First engine: Monero leads the privacy coin rally as Bitcoin travels towards $ 12K

Bitcoin (BTC) was gaining for the fourth consecutive day, approaching the $ 12,000 price threshold that the cryptocurrency failed to hold in August when it broke that level for the last time.

“The market has started to move again,” Norwegian cryptocurrency analyst firm Arcane Research wrote in a report Tuesday.

In traditional markets, US stock futures have indicated an upward opening as investors are betting that US lawmakers could agree on a new stimulus law.

Privacy coins like monero (XMR) and zcash (ZEC) are suddenly in vogue, despite efforts by regulators to crack down on them.

These digital tokens, equipped with features that allow users to obfuscate their identity and hide transferred amounts, have increased in value this year. Monero’s price almost tripled in 2020 and zcash doubled. According to data firm Messari, a group of 21 digital assets with anonymity enhancement capabilities gained 142% this year, compared to bitcoin’s 60% gain.

The bull market tone also comes when the US Internal Revenue Service recently hired blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis and Integra FEC to develop transaction tracking tools for monero and other protocols used to obscure identities. And the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this month released an extensive report on its digital asset enforcement framework, citing the use of cryptocurrencies that increase anonymity as a risk to anti-money laundering programs and efforts to combat the financing of terrorism.

Some cryptocurrency analysts say the rise in privacy token prices may just be a coincidence, a function of speculation by traders who rule out price chart patterns or algorithms. But it could be that traders think privacy tokens will occupy a key place in international digital asset markets and rapidly developing payment systems, precisely because so many users don’t want to transact under the watchful eye of governments, banks. or exchanges.

“Cryptographers and researchers will always be one step ahead in terms of privacy,” Riccardo “Fluffypony” Spagni, one of the maintainers of the Monero network, told CoinDesk in an interview.

In other words, regulatory investigations could prove outright positive for Monero.

“Gets visibility in the market,” David Jevans, CEO of blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace, told CoinDesk in a telephone interview. “People should be able to pay for their day-to-day bills without having to worry about hitting regulators’ radar and providing proof of identity.”

Read More: Cryptographers Are Always Going to Be ‘One Step Ahead’ of Regulators: Spagni di Monero

The path of least resistance for bitcoin is towards the upper side.

The cryptocurrency rose more than 2% on Monday, confirming a breakout of the descending triangle. The pattern indicates the rally from the Oct 8 lows near $ 10. 500 has resumed.

Open interest for bitcoin futures listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which is considered synonymous with institutional interest, jumped more than 20% to reach a seven-week high of $ 624 million on Monday, validating the bullish breakout on technical charts.

Furthermore, macro factors appear to be aligned in favor of the bulls. Companies like the European Central Bank and the Reserve Bank of Australia are expected to increase monetary stimulus over the next couple of months, a long-term positive development for the perceived reserve of valuable assets such as bitcoin and gold. Traditional markets are pricing in additional US fiscal stimulus that spurs inflation.

But a number of major sell orders appear to be positioned around $ 12,000, which may make it harder for bulls to plan a quick move beyond that mark.

Therefore, the focus shifted to the resistance located at $ 12,476 (August high). On the downside, the October 16 low of $ 11,200 is the target level for bears.

Read more: Bitcoin closes at $ 12K but a wall of sell orders awaits: Analyst

Filecoin (FIL): The decentralized file storage protocol releases token rewards ahead of time after crypto miners rebel against the “unfair” economic model.

Binance (BNB): The largest cryptocurrency in the world burns 1.1% of the supply of its BNB exchange tokens, the fourth highest ever.

Uniswap (UNI): The vote to reduce the quorum fails to reach the quorum.

DAO curve (CRV): The tokens of the decentralized platform for the exchange of stablecoins have reached new all-time lows.

Bloomberg analyst Mike McGlone says bitcoin “has a history of adding zeros,” sees tether’s market cap eclipse ether’s next year. (Bloomberg Intelligence)

R3’s company-focused Corda network gets the new “regulatory” digital currency, XDC, calling it a “next-generation bitcoin or XRP”. (CoinDesk)

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell says getting the digital dollar right is more important than being first. (CoinDesk)

A Puerto Rico-based bank founded by the gold bug and longtime bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff is under investigation on suspicions that it facilitated tax evasion for “high-risk” customers. (CoinDesk)

European investors got agitated as the number of new coronaviruses hit record highs every day. (CNBC)

International fund managers are betting on Biden’s victory in the US presidential election to stimulate gains on non-US assets and weaken the dollar. (Reuters)

US investment bank giant Goldman Sachs reaches a deal with the US Department of Justice to pay more than $ 2 billion for the role in the 1MDB Malaysia scandal. (Bloomberg)

Investment legend Bill Miller calls the Federal Reserve’s average inflation policy the “most significant” change in US monetary policy in 40 years. (CNBC)