By now, cryptocurrencies acquired an army of investors and true believers. It is worthy of note that regardless of the market conditions, the top 3 cryptocurrencies remain the unchangeable leaders. What makes Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP so valuable?

Bitcoin

Created in 2009, Bitcoin is the first peer-to-peer digital currency, which the world has ever seen. Being a father of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has the first-mover advantage, it can’t lose. Regardless of 2,000 altcoins available on the market, investors do not stop to purchase Bitcoin, keeping it at the top of the list.

Why Bitcoin is so much-in-demand?

• Low supply. There are only 21 million bitcoins that will ever exist in total, and 17,8 million have already been mined. Due to the human factor, people lose access to the crypto wallets reducing the amount of bitcoin in circulation. About 4 million coins are more likely to be lost forever. Demand will increase to own at least a fraction of bitcoin pushing the value up and the maximum supply will more likely decrease.
• High usability and industry standard. Bitcoin is available and commercially adopted pretty much everywhere in the world. Bitcoin ATMs, retailers, and various businesses accepting bitcoin as a payment amount more than 15 thousand venues as of today that is 1,000% rise in comparison with 1,270 venues in December 2013. By industry standard, it is entailed the fact that any crypto-related project, app, or business will first start working with/accepting bitcoin and only then add other altcoins.
• Ability to profit on the hot investment. Let’s keep it real, cryptocurrencies are volatile and by buying/selling them at the right moment investors can capitalize greatly on it. Why bitcoin? With the dominance of 66.2%, Bitcoin is a settler of crypto market direction. So why bet on altcoins if Bitcoin is 100% win.

Ethereum

Ethereum’s road was rough throughout 2018 having lost 85% of its value. Despite this fact and despite the competition from other smart-contract based altcoins like NEO and EOS, Ethereum remains the second-largest cryptocurrency.

• Father of smart contracts. Ethereum is a major blockchain for smart contracts, DApps, and more than 80% of ICOs developed on its blockchain. Enterprise Ethereum Alliance has made partnerships with big-name companies like Microsoft, JP Morgan, Intel, and others, which are looking for Ethereum blockchain incorporation into their business structures. With such strong support, it’s unlikely for Ethereum to lose its leading position in a short-term horizon.
• Key updates of Ethereum technology. One of the most significant Ethereum hard forks called Constantinople has already happened in February 2019 though with a delay improved functionality, speed, transaction costs, miner issues of the network. According to its roadmap, instead of one large update, there will be a series of updates aiming to make Ethereum more scalable, efficient, and faster scheduled for 2019 and the years to come.

XRP

XRP rounds out the top 3 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. XRP is one of the cheapest and fastest coins available today. Despite accusations from cryptocurrency enthusiast concerning its centralized character, XRP entrenches oneself in the top and has never claimed to be decentralized one.

Why is XRP at the forefront?

1,500 transactions per second is an impressive result, especially in comparison with the scalability of other cryptocurrencies or even with common money transfer systems, used by the banks. Upon that the cost of the instant transaction regardless of destination point is over 50% cut down. Initially, Ripple was focused on financial institutions and banks with prospects to become the major payment system. Therefore, not cryptocurrencies, but dominated transfer systems like SWIFT and VISA are its main rivals. Working on the improving transaction speed, the XRP development team reached the unparalleled scalability of 50,000 transactions per second outperforming VISA capacity twofold.

Multiple banks and credit card companies are already collaborating with Ripple, hundreds of other bank institutions are looking for a partnership with it. Backed by the financial sector and constant increase of the user number, XRP will strengthen the position in the crypto market.

Brexit and its surrounding political upheaval is of course much to blame. Here Ana Bencic, Founder & CEO of Nexthash, delves into the potential benefits cryptocurrencies could offer in situations like this.

Figures taken on Tuesday 6 August show the pound trading for $1.2176 and €1.1199 respectively. The Brexit-related insecurity has been attributed listed as one of the factors behind the decline in the value of the pound, made worse by weak retail sales in June.

With the decline in the national currency and with Brexit on the horizon, questions are swirling around, about how the UK can maintain its attractiveness to foreign and domestic investors.

Investors who have been taking notice of the unpredictable nature of fiat currency’s’ value in relation to political events, as well as the near-constant rise in the value of several cryptocurrencies, will be looking at what makes cryptocurrency a viable alternative to traditional currency.

With more uncertainty than ever in the market, including the inability to hold above 1.27, the pound, it is clear that the value of pound sterling is predicated on political factors. In stark contrast, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum appear to be unaffected by political upheaval. The value of Bitcoin has reached peaks of over $9000 and despite price drops, it appears to be gradually increasing in value over time. Investors who are wary of traditional currencies will be attracted to the fact that cryptocurrencies are not created by, or under the direct control of any financial institutions or third-party entities. Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies are decentralized and they use peer-to-peer technology to enable all functions such as currency issuance, transaction processing and verification to be carried out collectively by the network. While this decentralization renders cryptocurrencies free from manipulation or interference by a government or central bank, the flipside is that there is no central authority to ensure that things run smoothly or to back the value of a particular currency.

Additionally, Bitcoin effectively increases efficiencies, adds security to transactions and eliminates traditional methods of fraud. Some economic analysts predict a big change in crypto is forthcoming as institutional money enters the market. Moreover, there is the possibility that crypto will be floated on the Nasdaq, which would further add credibility to blockchain and its uses as an alternative to conventional currencies. Some predict that all that crypto needs is a verified exchange traded fund (ETF). An ETF would make it easier for people to invest in Bitcoin, but there still needs to be the demand to want to invest in crypto, which some say may not automatically be generated with a fund.

Cryptocurrencies are yet to reach their full potential, but this will come with time as traditional investors & traders start to use it more often and several major first-world nations pass legislation in support of cryptocurrency trade and investment. At this point, the crypto market is estimated to be worth $700 billion and the perception is that digital currencies are here for good.

Cryptocurrencies are yet to reach their full potential, but this will come with time as traditional investors & traders start to use it more often and several major first-world nations pass legislation in support of cryptocurrency trade and investment.

Countries with underdeveloped infrastructure and nations experiencing devaluation of their national currency can seize the advantages of cryptocurrencies- for the simple reason they can move money across their country’s borders with far greater ease than traditional currency.

Traders make use of cryptocurrencies as a peer-to-peer payment method, allowing them to send money in much less time than a bank transfer would take and with relatively low transfer fees when transferring funds internationally.

Blockchain based currencies will continue growing in popularity with traders and investors for their unique advantages of confidentiality, immutability, fast transaction times and a lack of external mediators.

This is the bold forecast by the CEO of the deVere Group, Nigel Green.

Over the last 48 hours, the three biggest digital currencies Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP have climbed 4%, 12%, and 3%, respectively.

Mr Green comments: “The bearish sentiment of the last quarter of 2018 is now, I believe, behind us.

“We can expect the current upswing to continue, albeit with peaks and troughs as in any financial market.”

He continues: “In 2019, the cryptocurrency market is set to radically evolve. We can expect considerable expansion of the sector largely due to inflows of institutional investors.

“Major corporations, financial institutions, governments and their agencies, prestigious universities, and household-name investing legends are all going to bring their institutional capital and institutional expertise to the crypto market.

“The direction of travel has already been on this path, but there is a growing sense that institutional investors are preparing to move off the sidelines in 2019.”

Mr Green goes on to add: “The acceleration of institutional investment is likely to be driven by greater regulatory clarity.

“More and more global jurisdictions can be expected to join the likes of Malta, Hong Kong, Japan and Switzerland in becoming crypto-friendly from a regulatory and pro-business viewpoint.”

Whilst Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, will remain dominant this year, Ethereum and XRP, due to their unique characteristics and problem-solving traits, can be expected to significantly fuel the 2019 upswing, affirms the deVere CEO.

He notes: “The smart contract abilities of Ethereum are already unrivalled. More and more institutional investors will be making use of these capabilities this year. Also, once Ethereum can accept outside data in its smart contract protocols, its price will rocket further.

“When it comes to XRP, hundreds of financial institutions across the world are already working with it and this is a trend that is set to continue and grow in 2019.

“In addition, XRP has been positioning itself to become a leading international facilitator of global remittances and inflows. This is a massive market in the expanding emerging economies.”

Nigel Green concludes: “2019 will be a year of accelerated maturation for the crypto sector due to institutional investment.”

(Source: deVere Group)

The comments from Ian McLeod of Thomas Crown Art, follow growing concerns that the global economy is likely to experience a significant slowdown before the end of 2019.

Leading economic indicators tracked by the OECD have weakened since the start of the year and suggest slower expansion over the next six to nine months.

Similarly, the wider global expansion that began roughly two years ago has plateaued and become less balanced, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Mr McLeod observes: “There’s a growing list of investment tailwinds to consider for 2019. These include significant trade tensions, rising interest rates, political uncertainties, including Brexit, and complacent financial markets.

“The US, the world’s largest economy, has, of course, considerable influence on Asian and European economies. As such, should ther US stock market plunge – as it did recently scrapping all of its 2018 gains during a major sell-off - global markets are vulnerable too.”

He continues: “Against this backdrop, we can expect cryptocurrencies will increasingly be seen as investors’ ‘safe havens’ in 2019 and beyond.

“When the downside of the economy hits, digital assets cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are likely to be viewed by investors as a robust means of storing wealth, in the same way they do with gold.”

Mr McLeod adds: “There are several keys reasons why the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum will be safe havens. These include scarcity, because there’s a limited supply; permanence, they don’t face any decay or deterioration that erode their value; and future demand certainty as mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, the technology that underpins them, takes hold globally.”

Of this latter point, he comments: “As mainstream adoption is going to dramatically gain momentum in 2019 as the world, especially business, realise ever-more uses for and value of crypto and blockchain.

“Ethereum’s blockchain, for instance, is used in our art business. It has allowed us to create a system to use artworks as a literal store of value; it becomes a cryptocurrency wallet.

“It also solves authenticity and provenance issues – essential in the world of art. All our works of art are logged on the Ethereum’s blockchain with a unique ‘smART’ contract.”

The tech expert concludes: “We are some way off from cryptocurrencies replacing the Swiss Franc, the Japanese Yen or gold as the preferred safe haven assets.

“However, as the world moves from fiat money to digital, and as adoption of crypto picks up, there can be no doubt that cryptocurrencies will be firmly in the pantheon of safe haven assets within in the next decade.”

(Source: Thomas Crown Art)

Did you know that in 2017 alone, close to $4 billion in startup capital was raised through ICOs? Well, according to info we found out at BTXchange, ever since the issuance of the first ICO in 2013, a lot of hype has been created around this futuristic form of fundraising.

1. Most ICOs Use the Ethereum Platform

A good number of ICOs are established on the Ethereum platform. This comes as no surprise considering the nature of cryptocurrencies generated by the startups who launch ICOs.

The Ethereum network has been known to be offering a lot of essential components for running a crypto project. For example, you can conduct an ICO token presale by using Ethereum-powered smart contracts which have proven to be pretty much reliable.

2. A lot of ICO Projects Get Published On Medium

Medium is one of the biggest publishing platforms for crypto projects. The platform gained fame after BitcoinTalk forum declined in popularity a few years ago. Currently, many ICOs publish their whitepapers and information at this place due to the high traffic associated with the site.

It has a simple interface that’s easy to navigate, which is especially convenient for users who wish to browse through tons of projects on the platform with minimal time and effort.

3. Telegram Is the Core Messaging and Chatting Platform

ICOs are time sensitive; any delay in communication could potentially be damaging to the participants. For instance, if an ICO has a discount within a certain period, information needs to be communicated to the crypto community as quickly as possible.

Telegram provides a chance for the ICO issuers and subscribers to communicate promptly. Users can get timely answers to critical issues including the status of the tokens release, listing on exchanges, pricing, and more.

4. They Are Subject to Regulations

Contrary to the popular myth, ICOs are regulated to at least some extent in most countries. It is not possible anymore to just launch one and wait to collect enough funds to start your business. In fact, if you are a US-based organization and ignore the relevant laws, there is no doubt you will quickly land in hot water.

If you wish to discover more interesting facts about ICOs, how they work, and their history and current state, check out the infographic below.

Below, Finance Monthly kicks off this week with Rob Brockington from Pipster on the ICO ‘train’ damaging the reputation of blockchain, one of industry 4.0s biggest innovations.

When the trading industry experienced the ICO boom in January this year, amongst all the excitement there was a huge increase in available Altcoins. This surge in brand-new tradable ‘coins’ and the demand for them changed the trading landscape. Crypto exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, BiTFinex and Kraken enabled a world-wide audience gold-rushing to the next big Bitcoin. Each of these relatively new exchanges, ideally positioned to help facilitate the speculators and investors, became key players within a booming sector of the industry worth billions almost overnight.

As unregulated exchanges, obligations for risk-control and customer-care were literally non-existent. Basic KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure was limited if at all practiced, which meant that swarms of uneducated retail investors were throwing money into ‘Blockchain-related’ investments with reckless abandon. A significant proportion of investment was sunk not only within ‘coins’ and ‘tokens’ that were market-ready and currently traded but towards proposed altcoins and technologies that existed only in the form of a white-paper. Many naive consumers were effectively scammed by dodgy entities and classic bucket-shop/pyramid schemes. The press naturally reported on these shady dealings and outright theft, branding ICO’s as by-and-large dangerous and risky.

Compounding this matter, even the more reputable exchanges experienced hacks and security leaks, which dealt further damage to the credibility and investability of the legitimate blockchain-related businesses and ICO’s. In fairness most exchanges responded very quickly to clean up their act and develop their protocols. However as they weren’t and still remain unregulated in most parts of the world, local authorities and enforcement agencies have had to get involved. Naturally, ICO’s, cryptocurrency and subsequently other Blockchain-related investments came under greater scrutiny. But to blame blockchain technology for organisational failings in centralised exchanges or poorly structured white-paper proposals is missing the point. To use a simple analogy, you can’t blame the existence and manufacturers of knives for knife crime. But you can legislate for it (enforcing businesses not to sell to minors or youngsters without ID) and to raise awareness to aid and prevent further potential victims. Tricksters and thieves will always go where the money is and the authorities ain’t. Similar ponzi and pyramid schemes still exist in all other areas of massive investment, such as in property and stake-ownership. Timeshare anyone?! ICOs are simply a new medium for these criminals and we’d all do well not to make the mistake of placing the blame on the ideas and technology the industry is based upon.

So with this slew of new ICO’s popping up during the boom being largely scams, with no product or service promised ever materialising, the impact on trading has been significant, both institutionally and on a retail basis. Investor panic ensued causing a massive sell-off in crypto assets, which signalled the end to crypto’s first boom. Much of the media witnessing fingers getting burnt, but demonstrably uninformed on the technology, were quick to deem blockchain as an untrustworthy platform for transactions. Preferable only to those shady individuals and enterprises who demand anonymity over transparency. Unregulated over regulated.

The detrimental impact to the broader market of equity investments, fundraising and crowdfunding was immediate. ICO’s being unregulated allow companies to acquire huge amounts of capital with a successful campaign (Telegram being a prime example) while avoiding giving away real equity to their investors. Instead investors receive tokens/coins that can potentially be traded for products/services at a later date or sold for a higher value, which unfortunately few have to-date. All of the regulated procedures for funding and investing in companies that other businesses must adhere to are being effectively sidestepped. Given the opportunity to give away 0% of their company for say $40m, with a very good and well executed ICO - rather than use a regulated service such as Kickstarter or Crowdcube, to raise an arbitrarily capped value of either $1m USD or €5m EUR (where they have to give percentage of equity) is a no-brainer.

ICO’s have predominantly adopted a model of tokenizing a service to draw investment. This has resulted in companies having to come up with weird, wonderful and at times completely pointless ways of adding blockchain technology to a concept or service that already functions. There are hoards of people boasting about how blockchain will change the world. I believe it already has. The opportunists and bandwagoners creating an ICO for whatever ludicrous reason (like buying sports cars over blockchain) are only helping to detract from the true entrepreneurs who have fantastic and viable ideas that could help so many people, given the appropriate backing.

The nature of this sector is that the people interested in ICO’s are those also exposed and interested in blockchain or vice versa. I expect this will change and we’ll see a broader demographic of people trying to take blockchain out of these more-specialised circles. Still, with a majority of blockchain events flooded with ICO’s and their parade of questionable ideas and proposals, there’s a long way to go for the industry yet to root out the chancers. Whereas blockchain itself is being transformed and built upon around the world to create real next generation technology.

There are so many types of blockchain and utilisations of blockchain and these can be seen over a variety of coins/tokens already out there in the market. Further development of the tech and building the future of decentralised-data-exchange is the main aim. Unfortunately trading on the price of cryptocurrency using this technology is all that attracts a lot of newcomers to blockchain.

It’s down to the financial industry and government to rectify the damage caused to blockchain by ICO’s. Regulation will affect the exchanges that Altcoins are traded on and as soon as cryptocurrency is regulated, ICO’s will likely be taken in under that umbrella. Making it far more difficult for companies to secure the amount of money they have been accruing over the past few years. Hopefully regulation will serve to ‘cleanse’ the ICO industry of these shady dealers, and companies will not be able exploit naive investors and dissuade future potential investors. With regulation recognition and legitimacy will come, thus empowering blockchain technology to fulfil its potential and improve trading as well as society on the whole, as so many like I have promised it will.

Investment portfolios are equivalent to financial badges of honor that investors wear with pride! Any investors should have a diverse and dynamic portfolio not only to show that you can handle almost every type of investments as an investor but to have a pretty wide net of investments that have different rates of profits and loss. In fact, since diversity is what you’re aiming for your investment portfolio, why not add bitcoins in the mix?

Understandably, the reception of bitcoins can be a hit or miss when it comes to public opinion—and in terms of investments, diversity can be a good goal for every investor to achieve. In this case, why should bitcoins be included in an investment portfolio for the sake of diversity?

Experts Trust Bitcoin

Bitcoin is one of the world’s most popular forms of cryptocurrencies. The currency, also known as ‘cryptocurrency’, has been a subject of trust and distrust among modern financial experts, including well-known economists from Yale, Aleh Tsyvinski and Yukun Liu. Their research shows that for those investing in bitcoins for their portfolios, it should have a holding of at least 6% for optimal construction on your portfolio.

Other bitcoin experts such as Wences Casares, Chamath Palihapitiya, and John McAfee also offered their own brands of expertise on the cryptocurrency, with all three of them, among others, predicting the rising value of bitcoin in the coming years. With that in mind, the trust that numerous experts have can be essential for your consideration in including bitcoins in your investment portfolio.

Bitcoin is a Viable Option for Investments

Countries like the Philippines, US, Venezuela, Turkey, Italy, India, South Africa, Nigeria, and Argentina are currently some of the many countries that have been undergoing major economic issues, with Venezuela being a massive casualty with an inflation rate of over 25,000%. Because of the various issues that are plaguing these countries, many of them are now looking at bitcoin as a reliable alternative for people to use for future transactions since their national money has virtually no value.

This is something to consider if you’re planning to invest in different companies from different countries, or rather if you’ve already invested in international companies. While it can be a good opportunity for investors to add to their portfolio nonetheless, one can never be too sure about the economic structure of such.

Bitcoins Have a Steady Rise in the Market

One thing that’s good about bitcoins is its steady rise in the market. As of September 2018, Bitcoin has been up 2.82% in a 24-hour period, marking its slow, yet steady rise in the cryptocurrency market.

This is a great thing to consider when you’re looking for diversitySet featured image in your investment portfolio as not only can this ensure (though not always) greater chances for profit for investors, this can also make a great addition to your investment portfolio as a whole.

Investing in Bitcoin is a Challenge

All in all, investing in Bitcoin can be a challenge to many investors. Every investor taking the leap must always be up-to-date with current affairs, trends, and news that can affect the crypto world, not to mention having to study up on cryptocurrency as a whole.

Key Takeaway

When it comes to diversity of an investment portfolio, there are a lot of other things to consider. With these three factors in mind, getting to buy bitcoins, as well as buying tether and other forms of cryptocurrencies, for your investment portfolio can be a great opportunity nonetheless as you, as an investor, can get the chance to relish in the benefits that the cryptocurrency can provide, whether it be for diversification for your portfolio, other forms of investments, or for maximum profit on your end!

Ethereum, currently the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, will experience a “monumental, defining global breakout” when smart contracts can accept outside data.

The bullish prediction from influential technology expert, Ian McLeod of Thomas Crown Art, the world’s leading art-tech agency, comes as Ethereum’s price jumped 4% on Monday, adding some 8% over the last week, to trade at highs of $210.

Mr McLeod comments: “Ethereum is back in bull territory and is on track to enjoy considerable gains before year-end.

“I maintain that we can expect Ethereum to hit $500 by the end of 2018 and go on an overall upward trajectory throughout 2019.

“However, what will be the monumental, defining driver for its global breakout? Oracles.

“Oracles link Ethereum-run smart contracts to the real world and will be responsible for the digital currency to enter an entirely new phase of mass adoption.”

Oracles are trusted data feeds that deliver information into the smart contract, thereby taking away the requirement for smart contracts to directly access information outside their network. Typically, oracles are usually supplied by third parties which are authorised by the organisations that use them.

Ian McLeod continues: “Oracles are a massive step forward in the practical utilisation of smart contracts. They allow smart contracts to accept outside data to decide upon an action – and this has a myriad of highly-demanded, real-world use-cases in almost every sector.

“For instance, they can help insurance companies with pay-outs on flight delays, sports betting firms with result information coming from various trusted sources, and can help us in the art world by conclusively proving the provenance of artwork quickly and easily.”

He adds: “Using a blockchain to authenticate artwork is an ideal use-case for smart contracts. They provide the ability to store a permanent, immutable record of artwork at the point of creation which can be used to authenticate registered works. Oracles will further enhance this concept and lighten smart contracts’ work processes.”

 The tech expert concludes: “When Ethereum-based smart contracts are fed a robust and reliable information through oracles to make precise and correct judgements, Ethereum’s price will explode.”

Last month, Mr Mcleod noted: “We can expect Bitcoin to lose 50% of its cryptocurrency market share to Ethereum, its nearest rival, within five years.

“Ethereum is already light years ahead of Bitcoin in everything but price – and this gap will become increasingly apparent as more and more investors jump into crypto.”

(Source: Thomas Crown Art)

Do you want to go from being a stock market dreamer to a high earner? A new tool could be what you need to transform your hindsight into insight.

How Rich Would You Be? uses market data from the past 12 months to reveal exactly what you could have made if you invested in a variety of cryptocurrencies, commodities and companies. It also forecasts the potential gains for each over the coming months to predict the next big investment opportunity.

Via a bespoke algorithm that uses machine learning, the tool feeds historical data on all 15 options through a recurrent neural network to unveil the future rise and fall in value for each investment.

The 15 commodities monitored include:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Ripple
• Bitcoin Cash
• EOS
• Gold
• Oil
• Copper
• Wheat
• Coffee
• Apple
• Alphabet (Google)
• Microsoft
• Amazon
• Facebook

All data is displayed in concise visualisations, allowing you to compare individual or multiple investments side-by-side.

The future predictions reveal that the cryptocurrencies will experience the highest percentage increase, yielding more profit than commodities or companies.

The algorithm also reveals that the value of Ethereum will skyrocket from $289.26 per unit to $788.42 if it continues on its predicted path - an astounding 173% increase by October 28th.

Similarly, Ripple investors should look forward to the next month since the cryptocurrency is charted to rise in value by 159% - surging from $0.34 per unit to $0.88 per unit.

Alphabet Inc should perhaps be avoided as the value of the company is set to drop -10% per share. Following in Alphabet’s footsteps is Apple, which is set to fall -8% from $227.63 per share to $208.47.

Despite the unpredictability of the cryptocurrency market, the historical data shows that when compared against commodity and company investments, EOS, Bitcoin and Ripple boasted three of the top five investments.

EOS aficionados who invested in September 2017 will have noticed a 786% increase in price per unit over the last year - a jump from $0.73 per unit to $6.47.

Though it is now set to undergo a negative percentage change, Amazon experienced a 106% increase in value per share between September 2017 and September 2018.

Unfortunately for commodity investors, the two investments that have made the biggest losses over the past year include coffee and copper. Coffee has made the most significant loss over the last year, with a -20% change - dropping from $129.65 per pound to $1103.33.

Copper investors will also have been disappointed with the -12% change in value over the previous year from $3.06 per pound to $2.68.

Commodity investors who chose to invest in oil over copper would have enjoyed a 46% rise from $48.07 per barrel to $69.97 in just one year.

Values: Historical and predicted change in 15 leading investment choices

(Source: How Rich Would You Be?)

Below Finance Monthly hears from Brian G. Sewell, Founder of Rockwell Trades, on the prospects of cryptocurrencies moving forward. Brian argues that cryptocurrency is still in the run for driving the future of commerce.

I would rather see the SEC make a methodical decision, with thoughtful guidelines, to approve a cryptocurrency ETF than a rash decision to reject one. And though the agency may not reach a final decision until next year on the proposed SolidX Bitcoin Shares ETF, I think the agency will eventually approve it. The proposal (requiring a minimum investment of 25 bitcoins, or $165,000, assuming a BTC price of $6,500) seems to meet the SEC's criteria -- on valuation, liquidity, fraud protection/custody, and potential manipulation.

Cryptocurrency’s Challenges and Potential
Since 2010, when it emerged as the first legitimate cryptocurrency, bitcoin has been declared “dead” by pundits over 300 times. Critics have cited the cryptocurrency’s hair-raising price volatility, it’s scalability challenges, or the improbability of a central bank ceding monetary control to a piece of pre-set software code. Yet since 2009, bitcoin has facilitated over 300 million consumer payment transactions, while hundreds of other cryptocurrencies have emerged, promising to disrupt a host of industries. Granted, no more than 3.5% of households worldwide have adopted cryptocurrency as a payment method. But I think cryptocurrency will transform how the world does business as developers, regulators, and demographics resolve the following key issues:

1. Approval of a Bitcoin ETF
   I think the US investment community will not rest until they satisfy SEC criteria for a bitcoin ETF. Approval would represent another milestone in the validation of cryptocurrencies. This bodes well for the global financial system, because cryptocurrency promises to create financial savings and societal benefits -- by streamlining how the world transacts for goods and services, updates mutual ledgers, executes contracts, and accesses records.
2. Comprehensive U.S. Regulation Can Improve Protection, Innovation, and Investment
   Demand is mounting for a larger, more comprehensive U.S. and global regulatory framework that protects consumers and nurtures innovation. Those institutional investors who are assessing the cryptocurrency risk/reward proposition are also awaiting regulatory guidance and protections to honor their fiduciary duties. How, if at all, for example, will exchanges be required to implement systems and procedures to prevent hacks and protect or compensate investors from them? Effective cryptocurrency regulation requires a nuanced set of rules, a sophisticated arsenal of policing tools, sound protocols, and well-trained professionals. I think U.S. regulators will eventually get it right. And if institutions become more confident that regulations can help them meet fiduciary duties, even small cryptocurrency allocations from reputable organizations could unleash a new wave of investment.
3. Bringing the Technology to Scale
   Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies cannot yet process tens of thousands of transactions per second. I think developers working on technology -- such as Plasma, built on Ethereum, and the Lightning Network, for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies -- will sooner or later bring leading cryptocurrencies to scale. This could unleash an explosion of new applications, allowing cryptocurrency to integrate with debit and credit payment systems, developing new efficiencies in commerce -- whether B2B, B2C, or B2G -- in ways we can’t fully anticipate.
4. Developing World Incentives and Demographics
   Cryptocurrency adoption as a payment method could grow fastest in emerging markets. Many consumers and entrepreneurs in such regions have a strong incentive to transact in cryptocurrency -- either because their country’s current banking payment system is inefficient and unreliable, and/or they are one of the world’s 1.7 billion “unbanked.” Two-thirds of the unbanked own a mobile phone, which could help them use cryptocurrency to transact, and access other blockchain-based financial services.

Data underscores the receptiveness of Developing World consumers to cryptocurrency. The Asia Pacific region has the highest proportion of global users of cryptocurrency as a transaction medium (38%), followed by Europe (27%), North America (17%), Latin America (14%), and Africa/The Middle East (4%), according to a University of Cambridge estimate. Although the study’s authors caution that their figures may underestimate North American cryptocurrency usage, they cite additional data suggesting that cryptocurrency transaction volume is growing disproportionately in developing regions, especially in:

• Asia (China, India, Malaysia, Thailand)
• Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela),
• Africa/The Middle East (Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Turkey)
• Eastern Europe (Russia, Ukraine).

Demographics will also likely drive cryptocurrency adoption in the Developing World, home to 90% of the global population under age 30.

Remember The Internet - Investment Bubbles and Bursts Will Identify The Winners
High volatility is inherent in the investment value of this nascent technology, due to factors including technological setbacks and breakthroughs, the impact of pundits, the uneven pace of adoption, and regulatory uncertainty. Bitcoin, for example, generated a four-year annualized return as of January 31st 2018 up 393.8%, a one-year 2017 performance up 1,318% -- and year-to-date, a return of down over 50%. Bitcoin has previously experienced even larger percentage drops before resuming an upward trajectory.

In my view, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will experience many more bubbles and bursts, in part, fueled by speculators. But the bursting of an investment bubble may signal both a crash and the dawn of a new era. While irrational investments in internet technology in the 1990’s fueled the dotcom bust, some well-run companies survived and led the next phase of the internet revolution. Similarly, I believe a small group of cryptocurrencies and other blockchain applications, including bitcoin, will become integrated into our daily lives, both behind the scenes and in daily commerce.

Although “irrational exuberance” will continue to impact the price of cryptocurrencies, this disruptive technology represents not only the future of money, but of how the world will do business.

The price of bitcoin plummeted to under $6,000 in the first half of August 2018 before ticking up again days later. Here is how cryptocurrency experts have reacted to the recent price moves.

Cryptocurrencies are now “undeniably part of mainstream finance,” affirms the deVere Group.

The bold statement from the founder and CEO of deVere Group, Nigel Green, comes as the Financial Stability Board (FSB), has released a report that concludes Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies do not currently pose a risk to the global financial system.

It also comes as Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest and most influential digital currency, climbed the 50-day moving average (MA) on Monday for the first time in nearly two months, hiking its price above $6,700.

Mr Green comments: “Cryptocurrencies are the future of money and they are already undeniably part of mainstream finance.

“This is underscored today by the report by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the international watchdog, which finds that cryptocurrencies do not pose a material risk to the global financial system – which many traditionalists with vested interests have hitherto argued in order to knock digital currencies.”

He continues: “This report comes after the FSB, which is headed by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, previously wrote a letter to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors earlier this year stating that Bitcoin does not pose a ‘systemic risk’ to the global financial system

“As such, the latest report can be seen as further recommendation of cryptocurrencies from the influential FSB — which has members from all the G20 major economies.”

Mr Green goes on to say: “The FSB's conclusion follows more and more global financial institutions, major corporations and household name investors now working with cryptocurrencies and blockchain, the technology that underpins them, and as international regulation is developed further."

In May, deVere revealed findings of a global survey that found 35% of wealthy investors will have exposure to cryptocurrencies by the end of 2018.

At that time, Mr Green said: “The survey’s findings demonstrate that high net worth individuals are increasingly unable to ignore the huge potential of cryptocurrencies.”

The deVere CEO concludes: “There’s now surging awareness of the value, need and demand for digital, global currencies in a digitalised, globalised world.

“The world of money has fundamentally changed – and despite what some crypto cynics want, it can’t and will not go backwards. Therefore, the FSB’s proactive and positive work in this sector must be championed.”

(Source: deVere Group)