Bitcoin news LIVE – Safemoon could overtake Dogecoin as cryptocurrency rockets but Bitcoin could fall 50% within days

REWARD HOPE

IT engineer James has previously appealed to the council to search the city’s landfill site – but keeps getting rejected.

He hoped a 25 per cent reward (roughly £55m) would be an incentive, but killjoy council chiefs say they are bound by their licencing permit.

James said: “I had two identical hard drives and I threw out the wrong one.

“I know I’m not the only person who has ever thrown out the wrong thing but it usually doesn’t cost people over £200million.”

BURIED TREASURE

A computer geek who threw away a hard drive containing £220million in Bitcoin has offered his local council a £55m reward to find it.

James Howells, 35, stored 7,500 Bitcoins on his PC in 2009 when the digital currency was practically worthless.

He later forgot about the stash and accidentally threw away the hard drive at a council landfill site in 2013 near his home in Newport, Wales.

The price of Bitcoin has since soared and his ‘virtual wallet’ now amounts to around £220million.

You can read more here

DEMAND GROWING FASTER

Guggenheim Partners’ veteran financial figurehead Scott Minerd said: “Supply is growing two per cent a year and demand is growing faster.

“That’s all you really need to know, and that means it’s going higher.”

BITCOIN LIQUIDITY ‘LIKELY TO REMAIN RESILIENT’

Bitcoin’s liquidity is likely to remain resilient, according to JPMorgan.

Analysts for the US bank said: “Going forward, bitcoin liquidity should remain robust and resilient; depth on major exchanges has continued to drop less and recover faster than other asset classes.”

TESLA AND MASTERCARD EMBRACE CRYPTOCURRENCIES

Major firms including BNY Mellon, Mastercard Inc and Tesla Inc are among those to have embraced or invested in cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin topped $60,000 early last month, fuelled by Tesla’s move to buy $1.5 billion of the digital currency for its balance sheet. For the past two weeks, it had traded in a tight range.

“When bitcoin markets create new highs, the price often range-trades and we witness a round of profit-taking,” said James Butterfill of digital asset manager CoinShares.

BITCOIN COULD PULL BACK TO $20,000

Bitcoin could pull back to $20,000, Guggenheim Partners’ veteran financial figurehead Scott Minerd has claimed.

He said BTC overstretched itself at a dangerous speed, meaning its value could have in the coming weeks.

He told CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange: “Given the massive move we’ve had in Bitcoin over the short run, things are very frothy, and I think we’re going to have to have a major correction in Bitcoin.

“I think we could pull back to $20,000 to $30,000 on Bitcoin, which would be a 50 per cent decline, but the interesting thing about Bitcoin is we’ve seen these kinds of declines before.”

CRYPTOCURRENCY ENJOYING BOOM IN TURKEY

Cryptocurrency trading is also enjoying a boom in Turkey.

It comes as investors seek refuge from the country’s economic turmoil and surging inflation.

REGULATOR CALLS FOR MORE SOCIAL MEDIA RULES

The regulator has called for new social media rules being proposed by the government to include action on the financial harms it can cause.

A spokesperson for the FCA said: “The FCA believes that there is a strong case to include financial harms in the Online Safety Bill, given the scale of harm that investment fraud causes to consumers, many of whom are vulnerable.” 

BEWARE OF ONLINE SCAMS

Martin Bamford, a financial advisor, said: “Investment tips on TikTok are the latest version of the get rich quick schemes that have been around for centuries.

“A lot of the trading and investing videos we see on TikTok are either blatant scams or misguided attempts at advising others.

“Take anything you watch about investing money with a pinch of salt and always check the credentials of the person giving the advice.

“Rather than getting rich quickly, you are likely to lose money fast if you follow the tips you find on TikTok.”

ALL ABOUT SAFEMOON

FCA SAYS CONSUMERS SHOULD BE WARY OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADVICE

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates the industry and protects consumers, has warned of the risks of taking advice from social media.

An FCA spokesperson said: “There are risks with taking unregulated investment advice and we engage with social media platforms to have pages which breach our regulations taken down.

“Consumers should be wary of adverts and advice online and on social media promising high-return investments, and should always do further research on the product they are considering.”

PEOPLE WARNED OVER ‘RISKY’ TIPS SHARED ON TIKTOK

The financial watchdog has warned over “risky” trading tips being shared on TikTok.

Traders organising themselves on Reddit bought into Gamestop sending its share price surging, and causing professional hedge funds to lose millions.

TikTok users have been sharing their “tips” for trading shares in Gamestop and other companies, the BBC found, as well as cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin.

But the financial advice does not come with any warnings of the risks involved in investing.

RISKS OF CRYPTO INVESTMENTS

• Consumer protection
• Price volatility
• Product complexity
• Charges and fees
• Marketing materials

WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY ANYWAY?

There are thousands of different kinds of cryptocurrencies, although among the best-known are Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin and Ethereum.

And cryptocurrencies aren’t like the cash we carry.

You couldn’t pay for your food shop with it, and no major high street shop in the UK accepts it as payment.

The Bank of England says: “Development is under way to make cryptocurrency easier to use, but for now it isn’t very ‘money-like’.

“This is why central banks now refer to them as ‘cryptoassets’ instead of ‘cryptocurrencies’.

“Today cryptocurrencies are generally held as investments by people who expect their value to rise.”

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL?

Despite his hair-raising predictions on Bitcoin, detailed in the posts below, Mr Minerd said he remains optimistic for the future.

He said he believes such a big correction is be part of “the normal evolution in what is a longer-term bull market”, before suggesting the price of Bitcoin was heading towards $400,000 to $600,000.

‘IT’S FROTHY AND A MAJOR CORRECTION IS ON THE WAY’

More on that last post now.

Mr Minerd described the market as “frothy”.

“Given the massive move we’ve had in Bitcoin over the short run, things are very frothy, and I think we’re going to have to have a major correction in Bitcoin,” he said on CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange.

“I think we could pull back to $20,000 to $30,000 on Bitcoin, which would be a 50 per cent decline, but the interesting thing about Bitcoin is we’ve seen these kinds of declines before.”

BITCOIN COULD HALVE IN VALUE SOON, SAYS FINANCE CHIEF

The global chief investment officer of one of the world’s largest financial firms says a major correction is on the way on the price of Bitcoin, City AM reports.

Scott Minerd of Guggenheim Partners says Bitcoin has overstretched itself at a dangerous speed.

And he thinks the flagship cryptocurrency could halve in value over the coming weeks.

More on this next.

CRYPTO KING

The pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin is now one of the world’s richest people.

Based on their estimated holdings of the cryptocurrency, Satoshi Nakamoto is believed to own about one million Bitcoin, which is roughly five per cent of the total supply that will ever be created.

As the currency’s value has skyrocketed in recent months – hitting $63,509 (£46,073) at the time of writing – so too has Nakamoto’s estimated wealth.

TESLA AND MASTERCARD EMBRACE CRYPTOCURRENCIES

Major firms including BNY Mellon, Mastercard Inc and Tesla Inc are among those to have embraced or invested in cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin topped $60,000 early last month, fuelled by Tesla’s move to buy $1.5 billion of the digital currency for its balance sheet. For the past two weeks, it had traded in a tight range.

“When bitcoin markets create new highs, the price often range-trades and we witness a round of profit-taking,” said James Butterfill of digital asset manager CoinShares.

WHAT IS BITCOIN?

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown computer whizz using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto.

Unlike physical currencies such as pounds, dollars or euros, which come in physical notes and coins, Bitcoin isn’t printed or minted.

Instead, Bitcoin tokens are a digital-only form of payment and are created by a computer code.

If you have invested in Bitcoin, you can set up a virtual wallet to store, keep track and spend your digital money.

You are also able to purchase Bitcoin through an online exchange or Bitcoin ATM –  but not all businesses accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.

You can use the Where To Spend Bitcoin UK website to find merchants that accept the currency.

VENMO CRYPTO

PayPal-owned mobile payments service Venmo on Tuesday began letting users in the United States buy, hold or sell cryptocurrency using its app.

The expansion into the hot digital money trend comes on the heels of PayPal last month allowing people in the United States to use cryptocurrency to make purchases from millions of merchants that use the financial platform for online transactions.

The payments giant had already let users buy, sell or store digital money.

Venmo said a new feature rolling out to its more than 70 million users will let them buy or sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash versions of digital money.

WHAT IS SAFEMOON?

Not a huge amount is known about Safe Moon meaning the risk to your investment may be even higher.

Technically it’s not a cryptocurrency – it’s an DeFi token – according to it’s website.

DeFi stands for decentralised finance token. They are very complex but essentially aim to disrupt the finance world to enable people to follow and lend in peer-to-peer networks, without needing a bank.

Like Bitcoin they use a complicated method called blockchain technology.

BITCOIN COULD DROP BY 50% AFTER RISING TOO MUCH TOO FAST, SAYS GUGGENHEIM’S SCOTT MINERD

Bitcoin could plunge to as low as $20,000 after its sharp rise up to record-highs, Guggenheim Partners’ Scott Minerd said today.

“Given the massive move we’ve had in bitcoin over the short run, things are very frothy, and I think we’re going to have to have a major correction in bitcoin,” Minerd told CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange.”

“I think we could pull back to $20,000 to $30,000 on bitcoin, which would be a 50% decline, but the interesting thing about bitcoin is we’ve seen these kinds of declines before,” Minerd said.

WHICH CRYPTOCURRENCY PRICES ARE DOWN?

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, had its biggest one-day drop in two months over the weekend and it’s the latest wild movement for the cryptocurrency.

Last week Bitcoin hit record highs, surging above $64,000 for the first time ever.

Bitcoin is down nearly 4% in the last 24 hours and down nearly 10% over the past week, and is currently trading at $55,324 (£39,548) at the time of writing according to CoinMarketCap.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also hit record highs last week rising to $2,547 and has since fallen.

BITCOIN SCAM – US SEEKS ‘BRIT MAN BENJAMIN REYNOLDS’

Officials are looking for a mysterious British man behind a £100million Bitcoin scam.

US regulators say they want to speak to Benjamin Reynolds, 38, even though some victims believe he may not exist.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has accused Reynolds, from Manchester, of stealing Bitcoin through a firm called Control-Finance.

A court in New York has ruled that he owes £103million in compensation, in addition to a £310million fine.

The price of Bitcoin hit a record high of £46,700 this week.