Josh Andrews

2017 Gains Soar to 940% as Bitcoin Tops $10,000

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This week has been a great week for Bitcoin – the virtual currency soared to an all-time high above the $10,000 value which had been highly anticipated by many of its followers. But will it hold? As of now, Bitcoin seems to be doing pretty well on various major digital currency indexes and major exchanges including the renowned Luxembourg-based BitStamp. This year alone, Bitcoin has broken a ton of records by soaring to over 900% of its initial value at the beginning of January 2017 thus registering the largest gain of nearly all asset classes while at the same time having to cope with the increased institutional and market demand for crypto-currencies. Evidently, mainstream use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has increased significantly and the horizons are looking clear, in most part.

Still, cryptocurrencies are still met with a significant amount of skepticism – Bitcoin’s value and price surge are seen by some of these skeptics to be nothing more than a speculative bubble that does not relate to any real financial market or the economy as a whole. Among the skeptics is leading banker and Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam who openly expressed skepticism for Bitcoin saying;

“From what we can identify, the only reason today to buy or sell Bitcoin is to make money, which is the very definition of speculation and the very definition of a bubble.”

There have been endless raging debates regarding the legitimacy of Bitcoin but the fact that the decentralized digital currency has managed to stay afloat despite a number of major crashes across its 9-year lifespan has put certain opinions under review for reconsideration. Bitcoin’s value may vary from one market to another but the escalating trend of its value seems to be stabilizing and this is a core concern for potential investors and the Bitcoin community. Will it hold? How high can it get? We will just have to wait and see.

PlayOJO Wins Malta iGaming’s Casino of the Year Award

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PlayOJO, which is a relatively new online casino has gained a lot of popularity in the recent past and now they have received another form of recognition. The Malta iGaming Awards recently crowned the new but popular PlayOJO Casino as 2017’s best casino operator. Malta’s iGaming Awards have always caused quite a stir in the online casino industry especially due to the prominence that accompanies the awards as well as their significance in terms of both local and international recognition.

The award did not come as a surprise considering the fact that PlayOJO has always strived to provide its customers with nothing but the best with its unique and innovative approach towards online gaming. Among the nominees were other equally impressive casino operators with outstanding backgrounds and excellent reputations which means that the competition was rather tight. However, the SkillOnNet powered PlayOJO emerged the winner – which makes it their second win after receiving the prestigious EGR Rising Star of the Year Award a few weeks ago.

Despite being in operation for just a little over a year, PlayOJO has most certainly created a lot of buzz in the world of online gambling by introducing some very innovative solutions as well as new technology to the industry. PlayOJO Casino’s Ohad Narkis was very excited about receiving the award something that he says proves their level of professionalism and commitment to providing the best online gambling experiences. He further thanked the judges for their honest opinions regarding the casino’s operational model and assured every player that they would definitely improve every aspect of it as they move along.

“We are delighted to have been named Casino Operator of the Year at the Malta iGaming Awards. Despite launching less than a year ago, we have already made a significant impact on the industry by taking the player experience to the next level. This award recognizes the hard work and dedication of the PlayOJO team, and I’d like to thank the judges for rewarding our achievements and successes in this way.”

Since it went live back in February, PlayOJO has proved to be a force to reckon with by being a disruptive challenger to most of the online casino operators, especially in the UK. Some unique features that have attracted a plethora of online gamblers include their responsible gambling policy as well as the money back option offered for every bet that a player places. However, the biggest selling point of PlayOJO’s operational model has been its approach when it comes to the casino bonuses and reward – they are all available to customers with no wagering requirements.

Resorts World Catskills Still on Track for Launch in 2018

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The fourth, and the last, of the upstate casinos authorized under the gambling expansion in New York, Resort World Catskills, is still expected to launch within the first quarter of 2018. The Acting of Director of the state Gambling Commission, Don Ochrym, in a recent press release confirmed that the casino is expected to kick off its operations by March 1^st next year. Resort World Catskills is to be opened in Monticello, Sullivan County with over 200 participants expected to join in – casino machines are already being delivered and dealer training schools have already begun training people expected to work for the new establishment.

Previously known Montreign, the Resorts World casino by the time of its completion is anticipated to have used up at least $1.2 billion – but considering the revenue that the casino is expected to rake in, the budget can be said to be worth every penny.

In September the Times Union in a report acknowledged that these new casinos (Resorts World Catskills and three others that have been opened in the last year) are the state’s economic engines though they lagged behind in the first-year revenue projections. However, these financial struggles are expected to change a bit with industry officials and local stakeholders saying that it takes time to see whether a business is going to be a success in the long term especially if it is a casino.

The 1.6-million-square-foot, five-star Resort World Catskills is further promising customers of certain key features that will set it apart from all the existing casinos. Charlie Degliomini, who is the executive vice president of Resorts World Catskills parent company, Empire Resorts says that once construction is complete and the casino is officially complete, they expect up to 4 million visitors every year. He further pointed out that the casino’s core offering will be luxury as portrayed by the personal pools, private balconies, garden suites as well as the elite-guest gyms for third-floor residents – and, of course, not forgetting the three bars and six eateries.

Guests looking to grab a quick bite will love the food court and when they are not gaming they can indulge in a bit golfing on the casino’s Rees Jones-redesigned 18-hole golf course! Alternatively, there is a salon where they can get their nails down as they unwind or prepare for the next games.

Regardless, gambling is still going to be the biggest moneymaker for Resorts World Catskills. Degliomini expects that about three-quarters of its 332 suites will be allocated to the casino section to accommodate all the 130 table games and the 2,150 slot machines.

So far, everyone seems to be happy about the resort-casino project – local union leaders are so enthused about the project’s utilization of an all-union workforce of over 680 construction workers which gets even better as the number is expected to rise to 800 as the launch date nears. The union’s representatives are also excited about the great post-launch prospects that the casino will have for the local economy – about 1,400 jobs will be created at the main hotel, the golf course, and the casino.

Good Weekly Start for Bitcoin as It Tops $9000 Mark

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Bitcoin’s forward trajectory has continued with the cryptocurrency’s dollar price rising above the $9000 mark – as of today, it stands at $9730 as it draws closer to the $10,000 region. This should come as no surprise as Bitcoin has gained a lot of popularity by breaching its all-time highs month after month. The price surge is expected to continue and maintain a similar trend as we approach 2018. This year, 2017, has been a particularly great year for Bitcoin in regards to its value. What began as a $1000-mark breach back in January marked the onset of the currency’s best year.

Is Bitcoin Liquidity Increasing?

In just two weeks or less, Bitcoins’ price has shot up from less than $7800 to over $9060, a surge that has caused a significant increase in its trading volume from about $2 billion to over $4.6 billion. This makes Bitcoin more liquid than even the most liquid stock in the world, a title that was previously held by Apple. Furthermore, Bitcoin now processes more trades than the major stock markets in the world like KOSDAQ in South Korea. As major financial institutions like the Man Group, a $95 billion hedge fund, participate in strictly regulated Bitcoin exchanges in the coming weeks, the price of Bitcoin might surpass $10,000 sooner than anticipated. In fact, financial firms like StandPoint and Wall Street analysts have already set new highs for Bitcoin’s interim price target moving it up from the previous $10,000 to $14,000.

According to StandPoint founder Ronnie Moas, “There have been many positive developments during the last five months and a few of the obstacles that were in Bitcoin’s way have been knocked down.”

Bitcoin mining is now more profitable than it has ever been in its 9-year life – only 4.3 million Bitcoins are left to mine as nearly 75 percent of the decentralized currency has already been mined and is used in the over 250,000 daily transactions on the network.

F1 Racer Fernando Alonso Gets Into The Esports Action

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Well, it is about time! We have gotten used to having soccer, football and basketball superstars diving into the eSports arena and now Fernando Alonso is set to be the first Formula One (F1) racer with an eSports team. The team has been launched in partnership with Logitech and G2 eSports with the McLaren Honda driver serving as the team’s principal. To show eSports enthusiasts just how serious they are, the team has even already enlisted Cem Bolukbasi, an F1 eSports league finalist, who will participate in a number of games across different platforms. Furthermore, Alonso’s F1 outfit, McLaren, recently confirmed that they had signed Rudy van Buren the victor of the “world’s fastest gamer”, a competition McLaren themselves had created to find someone of such capacity. Rudy was nominated by Alonso himself to be the official simulator driver for the next season in 2018 – all thanks to his amazing simulation racing skills and engineering knowledge. McLaren also becomes the first and only eSports racing team with an eSports director. The eSports team, according to Alonso, is open to any gamer with the ‘talent to perform’.

Alonso had quite a lot to say about his new endeavor during the announcement of Yas Island’s Formula One (F1) circuit;

“I am really excited. A couple of months ago I had this proposal from one of our partners, and I thought it was a nice idea to create and link these two sports. The fans will no longer be spectators. The fans will no longer just be spectators. The fans will be a key role in my world and they will drive for my team maybe one day. I think we all have a gamer inside us, and competition is no different. I am extremely happy and there are unlimited possibilities in our team. An elite team, professional team, racing in the best races in the world – especially here in the F1 championship, but not only here – in Refactor, the world’s fastest gamer from McLaren, in the E-simulators, and that is something we will explore with time.”

The F1 superstar has never been one to shy away from his support of existing racing simulators citing them as a being an area worthy of exploration. Massive changes in technology have seen the racing simulators get better and better, which may in future even blur the line between real F1 races and simulations. Alonso adds that this is a logical extension as he considers each and every F1 driver to be a ‘gamer at heart.’ The virtual space opens new doors for younger racers who might not get the opportunity to race in the real world as well as the younger audiences. Virtual racing has often been played an important promotional tool for finding the next big thing in car racing – people have actually taken motorsports into career considerations after being motivated by eSports.

NBA Shifts Its Position on Legalized Sportsbetting

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) was recently reported to have changed its position regarding the state of legalized nationwide sportsbetting. This shift comes with the revelation that the organization intends to rally behind Congress members seeking reforms in the existing sportsbetting laws. A report from Legal Sports Report stated that NBA would not actively advocate for the repeal of the Professional Amateur Sports and Protection Act (PASPA), despite standing behind the regulation of legalized gambling.

NBA is also purported to have joined forces with National Football League (NFL) and the National Hockey League (NHL) in the US Supreme Court a month ago to defend the legislation that restricted sports betting or wagering to venues in Delaware, Oregon, Montana, and Nevada.

In last week’s Sports Betting USA conference in New York, NBA Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Dan Spillane had the following to say;

“Our view has been that if it’s illegal, that’s not the right way to start off legal sportsbetting in the United States; under a cloud doing it in violation of federal law. At the same time, we agree with New Jersey on the ultimate policy outcome that having legal and regulated sportsbetting in the United States is the best place to end up. The disagreement is just on how to get there.”

This also comes on the onset of a lawsuit seeking to overrule a 25-year-old federal legislation that restricts sportsbetting to only four states in the US. Dan Spillane is further reported to have assured the public of ‘a little bit more clarity’ once the issue is settled which would then create room for more open discussions regarding legalizing sportsbetting in all the remaining states. NBA’s rowback has been welcomed by the American Gaming Association lobby group whose CEO, Geoff Freeman, recently proclaimed that the group was in the same boat with NBA as far as ‘commitment to integrity and rigorous regulation’ are concerned.

In similar news, the value of illegal sportsbetting has risen to nearly $200 billion in the US – which accounts for about 97 percent of all of the country’s sportsbetting. These findings seem to be partially responsible for propelling the demands and subsequent lawsuits seeking for the legalization of the multibillion-dollar sportsbetting market. With the case for the legalization of sportsbetting to be heard next month by the Supreme Court, the significance of illegal sportsbetting in the US market is speculated to cause major ripples. Policy experts have had their fair share of criticism (and support) for the legislative restrictions that have been raised against sportsbetting in all but the four states mentioned earlier, terming the laws as ‘madness’ – but it is hard to tell how this will affect the Supreme Court’s landmark hearing that is only a few weeks away.

New USD Highs as Bitcoin Bull-Run Primes Altcoin Markets

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After recently establishing an all-time high of nearly $8400, Bitcoin has currently consolidated above $8000 a situation that has resulted in a liquidity shift towards the general altcoin markets. The outcome has been in favor of several of the major altcoins which have recorded very high dollar values even though the prices, when compared to Bitcoin’s value, can be considered to be relatively modest. For instance, Ethereum recorded a new all-time high value of about $420 with the prices stabilizing well above the $400 mark.

At the time of this writing, one Bitcoin is equivalent to about $8140 after it set a new record after establishing a new all-time high value of approximately $8380. Also, Bitcoins current total market capitalization stands significantly above $136 billion – the 24-hour trading volume is also well over $4 billion. This reasserts the market dominance that Bitcoin currently enjoys – it sits at 53.1% which, however, represents a 5% drop from its value a week ago.

Mark Keiser, host of Russia Today’s ‘Keiser Report’ anticipates that the price of Bitcoin is likely to soar from its current $8000 Value to new highs of about $100,000. While it is certainly still too early to tell how his predictions will play out, he has continued to express his confidence in the cryptocurrency’s market dominance saying that;

“Hundreds of obituaries have been written about bitcoin and none of them have come true and none will. Fact is, bitcoin is a gift from God to help humanity sort out the mess it has made with its money.”

November has not been a very good month for Bitcoin – its markets fell by approximately 28% shortly after attaining the preceding all-time high of $7890. This represents Bitcoins largest red weekly candle since its inception. Nonetheless, after dropping to its $5450 all-time low, Bitcoin rapidly regained its momentum and recovered to produce its largest weekly candle when it broke above the $8000 mark.

CME Announces Bitcoin Futures for December!

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In somewhat of an unexpected twist, CME has released its Bitcoin Futures market specifications with the date being officially announced on November 19. The launch date is, however, still awaiting relevant regulatory approval, a situation that the CME Group elaborated in a recent update that read, “Effective Sunday 10 December 2017 for trade date Monday 11 December 2017, and pending all relevant regulatory review periods, please be advised that CME will launch Bitcoin Futures.” Thus, the market will certainly need to wait a little longer even though most of the relevant information has been dispensed – the contract unit for the futures is $25 or 5 index points to be quoted in Bitcoin per US dollar and will be listed on CME, CME’s Globex central standard time and Clearport.

With this year’s planned Bitcoin Futures product, CME, which is currently the largest Futures exchange in the world, intends to prevent extreme Bitcoin volatility. In a CNBC interview, CME Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy expressed his confidence in CME’s self-certification process and the application process. He further confirmed the launch dates by hinting at the possibility of trading beginning by the second week of December 2017. This comes after CME’s huge revelation in October that it had been seeking approval from regulators to launch a Bitcoin-related product. During the reveal, CME expected to keep the futures to be settled through cash and be dependent on existing of 2016’s prevailing price indices – this has since changed and will be based on the Bitcoin Reference Rate. CME’s Bitcoin futures will be capped at price limits of 20% above or below the settlement price. Similarly, there is going to be a spot position limit of 1,000 contracts.

CME has been preparing for the launch for quite a while now as portrayed by Duffy’s sentiments during the CNBC interview where he went ahead to explain;

“I’m going to implement something. If the market drops precipitously, we’ll stop trading, and if we think a product is going away, we have the longs, we have the shorts, we’ll match them up at a price and that’s the way our rules read today.”

This has drawn a lot of attention from the Bitcoin community and everyone is looking forward to seeing how CME’s involvement will impact Bitcoin’s ecosystem.

While some Bitcoin users are speculating that Bitcoin spot markets will be less volatile with CME’s Futures products, stabilizing the weighty fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin with Futures markets is more theoretical than practical. Bitcoin’s price has already transcended the $8000 mark – an upward momentum that is expected to lead the cryptocurrency to all-time highs by the end of the year. To be more specific, Bitcoin’s price is likely to extrapolate towards the $10,000 mark in December if investors from various institutions and hedge funds buy into it.

Phil Ivey Nabs New Deal as Virtue Poker Adviser

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Just days after Tony G, renowned poker player, declared his support for CoinPoker, Virtue Poker which is also an online cryptocurrency-based online poker startup has signed another poker superstar to be its adviser. Phil Ivey is considered to be one of the best poker players of all time and his inclusion in Virtue Poker’s attempt at revolutionizing cryptocurrency-based online poker is a massive step forward. The Virtue Poker team has been busy fine-tuning their site and software ahead of their scheduled 2018 launch with Ivey’s signing coming just a couple of months after fellow poker bigwigs, Brian Rast and Dan Colman were signed by the Ethereum–based startup as its ambassadors. Joining the Virtue Poker team makes Phil Ivey one of the latest pro poker players to show support and advocate for the involvement of cryptocurrencies in online casino gaming, a trend that while is still in its baby steps is expected to take the entire casino industry by storm.

With cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin constantly showing an upward trend in their value, Ivey expressed his faith in the initiative pointing out that the peer-to-peer nature of Virtue Poker’s take on cryptocurrency-based online poker will definitely ramp up the value of every poker player’s online gaming experience.

“I’m looking forward to serving as a strategic adviser to the Virtue Poker team. I believe their new peer-to-peer solution built using blockchain technology can add significant value to the online poker experience,” Phil Ivey said during the announcement of his signing.

In essence, the peer-to-peer blockchain technology the startup uses makes data processing more transparent and safer – the system is decentralized thus making it less prone to fraud. Poker players will, therefore, have to worry less about safety and transparency as the blocks of data will be processed right on their computers. To put this into perspective, Virtue Poker co-founder Ryan Gittleson assures players that, “Instead of trusting a random number generator from an operator stored in some offshore server, every single player has an RNG built into the machine that they utilize and they shuffle the deck for each hand played on the platform.”

Virtue Poker also uses a peer-to-peer card shuffling protocol called Mental Poker where each and every player at the poker tables takes part in the shuffling of the cards making it impossible for poker operators to see players’ cards. These solutions are aimed at some of the biggest and most persistent detrimental issues in the online poker industry such as the unauthorized access to and misuse of players’ money as well as the illegal access to players’ cards by employees of online poker operators.

Phil Ivey and his fellow Virtue Poker Colleagues, Dan Colman and Brain Rast are going to work together alongside the Virtue Poker team to revamp online poker. These poker superstars were probably the best decisions the startup has made since each of them has quite a lot to bring to the table. Ivey, for instance, has several contacts within the casino industry as well as in-depth knowledge about branding and the dynamics of the poker industry, all of which will strengthen Virtue Poker’s foundation and reputation ahead of its 2018 launch date.

The Story Behind the Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Cash

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“Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash will coexist and serve different cases, just like Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is not a zero-sum game. Work on building your project, not on destroying the other,” that was what Bitcoin and security expert, Andreas Antonopoulos had to say to affirm the fact that Bitcoin Cash indeed has a market share based on its ability to serve immediate payments and short-term scaling. This comes after Xapo president Ted Rogers declared that the recent price trend exhibited by the cryptocurrency was not sustainable. But where did this all start?

In an unexpected twist, Bitcoin Cash soared to an all-time high price of $2800 on November 12 – a situation that made the three-month-old cryptocurrency the sole beneficiary of the SegWit2x hard fork cancellation. Nevertheless, this glorious achievement was short-lived with Bitcoin Cash struggling to sustain the upward momentum of its price which eventually dropped to $1100 in just a couple of days. Luckily for Bitcoin Cash users and traders, the price has stabilized at around $1110 as of now.

The collapse of the SegWit2x plan that was potentially the main cause for the dramatic pump in Bitcoin Cash’s price has been attributed to the lack of consensus among Bitcoin community members. There have been varying opinions regarding the future of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash with some still portraying an element of optimism while others expecting worse scenarios considering the over 50% retrace that the currency experienced earlier. The high prices of cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, have attracted millions of users who may or may not be savvy with the concepts revolving around these. The result, especially among the less savvy cryptocurrency users has culminated in the form of confusion which makes matters even worse. In fact, some cannot even tell the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash – which leads us to the unpleasant reality that awaits. So, what can we expect?

According to Auxesis Group chairman and Cashaa founder Kumar Gaurav, “The quick rise [of BCH] from around 600 to 2400 USD in a few days makes it look like a typical artificial pump which was already being followed by a dump back to $1300 USD within 30 min. As compared to the FX market, the crypto market is still small, it is easy to do that and cannot be used to estimate the future of BTC vs BCC.” He further adds that unlike Bitcoin which has already surpassed a lot of expectations, Bitcoin Cash still has a long way to go before its growth in the long term can be estimated.

Divergent opinions suggest that there is still room for both flavors of Bitcoin to co-exist thanks to the increasing number of cryptocurrency users. In Hoskinson’s words, “Bitcoin Cash seems to be a productive split with its existence neither threatening Bitcoin’s nor requiring support from Bitcoin’s remaining adherents. Now Bitcoin is free to provide its small-block vision and cash the large block. My hope is that this will reduce fighting in the long run as both sides realize that the other isn’t going away. Just like we did with Ethereum and Ethereum classic.”