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The ‘Big 4’ Cryptocurrencies to trade

  
Analysis, BITCOIN
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What you need to know when trading Cryptocurrencies

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The popularity of Cryptocurrency is on the rise and more and more skeptics are investing in digital assets each day. With people losing trust in central banks, coupled with the allure of investing in a digital currency which could appreciate, these factors have contributed to an industry boom.

What is even more exciting is the options available surrounding Cryptocurrencies nowadays. In the past, investors would simply buy a coin and wait/hope for the value to increase whilst running the risk of having value wiped out of an investment in a volatile market. This is avoidable now thanks to Crypto trading. Much like traditional Forex trading, Crypto enthusiasts can now trade on the projected performance of a coin without necessarily purchasing that asset.

The option of trading Crypto can be far more appealing than investing which comes with constantly monitor price performance. Thanks to leveraged trading on broker platforms, traders can concentrate on: going long and short on a range of Cryptocurrencies opposed to just investing and HODL-ING.

In this article, we will explore some of the major Cryptocurrencies which will suit day traders, scalpers, and swing traders. First of all, let’s consider some factors which contribute to a good Cryptocurrency to trade

Trade over 30 Cryptocurrency pairs with access to leverage of up to 1:100 for digital currency at new broker EagleFX. (more…)

Bitcoin off to a weak start in 2020

  
Analysis, BITCOIN
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Bitcoin on Coinbase is down $-265 and back down below $7000

The price of bitcoin is off to a weak start in 2020. The price on Coinbase is trading down $265 at $6951.83.  The hi reached $7217. The low reached $6903.
Bitcoin on Coinbase is down $-265 and back down below $7000
In addition to breaking back below the natural level of $7000, the price is moving further away from its 100 and 200 hour moving averages. Those moving averages currently come in at $7219.51 and $7231.48 respectively.
Over the last 7 or so trading days the price has been fluctuating below and then above those moving averages. The high last week extended up to $7531 after breaking above the moving averages at $7239 on December 28.
The price move back below the moving averages on December 30. They were retested on December 31 and again on January 1 before rotating back to the downside yesterday. Bearish
In addition to the fall below the moving averages, the price today also fell below the 50% retracement of the move up from the December 18 low at $7059.50. Bearish.
That break targeted the 61.8% retracement at $6910.93 next. Buyers have leaned near that retracement level. We are currently seeing a modest bounce. It will likely take a move back above the 50% retracement level at $7059.50 to solicit more buying.
Should the price break below the 61.8% retracement, however, I would expect further downside momentum. The low price in December reached down to $6430. That would be a target on increased selling pressure.

Japan’s top 20 startups surpass 1tn yen ($9.2 billion) in total value

  
  Analysis
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Startups are continuing to grow in Japan, with a Nikkei survey finding the estimated corporate value of the 20 leading newer businesses increased 22% to exceed a combined value of 1 trillion yen ($9.2 billion) in the year to September. Growth is especially notable in the artificial intelligence and financial technology, or fintech, areas.

Technological innovations have increased startups’ corporate value, but signs of reservations among investors are also emerging in the wake of SoftBank Group-backed WeWork’s high-profile troubles. Masayoshi Son, who announced on Wednesday that his group’s net loss for the July-September quarter was 700 billion yen, admitted regretting a large investment in WeWork. “My investment judgment was poor in many ways,” he said.

Nikkei conducted the survey jointly with the Japan Venture Capital Association to estimate the corporate value of unlisted startups established up to 20 years ago as of the end of September. The valuation, calculated by multiplying the latest issue price of shares by their total number, corresponds to the market capitalization of listed companies.

The corporate value of 181 startups, among 189 firms that responded to the survey, was estimated, with the top 20 found to be worth a combined 1.19 trillion yen. Top-ranked Preferred Networks, an artificial intelligence developer, and two others were valued at more than $1 billion each. In 2018, there was only one so-called unicorn.

Using deep-learning technology, Preferred has been developing self-driving and other technologies jointly with auto giant Toyota Motor. The assessment of the company has grown also because it has expanded its partnerships with other companies, such as joint studies on automated control of oil plants with JXTG Holdings.

TBM, a Tokyo-based materials startup, was placed second in the survey. The company uses limestone to develop alternatives to plastics for items such as shopping bags, and it plans to start building its first overseas factory in China in 2020.

Fourth-ranked freee helps companies address labor shortages with its automated accounting software. The top 20 startups include seven fintech companies, reflecting strong expectations for innovations in financial services. The number of startups each valued at more than 10 billion yen increased about 30% to 63.

Unicorn candidates have also increased in sectors such as health care. According to U.S. research firm CB Insights, the U.S. has some 200 unicorns, or half the world’s total. Britain and India each boast dozens of them, but the number in Japan remains small.

TBM, which develops alternatives to plastics from limestone, attained the unicorn status. (Photo courtesy of the company)

The startup boom began earlier this decade as the digital revolution made headway, prompting large companies to expand investment in emerging innovative firms in a bid to avoid taking major risks alone.

One focal point ahead is the trend of investment, because the boom is partly attributable to the global glut of money. According to Japan Venture Research, privately held companies in Japan raised a total of 421.1 billion yen in 2018, a fivefold increase from five years earlier.

However, office-sharing WeWork’s woes raise the risk of a knock-on effect on other startups, which may find themseves under extra pressure to demonstrate their technology and business growth potential if they are to continue to attract investment.

Until recently, investors have tended to consider it enough for businesses to simply be expanding to warrant their support, but following the WeWork fiasco, there is a new focus on examining their governance of management thoroughly, according to Gen Isayama, general partner and chief executive of WiL, a U.S.-based incubator.

Softbank Group Chairman and CEO Son also referred to corporate governance during the earnings conference. “We will learn from our mistakes on WeWork, and create solid governance standards regarding business founders.”

Meanwhile, investment in startups in the U.S. has ballooned to 14 trillion yen. Amid the bubble-like situation, WeWork has faltered following the failure of its planned initial public offering, making investors more cautious about investment in new businesses.

Crypto news – Visa, Mastercard, reconsider involvement in Facebook’s Libra network

  
Analysis, BITCOIN
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The Wall Street Journal report second thoughts from big payment companies on the cryptocurrency.

  • Visa, Mastercard and other key financial partners that signed on to help build and maintain the Libra payments network are reconsidering their involvement following backlash from U.S. and European government officials, according to people familiar with the matter. 
  • Wary of attracting regulatory scrutiny, executives of some of Libra’s backers have declined Facebook’s requests to publicly support the project, the people said.
  • Their reluctance has Facebook scrambling to keep Libra on track. 
WSJ is gated, but here is the link if you can access it
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Meanwhile, BTC price chart update:The Wall Street Journal report second thoughts from big payment companies on the cryptocurrency.

German media report that USD will be 50% backing for Facebook crypto Libra

  
  Analysis
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Weekend report in Reuters on the cryptocurrency, citing Speigel

US dollar will make up 50 percent of the basket of currencies backing Facebook’s planned digital coin Libra
euro, yen, sterling and Singapore dollar comprising the rest
yuan will not be included
Exclusion of yuan “could help smooth the planned cryptocurrency’s path in the United States” says Reuters
More:
  • US dollar would make up 50 percent of the basket
  • euro with 18 percent
  • yen with 14 percent
  • GBP 11 percent
  • SGD 7 percent
While we are at it, BTC update:
Weekend report in Reuters on the cryptocurrency, citing Speigel

Durbin, All About Derivatives

  
  Education
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All About Derivatives (McGraw-Hill, 2011, a fully revised second edition) is a curious book, and I don’t say that unkindly. It’s just odd that in a book in the “All About” series, touted as “the easy way to get started,” you find such a lengthy discussion of options pricing. But then Michael Durbin is, among other things, a financial technology consultant specializing in high-frequency trading of financial derivatives, and he has helped numerous Wall Street firms develop derivative pricing and trading systems.

The structure of this book is straightforward. After an overview chapter, the author devotes a chapter each to forwards, futures, swaps, options, and credit derivatives. He then looks at using derivatives to manage risk, pricing the various derivatives, hedging a derivatives position, and derivatives and the 2008 financial meltdown. In three appendices he investigates interest, swap conventions, and binominal option pricing.

Even though this book would be a fine introduction to the subject of derivatives, it often goes beyond the elementary. For instance, Durbin points out the subtle pricing differences between warrants and options. Moreover, the book is laced with interesting tidbits. I didn’t know, for example, that Enron issued a series of credit-sensitive notes in 1998 that offered a coupon rate inversely tied to its credit rating. (more…)

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