This is a guest post from Voyager, a crypto brokerage firm with a commission-free trading app.
Nearly two years after the infamous feud between Craig Wright and Roger Ver that led to the creation of Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV), both Bitcoin forks finished their first Halving.
On Wednesday, the reward for mining Bitcoin Cash (BCH) dropped from 12.5 BCH to 6.25 BCH. Hours later, BSV also slashed its reward in half. Unfortunately, both events were met with little fanfare.
In the hours leading up to the Halving, BCH gained roughly 11%, hitting a high of $280.15 on Voyager, but the momentum was short-lived, and BCH ended the week up less than 1%.
While BSV’s weekly chart closely mirrors BCH, it fared slightly better than its rival. Ahead of the Halving, BSV gained nearly 30%, rising to a high of $226.56. BSV ended the week up roughly 9%.
The underwhelming price movement has led some to believe the Halving was already “priced in.” But, in a live stream session leading up to the Halving, BCH stakeholder and CEO of BTC.TOP Jiang Zhuoer, said he disagrees with such claims.
“Many users coming to the market in the next two years have not joined the community yet. Thus, the ‘price in’ theory is not applicable without the majority of future users in the market,” said Zhuoer
If BSV and BCH follow Bitcoin’s trend, the two crypto assets could experience a bull run over the next several months. After Bitcoin’s first Halving, it saw historic gains, skyrocketing by almost 8,000% over a year-long period. The second catapulted BTC to nearly $20,000 in 2017.
North Korea’s $1.5 Billion Crypto Stash
Crypto is borderless and stateless. These two characteristics are what make digital currencies so attractive to businesses, retail users, and governments. Unfortunately, it’s also what sometimes attracts bad actors.
According to new information from Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, North Korea is using cryptocurrencies to evade international sanctions. The ostracized nation is estimated to hold $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency that it uses to fund an illicit web of trade networks and supply chains.
“When it comes to trade-based money laundering, the issue, especially for sanctioned actors, is cross-border money movements,” said Jesse Spiro, global head of policy and regulatory affairs for Chainalysis, to CoinDesk. “When you talk about how North Korea could actually execute this in relation to finances, I believe crypto is used to facilitate it.”
Chainalysis has mapped the flow of crypto stolen by North Korean hackers to various exchanges where it’s then believed to move to trade-based money laundering networks. The U.N. also highlights the use of newly mined cryptocurrencies to “facilitate sanctions-evasion activity” because it offers increased anonymity.
In addition to using crypto to pay for sanctioned goods, it’s also believed that North Korea is stockpiling coins in hopes that the prices increase.
Dance it Out
Quarantine got you going crazy? The Voyager team understands (check out our Treasury Director’s Twitter jam session for proof).
Since you probably have some extra time on your hands, Voyager’s inviting you to dance it out with us for a chance to win $150 worth of free BTC! Enter by commenting a video of your best dance moves on this tweet. Good luck!
Read This…
Forbes: A ‘Perfect Storm’ Is Brewing For The Bitcoin Price
Finance Magnates: Will the Bitcoin Halving Still Boost the Price Post-Coronavirus?
Bloomberg: Visa Teams With Startup FOLD for Bitcoin Rewards on New Card
Decrypt: You can now 51% attack Bitcoin Cash for the cost of a single Bitcoin
The original Voyager post can be read here. You can earn $25 in BTC by signing up for the Voyager app and trading $100 (or use code SLUDGE25).
