News in Brief - Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reaffirms his bullish stance on Bitcoin, which turns out to be the only cryptocurrency he holds. Dorsey also reveals that he's not a fan of altcoins (namely, Tron and Ethereum).
- Ripple will lead the disruption of the music industry by pouring money into music/tech startups. According to Billboard, an investment group called Raised in Space Enterprises, which was founded by ex-BMG president Zach Katz, has announced a partnership with Ripple's Xpring and Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings.
| | Bitcoin Price Prediction: Experts Expect 84% Increase for 2019 — Could They be Right?
What's Going On Here?
Bitcoin has now been a part of its longest bear market ever and seems to have reached its bottom. For this reason, a host of experts are predicting that 2019 will be a year where the cryptocurrency increases in price by as much as 84 percent.
Reasons for Some Growth
Digital Capital Management CEO Ben Ritchie was one of the more bullish predictors of those polled.
"Two things to look out for in 2019 will be whether we will see decoupling of the cryptocurrencies, as to date they have trended in a relatively similar manner," Ritchie said, forecasting a "slow and steady rise in 2019".
"The second is the impact of the traditional markets on cryptocurrencies. Will Bitcoin rise if the S&P drops? On-ramp and off-ramps to purchasing cryptocurrencies will improve in 2019 with Bakkt and Fidelity Group entering the market. However, I do not believe we will see many institutional investors enter for some time yet."
Another consideration of the experts who were asked their opinion was the new emerging group of investors, the millennials.
Why Should I Care?
For Bitcoin to reach $7,000 in 11 months is solid growth, and growth that will not be compromised. It is the kind of growth that is also not out of the reach of the burgeoning asset.
Read the article. | | Best Blockchain Stocks to Buy and Watch This February
What's Going On Here?
U.Today has decided to present you with the list of Blockchain-related stocks of the world's biggest companies that could be on a roll this February.
Who's on the List?
IBM [NASDAQ: IBM]
IBM, together with Microsoft, controls a whopping 51 percent of the Blockchain market. As of now, IBM manages more than 500 Blockchain projects around the world.
Alibaba Group [NASDAQ: BABA]
Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth, is responsible for filing almost 10 percent of all Blockchain-related patterns. As of September, Alibaba and IBM were neck-to-neck in that department, with 90 and 89 patents respectively despite the fact that China has adopted a hawkish stance towards cryptocurrencies.
Overstock [NASDAQ: OSTK]
Because of its crypto-friendly stance, the stock of the American retail giant skyrocketed a mammoth-sized 400 percent in 2017-2018. Medici Ventures, its Blockchain-oriented subsidiary, constantly makes investments in various Blockchain-oriented projects.
Qualcomm [NASDAQ: QCOM]
Qualcomm, one of the world's leaders in wireless telecommunications products, currently utilized Blockchain technology in order to solve the pain points of its client-server based information system.
Comcast Corporation [NASDAQ: CMCSA]
On Dec. 21, 2018, the US-based telecommunications conglomerate published a press release where it stated that its Blockgraph product will become available for enterprises early this year. The initiative is supposed to help them share data in a secure and transparent way. Eventually, Blockgraph could become an 'identity layer' for the whole cable news industry.
What Does It Mean?
IBM
With that being said, IBM appears to be a top-of-mind option when it comes to Blockchain stocks considering the scope of its involvement in the nascent technology. Moreover, IBM stock was on a roll all of January, and its recent earnings report, which managed to beat experts' predictions, made the stock soar even more.
Alibaba Group
The ongoing trade war between the US and China might shoo away those who consider investing in the stock, but there is no need to fret about it — MKM Partners states that Alibaba's stock will be able to withstand the macroeconomic woes. The company's stock went up on Jan. 25.
Overstock
Back in November, the pioneer e-commerce player announced its plans to ditch its retail business in order to go all-in with Blockchain. Hence, it became clear that its interest in cryptocurrencies is more than simply an attention-seeking stunt. U.Today reminds readers that Overstock was the very first major retailer to embrace Bitcoin. Overstock didn't enjoy great success, losing almost $40 mln in 2018, which would be a worrisome sign for those who planned to buy their stock. However, on the cusp of launching its tZERO trading platform, which went live on Jan. 24, Overstock decided to reassign Medici's top executive in order to boost its revenue. Hence, our verdict is that the stock would be a good buy this February.
Qualcomm
The company's stocks plunged 10 percent since December 2018, but some pundits claim that the stock has already bottomed. Hence, one might consider buying the stock this February to simply profit off its volatility (the stock is currently 32 percent off its 2018 peak).
Comcast Corporation
Why could Comcast stock be a good option for February? Its stock has recently risen due to earnings that surpassed analysts' initial predictions. On top of that, the company lost fewer video customers subscribers than expected.
Read about the other public companies. | | What Else?
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Twitter CEO Shades Tron, Says ‘No’ to Ethereum While Bitcoin Remains His Only Bet 👑