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By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters) - As bitcoin investors brace for a long-awaited technical adjustment that will halve new supply of the cryptocurrency, the coronavirus pandemic has cast uncertainty over the expected rally that has historically accompanied such events.

This halving, the third in bitcoins 11-year history, has been widely flagged. The previous events fueled huge surges in bitcoins market value, but there is a wildcard this time in the form of the coronavirus pandemic, some analysts said.

From an efficient market perspective, any fundamental reaction to the halving should be heavily priced in at this point, said Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital. After all, its hard to imagine a more predictable event than an unalterable supply reduction that has been scheduled for more than a decade in a liquid, heavily-traded ... asset.

Bitcoin relies on mining computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first miner to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded new bitcoins.

The technology was designed in such a way that it cuts the reward for miners by half after every 210,000 blocks mined or roughly every four years, a move meant to keep a lid on inflation. That reduction in the rate at which new bitcoin enters the system should theoretically push the price up.

The halving could happen as soon as Monday or Tuesday, with most Bitcoin platforms showing that only about 100 blocks needed to be mined before hitting the halving threshold.

The mining reward is currently 12.5 bitcoins per block mined. In this weeks halving, the reward will fall to 6.25 new bitcoins.

In the run-up to this weeks halving, bitcoin had surged nearly 40% since the beginning of the year and climbed more than 85% from its lows. It was last at $8,630, down 14% from last weeks peak.

By comparison, the dollar index is up 3.3% so far this year.

The first halving occurred in November 2012 when the mining reward was reduced from 50 bitcoins to 25, and the second occurred in July 2016 when it was further cut to 12.5 bitcoin. This deflationary event has historically signaled the start of bitcoins most dramatic bull runs over a period of several years, although not before a brief sell-off.

The previous two bitcoin halvings propelled rallies of about 10,000% from late 2012 to 2014, and roughly 2,500% from mid-2016 to the currencys all-time high just shy of $20,000 in December 2017, according to traders.

Historic events dont necessarily predict future events, but theres a psychological level to it as well, Changpeng Zhao, Founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

As it will cost the miners almost double to produce bitcoin, they are not willing to sell when the price goes below the psychological level.

There are only 21 million bitcoins in existence and more than 18 million are already in circulation.

Ryan Watkins, a research analyst at crypto data platform Messari, believes the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak could be one major obstacle to bitcoins bull run after the halving.

Jake Yocom-Piatt, co-founder and project lead at cryptocurrency Decred, however, believes halving will be a positive event for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, especially in a pandemic.

A pandemic is very much a deflationary type event. Economic activity is going to take a real nosedive. The halving of bitcoin is a necessarily deflationary action, said Yocom-Piatt, adding that such a scenario would be bullish for cryptocurrencies.

Some analysts said there are signs a major rally may be under way, with retail or individual investors involved.

Bitcoin bulls say the price should go up as supply runs down and assuming demand is steady.

Dan Morehead, co-chief investment officer at investment firm Pantera, said bitcoin could peak at $115,212 based on supply and demand dynamics.

I realize that price may sound ludicrous to some today. But $5,000 sounded equally ludicrous as our first written price forecast when we launched Pantera Bitcoin Fund at $65 per bitcoin, Morehead said.

Just saying that theres more than a 50-50 chance bitcoin goes up and goes up big.

Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-DreyfussAdditional reporting by Winni Zhou in Shanghai and VidyaRanganathan in SingaporeEditing by Alden Bentley, Paul Simao and Sam Holmes

See more here:
RPT-UPDATE 1-Coronavirus sows doubt over bitcoin's rally after third 'halving' - Reuters

Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet is filmmaker Torsten Hoffmanns follow up to his award-winning 2015 documentary Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It.

His first film looked at the history (and failings) of money and the financial system, and how Bitcoin was poised to revolutionize and solve many of its problems. Now, Cryptopia brings us up to date with the current state of play in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain.

The documentary is split into three acts.

First we get an introduction to the fundamentals of Bitcoin, recapping the problems with traditional finance from the earlier film and highlighting Bitcoins initial stated purpose as peer-to-peer digital cash.

Hoffmann talks about the benefits of Bitcoin with a veritable whos who of industry figures, from Wences Casares, to Andreas M Antonopoulos and Laura Shin. We also see how and why big banks and governments have kicked back against the top-ranked cryptocurrency.

We then move on to Bitcoins explosive growth in value since the first film, and repositioning from digital cash to digital gold.

Hoffmann revisits Roger Ver, who had previously espoused Bitcoin as a fast and cheap method of moving money around the world, to investigate the block-size debate and eventual fork of Bitcoin Cash.

He also speaks to Blockstreams Samson Mow, for his take on the split, along with Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin.

The film then moves on to tackle the move from one blockchain to hundreds of blockchains. Hoffmann explains the concept of smart contracts and the Ethereum network, speaking to Vitalik Buterin, Vinny Lingham, and Tone Vays for their opinions, both positive and negative.

Hoffmann takes a look at the initial coin offering, or ICO, phenomenon, bringing blockchains and currencies for every conceivable purpose, along with a wave of scams and fraudsters into the space.

We see how big business and finance is co-opting blockchain technology, sometimes through the use of private centralized networks. We see the tokenization of traditional securities and totally new forms of assets.

Through looking at the examples of the development of the motor car and the early internet, Hoffmann highlights similarities with todays blockchain industry.

He notes the rise of internet censorship in certain jurisdictions, and discusses the potential of blockchain to overcome this. We also consider the hegemony of tech giants and their control of our information and identities, looking at the possibilities of decentralization to overcome this.

To round up, the film considers the possibilities of Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, although notes the controversy created following the DAO hack and subsequent rollback of the Ethereum blockchain.

Hoffmann finally talks to Craig Wright (who behaves exactly as expected), touching on the Bitcoin Cash/Bitcoin SV split, and finally coming full circle to Satoshis disappearance and how this has worked for Bitcoin.

The film has been professionally researched, shot, and put together. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, and follows a well structured story, making it accessible to all.

Hoffmanns style and delivery works well. He is authoritative yet friendly and open, being unafraid to challenge or poke fun at characters like Craig Wright, while always being even-handed and letting people speak.

Sure, for those who are already invested in the industry and technology, there is little new to learn here, but for the uninitiated it is an excellent primer into a world that they may have heard about, but not really understand.

For me personally, both this film and Hoffmanns previous documentary made me incredibly proud to be part of this movement that is literally changing the world.

My only criticism (and it is a minor one) is the song which plays out over the credits. Penned by Hoffmann himself and Malaysian singer, Prema Yin, it is a powerful, soulful number, rousing the spirits until you listen more closely and realise that it is about cryptocurrency.

To be fair, it is probably the least cringe-inducing cryptocurrency-related song that Ive ever happened across, with intelligent lyrics and a proper decent tune. However this is a bit like being the least cancerous case of sunburn; the end consequence still consists of a pair of bright red cheeks.

Sorry, and maybe this is just me, but the worlds of cryptocurrency and music (both of which I love individually) should never cross paths.

However, I have no hesitation in recommending this film, which is available to stream now at cryptopiafilm.com for a price of just under 9 Australian dollars ($5.88)... and you can always make a cup of tea when it gets to the credits.

Read more:
Review Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet - Cointelegraph

Following last weeks lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown in Abuja, Lagos, and Ogun states, one of the first things most Nigerians did was to rush down to the banks. As Nairametrics had reported, it was quite dramatic, as long queues formed in front of different banks in Lagos and Abuja.

In line with safety guidelines, the bank customers were prevented from entering the banking halls all at once. Instead, the banks ensured that only a limited number of people were allowed inside at the same time. As a result, the crowd outside the banks kept increasing. This was the case throughout much of last week.

The reason those bank customers risked being infected by the Coronavirus as they violated social distancing whilst standing in those queues, is as sad as it is disturbing. During the month-long lockdown, many of them experienced various types of failed online banking transactions. This is why they stormed the banks in large numbers as soon as they could move freely again.

According to Mr. Mbanefo, a relationship manager in a bank (name withheld), working from home during the lockdown made it impossible to adequately assist customers who were having challenges. This is because many bank workers did not have access to some of the vital tools they would normally need to attend to such customers. He explained:

One of the challenges of working from home as a banker is that there are lots of software that we use that cannot be accessible from home because of security reasons; not because they cannot be made available to us at home. For example, you cannot check peoples account balance from your house. So, even though the software to do that can be made available for us at home, it cant.

Also, having access to files that are saved in your work computer is key when you are working. But when you work from home as a banker, you cannot access such files. You also cannot use USB and other devices to copy them to your laptop. So, thats another challenge.

Note that all these are rules that can be relaxed if the society needs them to be. Its just that banks are very paranoid about security because we are handling money.

The same reason was echoed by most bankers who spoke to Nairametrics but refused to be named due to fear of losing their jobs.

Speaking to Nairametrics, a US-based Nigerian HR professional, Ikechukwu Ossi, explained that last weeks bank rush was indicative of the adverse effects of banks lack of technological preparedness. According to him, the Nigerian banking industry is comprised mainly of face-to-face financial services providers who treat online/technology services as novel products designed for the elite or educated class of the society.

He also faulted the fact that Nigerian banks typically work 9-5, even as the skills required of most bankers are basic and focused mainly on banking.

READ MORE: Nigerian banks face gloomy future over low oil prices, coronavirus

In his extensive emailed response to Nairametrics inquiries, Ossi argued that the Nigerian financial sector needs to urgently begin to adapt to the realities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, the post COVID19 banking in Nigeria will be drastically different in the following ways:

To illustrate my points, here are a few questions that Bank CEOs and CBN governor need to answer for themselves and maybe to shareholders Why would a financial services institution in 2020 require a customer to visit a bank branch to complete an account opening or a loan application form? Why do we need this many employees (with all the inefficiencies) to handle a single banking transaction? Why have we not automated a majority of the banking transaction to improve efficiencies? Why do we need so many highly skilled banking employees and why do they need to work so many hours per week? Inpost COVID19, why do we need a 50-storey headquarter building?

READ ALSO: What banks might do to avoid getting crushed by Oil & Gas Loans

Without a doubt, nobody could have envisaged with much certainty that the Coronavirus pandemic would have this much impact on the Nigerian economy and specifically, the banking industry. But one thing is clear now, and that is the fact that the future. And like Ossi noted in his concluding remarks, we do not need a crystal ball to tell us some of the inevitabilities, including those listed below:

The rest is here:
Bitcoin could hit above $100000 by August 2021 - Nairametrics