Your Cryptocurrency Newsletter for 19 August, 2020

If you are interested in cryptocurrencies, this newsletter is for you. [img]  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...](   [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [img]( [FeedBinary Newsletter]( [Key Timing for Adoption? Crypto Goes Mainstream With TV, Newspaper Ads]( Recent advertising campaigns by cryptocurrency fund management firms are well timed as investors look for safe havens from inflation.Amid turbulent times for the world at large, the cryptocurrency space seems to be cruising on its own steam in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has put a major strain on economies around the world, and countries such as the United States have seen their central banks resort to extended quantitative easing in order to stimulate their financial ecosystems. Some analysts believe that this continual fiscal stimulus is part of the reason that the cryptocurrency market is enjoying relative success compared with its traditional financial counterparts. The likes of Anthony Pompliano, co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital, and Mati Greenspan, founder of Quantum Economics, have spoken to this very point in a number of recent newsletters to investors. Their insights have been directly mirrored by some major moves from traditional companies that have made significant investments into Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. MicroStrategy, considered to be the largest business intelligence firm in the world, made headlines last week as it invested $250 million directly into Bitcoin. The company hammered home its belief that Bitcoin is a superior store of value compared with other financial assets and will deliver better long-term appreciation than holding fiat currency. Another clear sign that positive sentiment is soaring in the space is the growth of assets under the control of cryptocurrency fund manager Grayscale Investments. Those numbers may well increase over the next few months considering the fact that Grayscale is now actively advertising its services on mainstream television in the United States. While it’s not the first time that cryptocurrency exchanges and fund managers have advertised in traditional media outlets, the sheer amount of interest in the space suggests a shifting sentiment from the wider public. Targeting the masses As Cointelegraph Magazine explored on Aug. 10, the launch of Grayscale’s television ad could be a major catalyst for increased investment in crypto, likened to a Merrill Lynch ad in 1948 that introduced investors to the stock and bond markets. Grayscale released a teaser for the ad on Twitter, with the full version now running on CNBC, MSNBC, Fox and Fox Business, and other channels. While Grayscale’s ad is running on TV screens and social media channels, traditional print has not been neglected either. Galaxy Digital, famously set up by millionaire investor Mike Novogratz, ran a large block ad on Aug. 13 in the well-known United Kingdom-based business newspaper the Financial Times. The publication had over 1 million subscribers in 2019, with an estimated 18% of its readership being millionaires. The ad itself contains emotive language that encourages people to invest in Bitcoin by highlighting the tough sociopolitical and economic landscape this year. The cryptocurrency space was already enjoying a period of heightened interest and resulting investment before these advertising campaigns were launched. What remains to be seen is whether these initiatives to coax new users into the ecosystem will pay dividends. Joshua Frank, co-founder and CEO of crypto data aggregation platform The Tie, to assess the potential efficacy of these marketing drives. Frank was not entirely surprised to see these advertising initiatives, given that running campaigns seems to be the mood of the hour, judging by the campaign of the controversial HEX token seen in the United Kingdom recently. Nevertheless, he conceded that it’s a change in tactics for the cryptocurrency industry: “A few years ago I would have never expected a print advertisement related to cryptocurrency. I think the transition to the Bitcoin as a digital gold narrative is the reason that a print ad has been pursued. Trying to get an older generation who invests in gold to view Bitcoin as a digital alternative.” Frank is of the opinion that Grayscale’s television ads are likely to be more impactful than Galaxy Digital’s print campaign, although he noted that the response to Grayscale’s video may not have been as positive as the firm had desired. Social media influencers may have biggest impact An intriguing takeaway from Frank’s insights is his belief that the bigger marketing impact may come from social media influencers. Frank mentioned Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy and his recent meeting with the Winklevoss twins, which made waves on Twitter in particular, as a prime example of the effect influencers can have on specific cryptocurrencies: “It hasn’t been TV or print advertising that has driven the Robinhood rally, it is Tik Tok influencers and Dave Portnoy. […] Portnoy, Barstool, and Tik Tok can drive the next wave of users to digital assets. Influencers and social media drive retail flow, and retail flow attracts more institutional clients.” Timing is key The final consideration of these advertising campaigns is their timing. The overall cryptocurrency market has been in a particularly positive space, in stark contrast to the global economic climate. Quantum Economics’ Greenspan told Cointelegraph that the “Blitzkrieg Bop” song came across as “loud” but countered that by complimenting Grayscale on its growing client base. Meanwhile, he felt that the approach taken by Galaxy Digital was arguably more effective, adding: “TV and newspaper advertising is an industry standard. I believe the fact that we’re seeing these levels of advertisement in mass media is really a hallmark moment for the crypto industry — a sort of ’coming into the light.’ Whether that is a good thing or bad thing, I am not sure.” Frank’s thoughts around HEX were echoed by Greenspan, who highlighted the advertising in the U.K. as one of the downsides of crypto going mainstream, marking a blip on what has been a figuratively seminal moment for the crypto space, as he explains: “We’ve certainly seen it backfire with the stuff that HEX has been doing, and certainly, I think at least in the UK, the regulators there should lose their jobs over this.” He went on to add: “I can’t believe that The Economist was willing to publish an ad about HEX with an indication of 11,500% gains. All the disclaimers in the world are not going to make that OK.” Overall, analysts like Greenspan have been highlighting an ever growing negative sentiment of late toward the inflationary nature of fiat currencies, and the Quantum Economics founder believes that people are coming to this realization by themselves — with or without ads touting the benefits of cryptocurrencies: “Price alone is a good indicator that people are understanding this message more and more clearly. Bitcoin was invented as a form of money that is independent of governments and central banks. I just hope that the crypto solutions are ready by the time they’re actually needed.” [Read Full Newsletter Here]( The post [Key Timing for Adoption? Crypto Goes Mainstream With TV, Newspaper Ads]( appeared first on [Feed Binary](. [Read Full Story]( ------------------ [Investing In Monero (XMR) – Everything You Need to Know]( Monero (XMR) was one of the first privacy coins in the world. This unique cryptocurrency pioneered multiple technologies to accomplish this critical task. Today, privacy is more important than ever. Consequently, Monero is also one of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the planet. What is Monero? Monero is the cryptomarket’s answer to Bitcoin‘s lack of privacy. For a long time, people believed that Bitcoin transactions were anonymous. Nowadays, most people understand that this is not the case. In reality, there are a plethora of tools and services one could employ to unmask the person behind particular Bitcoin transactions. Monero takes a different approach to the market. This coin makes privacy its main component. This strategy continues to make Monero the top coin for anyone seeking to maintain their privacy within the sector. In fact, the anonymization protocols found in Monero are so effective that people will often use them to help obfuscate their ownership of other cryptocurrencies as well. Advanced Cryptography Monero utilizes advanced cryptographic functions to ensure that no one can link you to a Monero cryptocurrency transaction. Interestingly, this technology enables the Monero blockchain to send and receive transactions in a manner that doesn’t reveal the data directly to onlookers. Remember, Monero’s blockchain is also subject to real-time monitoring similar to Bitcoin via block explorers. Monero developers were able to accomplish this monumental task through the integration of advanced fungibility protocols. Fungibility is a critical feature in most cryptocurrencies. Fungibility is the ability of a good or asset to be interchanged with other individual goods or assets of the same type. For example, most commodities such as oil, wheat, or gold are fungible. If you owned 1000 gallons of oil, it wouldn’t mean that you needed to receive the exact gallon that you originally held. You just need to receive the same amount of oil because it holds the exact same value. Crucially, cash is fungible, that’s what makes it so difficult to trace cash transactions in the real world. True Fungibility Monero takes fungibility a step further. Fiat currencies such as the US dollar contains some form of identifying markings such as serial numbers. This data allows governments and other interested parties to trace the history of a particular bill in essence. As long as the organization makes notes of the serial number before a transaction, they can then confirm that the notes are the exact ones at a later date. In Monero, fungibility goes a step further. There is no way to determine what Monero was in what transaction. There are no serial numbers and all transactions undergo vigorous anonymization. In this way, Monero provides the world with a new level of privacy previously unimaginable. History of Monero The history of Monero begins in 2012. At this time, the concept of privacy coins had just begun to enter the market. People began to realize that “in a digital economy, privacy equals liberty.” As such, the Monero journey begins with a different project known as Bytecoin. Bytecoin Bytecoin was revolutionary for multiple reasons. Primarily, it was the first digital currency written using a technology called CryptoNote. CryptoNote combined several keys in a single transaction to make it more difficult to determine who sent what where. The concept of grouping public keys together was unheard of at that time. Today, CryptoNote technology is the backbone for most of the privacy-based cryptocurrencies in the market. While the Bytecoin concept was a major success, there were other aspects of the coin’s launch strategy that didn’t go as well. Specifically, there were discrepancies between developers regarding the initial distribution of the coin. In the end, Bytecoin issued 80% of its coins during launch. In total, the Bitmonero project encompassed seven high-level blockchain developers. Of these seven, only two of their identities are known to the public. The main developer behind the project is Riccardo Spagni (FluffyPony). The development team also included long time crypto enthusiast David Latapie. Shortly after launching the new platform, developers decided to drop “Bit” from the title and go with simply “Monero” as the project’s name. Notably, Monero means “coin” in Esperando. How Monero Works Monero is a permission-less open-source blockchain. The platform is able to remain private because of its ability to continually update its technology. Interestingly, Monero’s software updates every six months. In this way, developers can introduce cryptographic advances. Here are some of the technologies that make Monero so great: Ring Signatures Ring Signatures are a revolutionary advancement in cryptographic anonymity. This protocol combines the digital signature of the sender with the signatures of other users. This system adds 10 signatures to every transaction group. Then all the signatures mix prior to their official entry onto the blockchain. Notably, the Ring Signatures concept continues to evolve. In the past, developers experimented with altering the number of signatures involved in this mixing process. There was even a brief period of time when users could determine how many signatures to mix on a transactional basis. Stealth Addresses Another core technology behind Monero is Stealth Addresses. This protocol publishes one address that automatically creates several one-time accounts for every transaction. Then, the user’s wallet references a password known as the View Key to scan the blockchain to identify any transactions relevant to its existence. RingCT In 2017, Monero’s development team introduced another game-changing technology called RingCT (Ring Confidential Transactions). This coding hides the exact amount of XMR users exchanged in transactions before they become available for review on the blockchain. To accomplish this, the protocol introduces multiple inputs and outputs to a transaction. When combined with Stealth Addresses and Ring Signatures, the three technologies make Monero nearly impossible to trace. Dynamic Scalability Another huge advantage Monero brings to the market is unlimited scalability. Scalability is the ability of a currency to handle more users in the future. In the past, Bitcoin experienced scalability issues that caused the network to delay and fees to rise extraordinarily. Bitcoin was unable to meet the scalability demands at the time for many reasons. Primarily, it can only handle blocks of transactions up to 1MB. Reversely, Monero has no pre-set block size. Miners can determine how big of a block of transactions they desire to approve. However, recently, developers introduced a block reward-penalty system. The penalty takes into account the median size of the last 100 blocks. If the next block is larger than this total, a penalty reduces the mining rewards for that block. This strategy is meant to discourage nodes from entering spam onto the blockchain. CryptoNight CryptoNite revolutionizes the way in which miners participate in the market. Unlike Bitcoin, ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) are of little use. Remarkably, Monero can be profitably mined using both CPUs and GPUs. The CryptoNight consensus mechanism prevents centralization in the mining sector. In this way, Monero has the potential to be more decentralized than Bitcoin in the future. Multiple Keys Monero uses a combination of keys to make its network function anonymously. Specifically, Monero introduces a public view key, a private view key, and both public and private spend keys. Private spend keys are used to create outgoing transactions. Whereas, private view keys allow users to check the blockchain to verify they received their funds. You will also need a public spend key to verify your signature and stealth public key. Total Supply XMR Currently, there are 17,669,037 XMR in circulation. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, there is no pre-set total supply of Monero. Instead, developers chose to increase the total amount of coins by .87% the first year. Each following year this percentage lowers. At this current rate, it will take another 115 years before Monero doubles its current supply. How to Buy XMR Thanks to the prominent role of XMR in the crypto market, it’s easy to get your hands on some. The first thing you need to do is to register from a reputable exchange that trades XMR. Binance is the world’s largest exchange and they offer XMR trading pairs in a wide variety. You will need to verify your identity to enter the Binance exchange. Once your registration is complete, the next step is to fund your account. This task is easy to accomplish after you link your bank or debit card to the platform. Now, you can begin to convert your fiat currency over to cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is the recommended currency to trade into because there are always BTC trading pairs for every cryptocurrency. Now that you have BTC, you can select trade for XMR and in seconds, you receive your XMR into your exchange wallet. How to Store XMR In the early days of the crypto market, it was difficult to store this cryptocurrency. There weren’t too many options other than the desktop network wallet. Luckily, today there are more ways than ever before to store your XMR safely. The first thing you want to consider is your trading strategy. You need to determine how often you will need to access your Monero. Also, how much XMR will you hold at any given time? If you plan to hold a significant amount of XMR in your portfolio, then you need to take more security precautions to protect it from theft. In these cases, you should consider a hardware wallet. Hardware wallets such as the Ledger Nano S are the most secure way to store cryptocurrency presently. These devices store your crypto in “cold storage.” This term simply means that your wallet is not online. This protects your crypto from hackers. However, you must keep the hardware wallet safe. Reversely, if you access or trade your XMR frequently, you may want to consider a mobile wallet. Mobile wallets such as Moerujo and Cake Wallet provide you with instant access to your Monero. These platforms are known for their advanced features, friendly UX, and focus on security. That being said, mobile wallets are not as secure as cold storage options. Privacy Coins Monero showed the world the importance of privacy coins. Consequently, it helped spark the privacy coin explosion. Notably, there are over 63 different privacy coins available for trading in the market today. Impressively, these projects encompass over $2 billion in value. Privacy Coin Backlash As you could expect, not everyone is on board with the concept of private transactions. Recently, the IRS poured millions into developing systems to help identify these individuals.  A recent posting on the government’s official contracting website shows that the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the IRS seeks to hire multiple private contractors to gain more transparency into privacy coins transactions. Monero has taken heat in other regions of the world as well. Last week, Russian regulators announced the successful launch of a prototype blockchain tracking system that can unravel both Monero’s and DASH’s security protocols. Regulators claimed that the software was necessary to fight drug trafficking and other illicit activities. Monero in the Future Despite the fact that governments are not big fans of anonymous transactions, there is still a huge draw for this cryptocurrency. Three weeks ago, in an interview with Peter McCormick, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong disclosed that US regulators prevented the exchange from listing XMR. Armstrong cited that other non-US-based exchanges such as Binance offer the coin with success. In every industry, there is a platform that takes the needs of the user and places it above all other concerns. In the crypto industry, that coin is XMR. Monero continues to provide the world with a safe and anonymous way to protect privacy, even when the powers of the world would have it otherwise. [Read Full Newsletter]( The post [Investing In Monero (XMR) – Everything You Need to Know]( appeared first on [Feed Binary](. [Read Full Story]( ------------------ [Move Over Tesla, Bitcoin Is Having A Moment]( Bitcoin has leaped higher this week, climbing to year-to-date highs and reaching levels not seen since June last year. The bitcoin price jumped almost 4% on Monday to hit highs of $12,470 per bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange before falling back slightly. The latest bitcoin rally, adding to gains of around 30% over the last month, came after high-profile day trader Dave Portnoy called for a bitcoin “pump” and data showed that, after Tesla stock, bitcoin was the most viewed asset in the U.S. last month. Portnoy’s rallying call to bitcoin and cryptocurrency traders has added to a surge of retail interest in crypto, sparked by big-name investors, Wall Street giants and corporates piling into bitcoin in recent months. Bitcoin has climbed over the last month as red-hot stocks such as electric car-maker Tesla have taken a breather following near-unprecedented gains since April. Tesla suddenly rallied on Monday after an analyst upgraded their 12-month price target. “The data clearly shows that Tesla and bitcoin are the two assets everyone is looking at most often,” TradingView analysts wrote in a post outlining its findings. The data chimes with a report from London-based digital asset management firm CoinShares, out earlier this month, that found “bitcoin, in its growth phase, behaves like a tech stock.” “Interest in Tesla and bitcoin is growing due to fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) private investors, who are increasingly willing to join the success story,” FxPro senior analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said via email, adding both bitcoin and Tesla represent investments that induce “a high level of adrenaline among traders.” “This is almost like a rookie game against the pros. Professionals do not see the ‘business’ in bitcoin and massively short Tesla, a company that accrued massive losses for years and has a tiny share on the overall car market. It appears incredibly overbought by most multipliers and indicators.” Despite the naysayers, Tesla stock has added an eye-watering 400% to its value since January—with bitcoin so far adding a paltry 70%. But Portnoy, who live streams his Wall Street bets as Davey Day Trader, is out to change that. “Davey Day Trader is taking the crypto world by storm,” bitcoin and cryptocurrency analyst Scott Melker wrote this week, warning traders to “beware.” Portnoy, the founder of the Barstool Sports blog and leader of a so-called “army of day traders,” made the switch to bitcoin and cryptocurrency in just the last week, following an interview with the Winklevoss twins of Facebook-founding fame, who created the New York-based Gemini crypto exchange in 2014. “The thing I like about pump and dumps in crypto is that it’s encouraged,” Portnoy told his day-trading live stream viewers and his 1.7 million followers on Twitter, adding that, after months of eschewing crypto in favour of stocks, he has a new sponsor: bitcoin and crypto lending company BlockFi. “In crypto, you can pump and dump all day long,” Portnoy said before posting memes designed to further drive the soaring cryptocurrency Chainlink. Chainlink’s link token is down over 17% on the last 24 hours after more than tripling in value since early July. Portnoy’s comments have received a mixed reception among the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community, with some concerned a sudden influx of new investors looking to get-rich-quick will lead to a late 2017-style boom and bust for bitcoin—with bitcoin climbing to around $20,000 before heavily crashing back. “Now we have Dave Portnoy openly and deliberately promoting shitcoins,” widely-respected bitcoin and crypto analyst and founder of money management firm Quantum Economics, Mati Greenspan, wrote in his daily newsletter. “His claim that pump and dump schemes are encouraged in crypto is not a good look for the community, and certainly a step back from building the internet of value.” [Read Full Newsletter]( The post [Move Over Tesla, Bitcoin Is Having A Moment]( appeared first on [Feed Binary](. 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