SegWit2x(B2X)

The whole of the cryptocurrency world is currently fussing over recent events regarding Bitcoin, and rightly so. The price drop of $1,000 per BTC and the pulled release of the planned SegWit2x hardfork has kept Bitcoin firmly in the public eye. In the meantime however, Ethereum has been making slow and steady improvements and growing its own network. Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, has seen an increase in usage recently as the ICO world grows and the new ERC20 and ERC223 tokens were born. The Ethereum Foundation recently published a report that indicated the network had processed around 44% more transactions than Bitcoin; a statistic showing the true potential of Ethereum’s intuitive system. In the same period, the number of pending transactions for Bitcoin has fluctuated from 39,000 to 47,000, while the number for Ethereum has been stable - between 30 and 300. Ethereum released the ZK-SNARK protocol alongside their Byzantium hardfork and this move was criticized by some insiders because of the risk from attack it is believed to be open to from quantum computers. It had been thought that the fork would cause a sudden boom in adoption from Wall Street, however it is now believed that the risk from quantum computers has kept it steady. Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin has released a paper recently that indicates a conceptualised ZK-STARK protocol designed to protect a full zero-knowledge transaction from attack from anything; even from a quantum computer. This new protocol relies solely on hashes and information theory, rather than the ‘trusted setup’ that ZK-SNARK relies upon. According to Buterin, while this upgraded anonymity is necessary, it does come at a data cost; from 288 bytes to a few hundred kilobytes. However, in applications where the extra protection is critical, the additional data usage would provide something unique to Ethereum: truly secure and anonymous transaction processing.

It's feared that over $150m worth of Ethereum may have been irretrievably frozen after a bug in a digital Ether wallet was triggered. The bug – hidden in code written by Parity Technologies – is thought to have been triggered by a developer who was looking through the code and searching for ways in which to exploit it. In doing so, he inadvertently became the joint owner of hundreds of Ether wallets and, when he tried to reverse his mistake, the original owners found that they no longer had access to their share of the cryptocurrency. Who is affected? Parity Technologies have said that wallets created after 20th July this year were affected and provided a link through which Ether holders could check to see if their wallet had been frozen. It is thought that around 584 wallets - and 573 owners - have lost access to their funds. Parity updated its wallet program in July after another bug was discovered, leading to $30m worth of Ethereum being frozen. The news is a blow to users of the second most popular cryptocurrency – after Bitcoin – and led to the value of Ethereum dropping slightly, before recovering to $321 on Friday. Another boost to Ethereum's price came with this week's cancellation of SegWit2x, which was expected to be activated on the Bitcoin blockchain next week. The looming crisis gave Bitcoin holders the chance to receive 'free' coins in the event of a split, leading to the recent Bitcoin price surge. Part of this was money that would have been invested in other cryptocurrencies – Ethereum included – so now that SegWit2x has been called off, the Bitcoin price has slightly declined while other cryptocurrencies have rallied.

Exclusive @cryptodaily has confirmed that the Segwit2x Hard Fork has been cancelled. A statement from the creators of the fork was released today and is reprinted below:

As confirmation came through that a contentious software proposal had been discarded, Bitcoin set an all-time high of $7,879, before dropping to $7,070. The general consensus among analysts is that this $800 high to low range was due to traders attempting to price in this intricate news. A syndicate of businesses and miners are no longer seeking to overhaul the blockchain mechanism or create a new cryptocurrency from its ashes. An unexpected shock was seen in the charts by market observers, showcasing something not seen since September as China's regulatory body moved to shutter its crypto exchanges and ban ICOs. The prospect of the software proposal named Segwit2x, which was to be introduced to the network in mid-November, saw many new buyers allocating capital to the cryptocurrency in the expectation of a split and the creation of new coins. However, as the possibility of a quick buck was no longer on the table, traders looked elsewhere in the market as a wave of rising assets was observed, according to cryptocurrency pricing service CoinMarketCap. BTC Vix, Bitcoin trading group Whale Club's organiser, said "Everyone was selling alts [alternative cryptocurrencies] and buying BTC. Now we are unwinding that". However, others in the industry, such as the CEO of the crypto exchange Bitstamp Nejc Kodric, stated his belief that the news may have resulted in discontent for traders looking to make a big profit with a fast purchase before a split: "I think 2x was a big cloud of uncertainty which now went away... some like it, some were just in it for the airdrop." Other analysts have suggested that it may be the case that new buyers might have been spooked due to any form of development in the market. It's still unclear as to what the future holds for Bitcoin's value, however, most Bitcoin enthusiasts will be thanking their lucky stars that the bogeyman of the 2x crisis is no more.

Following Sunday evening's high of $7,575.72, Bitcoin's price has dropped back to pre-weekend levels. By 3:55 PM UTC on Mondat, Bitcoin was trading at around $7,268.26. The trading volume of the infamous cryptocurrency also dropped on Friday, from $3.6 billion down to $2.7 billion. Alternative cryptocurrencies to bitcoin, such as those listed on CoinMarketCap.com's remaining top 10 cryptocurrencies, all indexed gains. This is fairly unusual, as most cryptocurrencies have mostly moved in lockstep with bitcoin. Etherium Classic - rising by 10.51%, NEM - rising by 13.35%, and Bitcoin Cash - rising by 9.18% were the largest gainers, with the last hour's trade finishing at $14.90, $0.1882 and $637.93 respectively. General investor consensus on the predicted future of Bitcoin's price is that it will increase as we approach the end of 2017. However, one influential analyst, the derivatives trader and technical analyst Tone Vays, said on Sunday that Bitcoin has reached its monthly high and its value is unlikely to increase. On a video posted on YouTube by the analyst, Vay went on to say "The chances that we are going to have four more weeks that are going to close higher than this week's candle are very, very difficult,". Vay also went on to discount the role of the upcoming Segwit2x hard fork as grounds for a bullish outlook on Bitcoin's value. In other news, Jameson Lopp, founder and lead developer of Blockchain security company BitGo, said this week that Bitcoin globally ranks 32nd in its value of circulation, putting the popular cryptocurrency just behind the UAE and Finland, and in front of Singapore and South Africa. It's also been reported that Bitcoin exchanges in China have been altering their business models in light of the state's regulatory crackdowns. Bitcoin's near-term future is very much in debate, with proponents of gains and losses being prophesied on both sides of the spectrum. One thing for sure is that investors will be closely monitoring the cryptocurrencies candle for clues as the year comes to a close.

Last Tuesday, Bitcoin Gold came into an existence after a new iteration of the original Bitcoin blockchain had forked off, just three months after the controversial Bitcoin Cash fork. While Bitcoin Gold has next to no chance of replacing the original Bitcoin in the marketplace, it has nevertheless caused small-scale market turbulence. The purpose of Bitcoin Gold is to adjust the blockchain in an attempt to once again make mining accessible to the general public. While major mining operators have essentially annexed the marketplace in 2017, some commentators consider Bitcoin Gold to be the solution for small-time miners. Robert Khune, a strategist involved in the Bitcoin Gold project, agrees: “Bitcoin has always had the ability to escape from any potential abusive mining hardware manufacturers”, explained Khune, adding that successful forks are “what will be required” in order to make mining fair and accessible to the public once again. Bitcoin downturn Bitcoin dipped 4.4% to $5,652 as of 8.55am on Wednesday (Eastern Time), however, the cryptocurrency is still up 36% this month and approximately six-fold percent compared to this time last year. The recent minor downturn has been driven by the anticipation of disarray as a result of expected hard forks in the near future, with an entire community of wallet holders divided over decisions to either support or reject these forks. Some are also speculating that the most recent fork could be an opportunity to essentially double their coins, as Bitcoin holders would also be credited with equal amounts in Bitcoin Gold – although few exchanges have offered their support when it comes to the new currency. A sign of things to come? Crypto experts are predicting that further splits are likely to be imminent, especially when certain factions of the community want to increase Bitcoin’s block size in order to make transaction times shorter. The first phase of this plan, titled SegWit2x, was implemented during the summer, when it took data off the main network – leading to widespread condemnation from many wallet holders and trading platforms alike – with some even urging users to dump SegWit2x Bitcoins immediately.

It seems that now is the time to be in Bitcoin, after prices surged in the last week. Over the past few days, Bitcoin rose past $5,400, setting an all time record for the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin goes through the roof It was thought that the highs of 2 September wouldn't be beaten for quite some time, but a seemingly endless October rally saw Bitcoin smash through the $5,000 barrier. If history has taught us anything, however, we should see a sell-off begin. The last time Bitcoin reached such heights, the sell-off turned into a downturn, thanks to China banning ICOs and cryptocurrency tradings. Resilience Despite that, the price of Bitcoin has shown remarkable resilience over the past few weeks and now stands at over $5,600. With Bitcoin accounting for more than 55% of cryptocurrency, its dominance looks set to continue in the coming weeks and months. In fact, leading cryptocurrency economist Tuur Demeester has predicted that Bitcoin will represent 60% of the cryptocurrency market within just three months. Doubts over SegWit2x It's thought that a factor in the huge rise in the price of Bitcoin is the doubts surrounding SegWit2x. Many traders believe that it will be executed in November. If, however, it is deployed, then there is still plenty of skepticism over whether the resulting blockchain will be able to compete with the Bitcoin network. A major indicator that SegWit2x will not be deployed in November came in the form of the mining pool F2Pool. After F2Pool became the first mining operation to withdraw their support for SegWit2x last week, many traders took it as an indication that other mining pools would follow suit, effectively killing SegWit2x before it could even get off the ground. On top of that, futures for SegWit2x have performed very poorly since they were introduced by Bitfinex a couple of weeks ago. Although it's still early days, traders look to have called it correctly so far.

In the world of cryptocurrency there are all kinds of predictions floating around. Some seem too far fetched – like McAfee’s $500,000 USD per coin in 3 years for example. But others, while they seem exaggerated, for some reason feel like they are just under the threshold of the unattainable, especially when an expert makes them. This is the case of Trace Mayer’s most recent price prediction. Mayer sustains that bitcoin prices will hit $27,395 USD by February 2018. That looks like a huge number given current prices and the looming contentious SegWit2X fork. Nevertheless, it feels like it is still under the threshold of the unattainable. So How Did Trace Mayer Arrive at Such a Precise Estimate? The other enticing feature behind Trace Mayer’s prediction, is the precision of the number. Mayer calculated the price to the last Dollar, unlike McAfee who just threw a half a million Dollar figure seemingly out of nowhere. In fact, there is some method to Trace Mayer’s madness. This early adopter went into the 200-day moving average for bitcoin prices, and developed a score to understand when bitcoin was overvalued or undervalued in the past. Mayer sustains that bitcoin would be fairly priced at around 4 times the moving value in the last 200 days. That figure should be $27,395 USD if bitcoin’s 200-day moving average hits $5,767.50 USD. This last figure, is the result of an extrapolation of previous 200-day moving averages. Looking forward, the 200-day figure is subject to a wide variety of variables, as well as looming known unknowns that could throw all the math off. A good month of $BTC consolidation. 200 day moving average rising well. Next six months should be very interesting & fun. LedgerX! #NO2X ? ? pic.twitter.com/Q1n3ns1myu — Trace Mayer (@TraceMayer) October 9, 2017 No One Doubts Trace Mayer’s Ability with Numbers Trace Mayer relies on these calculations mainly because of his background in accounting. However, Bertrand Russel warned about the logical perils of assuming that the future will somehow resemble the past. No on knows where the contentious SegWit2X fork will take bitcoin – if it happens at all – and there could be a wide variety of other events that can derail bitcoin from achieving its fair price according to Mayer’s calculations. Those considerations have always been the Achilles heel of technical analysts who rely on patterns based on historic data. Not Far Fetched? On the other hand, even if there are no major events that derail bitcoin prices over the next 6 months, the market itself doesn’t necessarily price bitcoin fairly according to Mayer’s own calculations. In fact, bitcoin was only valued fairly in 2 of Mayer’s 8 data points. This means that a $27,395 USD bitcoin could be far off, even if the price point come February 2018 is reasonable. Therefore, people should take this scenario with a grain of salt, however logical and attainable it may seem. You love crypto & eSports? We want to get to know you. Please join us here: https://facebook.com/esportsdotcom/ Telegram: t.me/esportsERT

In just three days, the price of Bitcoin has had a staggering increase of nearly $600, which demonstrated a strong upward momentum that was unexpected in a relatively short period of time. This increase sparked confidence from investors in the Bitcoin market. The reason that this price increase was completely unexpected was due to the SegWit2x hard fork, which is scheduled for November, and due to hit major markets such as Japan, the US and South Korea. This pre-planned adjustment has split opinions, with some businesses and exchanges losing confidence in Bitcoin. Some of the largest wallets and exchanges have reaffirmed their stance on the upcoming changes, and it is not always in the favour of SegWit2x. What is the SegWit2x? The SegWit2x was proposed to upgrade Bitcoin, in a couple of ways. It would enact the long-proposed code optimisation Segregated Witness, which alters how some of the data is stored on the network. The 2x would reflect the timeline for increasing the network’s block size to 2MB, which is doubled from 1MB. Who is for this upgrade? Like we mentioned before, this proposed change has very much divided businesses and exchanges. Coinbase and Bitfinex have reaffirmed their stance on the upcoming SegWit2x hard fork, and the Bitfinex development team have revealed that they plan to utilise the moniker, ‘B2X’ to list the SegWit2x fork of Bitcoin upon the completion of its hard fork in November. A member of the team released this statement; “We have elected to designate the SegWit2x fork as B2X, for now. The incumbent implementation will continue to trade as BTC even if the B2X chain has more hashing power. We are doing this for practical and operational reasons. Political considerations are irrelevant here. While we cannot change or re-assign ticker symbol, we can change the label or description associated with that ticker symbol. For the time being, BTC will continue to be labelled as ‘Bitcoin’ and B2X will be labelled as ‘B2X’”. For these two major exchanges, it is important to note that they are listing the new coin as B2X, even if it has more hashing power, because the investors and traders will likely remain on the legacy chain, or the original Bitcoin blockchain. This means that in November, the market, users and investors can then decide which Bitcoin blockchain will be referred to as ‘Bitcoin’ and ‘BTC’. Who opposes it? The market confidence and price surge for Bitcoin, could actually demonstrate a lack of support for SegWit2x. Trading of Bitcoin has been increasing greatly in major regions such as Japan and the US, which has seen the price surge. This price has been predicted to rise further, but only if the SegWit2x turns out to be a minority fork. Tuur Demeester spoke on this topic saying; “The chart needs to confirm, but if the Bitcoin 2x hard fork turns out to be a nothing burger, it could provide tailwinds for a rally and $5,000” Unfortunately, this claim could soon be backed up, as the market is not doing anything to demonstrate that these predictions are not correct. References and Further Reading: CoinDesk; Explainer: What is SegWit2x and What Does It Mean for Bitcoin? The CoinTelegraph; Bitcoin Exchanges Coinbase, Bitfinex Issue Guidance Before SegWit2X Hard Fork The CoinTelegraph; Xapo On SegWit2x: We Might Not Treat BTC Chain As Real Bitcoin

If you have invested in Bitcoins, you are likely to be keeping a close eye on the price. But, just what have the experts predicted for Bitcoin for the coming year, and overall long term? For the most part, experts are predicting big things for Bitcoin. Many believe that we are not even close to hitting the tip of the iceberg, and that great things are set to happen. So, are there any predicted troughs along the way? Read on to find out what the experts think. The Good: The majority of experts have predicted great things for Bitcoin. Anyone in the industry will agree that masterluc is something of a legend in the Bitcoin community, so when he has predicted that Bitcoin will reach $15,000 by the end of this year, people are listening. He has gained this reputation as being a Bitcoin oracle, after he called the top of the Bitcoin bubble in November 2013. He has since predicted that not only will Bitcoin reach $15,000 before the year is out, but it will also reach between $40,000-$110,000 by the end of the bull run – something that he feels will be by the end of 2019. Ronnie Moas, the founder of Standpoint Research has mirrored masterluc’s prediction of success. Although, he looks further into the future, noting that despite Bitcoin being more than three times more valuable than gold, we are only at the very tip of the iceberg, and predicts the prices to soar to $15,000-$20,000 in the next three years. Kay Van-Petersen, a Saxo Bank analyst predicts that the market capitalisation of Bitcoin could grow to $1.75 trillion, making each Bitcoin worth $100,000. Although this is longer term than other experts, as he is looking across a ten-year period, he has made successful predictions before. He is assuming that all cryptocurrencies will account for 10% of the ADV of fiat currency trade in 10 years, and this currently stands at over $5trillion. Ten percent of this is $500 billion, and he has predicted that Bitcoin will account for 35% of this share, which would bring Bitcoin total up to $175billion. So, when you consider that there will be approximately 17 million Bitcoin’s in circulation in ten years’ time, each Bitcoin will be worth over $100,000. He is very quick to add that he feels that Bitcoin is here to stay, stating, “This is not a fad, cryptocurrencies are here to stay”. Other experts, such as Alena Vranova and Vinny Linghm echo this, agreeing that the price of Bitcoin is set to rise. Vranova believe that the price could rise quicker than expected if more countries begin to legalise it. Linghm agrees with this statement, and suggests that there are three main reasons that the price will rise. These are; the rising venture capital investments in blockchain technology, a huge number of Bitcoin acceptance and finally, the limited supply of Bitcoin. He has also made a statement saying that he has a “strong belief” in Bitcoin, and does not consider Ethereum to be the biggest competitor. The Bad: Unfortunately, not all experts are predicting big things for Bitcoin, and some have predicted pit falls that the cryptocurrency could fall into. Obviously, Bitcoin suffered a small set back when China banned cryptocurrency, and although it quickly recovered, other milestones like this could have a negative impact on the currency as a whole. Thomas Glucksmann, who is head of APAC business development ultimately believes that in a year, the price of Bitcoin is likely to have increased; however, he has warned investors that they should get themselves ready for volatility in November. He believes the cause of this will be because some investors in the Bitcoin community might move to reject SegWit2X, which could create another split in Bitcoin, and potentially create another cryptocurrency, thus affecting the current price of Bitcoin. Alena Vranova, has predicted another possible outcome for Bitcoin, and unfortunately, it does not fare as well as the previous one. Vranova predicted that if there is any negativity within Bitcoin, such as volatility or restricted legislation, the price might crash to just $50 per Bitcoin. Obviously, this is a huge difference to earlier predictions, but goes to show how majorly something can affect the cryptocurrency. The Ugly: Finally, it is important to recognise that not everyone sees Bitcoin being as successful as others do. Mark Cuban; founder of MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com has recently attacked Bitcoin on Twitter, making claims that it is not a currency, merely a bubble. His Tweets included; “I think it’s in a bubble. I just don’t know how much it corrects. When everyone is bragging about how east they are making $=bubble”. His main complaint comes with the fact that it is not Bitcoin that is successful, rather the blockchain that surrounds it. He backs up his opinion further by stating that currencies have to be stable in order to be reliable, which he does not believe Bitcoin to be, saying; “Just because Bitcoin’s exchange rate has reached thousands of dollars, this doesn’t mean that anyone would be willing to give you thousands of dollars for your Bitcoin.”. Peter Schiff, who is an investor who predicted the 2008 mortgage crisis, mirrors the opinion of Cuban, and has likened Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a Ponzi scheme that has been built on “just plain greed”. He also feels that there is simply no way to predict what will happen to Bitcoin in the future as it is just so volatile. Finally, Tony Robbins closely follows Bitcoin, but is not completely sold at all, comparing an investment in the popular cryptocurrency to a trip to Vegas. He says, “I think [Bitcoin] is very iffy…I don’t have a clue. I look at that as it’s like going to Vegas”. He agrees that whilst some investments could make you a lot of money, they simply are not predictable or steady, advising investors to only invest what they can afford to lose. References And Further Reading: Express; Bitcoin price forecast: Bitcoin will recover from China crackdown, predicts experts Futurism; Expert Predicts Bitcoin Will Be Worth Up To $20,000 in the Next Three Years Futurism; Get Ready. Renowned Bitcoin Trader Says The Currency Will Hit $15,000 in 2017 Futurism; Mark Cuban Asserts That Bitcoin Is Not Currency The CoinTelegraph; Legendary Bitcoin Trader “masterluc” Predicts $15,000 Bitcoin This Year CNBC; Bitcoin could hit $100,000 in 10 years, says the analyst who correctly called its $2,000 price CNBC; Bitcoin could be heading to $6,000 by year-end but brace for volatility, experts say CNBC; Tony Robbins says investing in Bitcoin is ‘like going to Vegas’ Steemit Bitcoin; Bitcoin price predictions from Experts Bitcoinist; How far will Bitcoin go in 2017? Experts weigh in with predictions