Shock, Hustle, and After-shock Predictions About Coronavirus
Along with the unprecedented effect that the coronavirus has had on global health, it’s also caused havoc to the global economy. After four months of spreading, there is not a single financial market that has not been affected by COVID and the cryptocurrency market is no exception.
The question now is where we are headed and what we can expect from the global economy in the next coming months. Whether you’re planning on benefitting from the turmoil using a cryptocurrency trading platform or you want to protect your investments from further losses, predicting what might happen should be a top priority.
On the following page, you can read more about our predictions based on our long experience trading and investing in cryptocurrencies. Just keep in mind that these are predictions and that nothing is written in stone.
Global Instability On the Markets
At this point, there is no denying that the coronavirus outbreak has had a widespread negative effect on every market in the world, mainly the global stock markets and the cryptocurrency market.
On several occasions in the past few weeks, the US stock market has plummeted to record-breaking lows. Moreover, just a few weeks ago, the cryptocurrency market collapsed.
Subsequently, even though we’ve seen some growth over the last couple of days, the global economy is still very unstable and volatility is at an all-time high. Naturally, this makes it a lot harder to make and predictions on where the cryptocurrency market is headed.
To try and get a better idea, we must take a look at what’s happened so far.
Record-Breaking Drop in Market Capitalization
In mid-February, the cryptocurrency market was flourishing, and at the time, it seemed like it would not be affected by the spread of corona. Around February 12th, the price of Bitcoin closed in on $10,300, which was the highest value recorded since September 2019.
Shortly thereafter, things took a turn for the worst and between March 12 and March 13, after already having lost over $1,000 in value over a week, the price of Bitcoin plummeted, dropping 40+% in just 24 hours (from $7926 to $4402).
Similar patterns can be seen across most of the market. For example, between March 7 and March 13, the price of Ethereum dropped 55+% (from $248 to $110). During the same time from, Bitcoin Cash dropped 56+% (from $343 to $151).
As you can see, it was a total blood bath and investors and traders from all over the world were panicking and started selling, which most likely, increased the decline. Although, since then the market has recovered slightly, and based on the latest data, we’re able to make a quite accurate prediction about the future.
Prediction: Should We Expect a Bull Run?
Now to the million-dollar question: what will happen to the cryptocurrency market now?
Well, as always, there is no sure way to tell. What we can say based on how the market has behaved previously, there is a high likelihood that we will experience a major bull run during 2020. The market has also already shown that it has the potential to grow to new heights this year considering that January was one of the best months for cryptos since mid-2019.
With that said, there is an obviously strong correlation between the cryptocurrency market capitalization and the coronavirus so we shouldn’t expect any major changes until the virus has been defeated. A number of financial experts are also worried that we have entered a major recession and it would be the first-ever to hit the crypto market, making it extremely difficult to predict what will happen.
All things considered, we are confident that the market will turn eventually and that we will probably experience a bull run with similar characteristics as the famous bull run of 2017. At the same time, more losses and plummeting prices should be expected until the coronavirus is under control.
How To Protect Your Portfolio
Due to this, many cryptocurrency investors are looking for ways to protect their portfolio for further losses, and that is another problem. Since all markets, including the stock and commodity markets, are struggling even worse than the cryptocurrency market, there aren’t so many options to pick from in terms of diversification and portfolio protection.
Therefore, our advice is to hold on your investments until we can paint a better picture of where we’re headed. As mentioned, the cryptocurrency market will likely bounce back and the investors with patience enough to wait will be able to reap the benefits.
Technical analysis of cryptocurrency PRIZM
Comparative analysis Reversible Logic Engineering Analysis of features and software solutions.
The PRIZM core is developed based on the NXT cryptocurrency source codes. The source code for PRIZM is published on GitHub, but not all files are published. It uses the Proof-of-Stake algorithm, the Diffie-Hellman elliptic Curve25519 (ECDH) algorithm, the SHA-256 hash algorithm, and AES-256 symmetric encryption. As an algorithm for forming blocks, Proof-of-Stake (PoS) is used.
The algorithm has the following effects:
- Solved the problem of excessive power consumption
- Minimized costs of system members on node support
- Game theory mathematics contribute to system decentralization
- The average generation time is self-regulating by a floating base target, aiming for a value in the range of 59-60 seconds
The following transaction types are available:
- regular payment (transfer of PRIZM from address to address)
- message (sending text information)
- setting the name / description of the address (publishing text information on the blockchain and creating a data connection with the address)
Details about the type of “Message”. The publication of text or other data, there are subspecies:
- Public message for the recipient
- Encrypted message for the recipient
- AES-256 is encrypted, the key is calculated by ECDH (sender_private_key,
- recipient_public_key)
- Public note for yourself
- Encrypted note for yourself
Within one transaction, subtypes of the “Message” type can be combined in any combination.
Algorithm «Paramining»
A new algorithm for issuing new PRIZM coins and charging them to a virtual address account. Previously, this algorithm was not used in other cryptocurrencies. With an event that changes the balance of the address, the virtual account is reset; PRIZM coins deleted from the virtual account are sent to the owner address from the GENESIS address in the form of real coins. The GENESIS address has a negative balance, the balance module of which is constantly increasing, accurately reflecting the emission of cryptocurrency.
PRIZM coins are credited to the virtual account every second, the amount of charges depends on the personal funds of the address and the amount of personal funds of other addresses associated with the main address.
During the first transaction of the main address to a new address, a connection is created that cannot be destroyed. The links are layered and are stored in the para table of the paraprizm.h2.db database. Coins in the account of linked addresses are considered part of the amount only if the distance between the address for which paramining is calculated and the linked address is less than 88 other addresses.
A new address means an address without a single transaction and the absence of PRIZM coins in the account.
Advantages of the system
- a minimum of transaction types makes the system predictable and reliable, minimizing the number of potentially vulnerable sections of code;
- the variability and ease of integration of arbitrary data into the transaction body provides ample opportunities for using the PRIZM blockchain in distributed applications;
- the ability to integrate arbitrary data facilitates integration with third-party services PRIZM, as it reduces the identification of incoming payments to a simple check, which is much simpler than the methods that have to be used to integrate Bitcoin and its tokens;
- military grade encryption standards;
- an innovation that implements emissions in the form of “paramining” is an interesting phenomenon that requires further study;
- paramining saves energy and facilitates network support, since it does not require expensive equipment for issuing coins, which makes PRIZM more accessible for maintaining its own node compared to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other PoW currencies;
- emission is fully transferred to ordinary users;
- the probability of an attack of 51 percent (double spending) is much less than that of Bitcoin, due to the excessive cost of the attack (the cost of an attack exceeds the attacker’s potential benefit: you need to buy back half of all existing PRIZM coins);
- when using the web interface of the node to create transactions, the private key is used locally on the user’s machine, all cryptography is duplicated in JavaScript for full work in the browser to avoid transmitting the private key;
- convenient JSON RPC: you can almost always find a method that allows you to get information of interest.
The resulting system problems
- static base target problem due to the increase in the volume of circulating PRIZM coins, the total amount of funds generating blocks using the PoS algorithm may go beyond the predetermined limits of the base target, which will lead to a decrease in the average block generation time of less than 59 seconds. However, in the course of the study, a deterministic mechanism was discovered that changes the limits of the basic goal to fully compensate for this effect.
- the problem of low attractiveness of site content due to the fact that the issue is created by ordinary users, maintaining your own site is at first glance not as financially attractive as maintaining it for Bitcoin or Ethereum. On the other hand, the cost of maintaining the site is several times less: it does not require a large amount of disk space; does not require large computing power; it is not necessary to perform constant heavy calculations with energy costs. In general, the absence of emissions in favor of the creator of the block when creating blocks fully offset by low requirements for ownership of the system node, and the commission funds are more than enough to pay back the invested funds. Also, when receiving commissions for creating a block, a trigger is triggered that creates a transaction with paramining to the address of the creator of the block, which avoids commission for an outgoing transaction to activate the trigger.
The problem of the basic goal is solved by regularly changing the basic goal. Once in a certain number of blocks, the target is recalculated in accordance with the current emission in such a way that the mathematical model of the block generation algorithm maintains proportions that ensure uniform generation of blocks and protect the network from double waste attacks and others.
Main questions
Functionality ParaEngine.java
Tools
- decompilation of the source code of the PrizmEngine.jar file from the prizm-dist-1.10.4.1a.tgz package obtained from https://github.com/prizmspace/PrizmCore
- database analysis prizm_db / paraprizm.h2.db and prizm_db / prizm.h2.db
- monitoring network interactions between nodes in a synthetic environment
- Functionality ParaEngine.java
It is necessary to answer the questions:
- Why is the class not published?
- What is the real class functionality?
The file is obfuscated to prevent uncontrolled creation of hard forks; Obfuscation does not interfere with restoring the abstract model of the class’s functionality based on the code structure:
Class initialization
- Connection to the paraprizm.h2.db database
- Database Integrity Check
- Restore Database Integrity
- Database update
- Public methods of the class and inverse functional:
- popLastBlock – starts reverse calculations for the paraprizm.h2.db database and turns it into the state in which it was 1 block back
- rollbackToBlock – control code for the popLastBlock method
- getBaseTargetStart – returns the nearest height at which the limits of the base target should be updated
- isBaseTargetRegionBegins – answers the question whether the blockchain is at the height of changing the limits of the base target
- calculateBaseTarget – recalculates a new base goal to compensate for the increase in the number of PRIZM coins involved in creating blocks
- getBaseTarget – returns the cached base target for a given height
- convert – converts a transaction to a format for internal computing
- check – creates and validates transactions GENESIS addresses
- canReceive – validates duplicate transactions for a GENESIS address
- getMetrics – returns data about a virtual address account
- getFixedFee – calculates a fixed commission
Conclusions
- private class ParaEngine.java conducts complex internal calculations
- it is impossible to create hard fork without these calculations
- class interface is transparent
- methods receive only the data that is required for data processing
- no opaque requests to external (unfocused) code
- no suspicious behavior detected
- the code is functional
Innovations and improvements
The PrizmEngine.jar file was decompiled, followed by the construction of maps of the remote, created, and modified logical connections of the methods relative to the NXT code.
The method was applied after obtaining permission from the official representatives of the cryptocurrency.
A comparative analysis of the source code and the database revealed the following changes, code improvements and innovations that are not related to building up external functionality and distinguishing the PRIZM core.
Innovations and optimizations in the PRIZM code base
- a new algorithm for removing obsolete records from the database, the task is divided into small parts, performed in a different order, performance gain is measured in multiple numbers
- the use of indexes on the used database columns is widely introduced, which speeds up query processing
- the constant value limiting the base target has been replaced by a dynamic
- the dependence of the base target on the current emission is created, which stabilizes the speed of block generation in an environment with a varying volume of PRIZM coins participating in the PoS algorithm
- reimplemented the transaction request algorithm from the database in which the target address is involved; the new algorithm limits the number of conditions and the amount of data read, which has a beneficial effect on performance
- new mechanism for scheduled blockchain scanning from the GENESIS block;
- new mechanism for checking blocks before real data processing
- additional verification of transactions before real data processing
- reduced maximum transaction size by 85% to 1.5 KB
- new mechanism for checking unconfirmed transactions in the database, which starts when the node starts
- new algorithm for checking raw transaction bytes
- new mechanism for creating a self-signed SSL certificate
- reimplemented queries to the database, the number of conditions and the amount of requested data are limited
- new SSL encryption mechanism using host internal tools
- new mechanism of dynamic fluctuations of the base target
Conclusions
- The average block transaction capacity has increased significantly; network throughput increased in proportion to 85% change in maximum transaction size
- The performance of the blockchain download process and the processing speed of outdated data has increased in multiple values, increasing the overall maximum fault tolerance of the system in the long term
- Replaced mechanisms for working with the database led to a multiple reduction in the delay in processing API and P2P requests, to a multiple reduction in the time for block validation and blockchain scanning
- PRIZM is more productive and reliable in the long run than NXT
- The PRIZM core is capable of processing more data without significant performance impact.
- System security is enhanced by multiple additional checks that do not have a noticeable effect on performance
- A number of new checks and validations are performed before the actual data processing begins, eliminates the possibility of deliberate node overload with useless data processing, reduces the load on the disk and network subsystems
- The mechanism for automatically creating an SSL certificate allows users to immediately start using the host they started using the universally accepted HTTPS data encryption protocol, which is especially important for forging addresses, because in order to start the process of creating blocks, it is necessary to transmit the passphrase of the address to the host side via the Internet (to create digital block signatures).
Сonclusions
- PRIZM is 10 times faster than the first transaction confirmation and hit the blockchain
- PRIZM has 5 times faster transaction acquisition of irreversible status
- More blocks are needed to declare a transaction irreversible, but the high speed of creating blocks means that after 10 minutes the transaction can be considered irreversible. This is an excellent result for the payment of goods and services due to the reduction of the transaction time.
- More dynamic growth rate
- The maximum rate for the year is much higher than that of Bitcoin, which indicates the positive prospects for further growth.
- Significantly more profitable commissions
- Small commissions minimize losses during the redistribution of funds between controlled addresses and payment for goods and services, favor the further growth in the popularity of cryptocurrencies.
- PRIZM user activity is more than a third of Bitcoin user activity, which is a worthy result, considering that PRIZM is almost a decade younger than Bitcoin.
- The prospect of financial gain through trading is superior to Bitcoin
A stable rate with rare but significant fluctuations up allows you to give a positive forecast regarding the profitability of currency trading. The prospect of financial gain through investment storage
Paramining has created a new niche in the world of cryptofinance, providing the opportunity to profit without the need to engage in trading
Forecast
PRIZM is positioned as a cryptocurrency payment system. It does not promise distributed applications, smart contracts or tokens, but provides tools for building various add-ons on its basis. The PRIZM kernel does the minimum that it promises, but it does well.
The kernel supports expansion using add-ons, which allows you to extend the functionality of the API and integrate the kernel with complex analytical tools without making changes to the source code and recompiling the kernel; add-ons provide full access to real-time blockchain events. The functionality accrued with add-ons does not lose working capacity when updating the PRIZM kernel version.
The level of optimization of performance and node security shows that the code base is regularly updated and maintained; developers regularly conduct a performance analysis and make appropriate modifications. The system is in good technical condition and has been able to function for decades.
PRIZM cryptocurrency is expected to continue to grow in popularity. The tendency to maintain the average rate over the next year will continue. With the further integration of cryptocurrency into various services for trading goods and services, the rate will grow.
Traders are Turning to Forex Signals During Times of High Volatility
The financial markets – and forex in particular, is currently in the midst of unprecedented times. One only needs to look at the recent volatility levels of major currencies like the pound sterling, euro, and US dollar to recognize that trading has never been more challenging. Crucially, more and more traders are now turning to forex signal services to help gauge which way the markets are likely to go.
UK-based signal provider Learn 2 Trade notes that they have received a recent surge in account sign-ups – owed partly to the ongoing threats of global pandemic COV-19. In doing so, subscribers receive trading suggestions in real-time via channels such as Telegram and email.
With trading suggestions deriving from automated algorithms that scan the forex markets 24/7, this ensures that investors are in the know as soon as an opportunity presents itself. After all, seasoned traders know first-hand that volatile forex markets are often the most conducive for making gains.
Why are People Turning to Forex Signal Providers?
For those unaware, forex signals are trading suggestions that are sent to subscribers in real-time. Rather than basing the suggestion on human subjectivity, providers like Learn 2 Trade utilize the ever-growing capabilities of artificial intelligence.
In its most basic form, the underlying technology will scan heaps of forex markets – such as GBP/USD and EUR/USD, constantly looking for potential trading opportunities. It does so through the assistance of technical indicators.
Once the software does find a tradable opportunity, it will then send a notification in real-time to its subscribers, containing the relevant entry and exit points.
Seasoned traders will often point to the fact that they are able to gauge which way the markets are going to go without the assistance of automated technology.
Learn 2 Trade explains that although this is true to a degree, the signal provider argues that human analysis is severely limited. In other words, while an experienced trader can manually assess a specific forex pair throughout the day, there are only so many pairs that they can effectively analyze at any given time.
On the contrary, forex signal services that are backed by automated technologies have no limits. As such, they can scan as many currencies as the provider wishes to, without the fear of market irrationality, fatigue, or emotion – 24 hours per day Instead, everything is based on the pre-defined conditions that the AI technology is programmed to follow.
What Happens Once a Forex Signal is Sent?
Those that subscribe to forex signal providers like Learn 2 Trade will receive a range of data once an opportunity presents itself. The provider explains that most of its subscribers opt for Telegram, although others prefer email or RSS feed. Nevertheless, at the forefront of the signal is the relevant entry and exit prices.
For example, let’s say that the signal identifies that EUR/USD is heavily overbought due to a surge in demand for US dollars. As such, the suggestion might advise the subscriber to place a sell order at an entry price of 1.0824. Even more importantly, the signal will advise the trigger price on both stop-loss and take-profit orders.
Learn 2 Trade explains that this ensures that subscribers are well protected in the event that the markets go the wrong way. With that said, the beauty of forex signal services is that they offer an element of flexibility. For example, although you might allow the signal to lead with its entry and stop-loss trigger prices, you might want to install a more risk-averse take-profit order.
Crypto Signals Proving Just as Popular
It is important to note that increasing demand for signal service providers is not exclusive to just forex. In fact, providers are seeing more and more demand on the crypto side. For example, Bitcoin volatility levels are extremely high at present, making it difficult to trade the asset manually.
Instead, traders are looking to signal providers like Learn 2 Trade. Once again, although volatile markets can be daunting to trade, they do present ample opportunities. Many of these opportunities – especially in the crypto arena, allow traders to target large gains while at the same time – rely on the installation of sensible stop-losses.
In particular – and much like the global forex markets, the cryptocurrency trading scene operates on a 24/7 basis – so subscribers all over the world have the opportunity to capitalize on a trade signal that requires immediate attention.
The Verdict?
In summary, with inexperienced traders finding it difficult to navigate their way through the turbulent market conditions currently in play, more and more investors are turning to forex and crypto signal service providers for assistance.
With providers like Learn 2 Trade now offering new customers a 30-day money-back guarantee, this allows you to test-drive the signal service prior to making a long-term commitment.
6 Crypto Websites Blocked by Russia’s Media Watchdog, Including News Outlet
In what seems to be another episode in a long-running campaign, the Russian telecom regulator has restricted access to at least six websites posting content related to cryptocurrencies. Тhe forum section of Bits.media, a leading crypto news outlet, is among the internet pages that have been blacklisted this month.
Roskomnadzor Restricts Access to Crypto Forum
The latest offensive was launched on March 5, when the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) added five crypto websites to its register of banned internet sources. Access to btcphone.ru, alfatop.me, nicechange.org, bitokk.com, and ProstoCoin was restricted following a ruling by the Nyandomsky District Court in Arkhangelsk Oblast issued a day earlier. The sites offer different services, from crypto exchange to mobile top-ups with bitcoin, and one of them is an information portal.
Around the time these websites were blocked, readers complained that the Bits.media forum became inaccessible too. Eventually, the outlet was able to establish that this section of its website was blacklisted on a 2017 request from the Federal Tax Service (FTS) citing a ban on the dissemination of prohibited information in Russia. At the time, the tax agency was unhappy with a forum thread about an online casino. The thread was created and closed in 2016. It was eventually deleted. Bits.media founder Ivan Tikhonov commented on Facebook:
RKN blocks the site again. Stock up on proxies and VPNs.
Tikhonov’s team is currently negotiating with Roskomnadzor. The problem is that some internet providers have actually blocked the whole domain, not just the website’s forum. Those that are not diligent enough to immediately implement the regulator’s restrictions are threatened by sanctions. A reversal of the ban, however, could take several months and no one will be held accountable for any delays in this case. Tikhonov also posted a screenshot of the official reference to the blocking of Bits.media from Roskomnadzor’s website and said that the agency had acted without prior notice.
Regulator Accused of Targeting Websites Arbitrarily
Roskomnadzor started blocking crypto websites in 2015. Since then, multiple platforms have been affected, including Coinspot and Cointelegraph a few months ago. Authorities find grounds for these decisions and actions in a statement by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) on “virtual currencies” published in 2014. Besides issuing the usual warnings to the public, the bank stated that the law prohibits the issuance and circulation of “money surrogates” on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Bits.media points to many similarities between the different cases. For example, they are often filed by prosecutors in various Russian regions but the restrictive measures are imposed on a national level. The district courts refer to the CBR’s position and the absence of a regulatory framework but fail to recognize that no current Russian law bans decentralized cryptocurrencies or the publication of information about them. Furthermore, blocked websites are often totally unrelated, which leaves the impression that they are being targeted arbitrarily.
As a result, operators of such platforms successfully challenge the rulings in higher courts. In March 2018, the Saint Petersburg City Court struck down a ban on 40 websites with information and services related to cryptocurrencies. In April, the Supreme Court overturned a decision to block the Bitcoininfo.ru portal. In May 2019, Roskomnadzor was forced to remove Bestchange.ru from its blacklist, after prosecutors gave up efforts to block the website citing the lack of regulations. According to recent statements by officials, the Russian parliament may finally adopt the Law on Digital Financial Assets by the end of March.
Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/6-crypto-websites-blocked-russian-media/