Bitcoin closed down slightly on the week, as worries about the SegWit (Segregated Witness) proposal seemed to weigh on investors. The appetite for digital currency remains robust long-term as several hedge funds made headlines within the past couple weeks talking up both Bitcoin and Ethereum. The summer doldrums continue on with low volume in the cryptocurrency space expected for the near-term. Strong support remains around the $2,500 level as investors anticipate another move past $3,000. The converging triangle pattern suggest a major breakout in the near term, likely following the August 1st decision on scaling/forking solutions.
Ethereum was little-changed on the week, settling in around $250. Trading settled down a bit after the barrage of news last week. Investors are still looking at that $300 number as the main hurdle to get past and stay there. Technical support continues at the $250 to $260 level, with additional support around previous resistance at $228. As with bitcoin, the converging triangle pattern suggests a major breakout in the near term. Investors are looking for another big move above $400.
Despite its recent appreciation in value, as a technology, Bitcoin has been overshadowed by Ethereum in recent months. Two rival factions have emerged with opposing views on what should be done to allow the Bitcoin network to handle more transactions than it can right now. As Ethereum has raced ahead with technology that not only does everything Bitcoin can do faster, the SegWit proposal along with others, come at a very crucial time. Yet, Ethereum has been facing its own scaling issues as recent demand from ICOs has led to a congested network with transaction delays.
Newly Formed Hedge Fund Crypto Assets Set to Raise $50 Million
A newly formed Crypto Assets Fund, co-founded by former senior manager at Bain, Roberto Ponce Romay, is helping to raise $50m with the purpose of buying cryptocurrencies for family offices. The fund, started by the former senior manager at consulting firm Bain & Company, was revealed exclusively to CoinDesk. The fund will be a “Crypto Assets Fund (CAF)” and will invest directly in Bitcoin, Ether, zCash, Ripple, Litecoin and Dash.
According to the article, the first tranche of the fund, estimated to be valued about $10m, is in the final stages of closing, and is expected to be announced by the end of this month.
Tezos Raises More Than $200M in First Week
Tezos raised more than $200 million in the first 4 days and is the largest ICO so far on record.
The sale of TEZ tokens will last until July 12. Unlike traditional crowdsales, Tezos ICO is not capped by a set number of tokens, what is likely to drive a widespread distribution of tokens. At first the token sale was planned to start in the middle of May, but at the last minute was postponed to June.
Established by husband and wife team Arthur Breitman and Kathleen Breitma, Tezos is an independent smart contract system built as an alternative to Ethereum. The platform has been under development over the last three years.
With the success of Tezos and others, more and more companies are now turning to ICOs as a way to raise capital for their further development.
Pantera Capital Aims to Raise $100M to Launch ICO Hedge Fund
Pantera Capital expects to raise $100 million by summer’s end, which seems to be ambitious even for the company that has been doing pretty well with bitcoin, which it began buying when the currency was valued at $65.
According to articles online, Dan Morehead, Pantera’s founder, says that the team has been working for months to set up a couple of fund entities. Forehead once worked at Fortress, now owned by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. The firm also hired of Joey Krug, who previously co-founded Augur,to help with the strategy.
Morehead hasn’t revealed the name of the large investor, but did say they have attracted institutions and individuals who are interested in getting exposure to the token market. This hypothetically includes a number of VCs and venture funds as well as other alternative asset mangers. The fund comes after news of hedge fund Polychain, which setup shop late last year to pursue a similar goal.
Goldman Sachs Eyes Bitcoin Price Near $4,000 in Latest Analysis
According to a new report from Goldman Sachs, Bitcoin markets could rise as high as $3,900 in the future.
The note was published by financial news site Zero Hedge this past week. In the note, the bank’s chief technician, Sheba Jafari, argues that bitcoin “could consolidate sideways for a while longer”, highlighting a possible low of $1,857 and “eventually targeting” a figure of $3,212.
The analysis from Goldman comes weeks after Jafari published a more bearish analysis of the digital currency’s prospects. It was around that time when bitcoin markets briefly surpassed the $3,000 mark.
Bitcoin Investors Anticipate Changes Ahead Of SegWit Activation
Photo: CoinDesk
Uncertainty has returned to Bitcoin as investors consider what would become of the main chain in the near future.
Over the past few years, the community has been debating the scaling options. Now, time is fast approaching on a significant decision date on the issue of scaling. The outcome of the consensus is looking more like an open secret as SegWit2x and SegWit Support has officially surpassed Emergent Consensus.
Many wallets have issues press releases and blogs on the subject, with most saying to “stay calm” and the wallets will be setup to work on the longest chain. Bread wallet, one of the most popular, has stated they have already developed and tested our segwit support.
AltCoin News: Stellar is Distributing 16 Billion Lumens to Bitcoin Holders
According to a blog post earlier this year, Stellar announced they were distributing 16 Billion Lumens to Bitcoin holders. The Palo Alto-based company reminded users this week in an email reviewed by GoldStockBull.
According to the note, they reiterated their plans:
“Last October we concluded our first lumen distribution program for bitcoin holders as part of Stellar.org’s commitment to reserve 19% of the initial lumens—19% of the initial lumens—a total of 19 billion lumens—for people who hold bitcoin.
Today, we are announcing that for the next round, we are distributing up to 16 BILLION lumens to bitcoin holders or 16% of the initial lumens. On June 27th, 2017, we will make available these lumens to any bitcoin holder who wants them, including those that received lumens during the first giveaway round. ”
This Week in ICOs: InsureX ICO set for July 11th
InsureX is intended to be an alternative market for insurance products. The Ethereum based ICO will fund development of the platform and will run from July 11-31, 2017.
According to the company, “InsureX is a marketplace for insurance based on blockchain technology. It is aimed primarily at institutions such as insurers, reinsurers and brokers. Bringing these participants together directly results in an efficient, cost-effective and transparent marketplace. Smart contracts provide support for streamlined processes between multiple parties.”
Investors can visit the website for details on how to participate here: https://www.insurex.co/crowdsale/.
Furthermore, investors can read and review the white paper online here: http://www.insurex.co/wp-content/uploads/2017..._whitepaper.pdf
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