Cryptocurrency

BTC price recently surged to over $73,000 correcting to below $65,000 on profit taking. At the time of writing, Bitcoin price exchanged hands at around $67,500.A year-to-date increase stands at more than 60% while the 12-month jump has exceeded 150%. “Bitcoin’s price recovery to previous ATH seems to be faster than previous cycles. Bitcoin’s price is above the previous ATH already, suggesting this cycle may be different and making a significant correction likely,” Menno Martens, Crypto Specialist and Product Manager at VanEck, said to Investing.com.The recent surge in Bitcoin price is partly driven by the growing demand for spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), offering investors a less risky way to engage with cryptocurrency. These ETFs have seen a significant influx of investment, drawing attention for their potential in portfolio diversification. Spot Bitcoin ETFs differ from regular Bitcoin ETFs by allowing direct exposure to Bitcoin itself, rather than futures contracts. Managed by firms that issue shares of their Bitcoin holdings, these ETFs provide a bridge for traditional investors to enter the cryptocurrency space by purchasing shares on conventional stock exchanges, bypassing the need to directly hold or manage the cryptocurrency. Another reason why Bitcoin prices are rallying is related to the upcoming halving event. A Bitcoin halving is an event where the reward for mining Bitcoin transactions is cut by 50%, happening roughly every four years. This mechanism progressively decreases the speed at which new bitcoins are created and introduced into the market, aiming to halt the production of new bitcoins by around the year 2140.“Historically, Bitcoin halving events, which occur approximately every four years, have led to an increase in price,” Yuya Takemura, Founder of Axys Holding, told Investing.com.“The next halving in 2024 may follow this trend, possibly causing a significant price increase in 2025.”Speaking about other factors that are helping Bitcoin price to rally, Takemura also highlighted “increased participation by Generation Z, and the adoption of blockchain technology by governments and major financial institutions.”While Takemura acknowledges recent analyst projections that Bitcoin price could exceed $100,000, he also warned about “market’s volatility and susceptibility to global economic conditions.”Investing.com recently wrote about JMP Securities saying Bitcoin price could hit $280,000 over the next three years as ETF inflows accelerate. “We estimate that after ~$10B in flows to date, two months into launch, flows will actually continue to grow materially from here over the next few years as the ETF approval is just the beginning of a longer process of capital allocation,” said JMP. Today, British brokerage firm Standard Chartered (OTC:SCBFF) came out with its own forecast. According to their analysts, the $150,000 level “now looks likely.” Hence, the bank raised its price target on Bitcoin to $150,000 from $100,000 to reflect “the more rapid pass-through from ETF inflows to the BTC price to date.”Moreover, Standard Chartered analysts see the ongoing Bitcoin price rally continuing. “USD 200,000 is the ‘correct’ end-2025 price level for BTC, in line with our previous price estimate, and that it is likely to be the new midpoint for a sideways trading range at that time.”“It also suggests that an overshoot to USD 250,000 is likely at some point in 2025 if ETF inflows continue apace and/or reserve managers buy BTC.” More

Understanding the impact of halving on Bitcoin is essential for investors. Bitcoin halving occurs every four years. It is an event that halves mining rewards and reduces Bitcoin supply. As a result, the impact is hotly debated, with the leading cryptocurrency usually rising after the event.After previous halvings, the price of Bitcoin has generally risen not long after. However, it is rare to see BTC hit a new all-time high ahead of the event.Bitcoin hit a new high of well over $73,000 last week, although it pulled back to above the $64,000 mark over the weekend. Nevertheless, it is now back over $68,000.For the year-to-date, Bitcoin is up more than 61%, while in the last 12 months, it has risen more than 152%.Speaking to Investing.com, Yuya Takemura, Founder of Axys Holding, noted that Bitcoin halving events typically lead to the price rising.“The next halving in 2024 may follow this trend, possibly causing a significant price increase in 2025,” said Takemura. “Considering Bitcoin’s past performance and increasing adoption, a significant price increase in 2025 is plausible. Factors such as limited supply, growing institutional interest, and wider acceptance in payment systems play a role.”Takemura also recognized that the global recognition through ETF approvals, Gen Z’s growing participation, and blockchain adoption by authoritative entities could impact the price. However, he cautioned that the Bitcoin market is volatile and susceptible to global economic conditions.Meanwhile, Menno Martens, a crypto specialist and product manager at VanEck, told Investing.com that “historical trends show that Bitcoin tends to rally before, during, and after halving events.”However, he said, “It should be noted that there are some exclusions, for example, Bitcoin also sees significant corrections of over 82% and 80% down during the 3rd and 2nd cycle respectively.”“Bitcoin’s price recovery to previous ATH seems to be faster than previous cycles. Bitcoin’s price is above the previous ATH already, suggesting this cycle may be different and making a significant correction likely,” cautioned Martens.He believes that what sets this particular halving apart is the introduction of a Spot Bitcoin ETF in the US market.“While similar products, like the VanEck Bitcoin ETN, have been available since 2020, the launch of a Spot ETF in the US is seen by many as a watershed moment for Bitcoin, akin to the IPO of a major asset,” he added. “Comparisons are drawn to the effect of ETFs on the gold market, where an eight-year bull run followed the launch of gold ETFs.”Furthermore, Martens explains that ETFs play a significant role in market dynamics, holding over 4.2% of circulating Bitcoin and absorbing a considerable portion of newly minted coins daily. As a result, he believes the absorption may intensify post-halving, potentially reducing the available Bitcoin supply for non-ETF investors.“If demand remains high, as observed in recent weeks, this could theoretically lead to significant price appreciation,” he said. “The risk is that Bitcoin could also see significant corrections.”Elsewhere, in a recent research note, analysts at JMP Securities said they believe Bitcoin price could reach a high of $280,000 within the next three years, driven by the anticipated Bitcoin ETF inflows.“We estimate that after ~$10B inflows to date, two months into launch, flows will actually continue to grow materially from here over the next few years as the ETF approval is just the beginning of a longer process of capital allocation,” JMP wrote.The investment firm calculates around $220 billion of incremental flows into Bitcoin ETFs over the next three years.“We estimate a current multiplier of ~25x, which on our flow estimate would equate to an incremental $280K per Bitcoin,” they added.Meanwhile, Bernstein said it is now “more convinced” about its $150K price target for Bitcoin.“Bitcoin today is at $71K, we expected this to break out post-halving. We built Bitcoin institutional flows in our estimates to arrive at Bitcoin price. We estimated $10Bn inflows for 2024 and another $60Bn for 2025,” the firm explained. More

“Bitcoin supply growth is currently about 1.7% and that will be reduced to a bit under 1% for the first time in bitcoin history,” at the next halving event, expected “sometime on April 17”, Bill Laboon, Director of Education and Governance Initiatives at Web3 Foundation told Investing.com’s Yasin Ebrahim in an interview on Thursday.Halving events, which occur once every four years, cut the amount of bitcoin that is produced on the bitcoin blockchain, or network, by miners in half — hence, ‘halving.’  The only way to make bitcoin is by producing blocks for the Bitcoin network. Each block currently produces 6.25 bitcoin that is distributed to the miners responsible for validating transactions stored in blocks on the blockchain. But at the next halving event, this reward will be halved to 3.125 BTC, slowing the rate at which new bitcoin is minted and increasing its scarcity as well as price.About 19.6 million bitcoin, roughly 93.59%, of the total 21 million bitcoin has already been mined. “Going forward miners are going to be fighting for a much, much smaller issuance of Bitcoin in every block,” Laboon said, adding that there’s still aways to go until the last block is mined, expected sometime in 2140.Since its inception in 2009, there have been three halving events that have reduced the supply growth of bitcoin from a 25% rate to just under 2% currently.During previous four-year halving cycle, the price of bitcoin has followed a distinct path across three main periods: pre-halving, halving, and post-halving.In the prior cycle in May 2020, Bitcoin was trading around $9,000 pre-halving, but after the halving on 11 May 2020 started a bull run to an all-time high of $68,982.20 by November 2021 before undergoing a significant correction.The 18-month period between bitcoin halving and the peak price is consistent across historical data from previous halving cycles. With the current peak in BTC price expected to be reach during the third week of October 2025 at a time when institutional investors are entering the fray — following the launch of a spot-bitcoin ETFs in January this year — many are optimistic that there is plenty of runway left in the current bull market.US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs have racked up over $60 billion in assets under management as of Mar. 16, data from Coinglass showed, with Blackrock”s iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT), and Fidelity’s Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (NYSE:FBTC) leading the charge.After the last block is mined and 21 million bitcoin is in circulation, many worry about what the future holds for the bitcoin blockchain as the miners may be less incentivized to continue network upkeep without the reward for producing new blocks.But the use cases for bitcoin — beyond just transferring bitcoin from one user to another – are beginning to emerge, increasing activity on the network and the related transaction fees that may turn to out be much more lucrative than the reward miners receive for churning out new blocks.“We’ve actually seen over the last year or so, there have been other uses of the Bitcoin network besides just transferring Bitcoin around, most famously ordinals,” which can be thought of as a “super NTFs (non-fungible tokens),” Laboon said.“As time goes on, this fee market is going to take over from new issuance of Bitcoin in order to ensure that miners are still are paid to do the work of continuing security in the network,” he added.The rise in the creation of layer-two technologies or off-chain networks — built on top of layer-1 blockchains like bitcoin – is a “very big area for growth,” for bitcoin, Laboon added, as it allows people “to use the security of bitcoin to run more complicated programs that were done, sometimes on other blockchains.” More

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TEN, an encrypted Ethereum Layer 2 network, announces a funding round of $9 million USD, led by digital powerhouse R3. Obscuro Labs’ TEN is an Ethereum Layer 2 roll-up platform addressing critical encryption and scaling issues in blockchain applications. R3, a consortium of 42 of the world’s largest banks exploring blockchain-based RWA tokenization and CBDC, has been a major supporter of TEN from its inception.Over half of TEN’s senior team hails from R3, which developed the leading tokenization platform Corda, bringing significant experience to the table. In addition to R3, the funding round includes support from notable investors such as Republic Crypto, KuCoin Labs, Big Brain Capital, DWF Labs, and Magnus Capital.TEN strikes a balance between Optimistic-based L2s and ZK-Rollups, offering speed, security, versatility and privacy not currently available in existing Layer 2 solutions. The platform, currently in testnet, is set to release on the mainnet in October, boasting features like programmable encryption, immediate bridges, and secure random number generation.TEN distinguishes itself as a general-purpose L2 on Ethereum, aiming to provide efficiency akin to Optimistic-based L2s while maintaining full encryption. The platform addresses encryption, MEV prevention, scalability, and gas efficiency, positioning itself as a unique addition to the Web3 landscape.In order to maximize safety for its users, the platform takes advantage of the proven security that Ethereum offers, while focusing on adding value with a number of key features like encryption. TEN allows developers to choose which parts of the smart contract they want private and which parts public. This massively opens up the design space, allowing a whole new generation of on-chain games, DeFi, RWA, and institutional use cases to be developed. All this is done while vastly improving scalability.As an L2, the speed and cost are both very efficient, providing near-immediate finality and making TEN the fastest encrypted network in Web3. The responsiveness is so fast that it behaves like a Web2 application. The platform was designed such that development teams can build their dApps using just Solidity and Ethereum-based tools. Building on TEN is identical to building on Ethereum. For users, adding TEN’s secure functionality takes just three clicks, and users don’t even know they’re using an encrypted dApp. The experience is entirely seamless. Gavin Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO of Obscuro Labs, Comments: “Layer 2s were always not just about scaling, but enhancing Ethereum with new features in ways that cannot be done on Mainnet. With TEN, we deliver on that promise by bringing everything we learnt from building encryption on Corda to Ethereum.”TEN, with over 120 partners, leverages the team’s expertise to address key issues in the Ethereum ecosystem. The platform’s name, “TEN,” symbolizes its role as “The Encrypted Network” and its position as a Layer 2 network.With ongoing testing on Coinlist’s testnet and plans for a mainnet launch in October, TEN is poised to establish itself as a leading Layer 2 in Web3. The platform’s focus on encryption, privacy, and efficiency sets the stage for its role in shaping the future of decentralized technologies.About TENTEN is a pure EVM encrypted L2 solution for Ethereum, positioned between Optimistic and ZK rollups. With a strong team and backing from R3, TEN aims to offer secure, efficient, and decentralized solutions for Web3 applications.[Website] – [Twitter] – [Telegram] – [Discord]ContactDan [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

The investment bank estimates preliminary net sales of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs of ~$ $132 million on Thursday, March 14, the group’s 44th day of trading.”Daily gross flows (excl. GBTC) were $389mn, a significant step down from the record >$1.1bn daily gross flows seen just a few days ago,” said analysts. “Nonetheless, the group still reported the largest week of inflows since launch totaling ~$2.6bn of net sales (incl. GBTC) and $4.0bn of gross sales (excl. GBTC) for the 5 trading days ended March 14.”The bank noted that Grayscale’s GBTC redemptions were -$257mn yesterday, while they also said BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)’s IBIT accounted for nearly 90% of the gross flows recorded yesterday as “many other issuers saw significantly more muted flow.” More

The Bitmain S21 Antminers are high-efficiency mining rigs with a hash rate of 200 terahash per second and a power consumption rate of 3,500 watts. They are designed to mine the SHA-256 algorithm, which is used by Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies.Bruce M. Rodgers, Chairman and CEO of LM Funding, stated that the early delivery of the S21s, originally expected by the end of March, is a positive development for the company. Rodgers expressed confidence that these machines will be significant contributors to the company’s revenue growth, especially during the upcoming Bitcoin halving event this year and the subsequent one projected for 2028.LM Funding America began its Bitcoin mining operations in September 2022 and also operates a technology-based specialty finance company. This segment of the business provides funding to nonprofit community associations in Florida, Washington, Colorado, and Illinois, by purchasing a portion of the associations’ rights to delinquent accounts.The information in this article is based on a press release statement from LM Funding America, Inc.As LM Funding America, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMFA) gears up to expand its cryptocurrency mining operations with the introduction of new Bitmain S21 Antminer machines, the company’s financial health and market performance provide a broader context for investors. With a focus on growth, analysts are anticipating an increase in sales for the current year, aligning with the company’s expansion efforts in the mining sector. This optimism is reflected in the company’s impressive revenue growth over the last twelve months, which stands at 993.94%, showcasing a substantial increase in the company’s financial activity.Investors seeking value might find LMFA’s low Price / Book multiple of 0.2 particularly interesting, suggesting that the company’s stock could be undervalued in relation to its assets. This metric often attracts investors who are looking for potential bargains in the market.Despite these positive indicators, potential investors should be aware that LMFA is trading with high price volatility, which could indicate a higher risk profile. The company is also quickly burning through cash, with an operating income margin of -173.77% over the last twelve months, underscoring the need for careful financial management in the future.For those looking to delve deeper into LM Funding America’s financials and future prospects, there are additional InvestingPro Tips available. With the use of the coupon code PRONEWS24, readers can get an extra 10% off a yearly or biyearly Pro and Pro+ subscription to access these insights, which include analyses on stock performance, profitability forecasts, and more.InvestingPro Data metrics reveal a market capitalization of 7.11 million USD, highlighting the company’s size in the financial markets. The revenue figures and the recent significant return of 17.1% over the last week could be indicative of a positive investor sentiment following the announcement of the early delivery of mining hardware.For investors who wish to explore further, there are over ten additional InvestingPro Tips available, offering a comprehensive analysis of LMFA’s financial health and market trends.This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C. More

Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonymous person or group that created the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown, and there has been much speculation and investigation into who or what group is behind the pseudonym. The name first appeared in a paper published in 2008 that detailed the design of Bitcoin. Satoshi is said to have stayed active in Bitcoin’s creation and the blockchain until around 2010 but hasn’t been heard from since. Despite various claims and theories, the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto continues to be shrouded in mystery.Most believe Satoshi Nakamoto holds around 1.1 million BTC. However, this is only an estimate, with some speculating it is between 600,000 and 1.1 million, worth between approximately $43 billion to $80 billion at current rates. This amount is said to be spread across various addresses, and it is believed that these bitcoins were acquired as a reward for mining during the early days of Bitcoin. Despite the widespread belief that these addresses belong to Satoshi Nakamoto, it is impossible to confirm with 100% certainty.As mentioned, there have been various attempts at unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto, while some people have also come forward claiming to be the Bitcoin creator. For example, recent reports about a UK court case involving Craig Wright have brought significant attention to the elusive identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.A UK High Court ruled on Thursday that Wright, an Australian computer scientist, is not Satoshi Nakamoto, despite his claims to the contrary. Wright was taken to court by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) to stop him from suing Bitcoin developers. COPA asked for a ruling that Wright was not Satoshi.Judge James Mellor, presiding over the case, said there was “overwhelming” evidence that Wright was not Satoshi. “Dr Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper,” said the judge. “Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011.”COPA’s members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block. Dorsey tweeted the judge’s comments on Thursday. So, what would be the impact on Bitcoin if Satoshi Nakamoto was to be unmasked? Gady Kohanov, the founder of BitcyClub, an educational app designed to help novice investors learn how to predict asset price movements of cryptocurrencies and commodities, told Investing.com that Satoshi’s “anonymity adds to the allure and uniqueness of Bitcoin, contributing to its mystique and widespread adoption.”Kohanov believes the decision to conceal the identity of Bitcoin’s creator was intentional and “reflects a deep understanding of human behavior,” as people tend to judge products based on their creators rather than evaluating the solutions they offer. “Poking the bear often leads to undesirable consequences,” said Kohanov. “I predict that if the world continues to obsess over uncovering the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, we may be inviting trouble.” “If the veil of secrecy surrounding Bitcoin’s creator is lifted, it could shatter the idealized image that many hold of the cryptocurrency,” he added, explaining he sees two potential outcomes if Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity is revealed. “Firstly, Bitcoin may lose its mystique and appeal as a secure and unassailable digital asset,” argues the BitcyClub founder. “The introduction of a human element, complete with past mistakes and history, could tarnish Bitcoin’s reputation and erode investor confidence.” Secondly, he believes existing investors could face significant losses based on the market reaction to the potential revelation. According to Kohanov, this could potentially result in a drastic decline in Bitcoin’s value.“Its enigmatic creator and the anonymity surrounding its origins have contributed to its allure,” he stated. “However, attaching a human face with a history, especially one potentially fraught with controversy, could irreversibly alter Bitcoin’s perception and value in the eyes of future investors.”Overall, Kohanov believes that even if Bitcoin’s fundamentals were to remain unchanged, the revelation of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity “could trigger a seismic shift in the cryptocurrency landscape, leaving existing investors reeling from substantial losses.” More