I've been really busy the past few weeks and haven't been able to post, so I apologize for that, but I've still been able to keep up with all of the craziness going on! The past couple of weeks we've seen tremendous growth in Bitcoin, as well as many of the alts (including NEO and OMG). This growth is due to a variety of factors that I'll cover in the next few paragraphs. Bitfinex also released a statement banning US customers within the next 90 days which is a shock to everyone, so with all of that, lets get started.

Bitcoin Reaches All-Time High

If you've been in the cryptomarket for any amount of time, you're no stranger to Bitcoin. It's been seen on the news, endorsed by celebrities, and mentioned in various Youtube videos. It's the face of cryptocurrency and many people are starting to invest. Just yesterday we hit an all-time high of $4455, based on Coinmarketcap. That's over 131% growth in the last month! There's been a couple reasons for the rise:

Fidelity

So last week Fidelity brought Bitcoin tracking to traditional investor portfolios. Fidelity is an online trading brokerage that offers IRAs, retirement planning, mutual funds, and ETFs to help investors reach their goals. They are widely known and respected, so for them to endorse Bitcoin tracking to investor portfolios is a big step forward in the adoption of the cryptocurrency to the mainstream. When you think of how much money is involved in retirement funds and investing on a daily basis (billions and possibly trillions), we are looking at huge investments in the near future. As more eyes start looking at Bitcoin, we'll see it rise even further.

Bitcoin ETF

The second reason for the Bitcoin rise is the interest of a Bitcoin ETF by the US based money manager, VanEck. VanEck is a global investment money manager firm that is based in New York City. Based on the SEC filings, VanEck wants to have the ETF listed on the Nasdaq exchange. A key factor is that the ETF won't invest directly into Bitcoin, it'll invest in derivatives and financial products that offer exposure to the bitcoin market development. This is huge news considering that the stock market trades trillions of dollars a day. By having a Bitcoin ETF on the Nasdaq exchange, we'll see increased exposure and have big investment banks and financial institutions jumping on board.

Bitcoin Moving Forward

With both of these events happening within days of each other, it's easy to see why Bitcoin has been rallying. I personally believe that we are just at the beginning of something great. I can easily see Bitcoin above $5,000 by the end of the year, if not much higher. There have been many predictions of Bitcoin reaching $50,000-$100,000 by 2020 but that is still a ways off. Many people are realizing how much Bitcoin can grow and the potential it has on multiple fronts. Investment firms are jumping on board and big players now have their eyes on it. The rally has just begun and I'm excited to be along for the ride.

OMG Soaring

Since its inception, OmiseGo has seen tremendous growth in the cryptocurrency market. It's up over 1500% since July and shows no signs of slowing down. It's trading at a current price of $8.71. Taken from their website, "OmiseGo is a public Ethereum-based financial technology for use in mainstream digital wallets that enables real-time payment services across both fiat money and decentralized currencies. It's designed to enable financial inclusion and will be made available to everyone via the OmiseGo network and digital wallet framework starting in Q4 2017."

The big hype around OMG is that is has the support of Vitalik Buterin, who is the founder of Ethereum. As many people know, Ethereum exploded onto the cryptocurrency scene and is currently in 2nd place with total dollar market cap (right behind Bitcoin). With Vitalik onboard, many people are confident that he will take the company to the top, just like he did with Ethereum. Just yesterday, he met with the Central Bank of Thailand to discuss the future of the Thai economy and how OmiseGo can help. With the current events unfolding, the sky is the limit for OMG. I look forward to continued growth in the company and can't wait to see where Vitalik takes it.

Bitfinex Banning US Customers

On August 11th, Bitfinex announced on their website that “Over the next 90 days, we will be discontinuing services to our existing U.S. individual customers.” At this time, Bitfinex had the highest trading volume for any USD/BTC trading pairs. They listed a few reasons for their decision:

1. "While we've been able to normalize banking for most of our customers in certain jurisdictions, the banking solutions for the US remain elusive. "
2. "A surprisingly small amount of revenue comes from our US customers while consuming a drastic amount of our resources to support them."
3. "We anticipate the regulatory landscape to become much more difficult in the future."
4. "Bitfinex is not based in the United States. US based exchanges are better suited to tailor the US customers."

With all of these reasons outlined, it's understandable why Bitfinex made this decision. While there's still other exchanges out there (Bittrex, Poloniex, Bitstamp, GDAX), it still begs the question if we will see more exchanges come forth with these restrictions or if one exchange will rule over the rest.

If you're a US customer and have any fiat currency or coins in Bitfinex, I recommend transferring them out immediately. I currently use Bittrex and it is a great platform. It's one of the largest trading platforms out there and has established its name as a top contender.

Thanks for reading! Until next time, stay safe and happy investing :)
-CryptoData

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