive members of the company. Law
enforcement officials seized 4.6 billion RMB from the scammers, or
approximately $680 million USD, making it one of the biggest
seizures (and crypto scams) in industry history.

YAPIZON EXCHANGE HACK

Date: April 26, 2017

Amount Stolen: $16.741 million USD / 3,831 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

April 26, 2017 saw South Korean exchange Yapizon announce the
latest hack, claiming 3,800 BTC in customer funds had been stolen,
and lost over $16 million or the “equivalent to 37.08% of total
assets.” Instead of shutting down like other smaller exchanges after
a similar-scale hack, Yapizon decided to give customers a “haircut,”
spreading the burden of losses across the userbase. They have since
rebranded as Youbit, but by December 2017, the platform had
declared bankruptcy from a second attack. Regardless, the company
still appears to be active today and in mid-2018, they re-emerged in
an attempt to begin normal operations in the future.

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 BITHUMB HACK AND PRIVATE INFO LEAK

Date: June 29, 2017

Amount Stolen: $31 million USD
Type: Hack of Employee CPU / Theft of Korean Won and Personal
Information

On June 29, 2017, Bithumb revealed that a hacker had stolen $31
million worth of Korean Won along with the personally identifiable
information of 31,000 Bithumb website users, including their
names, mobile phone numbers, and email addresses. At the
time, Bithumb was the world’s fourth largest bitcoin exchange and
the largest exchange in South Korea. The hack was traced back to a
single employee’s compromised PC with many users reporting
millions of Won disappearing from their personal accounts
overnight.

BTC-E EXIT SCAM

Date: July 25, 2017

Amount Stolen: $180.956 million USD / 66,000 BTC
Type: Theft / Exit Scam

BTC-e suddenly shut down July 25, 2017, with over 66,000 BTC
moved to a wallet believed to be owned by Alexander Vinnik, known
as the mastermind behind BTC-e. He would later face 21 charges
from a US grand jury related to money laundering, computer
hacking, and drug trafficking. BTC-e was one of the world’s largest
and most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges of the day. It was
later revealed that BTC-e’s reputability was largely based on illicit
activity, and 95% of bitcoin transactions from ransomware
transactions were cashed out through BTC-e. The BTC was worth
just over $180 million on the day it shut down and the whole
unfortunate affair is remembered as one of the largest exit scams in
industry history.

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 QUADRIGACX CONTRACT ERROR

Date: June 2, 2017

Amount Lost: $13.16 million USD / 60,000 ETH
Type: Glitch / Locked Funds

Prior to a now infamous loss in 2019, QuadrigaCX made headlines

for a contract error that led to the loss of 60,000 ETH. “Earlier this
week, we noticed an irregularity with regards to the sweeping
process of incoming Ether to the exchange,” explained QuadrigaCX
in their official statement after the issue. The end result was just
over $13.1 million was lost while swapping ETH/ETC, with the ETH
frozen in that splinter contract permanently. QuadrigaCX later
resolved the issue and customers were not penalized.

CLASSICETHERWALLET DNS HACK

Date: June 2017

Amount Lost: $216,216 to 382,000 USD / 1,001 ETH
Type: Social Engineering

ClassicEtherWallet was compromised in June 2017 using a

vulnerability traced back to social engineering: the hacker convinced
support staff at the web hosting provider to concede control over
the official domain to a different owner, allowing the hacker to gain
access to customer wallet. A total of 1,001 ETH was quietly drained
from user wallets as they helplessly watched. Based on the month
of the attack, the losses were somewhere between $200,000 and
$300,000.

PARITY WALLET BREACH

Date: July 19, 2017

Amount Stolen: $34.29 million / 153,000 ETH
Type: Hack / Theft

The Parity Wallet was breached in July 2017, causing several major
ICOs to lose millions of dollars in raised capital. Parity Wallet was
trusted to provide safe, effective cryptocurrency storage and

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certain ICOs had tens of millions of dollars stored with them.
Hackers exploited a vulnerability in the Parity Wallet code, a bug in
a specific multi-signature contract know as wallet.sol, stealing more
than $30 million, or around 153,000 ETH. The hack was originally
reported to be as much as 500,000 ETH, but 377,000 ETH was
retrieved from vulnerable wallets by white hat hackers.

PARITY FROZEN WALLETS BUG

Date: November 6, 2017

Amount Lost: $150.9 million USD / 513,774 ETH
Type: Glitch / Locked Funds

Months after the first major Parity wallet hack, the team announced
a second vulnerability had been discovered. Parity, which was the
second most popular Ethereum client at the time, had a devastating
security bug affecting any Parity wallet deployed after July 20, using
the platform’s multi-signature functionality. The security
vulnerability was identified by a developer named devopps199, who
reported it on Github and it led to 513,774 ETH being frozen, worth
just over $150 million USD at the time.

TETHER TREASURY ATTACK

Date: November 21, 2017

Amount Stolen: $30.95 million USD / 31 million USDT
Type: Hack / Theft

Hackers attacked the Tether (USDT) treasury in November 2017,

stealing over $30 million in funds from the Tether Treasury wallet
and sending it to an unauthorized bitcoin address. Because Tether
was in full control of USDT, the company took steps to prevent the
attackers from trading that USDT onto broader markets, and
blocked attempts to sell USDT to other cryptocurrencies or fiat
currencies. Today, Tether continues to hold approximately 30% of
the total supply of USDT in its Treasury wallet, although it’s not
totally clear what happened to the 31 million USDT that went
missing in the November 2017 hack.

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 YOUBIT EXCHANGE HACK

Date: December 19, 2017

Amount Stolen: $72.21 million USD / 3,816 BTC
Type: Hack / Theft

After rebranding to YouBit, the exchange was hacked once again in

December 2017. It’s unclear if the two attacks were linked, however
some reports indicated that North Korean hackers were behind the
YouBit exchange attack as well as similar attacks on Bithumb. An
estimated 3,816 BTC or $72 million was lost.

EXMO EMPLOYEE KIDNAPPING

Date: December 26, 2017

Amount Stolen: $1 million, bitcoin was worth $14,029.13 per coin
Type: Kidnapping / Extortion

On December 26, 2017, 40-year old Exmo bitcoin exchange

employee Pavel Lerner was kidnapped while leaving his office in
Kiev, Ukraine. Lerner was reportedly dragged into a black Mercedes
vehicle by men wearing balaclavas. The kidnappers proceeded to
demand a $1 million ransom in bitcoin which was eventually paid
and Lerner was released. Ukrainian and Russian media reports
indicate that Lerner paid the ransom himself, although it’s unclear if
the funds were connected to the Exmo exchange in any way. To this
day, there’s limited information about the Lerner case available
online, although Lerner and Exmo are both alive and well.

AT&T CUSTOMER SIM JACKING

Date: January 7, 2018

Amount Stolen: $23.8 million
Type: SIM Jacking / Social Engineering

One of the worst SIM jacking attacks in crypto history allegedly took
place on January 7, 2018, when an American entrepreneur lost
$23.8 million in digital tokens. Terpin, the accuser, is now seeking
$23.8 million in compensation from AT&T along with $200 million

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in punitive damages, although AT&T is disputing the allegations.
“What AT&T did was like a hotel giving a thief with a fake ID a room
key and a key to the room safe to steal jewellery in the safe from
the rightful owner,” according to Terpin’s complaint.

BITCONNECT PYRAMID SCHEME PULLS AN

ENORMOUS EXIT SCAM

Date: January 16, 2018

Amount Stolen: Unknown
Type: Ponzi Scheme / Exit Scam

Bitconnect was an infamous pyramid scheme targeting gullible

members of the bitcoin community. It was promoted by an army of
social media influencers who reaped the rewards of being early
investors. By January 2018, Bitconnect reached its inevitable
conclusion and the value of a single Bitconnect token (BCC)
plummeted from $400 to just pennies. Investors who thought they
were holding onto token stashes worth millions suddenly found
themselves penniless. It was never revealed who was behind
Bitconnect and the amount lost is unknown to this day.

COINCHECK EXCHANGE HACK

Date: January 26, 2018

Amount Stolen: $505 million USD / 500 million NEM
Type: Hack / Theft

Coincheck crypto exchange platform revealed details of a hack

earlier in January on January 26, 2018, explaining that $400 to $530
million worth of NEM tokens had been stolen, making the
Coincheck hack the largest hack in crypto history. A total of 500
million NEM tokens went missing during the attack. At the time,
Coincheck was one of Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges and
NEM was nearing its all-time value high. Withdrawals and some
transactions were temporarily frozen. Coincheck received a
cryptocurrency exchange license from Japan’s Financial Services
Authority this year, indicating it is moving forward with strict
regulatory protocols and security systems in place.

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 BTC GLOBAL PONZI SCHEME

Date: March 1, 2018

Amount Stolen: $50 million USD
Type: Ponzi Scheme / Exit Scam

BTC Global followed in the footsteps of obvious crypto Ponzi

schemes like RegalCoin and Bitconnect. The scam mostly targeted
users in South Africa, and appeared to be run by a mysterious South
African currency trader named ‘Steve Twain’. It ran successfully for
a few weeks, with users receiving regular pay-outs from Twain’s
team, but after attracting $50 million in investments, the self-
described ‘master trader’ Steve Twain disappeared from the
internet. As of 2019, South African police are still investigating the
BTC Global crypto scam.

GAINBITCOIN INDIA PONZI SCHEME

Date: April 8, 2018

Amount Stolen: $300 million USD
Type: Exit Scam / Pyramid Scheme

GainBitcoin was a pyramid scheme targeted towards gullible crypto

traders in South Asia where the founders successfully disappeared
with $300 million, making it one of the most profitable exit scams in
industry history. Unfortunately for GainBitcoin and its team, they
would eventually be identified and arrested in November 2018. The
case continues to make its way through courts in India after the
founders were arrested at airports while attempting to travel
abroad.

SAILESH BHATT EXTORTION

Date: April 10, 2018

Amount Stolen: $1.38 million USD / 200 BTC
Type: Abduction / Extortion

A businessman in India named Sailesh Bhatt was allegedly the victim

of extortion by local police on February 9, 2018, according to a

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report filed with different police on April 10, 2018. He claims 10
officers, including a superintendent of police and an inspector, held
him captive until he sent 200 BTC (worth over $1 million at the time)
to his former business partner. “They beat me up inside a room and
threatened to kill me in a fake encounter if I did not have over my
bitcoins,” explained Sailesh Bhatt in his statement. To this day, the
course continues to make its way through the system, and it’s
unclear what really happened to Sailesh Bhatt.

IFAN PONZI SCHEME

Date: April 12, 2018

Amount Stolen: $650 million USD
Type: Pyramid Scheme / Exit Scam

iFan was yet another Ponzi scheme run by a company called Modern
Tech which guaranteed pay-outs of 48% per month within a four
month period. Investors needed to recruit people to the scheme to
get paid but iFan started paying users in a value-less digital currency
while requiring larger and larger deposits. It was enormously
successful and eventually brought the total loss to VND 15 trillion
($650 million USD), largely from Vietnamese investors. Investors are
still seeking retribution against the company.

BITCOIN GOLD HACKED FOR $18 MILLION

Date: May 24, 2018

Amount Stolen: $18 million USD
Type: Hack / 51% attack

Bitcoin Gold experienced a second major attack in its young history

in May 2018, when hackers used an enormous amount of hash
power to launch a 51% attack on the network, allowing them to
double spend Bitcoin Gold and steal $18 million. The coin is still an
active project but major crypto exchanges like Bittrex decided to de-
list Bitcoin Gold after this security incident. It’s still in the top 30
cryptocurrencies by market cap as of March 2019.

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 BANCOR HACK

Date: July 9, 2018

Amount Stolen: $23.5 million USD
Type: Hack / Theft ICO

Israel and Switzerland-based crypto giant Bancor offers a

decentralized exchange platform and raised over $150 million in an
ICO in 2017. They then admitted on July 10, 2018, that “a wallet
used to upgrade some smart contracts was compromised,” allowing
hackers to disappear with $12.5 million in Ether, $1 million in Pundi
X’s NPXS tokens, and $10 million in Bancor’s BNT tokens. The
exchange was taken offline temporarily to investigate the incident
but remains active to this day.

ONECOIN PONZI SCHEME

Date: September 5, 2018

Amount Stolen: $400 million USD
Type: Theft / Exit Scam

Multilevel marketing company OneCoin lured gullible investors into

depositing money into the scheme which the founders then
laundered through several shell companies worldwide. An American
scam artist named Mark Scott was officially indicted by a grand jury
in August 2018, then arrested on September 5. Scott allegedly used
some of the more the suspected $400 million stolen to purchase a
massive mansion for himself and his family in Massachusetts.

NORWEGIAN MAN MURDERED AFTER CASH -FOR-

CRYPTO EXCHANGE

Date: October 18, 2018

Amount Stolen: Unknown
Type: Theft / Murder

On October 18, 2018, police in Oslo announced that a 24-year old

Norwegian man had been murdered in his apartment after an
apparent cash-for-crypto exchange went wrong. Norwegian police

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traced the crime to a 20-year old Swedish citizen named Makaveli
Lindén, who was on the run from Interpol after the incident. Initial
reports were wrong, however, and police later revealed that Lindén
climbed into the victim’s bedroom through a window later that same
night where the victim was stabbed 20 times after a fight. It’s not
clear if the robber even knew about the victim’s bitcoin holdings, but
it’s believed that the robber discovered the victim’s crypto holdings
while conducting a P2P transaction earlier in the day. Makaveli
Lindén was arrested in France a few days later.

MAPLECHANGE EXIT SCAM

Date: October 28, 2018

Amount Stolen: $5.9 million USD / 913 BTC
Type: Theft / Exit Scam

The MapleChange team initially announced they had lost 913 BTC
in a hack, closing soon after, claiming they were “in the process of a
thorough investigation” and that “until the investigation is over, we
cannot refund anything.” Today, it’s all but confirmed
that MapleChange was an exit scam. Latest information indicates
two Romanian brothers were involved and it may never have had
anything to do with Canada. Users who lost money in the exit scam
have rallied around a Twitter account called MapleChange’d in an
attempt to bring the founders to justice but have received no
compensation for their losses.

PURE BIT EXIT SCAM

Date: November 13, 2018

Amount Stolen: $2.653 million USD / 13,000 ETH
Type: Exit Scam / Refund

On November 4, a crypto start up called Pure Bit launched its ICO

but on November 13, Pure Bit suddenly disappeared from the
internet with 13,000 in ETH worth just over $2.6 million. Authorities
were alerted but Pure Bit remerged a week later, releasing a
statement claiming that the CEO was “blinded by money” and made
an “unforgivable mistake,” with victims receiving a full refund. It’s

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unclear if Pure Bit and its CEO had a genuine change of conscience,
or if South Korean law enforcement was involved but it is now
known that Pure Bit was started by a group of scammers.

ETC 51% GATE.IO ATTACK

Date: January 7, 2019

Amount Stolen: $212,400 USD / 40,000 ETC
Type: Hack / Theft

Gate.io’s censor successfully blocked some transactions from a 51%

attack on January 7, 2019 on th Ethereum Classic (ETC) network.
Some still got through and ultimately, the hacker disappeared with
40,000 ETC, worth over $200k at the time.

CRYPTOPIA EXCHANGE ERC20 HACK

Date: January 15, 2019

Amount Stolen: $16 million USD
Type: Hack / Theft

Crypto exchange Cryptopia was hacked on January 15, 2019. Based

on the nature of the attack, it was assumed that the thieves gained
access to 76,000 private keys, using them to extract a total of $16
million in ERC20 tokens from users. The New Zealand-based
exchange remained shut down well into March 2019 due to the
devastating hack. Cryptopia has since resumed its operation and
transitioned 24% of all wallets to new, more secure servers.

LOCALBITCOINS PHISHING HACK

Date: January 26, 2019

Amount Stolen: $28,755.52 USD / 8 BTC
Type: Hack / Phishing

On January 26, 2019, LocalBitcoins lost 8 BTC to a hacker, despite

a stellar reputation up until that point. Users claimed they were
redirected to a login page where they were asked to enter their
credentials, all of which were sent to the hacker. After the

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breach, LocalBitcoins temporarily disabled access to its forums. It’s
possible that more than 8 BTC worth over $28k at the time when a
user came forward claiming the loss.

QUADRIGACX DECLARES BANKRUPTCY AFTER

MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF FOUNDER

Date: February 1, 2019

Amount Stolen: $140M ~ $200 million USD
Type: Locked Funds / Lost Private Keys

On February 1, 2019, the Canadian crypto QuadrigaCX exchange

filed for creditor protection because it was no longer able to access
funds. The death of QuadrigaCX founder Gerry Cotten on
December 9th caused the liquidity issue as he was reportedly the
only person able to access $145 million in digital assets stored by
the exchange, with the only known private keys. QuadrigaCX
reportedly owes nearly $200 million to its users, with only $286k
left. Cotton’s wife claims no knowledge of the private keys or their
location, and cybersecurity experts have been unable to break into
Cotton’s computer. This loss has led to conspiracy theorists claiming
Cotten actually faked his death on Reddit, but Gerald Cotten
officially died from complications related to Crohn’s Disease while
traveling in India at just 30 years old. Quadriga’s wallets have not
moved funds, making the faked death exit scam theory a little silly.
Those funds can be seen but may never be recovered again.

BITHUMB INSIDE JOB HACK

Date: March 30, 2019

Amount Stolen: $19 million USD / EOS $13.26 and XRP $6.3
Type: Hack / Theorized Inside Job

In late March 2019, Bithumb announced that it had lost 3.07 million
EOS (worth about $13 million), but later announced on April 1st that
an additional 20.2 million of XRP (worth $6.2 million) was also
stolen. Bithumb claimed their security team had spotted an
“abnormal withdrawal” on Friday, March 29th which was followed by
a suspension of withdrawals and deposits while an investigation was

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underway. Luckily, the stolen crypto was “owned by the company”
and customer funds were safe in a cold wallet. The authorities were
notified as a part of their standards and it is believed the funds were
already laundered, making any recovery unlikely. Claims of an
“inside job” quickly surfaced, but how a single employee would be
able to hack and steal $19 million is unknown.

BINANCE LOSES $41 MILLION IN ‘LARGE SCALE’

HOT WALLET HACK

Date: May 7, 2019

Amount Stolen: $41.27 Million USD / 7,040 BTC
Type: Hack / Vague Details

Hackers withdrew 7,040 BTC from Binance’s hot wallet May 7,

2019. Binance is notoriously non-transparent but claims the hackers
“used a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses and other
attacks” to attack the exchange and were “able to obtain a large
number of user API keys, 2FA codes, and potentially other info”
(according to an official press release). Although the information
given has been extremely vague, the lost funds account for only
about 2% of the exchange’s current BTC holdings, and all other
wallets were left secure and unharmed. Withdrawals and deposits
were temporarily suspended and all lost crypto is being covered by
Binance emergency funds.

Source for Bitcoin Scams/Hacks History guide owes a special thanks

to Crypto Theft Incidents Timeline by Kyle G. and the tremendous
amount of aggreagated research and curated effort into connecting
the dots in the early days of Bitcoin.

A majority of the numbers on loss amounts were calculated using

the following pricing indexes in order to give the most accurate, to
date, information available (and always in the U.S. Dollar). This left
some to deviate slightly from claimed losses in articles or the source
list:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)

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 • Stellar (XLM)
• NEM (XEM)
• Ethereum Classic (ETC)
• Tether (USDT)

Now that we have reviewed the most known methods hackers and
scammers use to siphon bitcoin from users, covered the entire
history of bitcoin scams and hacks, let's round out this mega-
masterpiece in mind with the top ways to add protective practices
into securing digital assets and virtual currencies.

BEST WAYS TO SECURELY PROTECT

CRYPTO FUNDS AND AVOID BITCOIN
SCAMS

Security is a top priority for any funds, but with normal money there
is very little you have to go out of your way for to protect your day-
to-day cash – or at least you are so used to what it takes that you
don’t even think about most of it anymore. Cryptocurrencies are
very new, though, and they require more planning and learning to
make something new become habit. So here is a little self-help
guide, the means by which to make it happen. Here you can learn
how to identify potential threats, choose the right security for your
needs, and avoid possibly common missteps in your choice making
along the way.

The Right Crypto Service and Exchange

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Only use reputable crypto exchanges with strong reputations to
store your crypto in. Never long term store any crypto you’re not
willing to lose.

CONFIRM ALL WEBSITES

Phishing attacks are incredibly sophisticated at times. Hackers can

re-imagine entire major exchange websites to convince you they are
who they say they are and gain access to your private email to send
you the link in an otherwise legitimate looking email. Once you click
that link or “sign in” on a fake site, you may have just lost access to
all your private cryptocurrency information. This may sound scary
and overwhelming but the advice is simple: always check the bottom
of a web page for stamps of legitimacy, always make sure you have
typed in a website fully and accurately, and never click a link on an
email from an unknown address.

PASSWORD STORAGE

There are such a thing as “password managers,” companies that

handle the keeping and safety of your password. Cryptocurrency
passwords tend to be long, complicated, and difficult to remember.
There are many companies that offer the service of password
storage, shop around and take your time picking one- but if you are
in a bind and need a name, LastPass is a great option. No matter
what, do not store your password on your computer.

ON THE SUBJECT OF PASSWORDS

A good password is always defense number one in cyber security of

any kind. So here are some pointers everyone should know on
making a good, sound password:

• Avoid personally defining subjects and words. Now this

includes, but is not limited to, family names, addresses,
birthdays, pet names, favorite books or movies, or personal
information of any kind. You are not that big of a mystery
and someone can figure it out.

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 • Common patterns and sequences such as ‘12345’ or
capitalizing every other letter, or using something even more
mundane like “password” as your password.
• Dictionary words of any kind should not be used. They are
too easy for hackers to figure out by running programs
written to figure out passwords. Words are too recognizable.
• Special characters like are highly recommended (think £, #,
@, etc), as are random capitalization, random numbers, and
believe it or not- spaces.
• Always avoid repeated numbers and letters, especially in a
pattern.
• Misspelled words (if you use a word at all) and long
passwords are the way to go.
• Make sure all passwords are unique for every account you
have. If a hacker cracks one and they are all the same, they
could potentially have access to everything under your name
from bank accounts to email addresses.

NEVER CLICK SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Social media is the perfect place for hackers to tweet or post links
or send direct messages to you with link in it that lead to malicious
websites. Pretty much anything claiming to have a special deal or
something free can be assumed to be untrustworthy. Very few
things in life are free, if it sounds too good to be true then it probably
is.

UPDATE EVERYTHING REGULARLY

Most of us avoid updating software on our phones and computers

like the plague. However, these updates often contain important
code changes or additions that continue to protect your electronics.
The updates are important, stop avoiding them.

SPREAD YOUR CRYPTO

In line with picking a good crypto exchange, it’s also a good idea to
spread your crypto currency around to different locations, especially
if you plan on making investments into digital coins a regular

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occurrence. If your eggs are in different baskets, and one of them
gets stolen- most of your crypto is still safe.

HEIRS AND WILLS

Normally, you stick with the tell no one rule when it comes to your
private crypto info. There have been instances of crypto being
permanently lost when someone unexpectedly dies, however, so it
is a safe bet to include the private keys in your will or to somehow
share how to access them with your heir.

AVOID PUBLIC WI-FI

As has already been stated, public Wi-Fi can easily become a trap
where you give access to a third-party – whether by a hack through
the public network itself or by creating a fake public network that
looks like the real one. A standard rule to live by is to never access
anything personal using public Wi-Fi, not even once, not even your
email.

ICO SCAMS OR UNTRUSTWORTHY ICOS

This is one of the big ones. Avoiding scams are an important of

investment of any kind, so here are some dos and don’ts of ICOs:

• Open Cap and Hard Cap- the difference is important. A hard

cap is when a limit is set on the amount of tokens created in
an ICO. You will want to avoid ICOs with an unlimited cap.
• Code Repositories- ICOs with legitimacy will use online
platforms like Github to publish the code they already have.
If the ICO you are interested in refuses to share their core or
repository, it’s a signed that they aren’t developing a real
project.
• Development Team- Always research the development
team. You’ll want to see people with experience and
accomplishments within their profession and a history of
bringing projects to fruition. If the team information appears
fake, it probably is. If the team is unqualified, or worse, if all
of the leadership is unqualified then it’s not a good choice. It

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 is also a massive red flag if they do not share any information
about the team at all.
• White Papers- these detail future team goals with specific
timelines, features, project goals, and more. If the
Whitepaper does not exist, is poorly written, copied, or
incomplete, then it’s a sign the project is at least fraudulent
and at worst incompetent.
• Roadmap- serving as an explanation on when the ICO plans
to meet goals, a lack of a clear roadmap with attainable goals
is also a red flag.
• Blockchain Tech- are they actually incorporating any
Blockchain at all? Distributing tokens not based on
Blockchain and not seeming to have any interest in it at all is
a sign of a company that is all hype and no substance.
• Token Distribution- the public receives token distribution in
an ICO but if they vary widely between projects, it may be a
sign that they plan on keeping 50% or more of the tokens
for the team. This is an indication that the team is trying to
pull off an exit scam. Verify their distribution plans before
investing into any ICO.
• Community Involvement- Blockchain and crypto spaces are
built on and known for collaboration. Be on the look-out for
ICO projects with community backing and support within
the Blockchain world. Those without or lacking in this may
have something to hide.
• Reviews and Online Talk- it may seem intuitive to check the
reviews of anything that is a big or important purchase but
what you may not know is to watch for online talk as well.
Even a simple google search can sometimes warn you about
what is going on and the experiences of other people with
any given ICO project. Never just invest in anything because
someone tells you to without doing your own research first.
• Plagiarism- as part of doing your own research, many ICO
projects are actually using plagiarized information. For
example, you might realize the team photos were copied
from another website or that their white paper is a copy of
another company’s whitepaper.

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If you follow these really basic rules about investing in ICOs, you
should be able to avoid almost any risk of scam whatsoever.

SCAMMY AND UNTRUSTWORTHY CRYPTO

EXCHANGES

Like with ICOs, it’s important to know how to pick safe crypto
exchanges. Below are some tips for just that:

• Transparency- when exchanges are scams, they have very

limited transparency in their operations. If they refuse to
disclose operations, lack a way to contact them, and you
cannot figure out where they are based or came from, it’s
the safer bet to avoid them.
• Anonymity- In line with transparency, but important enough
to be reiterated as a separate point, if team members or
management are anonymous, this is not the exchange you
want to be a part of- period.
• Banking Partners- even legitimate crypto exchanges struggle
with finding banking partners, resulting in some sleazy bank
partnerships. It’s important to look into them but it’s even
more important that the exchange you choose has
partnerships at all.
• Contact Us- Bad crypto exchanges have limited
communication and contacts options, this is a red flag.
Watch out for companies only offering a simple form where
you fill out information to contact them, this is a sign that
they do not want to be contacted or have no intention of
reading these forms.
• Plagiarism- just like with ICO’s, you want to make sure the
project info on the website and the whitepaper is not just a
copy of another exchange’s. It usually takes a simple google
search.
• Maintenance Downtime- to prevent users from making a run
with their funds, most scam exchanges shut down slowly, in
phases. You’ll want to watch out for signs of this when you
are in an exchange. Maintenance is a normal part of
upgrades and maintaining safety but withdrawals being
temporarily suspended or long maintenance down times are

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 a problem. If the exchange you’re looking at has had
frequent down times, this is an indication there will be future
problems like an exit scam or that they were never that safe
from hacking to begin with.

Not all exchanges operate as scams and they can be more difficult
to spot then a faulty ICO, but exchanges with one or more of the
above problems can pretty much be put on the do not entire list.

THE DARK WEB, BITCOIN ADOPTION, AND THE SEC

Considering the amount that has been written on the subject, it is

no secret by now that Bitcoin’s history is rife with illegal activity.
Really that’s true of any cryptocurrency- they are being used to pay
for illegal things on the dark web or to launder money.

What’s really important to know about its relevance is that cash is

still the main source of money for illegal activity worldwide and
Bitcoin’s beginnings as a pathway for illegal means is part of why
cryptocurrency has gotten to where it is today. Let me explain that
latter point.

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SILK ROAD

Back in 2011, Bitcoin could be used to pay for very, very few things.
It was more a gimmick than anything else and each coin was worth
pennies on the American dollar at most. Then came the launch of
the Silk Road in February 2011.

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The Silk Road operated on something called the darknet as the first
modern day darknet market. For those of you who are not already
aware, the darknet is an internet access point operating outside of
the mainstream, without regulation, and where all sorts of illegal
activity takes place. Its initial purpose was as a means of
communication between government military and spy factions on
channels the rest of us wouldn’t be able to reach. Think a separate
internet highway, only darker and scarier. If our internet is the tip of
the iceberg, this internet is everything beneath the water.

On this new darkent market, you could buy and sell drugs, illegal
porn, or even hire a hitman. Bitcoin offered an enormously secure,
fast, and easy way to transfer money that leaves no paper trail, does
not involve personal information, has no regulatory interference of
any kind, could not be censored or shut down by governments,
whose transitions are irreversible once completed, and would not
require meeting in person like cash does. You can see the appeal.

In a coup for the FBI, the Silk Road was shut down in February 2013
and its owner and founder, Ross William Ulbricht, had been
arrested. The FBI seized the remaining bitcoin in the exchange and
proceeded to auction it off in 2014.

RISING BITCOIN ADOPTION

While it’s obvious that the Silk Road hurt the reputation of bitcoin,
it had the simultaneous effect of increasing its adoption across the
board. So much illegal activity had been paid for using it that the
value began to increase with the use of the darknet market.

The FBI auctioning off the over 26,000 BTC became a crucial
turning point, despite it dropping the value even further than the
original Silk Road bust, because that is when a Silicon Valley venture
capitalist by the name of Tim Draper came into the picture.

Draper bought up a large portion of the auctioned bitcoin, later

lending it to a bitcoin start up in the Bay Area. Thus began the
realization that a decentralized currency could have uses other than
illegality- its main draw being its censorship-resistance within all

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countries. The tech world is nothing if not tied with ideas of anarchy,
anti-censorship, and/or a lack of government control.

In many ways, none of this would have happened if Bitcoin had not
first been adopted by the rise of an illegal darknet marketplace.

QUESTIONS OF REGULATION

A lack of government clarity on regulations is actually a huge issue

for cryptocurrencies. It’s confusing for start-ups, worrisome for old-
guard venture capitalists, and it scares off some people from buying
into cryptocurrency. While its lack of regulation is what originally
gave it its appeal, it would only be able to garner mass adoption with
regulations.

Regulations do not just give something structure that everyone is

required to follow for no reason, it also gives a market or product
protections from theft and the people who partake in it protections.
This, when done well, can foster mass popular growth, encourage
new business, while also preventing future scams like the ones
found on this list while holding people to a legal standard more easily
when they do scam you.

However, the SEC has been lacklustre on Bitcoin and other

cryptocurrencies because it is unclear whether to label them a
security or a currency. It’s been a struggle for countries all over the
world.

The Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC has been charged

with regulating and caring about the exchange of securities. Bitcoin
has never been formally declared a security and as they are not
formally declared a currency either, they technically fall outside the
jurisdiction of any agency handling either.

Better regulation comes down to these 4 considerations:

1. Is Bitcoin Money? Sure, it’s designed as a currency but it has

properties not fitting with other, more traditional fiat

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 currencies. Currently, regulators continue to say it’s either a
money or not a money.
2. Cryptos- are they commodities or securities? Some cryptos
function as securities but the SEC treats all of them as
commodities. For example, XRP is a coin with a value tied to
the company it comes from- Ripple. That essentially makes
it like a stock or security. This means regulators will have to
either put them all into one grouping with a new definition
despite their differences or take the time to identify each
one separately, by the original definitions of what makes
something a security or a commodity.
3. In what jurisdiction should its regulation lie? As a
continuation of the previous one, until it’s decided if they are
commodities, securities, or some in each category, it will
remain unclear who is legally able or obligated to regulate
them: CFTC for commodities or SEC for securities.
4. Who is the responsible party for a crypto? Because many
cryptocurrencies are decentralized, they aren’t really
controlled by one organization or authority. This translates
to many having no single person or power that can be
charged or prosecuted in the event of illegal action. For
example, Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator of Bitcoin but no
one even knows who he is.

When those things can be addressed, only then can there be enough
regulation to make it the average safe market. But as we have
already gone over, that doesn’t make the market not worth investing
in as long as you’re willing to follow some steps to help protect
yourself like you would in any other investment case.

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BITCOIN SCAMS AND CRYPTO
HACKS CONCLUSION

Bitcoin now has over 18 million of the 21 total million BTC that will
be minted until the last one is issued in 2140, nearly 120 years away
and 30 some mining halvings away.

As of April 2019, industry analysts estimated 4-6 million coins

having been stolen, lost or forgotten about at some point. This is a
startling 20-35% of its total circulating supply. 2018 alone saw a
near $1.7 billion worth being stolen as scams were on the rise and
these were only the major reported ones in the media. This didn’t
deter growth, however, as daily consumers bought into
cryptocurrency and tokens at an all-time high, even despite 2017’s
massive dive in net value across all coins but especially Bitcoin.
When the price of Bitcoin in USD exchange rate value goes up,
hackers and schemers are much more prone to seeking all of the
vulnerabilities exposed above.

While it is important to remember that even the best

cryptocurrency exchanges are not the ideal way to store large
amounts of funds all at once, that doesn’t mean everything is
inherently unsafe all the time or that you cannot ever use exchanges
for their intended purpose. But having a minor dose of paranoia
when it comes to opening a bitcoin wallet and storing your
cryptocurrency funds safely, it is best to see the history of hacks and
scams associated with bitcoin and apply the strategies and
awareness mentions above and you will be a smarter, better user
moving forward.

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With education, knowledge and these tools at your disposal
combined with an awareness of what is happening in the current
market trends, you can ensure your funds are as a safe as possible
at all times – even if the value of Bitcoin goes up and your
cryptocurrency investment ROI increases, making it all the more
important and significant to safely apply all of the best practices to
your storage tactics.

We will regularly be updating this list throughout the year, including

adding new malware scripts by name to be concerned about,
following up on SIM swapping cases, and any next generation crypto
scam tactics used to steal your funds or put your financial wealth in
jeopardy.

This chronological list of bitcoin theft and cryptocurrency losses was

painstakingly compiled for the end-consumer, you, to be the aware
of the threats out there and how to be smart about using bitcoin to
store wealth, spend and save. Between the aforementioned hawk
and eagle birds flying above, hopefully you can now navigate this
bitcoin-dominate blockchain-based financial system with eyes wide
open. We encourage you to check back with us at least quarterly for
any additions bitcoin scam/hack entries that will serve as a guide
going forward.

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