#bitcoin jumper

[thebitcoinjumper]

Why did EA snub Battlefield V during its latest earnings call? | Source: EA It's that time of year where the corral of gaming heavy hitters release oft-soporific statistics amid lengthy earning calls to prove their commercial solvency to boards and investors. On cue, EA delivered an optimistic take at the end of last month, covering all its popular intellectual properties including Apex Legends, FIFA, and The Sims, but with one blaring omission - Battlefield V. While other franchises were the topic of in-depth discussion with coverage of sales figures, prospective growth, and plans for future content, EA senior management trio only mentioned Battlefield V in passing: "We create experiences in some of the most popular owned IP in the industry, including The Sims, Battlefield, Need for Speed and Plants vs. Zombies," the firm said. "We've had great success building deeply engaged long-term communities in Ultimate Team, The Sims, Battlefield, Star Wars and more." That's it. There are no other mentions of Battlefield V in what amounted to a 14-page document once transcripted. For the latest entry in a tentpole franchise released less than 12 months ago, the omission is nothing short of a snub, and it says a great deal about Battlefield V's lack of success and how little faith EA has in reversing that glaring failure moving forward. In The News For All The Wrong Reasons Battlefield V got off to a lousy start amid a pseudo-controversy surrounding the portrayal of women during World War 2. A tranche of onlookers felt that Battlefield V was taking too many historical liberties, while those on the other side accused critics of misogyny. VIDEO The unwelcome saga prompted EA CCO Patrick Söderlund (who has since left the company, further raising alarms) to say: "Listen: this is a game. And today gaming is gender-diverse like it hasn't been before. There are a lot of female people who want to play and male players who want to play as a badass. And we don't take any flak. We stand up for the cause, because I think those people who don't understand it, well, you have two choices: either accept it or don't buy the game." In hindsight, however right Söderlund may have been to promote gender diversity in games, his scathing words did little to quell perceptions of a botched announcement. Instead of disregarding bigoted opinions from a subsection of its fan base, EA gave them precisely what they wanted - a reaction and one that explicitly asked them not to buy the game. Battlefield V's Underwhelming Launch Battlefield V has failed to meet expectations in myriad ways. | Source: EABattlefield V's release was similarly disastrous, with the game initially scheduled to release in October 2018 alongside serious competition from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and Red Dead Redemption 2. EA pushed the release back to allow developer DICE time to improve the core gameplay experience, further entrenching it in the competitive release window. Early sales figures were well below expectations, and reviews were equally underwhelming, citing a strong core but little depth, especially the multiplayer modes. A lack of content, rampant bugs, and few improvements on the excellent Battlefield 1 left players underwhelmed by the rough-around-the-edges gameplay of Battlefield V, not to speak of money-fleecing weapon and character customization features that had EA's greed stamped all over them. Ongoing outrage at EA's lack of consumer-friendly policies and the stagnant aftermath of the Battlefront 2 micro-transactions storm also led droves of franchise regulars not to purchase the game in protest. By the close of the year, EA had sold 7.3 million copies of Battlefield V - a million less than expected. The Slippery Slope of Failure Does EA just want to forget about Battlefield V? | Source: Battlefield V/EABy January retailers began slapping substantial discounts of up to 50 percent on Battlefield V in reaction to weak sales figures. Despite EA marketing Battlefield V as a title with a long shelf life, successive delays to the releases of the episodic Tides of War and the Firestorm battle royale modes did little to keep players interested. When Firestorm finally saw the light of day, EA's other battle royale shooter Apex Legends overshadowed it amid an already-saturated genre. The lack of player pick up meant EA decided to retire the duos mode in May. Although EA continues to pump out content, Battlefield V's failure is all but confirmed. Dwindling player numbers prove the game's legacy will be as a catastrophic endeavor in virtually every area: marketing, a botched service-model, and gameplay that failed to hit the mark. EA's nasty earnings call snub should surprise no one. It's just a preemptive obituary for a giant doomed to fail before it was even released.

https://www.ccn.com/gaming/ea-battlefield-v-earnings-call-snub/2019/08/06/

[thebitcoinjumper]

Kevin O’Leary, the judge of the popular business reality show Shark Tank, has slammed Anthony Pompliano for allocating half of his wealth to bitcoin.“Shame on you,” the television personality told Pompliano on the sidelines of a CNBC Squawk Box debate about bitcoin’s performance against gloomy macroeconomic periods. O’Leary stated that he purchased $100 worth of bitcoins about two months ago, but the value of those assets now dropped to about $30. And if a person does not assume the risks of holding bitcoins and concentrates half of his wealth on them, then he is “nuts.”“I forbid that,” O’Leary told Pompliano. “That’s insane. That breaches everything about diversification and investing.”"I teach this stuff you never go beyond concentrations of that nature. 50% shame on you! That's nuts!" @kevinolearytv tells @apompliano #btc pic.twitter.com/e4pTEt5sgC— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) August 6, 2019Non-correlated BitcoinAcross the table, Pompliano explained why he increased the risks of his portfolio by putting bitcoin, a volatile asset, on the driving seat. The Morgan Creek Digital Assets co-founder told O’Leary that the cryptocurrency had proven itself as a non-correlated asset, i.e., it does not get heavily influenced by macroeconomic events. He stressed that every significant financial institution should hold bitcoin for the very same reason.“Institutions,” said Pompliano, “have spent decades looking for assets to use as a diversification in their portfolio. We’ve been banging the drums [from] over a year saying [bitcoin] is a non-correlated asymmetric asset.”He added that bitcoin surged 55 percent soon after the United States President Donald Trump escalated his trade war against China in May. That proved a negative correlation between the cryptocurrency and every significant financial market, including the benchmark S&P 500 Index and Gold.“There’s people around the world that are electing to put their wealth into something that is controlled by software and cannot be manipulated by a single country or politician,” Pomp said."There's people around the world that are electing to put their wealth into something that is controlled by software and cannot be manipulated by a single country or politician," says @apompliano on #btc pic.twitter.com/3ZpE53xl91— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) August 6, 2019The Shark Does a FlipThe difference-in-opinion between O’Leary and Pompliano surprised onlookers in the cryptocurrency community. That is because O’Leary earlier appeared positive about the prospects of bitcoin. He called the cryptocurrency “a proxy for central bankers,” stating later that he would be interested in it if it’s market valuation soars above a billion dollars.“So is it here to stay? Oh yeah. So will I put 2-3% in it? I think I might,” O’Leary had told CBC in 2013.Comments he made:– “This is a proxy for the mistrust people have in central bankers”– “Once it crossed $1B market cap I became interested”– “So is it here to stay? Oh yeah. So will I put 2-3% in it? I think I might”— Ceteris Paribus (@ceterispar1bus) May 15, 2019His opinions about bitcoin flipped following his attempts to use the cryptocurrency as a mode of payment. In May this year, O’Leary admitted that he tried bitcoin to complete a real estate transaction but fell short due to its price volatility. He later called bitcoin a useless currency.“But everyone says, yes, you can. But, what happens is the receiver wants some guarantee. Let’s say you want to buy a piece of real estate for $10 million in Switzerland. […] They want a guarantee that the value comes back to you as currency at ten, you have to somehow hedge the risk of bitcoin. That means it’s not a real currency.”

https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/08/06/shame-on-you-shark-tank-judge-tells-bitcoin-bull-pompliano/

[thebitcoinjumper]

Crypto lending startup BlockFi received $18.3 million in a Series A funding round led by Valar Ventures, the company announced Tuesday. Valar, which was founded in part by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, was joined by Winklevoss Capital, Galaxy Digital, ConsenSys, Akuna Capital, Susquehanna, CMT Digital, Morgan Creek, Avon Ventures and PJC. Valar’s investment was its first in the cryptocurrency industry following prior investments in other fintech firms like Transferwise, a press release said. According to a company statement, BlockFi plans on using the capital for additions to its product line up. The firm’s premier product, yield-bearing bitcoin deposits, launched in March. Besides deposits, BlockFi offers cryptocurrency-backed loans. Speaking on participating in the Series A closure, Valar general partner James Fitzgerald said BlockFi’s product is bringing cryptocurrency mainstream. “We are excited to help BlockFi build robust ‘picks and shovels’ for this emerging asset class,” he said. The Series A funding round comes five months after the launch of its bitcoin yield-bearing loans. Image via BlockFi Riding on the backs of a promised 6.2 percent interest rate, the product garnered $25 million in deposits after its March 5 launch. By late April, over $50 million was deposited in BlockFi’s interest-bearing accounts. The market-topping rate was cut for larger accounts that same month, however. Accounts with deposits over 25 bitcoins or 500 ether had rates reduced to 2 percent annual yield.  BlockFi CEO Zack Prince via CoinDesk archives

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-and-ether-lender-blockfi-raises-18-3-million-series-a

[thebitcoinjumper]

After more than ten days of steady growth, the price of bitcoin has managed to reclaim the $12,000 mark. At time of publishing, the coin was sitting at $12,259, up four percent for the day and an astonishing 25 percent for the week.Bitcoin’s market dominance is also on the rise, currently at 68.6 percent—a level not seen since April 2017. This dominance is reflected in the cryptocurrency market charts with Bitcoin showing the most significant 24 hour price gains across the top 20 coins.Bitcoin’s increasing price has been linked to global political tensions, since it is seen as an alternative investment vehicle. There are growing concerns of a trade war between the US and China with both countries trying to stave of an economic downturn through their own monetary policies. In fact, relations have become so bad, Chinese businessman and Tron founder Justin Sun canceled a $4.6 million lunch with notable American investor Warren Buffett—under heavy pressure from China. And with things only looking to get worse, Bitcoin could be set to regain much of the entire cryptocurrency market cap, unless one of its competitors (Ethereum, XRP) can attract the same kind of attention.Bitcoin’s Lightning Network has grown nearly 100% in 2019On the other hand, if Bitcoin’s price is largely being held up by an influx of Tethers—with another $100 million USDT being minted on the Tron blockchain today, then the recent progress may be built on sand.Bitcoin’s growth has brought a few altcoins along for the ride, with Monero up three percent from $78 to $96 in the past seven days. However, despite a gain in dollar value, its value against Bitcoin has still dropped.Other coins have been on a steady decline over the last week, such as Cardano, which fell from $0.06 to $0.05. So for now, it looks like Bitcoin’s monopoly is only going to get stronger.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-breaks-12-000-looks-103053487.html

[thebitcoinjumper]

Facebook poached Susan Zook, a former aide to GOP Senator Mike Crapo, to lobby for its Libra cryptocurrency on Capitol Hill. | Source: AP Photo / Andrew Harnik Facebook has hired a former assistant to Republican Senator Mike Crapo as a lobbyist in their broader campaign to make Libra palatable to crypto skeptics on Capitol Hill. Susan Stoner Zook stopped working as an aide to Crapo back in 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile. From there she worked in various consulting and lobbying positions. Former Crapo Aide to Hawk Libra to Committee Chair and Colleagues Susan Zook will be Facebook's resident crypto peddler on Capitol Hill. | Source: LinkedInRegulators and legislators the world over have expressed serious fears as well as ignorance in the wake of Libra’s announcement. Facebook Libra is intended to be a centralized cryptographic ledger administered by more than two dozen Silicon Valley heavyweights. The social media giant has received severe criticism as a result of its brazen plan to give its billions of users a way to transact without using the traditional banking system. More than one billion people today are technically “unbanked,” however, many of those same people have smartphones with Facebook. Facebook has for years made it part of its core mission to expand the reach of its platform as well as the internet more broadly, through such programs as the failed effort to offer “free” Internet to Indians. Facebook Stokes Regulatory Fears Facebook has incurred the ire of both President Trump and Congress by seeking to launch a cryptocurrency. | Source: Tom Brenner/Getty/AFP (i), Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / AFP (ii). Image Edited by CCN.According to Politico, Zook will mainly focus on lobbying Republican lawmakers. She has an in-road with the chairman of the Senate Banking Intelligence Committee, Mike Crapo. In mid-July, Crapo expressed only moderate concern about the Facebook Libra project and offered praise for blockchain technology. Crapo reportedly called Facebook’s aims “commendable.” In a statement more than a week later, the Idaho Republican said: “It seems to me that digital technology innovations are inevitable, could be beneficial, and I believe that the U.S. should lead in developing these innovations and what the rules of the road should be. The digital currency and blockchain ecosystem is diverse, and care must be taken in determining what gaps may be present in the existing framework and developing a more comprehensive approach.” Zook’s primary focus will be getting Crapo’s compatriots on board with the idea of a blockchain future, spearheaded by none other than Facebook.

https://www.ccn.com/crypto/facebook-susan-zook-libra-cryptocurrency/2019/08/06/

[thebitcoinjumper]

The Dow Jones stormed into recovery mode as traders found a silver lining in the trade war - more Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. | Source: Drew Angerer / Getty Images / AFP The Dow Jones stormed into recovery mode on Tuesday following its worst loss of the year as traders searched for - and found - a silver lining in the alarming escalation in the US-China trade war. Dow Recovers from Grisly 2.9% Crash All of Wall Street’s major indices took a bite out of their August 5 losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 186.24 points or 0.72%, raising the DJIA to 25,903.98. The Dow embarked on a triple-digit recovery after crashing nearly 3% on Monday. | Source: Yahoo FinanceThe S&P 500 added 25.62 points or 0.9% to recover to 2,870.36. Ten of 11 primary sectors recorded gains, led by technology (+1.6%) and industrials (+1.14%). The Nasdaq surged 105.56 points or 1.37% to 7,831.6. The CBOE VIX, which measures market volatility, fell 13.7% to 21.22, which is right around the historical average. The VIX had spiked as high as 36.2 during the Dow’s previous-session plunge; had it closed there, it would have been its highest close since the Eurozone debt crisis nearly eight years ago. Beijing Stabilizes the Plunging Yuan Though still deep in the red for the week, the stock market enjoyed a sizable recovery on Tuesday for two reasons. First, China took measures to stabilize the yuan, just one day after the country’s central bank allowed the currency to slide below the 7 per US dollar mark. Beijing took steps to stabilize the yuan on Tuesday. | Source: Yahoo FinanceThat action led the Trump Treasury Department to designate China a currency manipulator, and analysts warned that it was an indication that Beijing retained little hope for a US-China trade deal. As Goldman Sachs analysts led by Chief Economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a research note: "News since President Trump’s tariff announcement last Thursday indicates that U.S. and Chinese policymakers are taking a harder line, and we no longer expect a trade deal before the 2020 election.” But while a weakening yuan would mitigate the damage from increasing US tariffs, it would also incite capital flight - something the People's Bank of China (PBoC) does not want to incentivize. Stock Market Bets on Aggressive Fed Easing Worsening trade war tensions could paint the Fed into a corner on future interest rate cuts. | Source: Joshua Roberts / Getty Images / AFPSecond, Wall Street found a silver lining in the expectation that as the probability of a near-term US-China trade deal declined, the odds of aggressive Federal Reserve easing increased. According to CME’s FedWatch Tool, the market has priced in a minimum of two more interest rate cuts in 2019, with a 44.2% probability that the Fed drops its target to 125-150 basis points - or lower - from its current level at 200-225. In fact, Fed Fund futures suggest there is a roughly 7% chance that interest rates sink as low as 100-125 basis points following the central bank’s December meeting. All of those probabilities represent significant increases since the last FOMC meeting, when the Fed reduced its interest rate target for the first time since the financial crisis but also appeared to signal that it wasn’t yet ready to launch an aggressive easing regime. However, if the Fed does pursue these steep interest rate cuts, it will have much less ammunition to combat the next recession when it sets in. And at least one crucial recession indicator has already reached crisis levels. Click here for a real-time Dow Jones Industrial Average chart.

https://www.ccn.com/news/dow-jones-industrial-average/2019/08/06/

[thebitcoinjumper]

The bitcoin dominance rate on Tuesday inched towards 70 percent for the first time since December 2017.At circa $217.91 billion, bitcoin’s market capitalization now covers 69.93 percent of the total cryptocurrency market. At its lowest, the world’s leading cryptocurrency was covering only 36.68 percent of the overall market in January 2018.Bitcoin Dominance Hits 2017 High | Image Credits: TradingView.comBitcoin’s dominance dropped as investors started moving their capital to the assets launched during the initial coin offering mania of 2017. But as a majority of those blockchain projects failed, with their in-house assets losing value in the act, investors either left the cryptocurrency market upon suffering significant losses or hedged back to bitcoin and other reliable assets like Ethereum and Litecoin. As a result, bitcoin’s dominance started surging higher in 2018, even though its value was dropping lower.Bitcoin More Attractive to InvestorsThis time, the fundamentals that are appearing to support bitcoin are macroeconomic. The Fed rate cut, US-China trade war, capital control in China, economic sanctions on Iran and Turkey, as well as hyperinflation in Zimbabwe and Venezuela are some factors that are prompting investors to speculate on bitcoin, a non-sovereign asset.On the other hand, mainstream financial firms are building services to cater to growing bitcoin trading clientele. Fidelity Investments and TD Ameritrade, for instance, are launching bitcoin trading solutions on their platforms. Swissquote, Switzerland’s most prominent stockbroker, has also introduced a similar service just recently. Bakkt, a digital asset platform launched by the Intercontinental Exchange, has recently tested the world’s first physically-settled bitcoin futures contracts.Investors look at bitcoin over other cryptocurrencies because of its real-world potential. Atop that, they are bullish because of its scarcity – bitcoin’s supply will be cut to half next May – which would make it a rare asset to hold in the future.$BTC is near 70% & highest since Dec '17Bad news for majority of alts, some will go up in USD but majority outperformed by BTCAlways wise to hold % of BTC the portfolioHard to imagine BTC was at 35% dom. but with ICO/Altcoin bubble now behind, that may never happen again pic.twitter.com/mj7LW3eK5x— Josh Rager 📈 (@Josh_Rager) August 6, 2019Price Reflecting InterestBitcoin’s 70 percent dominance in the cryptocurrency market also comes in the wake of its strong bullish bias. The asset in the last seven days has surged by more than 30 percent – from $9,371 to as high as $12,320. The surge, in turn, followed Donald Trump’s threat to impose 10 percent tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. In retaliation, the People’s Bank of China intentionally reduced the price of Chinese Yuan to less than seven dollars a unit, its lowest in the last eleven years.History shows a close inverse relationship between yuan and bitcoin. Earlier in May, bitcoin surged by as much as 58 percent while yuan dropped by 2.5 percent. Analysts believe investors in China, who remain under tighter capital controls, hedged into bitcoin as safe-haven.Notice the narrative change?2017: "Bitcoin is a bubble, only used by criminals and terrorists"Today: "Bitcoin surging as a possible safe haven while trade war escalates"The price is the same as it was before.We are just seeing bitcoin go mainstream.— Rhythm (@Rhythmtrader) August 5, 2019At the same time, all the altcoins are losing value against bitcoin, shows data recordings from the last 24 hours. Ethereum, for instance, is 2.23 percent down against bitcoin. The XRP/BTC instrument is also weak after dropping more than 5 percent in over a day.

https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/08/06/bitcoin-dominance-nears-70-for-the-first-time-since-december-2017/

[thebitcoinjumper]

Bitcoin Daily Chart Alert - Bulls Keeping Foot On The Gas - August 6 Ed Note: We are proud to unveil our new mining page, an entire space dedicated to up-to-the-minute news, with exclusive industry interviews and all the relevant information you need, rounded in up in one spot. Who is merging? Who is Buying? Who is Digging? We got you covered! Editor's Note: Welcome to Kitco's Bitcoin Daily Technical Alert. Every trading day veteran Kitco technical analyst Jim Wyckoff will provide you with a concise and easy-to-understand near-term technical brief on Bitcoin. Importantly, Jim will glean the short-term charts and technical studies, and then alert you to the signals he sees regarding upcoming potential bigger price moves or price trend reversals. Jim's unique and exclusive daily technical report is an absolute must for any trader/investor/market watcher who closely follows Bitcoin. (Kitco News) - Bitcoin-U.S. dollar futures prices are near steady in early U.S. trading Tuesday but did hit a three-week high overnight. Safe-haven demand for the crypto continues amid an escalating U.S.-China trade war. Many speculate there is a flight of capital out of China, some of which is occurring via the purchasing of Bitcoin. The bulls have technical momentum and are working on a price uptrend on the daily bar chart. Stay tuned. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2019-08-06/Bitcoin-Daily-Chart-Alert-Bulls-Keeping-Foot-On-The-Gas-August-6.html