Analyzing Ether: A Bitcoin Investor's Skeptical Take Miner and investor 'P4man' looks at the altcoin market to see if there is a credible alternative to bitcoin.Can ethereum cut the mustard?Changing Exchanges: Will the Coinbase of Tomorrow Be Decentralized?A new wave of decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges that exist almost entirely on a blockchain could do away with middlemen.Huobi Launches Quantitative Model for Investors A major China-based exchange has launched a new quantitative analysis tool designed to help traders make long-term cryptocurrency investments.$13: Ether Prices Plunge in GDAX Exchange Flash Crash Ether's price plunged to $13 on GDAX amid signs the Ethereum network is struggling with growing usage.Armed with an Ethereum ICO, Can Kik Succeed Where Facebook Failed?Social media platform Kik opens up about its plans to launch a cryptocurrency, saying the move could fulfill long-held business goals.ICO Blues: Status Raises $64 Million (So Far) But Leaves Buyers Waiting A much-anticipated ICO helped a project called Status raise more than $60m in funds, though many would-be buyers were left locked out.

Litecoin's Price Tops $50 to Set New All-Time High Spurred by a sudden exchange listing, the price of the cryptocurrency litecoin hit a new all-time high today above $50.Coinbase to White Hat Hacker: We Don't Want Your Bitcoin Black hat hackers are asking for bitcoin.White hat hackers, at the behest of clients need to pay up.But Coinbase is kicking the 'good guys' out.South Korean Government to Auction $540k in Bitcoin The South Korea government plans to auction 216 bitcoins that it confiscated during a 2016 criminal investigation.As Crypto Markets See Slowing Growth, Traders Look Long As the cryptocurrency markets show signs of cooling, traders are beginning to emphasize a return to long-term strategic bets.BitcoinHow a China Crackdown Caused Bitcoin’s Price to PlungeGeoffrey SmithThe value of the cryptocurrency bitcoin is melting down Thursday, having dropped 20% against the dollar by midday Eastern Time in only two hours of frantic trading.The move reversed an almost equally feverish rise in recent days that had appeared to be driven by concerns that China will introduce new measures to stop its citizens moving money out of the country.

China accounts for over 90% of reported bitcoin trades and around 70% of bitcoin "mining" (the production of new bitcoins through the building of blockchain that makes up the currency's infrastructure).bitcoin gpu calculatorSo it's unlikely that the source of recent volatility lies anywhere else.While it's impossible to pin down the exact source and motive for the bitcoin rally, there are plenty of signs that what's going on with bitcoin is, ultimately, driven by what's going on with China's official currency, the renminbi (also known as the yuan).ethereum hard walletThe renminbi has fallen sharply since November but rallied over the last two days thanks to a brutal short squeeze engineered by China's central bank to put a bit of fear into speculators.RelatedFortune 500Hackers Leaked ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Despite Receiving $50,000 RansomFortune 500Hackers Leaked ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Despite Receiving $50,000 RansomAfter nearly touching 7 to the dollar on Monday, the renminbi rallied over 2.5% Thursday to reach 6.81 in the offshore Hong Kong market.litecoin asic hardware

That abrupt reversal was magnified many times over in a bitcoin market that doesn't have anything like the same liquidity or transparency as the market for official currencies.By anyone's reckoning, bitcoin was, as the analysts say, "due a correction."It had risen by 45% against the dollar since Dec.21, and by an eye-watering 521% since September 2015.Those moves are all the more striking because the dollar has strengthened against virtually every other national currency in the world in that time.The question was, what would trigger the correction?The answer appears to have been a series of nudges and winks from the authorities about the introduction of new capital controls to slow the renminbi's decline.Over the new year, the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, said that banks will be required to notify it of all cash transactions over 50,000 yuan ($7,100), down from a current ceiling of 200,000 yuan.It said the move was merely aimed at improving the monitoring of money-laundering and tax fraud.

Meanwhile, the State Administration for Foreign Exchange (SAFE) imposed onerous new reporting requirements requiring people to explain why, where and how they intend to use their annual quota of foreign currency (which is capped at $50,000 per person).While Beijing has allowed the renminbi to weaken over the last 18 months, it doesn't want a disorderly rout that would both trigger panic at home and invite fresh accusations of currency manipulation from the new U.S.President.The fact is, such manipulating as Beijing has done over the last 18 months has been to support the renminbi rather than weaken it.Capital outflows from China in the first 10 months of 2016 rocketed to an estimated $530 billion, while the country's stash of foreign reserves has fallen nearly 25% from a peak of just under $4 trillion in early 2014.Analysts estimate that the PBOC spent over $34 billion in November alone to prop up the currency, and figures expected next week from SAFE are expected to show reserves dropping below $3 trillion for the first time since 2011.Chinese bets against the renminbi have snowballed since Beijing let it fall by 2% against the dollar in August 2015, the first revaluation in years.

And, as this chart shows, the renminbi and the bitcoin rate to the dollar have become increasingly closely correlated (though bitcoin's rise, in percentage terms, has of course been far more dramatic).Today, once again, that correlation was affirmed, dramatically.If ever China actually tries to close down bitcoin exchanges as a form of capital control, the fallout will be truly exciting to watch.The price of Bitcoin seems to be climbing again.According to CoinMarketCap, the price of the top digital currency jumped from a rate of $618 earlier on Tuesday October 11 to $633 in three hours at a +2.5% difference.The rise may have to do with the China's yuan fall to its lowest level in six years early Monday October 10 before erasing the losses on the first day of trading after a week-long holiday.Some China watchers have wondered if any signs of yuan weakness following the holiday would signal that Beijing was putting the currency back on a slow depreciation path after holding it steady through September.

Coinmarketcap’s display is consistent with illustrations on Trading View which shows trading on the BTCCNY Bitcoin chart move from a low 4150/BTC to 4260/BTC between 5.00 a.m.the same morning gaining a 2.7% increase.This height has only been reached twice - recently between June and July 2016 just before the Bitfinex attack and between November 2013 and January 2014.Renminbi inclusion in SDR basket Following the coming into effect on October 1, 2016 the inclusion of the Chinese RMB in the SDR basket having met the existing criteria and approved by the Executive Board of IMF in November 2015, it is worth noting that based on the IMF’s adopted formula assigned to determine currency weights in the Special Drawing Right (SDR), the Chinese renminbi now weighs third after the US dollar and euro of the top five currencies which also include the Japanese Yen and British Pound Sterling.dollar 41.73%, euro 30.93%, Chinese renminbi 10.92%, Japanese yen 8.33% and pound sterling 8.09%.Effective October 1, 2016, weights were calculated in equal shares to the currency issuer’s exports and a composite financial indicator which includes official reserves denominated in the member’s (or monetary union’s) currency that are held by other monetary authorities that are not issuers of the relevant currency, foreign exchange turnover in the currency, and the sum of outstanding international bank liabilities and international debt securities denominated in the currency.