Blockchain
Liquidators of South African Bitcoin Trading Club Request Greater Probe Powers
Placed under provisional liquidation last month, Mirror Trading had claimed to be able to offer returns of 10% a month using bots to trade client’s bitcoin.


Provisional liquidators are seeking greater powers to investigate a defunct cryptocurrency trading firm after it was allegedly discovered to be lying to investors and operating illegally.
According to a report by Bloomberg on Friday, Mirror Trading International (MTI) is set to be put under the microscope by four liquidators following an investigation from South Africa’s Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) last year.
A kind of trading club, the firm had claimed to be able to create profits of 10% per month by using bots to carry out high-frequency trading using client’s pooled bitcoin.
The liquidators now want to increase their powers to include the right to call witnesses to an insolvency trial, appoint additional investigators and request financial information from banks. They may also request the ability to operate across multiple jurisdictions, according to Herman Bester, one of the four provisional supervisors appointed to commence the investigation into MTI, according to the report.
MTI was placed under provisional liquidation last month. That has remained unopposed, despite CEO Johann Steynberg in November telling investors that his embattled firm was being targeted by “every single attack imaginable,” and that claims it was mismanaged are untrue.
Initially declared as fraudulent by Texas state regulators in July last year, the FSCA probe concluded MTI deliberately misled investors and operated a financial service without a license. A criminal case has been opened with South African police.
According to the report, investors from the U.S. and Canada, Namibia and South Africa are preparing to lodge claims having failed to recover their funds from MTI. The firm is said to still hold $880 million-worth of users’ bitcoin.
The company’s last interaction with investors was on Dec. 22, 2020 when the firm’s management said the CEO was nowhere to be found, that they had been lied to and were now cooperating with authorities.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-liquidators-south-africa
Blockchain
Bitcoin price hits $50K after bullish outlook from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs

On March 1 cryptocurrency investors woke up to the sight of Bitcoin (BTC) rising from it weekend correction to $44,000 as the market found its bullish momentum and altcoins rebounded from their swing lows.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of Bitcoin increased 16.6% from its low of $43,504 on Feb. 28 to the $50,000 level which bulls are attempting to flip back to support.

Earlier in the day, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor tweeted that the firm had purchased another $15 million worth of Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 90,859 BTC and further demonstrating that institutional demand for the top cryptocurrency continues to grow as firms buy each dip’
Analysis of key BTC price indicators also shows that bulls were eager to buy the $43,000 retest which occurred over the weekend.
Not every analyst is bullish
Bitcoin’s surge above $49,000 has some calling for new all-time highs in the near future, but according to veteran analyst Peter Brandt, nothing is certain when it comes to the cryptocurrency market.
Today Goldman Sachs announced that it would restart its crypto trading desk and Brandt was quick to tweet the following chart and point out that its launch didn’t work out so well for the cryptocurrency market in December 2017.

According to David Lifchitz, Chief Investment Officer of ExoAlpha, it’s still “too early to tell” if the pullback in Bitcoin is over but $44,500 appears to have provided strong support.
In terms of whether the top cryptocurrency could breakout to new highs in March, Lifchitz said he’s uncertain on exactly what might happen as March is historically a bearish trading month for BTC.
According to Lifchitz, tax season in the U.S. could put bearish pressures on the market as investors may need to “sell some of their holdings to pay for earlier realized capital gains.”
From a bullish perspective, the 20% correction during the second half of February may have signaled an “early start” to the usual March weakness, with the worst of the downturn already transpiring.
Lifchitz said:
“Despite the 20% pullback, we’re still in an upward sloping trend since the October $10K breakout. The big unknown is what the miners will do as they are net sellers. They are the real short-term risk.”
Analysis of Glassnode’s Net Unrealized Profit and Loss (NUPL) metric shows that while both 20% corrections experienced during this cycle have created the “signature sideways and choppy” price action typically seen during bull markets, buyers have been stepping in sooner than they had in previous bull cycles and fewer long-term holders are willing to sell their BTC.

Steadying yields help to stabilize traditional markets
The traditional financial markets also rallied on Monday as Treasury yields stabilized and optimism related to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout boosted investor sentiment about the future of the global economy.
The S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ all closed the day in the black, finishing up 2.38%, 1.95% and 3.01% respectively. The strong performance from each index occurred as global central banks world continue to reaffirm commitments to accommodative policies that will support the global economic recovery.
Altcoins also recovered their recent losses as Bitcoin price broke out to $50,000.

Binance Coin (BNB) was the best performer in the top 10, increasing 21% to $248, while Ethereum (ETH) saw its price rise 9.46% to $1,525. PancakeSwap (CAKE) and Fantom (FTM) both rallied price 36% and currently trade for $12.30 and $0.558 respectively.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.52 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 61%.
Blockchain
Goldman Sachs Plans to Relaunch Its Cryptocurrency Trading Desk


Reports on Reuters today revealed that American multinational investment bank, Goldman Sachs, will offer bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards on behalf of its clients starting next week.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the move is part of the bank’s effort to take advantage of the fast-growing crypto space, which is gradually becoming an investment of choice for institutional players.
Notably, the bank is also considering developing a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) soon as part of its commitment to fully venture into the industry.
Based on this regard, the unnamed source noted that Goldman Sachs had already “issued a request for information to explore digital asset custody.”
Goldman’s First Shot At Crypto
In late 2017, Goldman Sachs became the first Wall Street biggest firm to ever consider offering crypto-related products, as the bank was planning to open a cryptocurrency desk.
At the time, the Wall Street financial institution was working on how to address security challenges associated with the business, as well as how it would custody the assets.
Plans were on the way for the launch slated for late 2018 when reports emerged in September that same year that the bank has chosen not to offer crypto-related investments.
Sources said that the bank dropped its crypto plans due to the regulatory concerns associated with the industry, with regulators breathing down the neck of most projects.
The issue of regulatory uncertainty has been the major stumbling block that hindered several institutional players from getting involved with cryptocurrencies.
Interestingly, there have been clearer regulations in recent times luring institutional investors like Microstrategy and Tesla.
The entrance of these large corporations has given other institutional investors the greenlight that crypto is safe compared to how it was viewed in 2018.
Thus it could be the reason Goldman Sach is making plans to restart its cryptocurrency trading desk in earnest.
A Change Of Heart?
However, Goldman Sachs’ second shot at launching a cryptocurrency trading desk comes less than a year after the bank told its clients during a conference call that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are not an asset class.
Reports at the time suggested that part of the reason for the call was to discourage its customers from including bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in their portfolio.
PrimeXBT Special Offer: Use this link to register & enter CRYPTOPOTATO35 code to get 35% free bonus on any deposit up to 1 BTC.
Source: https://cryptopotato.com/goldman-sachs-plans-to-relaunch-its-cryptocurrency-trading-desk/
Blockchain
Bitcoin Still Has an Uncertain Future: Citibank Analysts


In a 100-page deep-dive report dubbed “Bitcoin, at the Tipping Point,” Citibank’s global perspectives and solutions team noted that the cryptocurrency could potentially “become the currency of choice for international trade.”
The analysts acknowledged that the massive interest shown by several large institutional investors like Tesla, Microstrategy, and PayPal is one of the major propellants for the digital asset gaining mainstream adoption.
The team further noted that several other factors, including a wide range of digital payment options like stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), could also increase the chances of bitcoin adoption for cross-border settlements.
An Uncertain Future
The report also pointed out that a side-by-side comparison of the risks associated with bitcoin and the opportunities it presents makes it very easy to conclude that the digital asset is at a tipping point.
They wrote:
“There are a host of risks and obstacles that stand in the way of Bitcoin progress… Weighing the potential hurdles against the opportunities leads to the conclusion that Bitcoin is at a tipping point… Bitcoin’s future is thus still uncertain, but developments in the near term are likely to prove decisive as the currency balances at the tipping point of mainstream acceptance or a speculative implosion.”
Bitcoin Going Mainstream Already
The concluding part of the report quoted the famous philosopher, Schopenhauer, who said,
“All Truths pass through three stages, first it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
The team states that the positive change in stance on issues about bitcoin by several financial institutions very well prove these words of Schopenhauer, which he said more than 150 years before the bitcoin idea was born.
Several banks had actively shunned bitcoin in the past, arguing that it has no intrinsic value as it is allegedly backed by mere speculations from its proponents.
However, bitcoin’s immense growth has forced its former critics to re-evaluate their stance and join the bitcoin adoption trend. Some of the biggest banks in the world have started offering bitcoin services to their clients.
PrimeXBT Special Offer: Use this link to register & enter CRYPTOPOTATO35 code to get 35% free bonus on any deposit up to 1 BTC.
Source: https://cryptopotato.com/bitcoin-still-has-an-uncertain-future-citibank-analysts/
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Ankr adds Eth2 futures (fETH) to its staking system
-
Blockchain4 days ago
Gemini collaborates with The Giving Block and others, adds donations option
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Ripple now registered as a Wyoming business
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Peter Schiff Now Discusses Bitcoin More Often Than His Beloved Gold
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Former BoE, BoC Governor Mark Carney joins Stripe board of directors
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Are Bitcoin’s long-term hodlers entering the seller’s market?
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Elon Musk Explains to Peter Schiff What Money Is
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Litecoin, Cosmos, Tezos Price Analysis: 21 February