Hi Everybody,
As many of you know, today the Bitcoin scaling debate will run up against a critical deadline.
This is sure to be the most uncertain time in the world of digital currencies and after the astonishing surge in pricing since the beginning of the year and positive legislation for digital assets from several countries, the world is watching.
As it stands, 100% of the mining community is signaling to implement the Segwit protocol and 87% are voting for SegWit2x. Another option that has been gaining momentum is bitcoin cash, which will be attempting to hard fork the network today.
Bitcoin cash is said to have a newer and stronger code than even SegWit2x but the support for it in the mining community is still extremely small. Of course, since bitcoin cash is offering to give 1 BCC for every BTC held in a “supported wallet” the excitement from users has been overwhelming.
Now, nobody really knows how this is all going to play out. What we do know is that many brokers and exchanges including eToro will be halting all transactions within the next few hours for an undetermined period of time until everything is sorted out.
eToro’s downtime will begin today at 11:00 GMT and will last until our experts feel that the network has stabilized.
@MatiGreenspan
eToro, Senior Market Analyst
Today’s Highlights
- Any reaction to N Korea?
- USDollar holding support
- Forking Brexit (EURGBP)
Please note: All data, figures & graphs are valid as of July 31st. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you can afford to lose.
Market Overview
With earnings season well under way, traders on Friday have propelled the Dow Jones to a brand new all time record high.
A shakeup in the Trump administration, failed healthcare reform bill, new Russian sanctions, nor a successful missile test from North Korea could bring the stocks down.
There does seem to be a bit of a safety play in the markets this morning though. We can see in the currency markets that the three main safe haven currencies are leading the day so far.
Even the US Dollar, which has been falling nonstop lately, seems to have found some temporary support.
As well, the ultimate safe haven, gold is extending its gains from the past few weeks and is on track for a very strong July.
One thing that may be causing investor optimism is the price of oil, which has reluctantly crossed the $50 mark in the last few minutes.
Soft Brexit Fork
While we wait to see if there will be a hard fork or soft fork in bitcoin, we can see in the UK parliament that the notion of a soft brexit is now in danger of a hard fork.
Prime Minister May’s Tory party is splitting itself in two over what immigration to the UK will look like immediately after the Brexit. Chancellor Philip Hammond and his allies are very happy to keep the borders relatively loose, while his opponents argue that an immigrant free Britain was the main driver behind the decision to leave the EU in the first place.
So far, no word from the Prime Minister on this critical issue.
Meanwhile, the Euro strength is overtaking the British Pound and some analysts are forecasting that parity (1.0000) might be in striking distance for the EURGBP.
As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or other feedback. Wishing you an amazing week ahead.
