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Welcome to BroBible’s regular roundup of the biggest news in the world of cryptocurrencies. We’ll be providing you with the biggest news and stories concerning Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major altcoins to help you keep your finger on the pulse of the crypto market.
Most coins are up over the past seven days, including Bitcoin, which popped unexpectedly to $6,900 on Tuesday night— but some people think the fix is in.
Before we get to that, here’s what the market looks like on Wednesday morning.
- Bitcoin (BTC): $6,681.90 (up 3.65% in the past week)
- Ethereum (ETH): $286.40 (down 1.3% in the past week)
- Ripple (XRP): $.34 (up 17.4% in the past week)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH): $549.30 (down 5.1% in the past week)
- EOS: $5.05 (up 7.7% in the past week)
- Litecoin (LTC): $57.90 (up 2.25% in the past week)
- Tron (TRX): $.0211 (up 5.5% in the past week)
Bitcoin Pops After BitMEX Crashes And Some People Think The Fix Is In
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After a stagnant week, Bitcoin popped out of nowhere on Tuesday night and gained $300 in value in just a single minute— which just so happened to coincide with the moment trading platform BitMEX when offline for scheduled maintenance.
the moment @BitMEXdotcom went offline pic.twitter.com/OxppDispgb
— Camelul (@camielul) August 22, 2018
However, many people had trouble logging into their accounts after the maintenance was supposed to be finished, which BitMEX attributed to a DDoS attack— a snag that resulted in a suspension of trading and a number of traders with shorts getting their positions absolutely demolished.
Theories began to fly about whether or not BitMEX had actually suspended transactions in order to profit off of the shorts, but regardless of the truth, a lot of people just learned a lesson about the pitfalls of margin trading in a largely unregulated space.
Crypto Hedge Funds Have Lost 50% In Value Since The Start Of The Year
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When cryptocurrencies exploded last fall, Wall Street scrambled to get in on the game. A number of banks opened desks devoted to the market while plenty of other investors decided to enter the crypto space.
However, as is the case with basically everyone who decided to get in on the game around the start of the year, those investments haven’t been doing so hot. In fact, a recent study indicates the vast majority of the 370 crypto hedge funds researchers looked at have lost 50% of their investments since January.
As a result, it shouldn’t be too shocking that…
Bitcoin Shorts Approach Record Highs
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Historically speaking, it’s pretty hard to make money if you invest in something at its peak and don’t get a chance to sell it before its value falls off of a cliff.
However, that’s exactly what most of the aforementioned hedge funds did, which means there’s only one good solution: shorting the hell out of Bitcoin.
On Tuesday, the number of Bitcoin shorts came close to reaching a record high that was set back in April as traders scramble to do everything in their power to not make that 50% any higher.
It’s worth noting that on that day in April, the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed thanks to a short squeeze as traders were forced to scramble to buy more coins in order to cover their losses.
I’m sure some people wouldn’t be too sad if that happened to happen again.
Everyone In Australia Can Now Pay Bills With Bitcoin
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One of the biggest barriers standing in the way of cryptocurrencies is the lack of widespread adoption for practical purposes instead of speculative ones.
Now, two companies in Australia is doing what it can to promote Bitcoin and other cryptos as an actual currency. The Cointree exchange has teamed up with a billing platform called Gobbill in order to make it easier for customers to pay for monthly expenses using the cryptocurrency of their choice.
Gobbill will be shouldering the majority of the risk here, as they’ll be the intermediary between customers and companies (who will be paid fiat money as opposed to crypto).
Bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.