U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed this week JP Morgan Chase applied for a patent related to blockchain back in October of last year. It’s quite the turnaround for the bank, which has been on record as one of bitcoin’s and cryptocurrency’s biggest critics.
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JP Morgan Swallows Hard, Attempts a Blockchain Patent
Titled Systems and Methods for the Application of Distributed Ledgers for Network Payments as Financial Exchange Settlement and Reconciliation, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published JP Morgan Chase Bank’s formal application to patent what amounts to a variation on blockchain technology.
JP Morgan Chase is the biggest bank in the United States, and it ranks as the world’s second largest by market cap. Its head, Jamie Dimon, has gone after the phenomenon of cryptocurrencies quite publicly over the years. His rhetoric seemed to ramp up in direct relation to the then skyrocketing price of bitcoin (BTC). Back in 2017, noted, “JP Morgan executive Jamie Dimon is downplaying bitcoin again and this time calling the decentralized currency a ‘fraud.’ Dimon told a CNBC broadcast that bitcoin markets would “blow up” and he would fire anyone from his team if they traded bitcoin. ‘It’s worse than tulip bulbs — It won’t end well,’ explains Dimon to the news outlet.”
Not too much long after, Mr. Dimon would not “shut up about bitcoin as the bank executive called bitcoin investors ‘stupid’ and someday they will ‘pay the price,’’ we . If that wasn’t enough, the bank was to be considering bitcoin futures. This year’s turn, however, began when Mr. Dimon some of those statements. Indeed, its annual report openly crypto would be a hugely disruptive force going forward, and perhaps for good. Such recent statements appeared to signal a shift in JP Morgan attitudes.
The best evidence came this week, as the Patent Office , “Systems and methods for the application of distributed ledgers for network payments as financial exchange settlement and reconciliation are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for processing network payments using a distributed ledger may include: (1) a payment originator initiating a payment instruction to a payment beneficiary; (2) a payment originator bank posting and committing the payment instruction to a distributed ledger on a peer-to-peer network; (3) the payment beneficiary bank posting and committing the payment instruction to the distributed ledger on a peer-to-peer network; and (4) the payment originator bank validating and processing the payment through a payment originator bank internal system and debiting an originator account,” are all what JP Morgan is after.
It might be the bank is attempting to cut in on the money wiring services industry across the globe. The market for remittances is many billions. Just how a blockchain, in the way commonly understood regarding the technology, would assist in cross-border transactions without a proprietary coin affiliated is not immediately clear as of this writing. What is clear is that JP Morgan and Mr. Dimon are sharing large slices of humble pie as news of the patent application spreads.
What do you think JP Morgan Chase is up to? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Pixabay.
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The BTC markets have rallied to test resistance at the $10,000 area. Despite gaining 60% in just four weeks, BTC’s recent gains have been significantly overshadowed by those produced by many top performing cryptocurrency markets, including bitcoin Cash – which has gained more than 225% since it’s early April lows.
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BTC Markets Produce Four Consecutive Green Weekly Candles
The price of BTC has continued to make consistent gains, bouncing by almost 60% from the recent low of roughly $6,400 to the current prices of $9,600. When measuring the bounce in relation to the bear trend of early-2018, we can see that the price of BTC appears to be trying to consolidate at the 0.236% retracement area.
The recent price action has seen BTC break out of its large descending triangle formation, after establishing an additional point of contact with a long-term ascending triangle. The bounce has also driven the weekly stochastic RSI to break above the 20 threshold for the first time since July 2017. During April, BTC produced four consecutive green weekly candles for the first time since December 2017. This apparent shift in momentum has been interpreted by many as a signal that the recent recovery may not be over.
The bullish price action for bitcoin comes amid renewed interest among institutional investors, with Goldman Sachs indicating that they will launch bitcoin futures contracts in coming weeks, and the founder of Meitu, Cai Wensheng, announcing that he accumulated 10,000 bitcoins during the bear trend of early 2018.
BTC Resistance at $10,000 Holds Strong, For Now
Whilst longer-term price action appears to suggest more bullish momentum may be likely, immediate price action on the daily charts appears to be signaling that a retracement may be overdue.
When looking at the daily chart, the price of bitcoin fell below its immediate ascending trendline and has consolidated in a somewhat sideways trajectory in recent days. The recent price action which has seen resistance at $10,000 hold also appears to have produced a failed test of the underside of the aforementioned broken trendline.
Should the immediate ascending trendline on the 4-hourly chart fail to hold up, we may see a more significant retrace from current price levels.
BCH and Altcoin Markets Gain Over BTC
Despite the impressive performance of BTC during recent weeks, its gains have been dwarfed by those of many other markets, particularly bitcoin Cash (BCH).
When measuring from the lows of early April, BCH has gained by over 225%. With prices currently hovering at approximately $1700’s, BCH has made gains of roughly 14.5% in the last 24 hours alone – making bitcoin Cash the strongest gaining market of the 60 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
When measuring the bounce in relation to bitcoin Cash’s almost 85% drop from its all-time high of $4,000, BCH appears to be gearing up for a test of the 0.382% fibonacci retracement area of approximately $2,000.
When paired against BTC, the local price high of approximately 0.1875 with the 0.5% retracement area when measuring December’s highs, BCH currently boasts the fourth largest market cap with almost $30 billion.
ETH Retains Second Largest Market Capitalization
Ethereum has also made impressive gains during the last month, increasing in value by almost 150% from its early-April low. Ethereum’s market cap has retained a strong lead over all other alternative cryptocurrency markets – currently at over $82 billion. As of this writing, the price of ETH is approximately $780.
After testing support at the low $300’s, ETH has since made a robust recovery – with the current price of roughly $825 sitting between the 0.326% and the 0.5% fibonacci retracement areas.
When paired against BTC, one can identify the early-April low of roughly 0.05 as comprising the establishment of support at the approximately 0.236% retracement area. When measuring the crash from the June 2017 all-time high of approximately 0.15 BTC to the mid-July low of 0.025, the current prices of 0.081 appear to be approaching a test of the 0.5% fibonacci retracement area. When measuring from the 2017 high of roughly 0.12 to early-April low, current prices appear to be sitting just above the 0.326% retracement area.
Eos Among Highest Gaining of Top Cryptocurrencies by Market Cap
Eos has rallied to produce among the highest gains of all leading cryptocurrency markets in recent months. During mid-March, Eos produced a 75% bounce off its local low of roughly $4 to test resistance at $7 in under a week. Moving into April, the price of Eos consolidated around the $6 area, before making steady gains through the month to break into new all-time highs at the end of April. After establishing new record highs above $22, Eos has since retraced 25%, with prices currently hovering at roughly $16.60. At current prices, Eos has produced gains of over 175% since the April breakout, and over 300% since the March low of roughly $4. When running a fibonacci extension from the October 2017, to January 2018’s now-former record highs, and back to the local low of March 2018, we can see that the Eos markets have retraced from the 1.0% extension.
According to coinmarketcap, Eos is now the 5th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization – boasting a total capitalization of over $14.5 billion.
Other Leading Markets Gain Over 100% In Four Weeks
The respective 7th, 8th, and 9th largest cryptocurrency markets by capitalization, Cardano, Stellar, and IOTA, also produced gains of over 1000% from early April’s lows.
Cardano currently boasts a market capitalization of nearly $9.5 billion, after having bounced nearly 150% from an early-April low of approximately $0.145 to currently trade for nearly $0.36. When measuring from Cardano’s all-time high of almost $1.40, the ADA markets are sitting just below the 0.236% retracement area – indicating the potential for further upside momentum, despite the considerable gains already made.
Stellar has produced an approximately 125% bounce from its early-April low of just below $0.19, with current prices trading at almost $0.43. Stellar appears to be making a small consolidatory retrace after rallying to test resistance at the 0.326% retracement area. As of this writing, Stellar’s market capitalization is almost $8 billion.
Iota has gained 150% this past month, bouncing from a local low of just below $1 – with prices currently trading at approximately $2.50. When measuring from Iota’s all-time high of over $5.50, IOT is currently making a small retrace from the 0.326% retracement area. The market capitalization of Iota is almost $7 billion.
Do you think the cryptocurrency markets are overdue for a correction? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Disclaimer: Price articles and markets updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not to be considered as trading advice. Neither nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.”
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