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Easy Guide To Buying And Trading Gold This Year (And The Next Years To Come)

Gold trading has become that much more lucrative an endeavour, what with the global pandemic shaking conventional fiat exchanges and economies, now more than ever. But how to start your journey in all things gold-dealings? Experts in this field have given us their two cents on the matter, and this is what you can do. Easy and practical.

Tips On Gold Trading

Small Does The Trick

The general rule of thumb is that you should maintain your investments in gold (and all other similar assets) at the minimum. Keep them small, because “small” equates to higher manageability. A vital aspect when it comes to committing finances to investments.

Market researches over the decades have shown that gold trends are never wholly predictable. Unlike stocks and real estate, there’s no real “trend” regarding gold. True, global events can make their value spike or sink. Yet they are generally independent movers, so to speak.

Setting investments low for such volatile (yet at the end of the day, or season, very rewarding) trades is a way to bring losses to a minimum. At the same time, you’ll see gains a step at a time.

You Haven’t Bought Anything Unless You Get The Gold

And very literally at that. Gold, unlike digital currencies and non-fiat counterparts, is a physical commodity. Its worth is in itself and not in its demand. In other words, the price of gold is dependent on the product as a whole. Of course, economic standing still plays a role, as with anything else being sold, bought, traded, etc.

Unless you have it in your hands, you essentially have, well, nothing. As bleakly straightforward as that might sound, stay away from purchasing it based only on paper. You need to “get” the gold that you pay for.

Always Reach From Your Cash Resources

Do not buy gold using credit. Instead, acquire them using your cash. In fact, we’re going to make this more specific— spend extra cash on gold. Take this as a piece of advice for any kind of investment.

It should not be deducted from your allotment for savings, let alone regular monthly expenditures. It must be budgeted separately, on top of the rest of the parts of your financial plan. The best method to do this is to go old school. The experts of

https://goldtrends.net/gold-ira-companies/ agree that you can try to lessen expenses on unnecessaries and redirect them to your gold investments.

NOT Within The Banking System

At least, when speaking of gold. Besides diversifying safe locations where you can divide and store them securely, don’t rely on any banking system for the same. Banks have property rights that are not always very transparent. Or at least, are difficult to grasp, especially because they can be easily (and legally) changed whenever they deem possible.

It is easy to lose your complete ownership of gold to these traditional yet still high-and-mighty financial institutions. Even safety deposit boxes within banks are not 100% free of being obtained, in part or in whole. They will not relinquish complete ownership to you. This one’s a rare ordeal if it does take place. Therefore, look for other storage locations for your gold.

Boosting Streaming Revenue: Settling on the Right Games

online gambling

The high internet penetration and increasing use of mobile devices have contributed to the rising global online gambling market. As the industry grows, consumers have more to spend money on. Casino game streaming is one of the most recent gambling offerings. In the last few years, casino players have discovered a new form of entertainment. Gamblers can now film themselves while playing and air to audiences. Although live game streaming is still in its infancy, it is growing into a viable form of entertainment. As easy as casino streaming sounds, it takes some work for players to generate traffic to their channels. One elemental that every streamer must consider is the types of games.

You can’t log on to a casino and play the first game that you come across. When you visit Twitch, which hosts some of the best casino streamers, you will see subcategories of live streams, such as slots, poker, and table games. So, you have to decide what kinds of streams you want to broadcast. Settling on games for your channel warrants careful consideration because it influences the casino you choose, the audience you attract and, consequently, the amount of revenue you bring in. How do you tell which games are worth streaming, though? The following criteria should help.

What Kind of Player Are You?

Before you eventually pick a casino or start a channel, you have to decide the kind of player you are. Do you prefer fast-paced games? Are you relaxed games more your pace? What about games for skills? A seasoned gambler will already have this figured out. However, you should know that being a streamer is a persona. You need to create a character that resonates with the audience that you are trying to reach. So, how you play contributes to character development. SteveWillSentIT Streamer, for example, is known for his pranks and casino games are merely tools for his antics. Players are individuals and that means that their likes and wants will be different. One gambler might prefer slots, while another might be more comfortable with live blackjack. Note that a streamer doesn’t have to be restricted to certain games. One day you might want mindless entertainment and the next you might feel like pushing your mental limits. Whatever your persona, make it interesting to help bring viewers to your channel.

Games with Low House Edge

Casino streaming is not only about having viewers; players want to win. If you do win, then you want to ensure that you get as much value as possible. For this reason, you must stick to titles with a favourable house advantage. The house edge is the statistical advantage that a casino has in every game. If a title has a house advantage of 2%, it means that for every $100, the casino takes $2. A suitable game should give as little as possible to the casino. When choosing streaming options, ensure that you find games with a low house edge. Experts advise playing anything with anything higher than 5%. You should always be looking for long-term gains when settling on casino games. Blackjack is one of the top picks when looking for a game that yields decent returns in the long run. Slots are tricky because operators are not required to provide their advantage. However, you can still check the return-to-player ratio and volatility.

Consider Trial Runs

Never play a casino game on air without knowing more about it. As much as casino streams should be authentic, your audience should see that you know what you are doing. So, practice using demos before playing for real money, especially if it’s a new game. Gaming for free allows you to learn the rules of a particular title calmly. Since you are not risking any money, you can bet as much as you wish. You can take time to look at a game’s features and compare them with other variants. You can familiarise yourself with a specific title so that it’s easier to play to a live audience. Freeplay makes it easy to choose suitable titles for streaming. Spending even a few minutes on a game should tell you if it’s right for your channel. Players should avoid gambling for free on live streams at all cost. Broadcasting freeplay to audiences is considered fake streaming and can get you banned from various gambling sites for it.

Try Multiple Variations

It’s hard to keep audiences captivated when you keep playing the same video slot, roulette or baccarat game over and over. Gambling in one title multiple times is understandable, especially if you are teaching your audience gaming strategies. However, don’t overdo it. Online users tend to have limited attention spans. With content available in a few clicks, internet visitors are always eager to find something interesting. Hence, the games you stream on your channel should be crowd-pleasers. The beauty of online casinos is the availability of numerous variants to different games. If you wish to play roulette, for instance, you have more than 20 types from which to select. Thus, you can bet on the originals or their modern variations. Playing different variants allows you to enjoy the same kinds of games without being monotonous. Players should remember that rules sometimes differ across variants, which impacts gameplay.

Casino streaming is steadily becoming a significant part of the online gambling sector. As it grows more prominent, more players are considering streaming their gaming experiences. Any gambler who is thinking about streaming should know the right games to play. The right games are not only about what works for you but your audience as well. Therefore, be careful about choosing fun and entertaining gaming solutions.

3 Ways to Engage Your Customers Online Without Social Media

If your company has made attempts to engage with customers on social media, there’s a good chance that you haven’t been impressed by the results. There’s a very simple reason for that: Most of your social media followers never see the content that you post. On Facebook, for example, the average item posted by a business reaches just 5.2 percent of followers. Even worse, just 0.25 percent of the people who see branded content on Facebook actually interact with it. Social media is so saturated with advertising that most people simply ignore all of it.

The social networks certainly aren’t in your corner. A social network is essentially just an advertising service that sells its users to advertisers like you. If you want to reach more than the tiniest fraction of the network’s user base, you need to pay for the privilege. Otherwise, most of the people who opt in to receiving communication from you will never actually see any of it.

There’s got to be a better way. Paying for better reach on social media, however, definitely isn’t it. What’s the point in paying for exposure on a social network where users ignore branded content 99.75 percent of the time? You want to engage your customers online. You want to cultivate positive sentiment and increase the relevance and reach of your brand. Most importantly, you want to do it in a way that doesn’t give a third-party company the ability to become the gatekeeper.

It doesn’t matter whether you sell vape juice, pet food or home improvement supplies – customer engagement is an incredibly powerful thing that’s well worth having. Here are 3 ways to engage your customers online without using social media.

Turn Your Blog Into a Community

Are there any blogs that you enjoy reading in your free time? If there are, there’s a good chance that you found out about those blogs because they’re popular. People check their favorite blogs routinely for new posts – and when posts do appear, they can’t wait to jump into the discussion. A popular blog can become a lively community in its own right, with comment sections sometimes growing so large that they eclipse the actual blog posts in length.

When you check the blog section on a business’s website, though, you seldom see a sense of community. Companies post articles because they know it’s good for SEO and web traffic. Readers hardly ever leave comments, though – and when they do, the business doesn’t reply. That’s a lost opportunity to engage with customers. By thinking differently about how you manage your blog, you can actually build a blog that becomes a prominent online destination full of interesting discussions.

Keep these two things in mind if you want to foster engagement with your website’s blog.

  • When people comment on your posts, you should reply to those comments when it’s appropriate. People won’t leave comments if they think they’re just typing into a vacuum.
  • Getting people to comment on a blog post takes a little more effort than concluding the article with a statement like, “What did you think of this article? Leave your comment below!” Look closely at other active blogs and see the techniques that they use to engage their readers and generate discourse.

Start a Mailing List and Invite Your Customers to Talk Back

If you want to reach your customers directly without a social network acting as a gatekeeper and demanding payment, one of the most effective things that you can do is to start a mailing list. If you’re running an e-commerce site such as flawless vaporizers, in fact, there’s a good chance that you have a mailing list already because the functionality is built into many e-commerce platforms.

Creating real engagement with a mailing list, however, isn’t just a matter of sending periodic email blasts announcing your latest sales and new products. If your email newsletters are always promotional in nature, in fact, there’s a good chance that most of your subscribers will ignore them.

To generate engagement with a mailing list, you need to think differently about email marketing. Instead of thinking about what you can do to make each newsletter generate revenue for you, think of what you can do to make your newsletters more informative and entertaining. If you want people to read your newsletters, you’ve got to provide value.

Most importantly, if you want people to engage with your email newsletters, you’ve got to encourage them to talk back. Send your newsletters from a monitored email address. Tell your customers that you’d love to hear from them and that all they need to do is click the “Reply” button if they have something to say.

Rethink the Customer Review Process

The customer review process is another thing that many e-commerce websites get entirely wrong. There’s a good chance that your website allows customers to post reviews of products. Maybe you even incentivize the review process by giving people extra loyalty points or other goodies for leaving reviews. It’s worth it because the reviews are good for SEO and for helping people decide what to buy. You’re missing the point of the review process, though, if you just approve the reviews and then forget about them.

To get an idea of the potential that product reviews could have for generating customer engagement, look at a major website like Amazon. You’ll see that the review section for every product is almost like a miniature forum. People reply to other customers’ reviews, and every product has a Q&A section where people can ask product owners for help or find answers to questions that aren’t answered in the products’ descriptions.

Amazon is a great example of the idea that every page on your website – even a product page – can generate customer engagement if you encourage that level of discourse. Give your customers an opportunity to discuss products with one another, and you could see a community emerge. When a customer leaves a negative review, don’t just leave a reply saying that you’ll be getting in touch to make things right – publish some helpful information that can help future customers avoid having the same problem. That’s how you build real engagement and foster a sense of community.

Bigger Bang for Your Bud: 6 Ways to Profit Off Of Cannabis Legalization

As herb legalization efforts take root across the country, thousands of savvy entrepreneurs are cashing on the flowering market. The global flower industry is currently estimated at $20 billion and is estimated to grow to $90 billion by 2026. Considering the upward trend, there has never been a better time to start your own 420-friendly business. If selling flower itself is not your passion, consider forming a retail company specializing in herb accessories such as the popular brand MJ Arsenal. By following in their flower-forward footsteps, you can unpack the industry impact hand-blown dab rigs truly have and launch your own business to new highs. 

After all, there’s never been a better time to go green. Consider these six ways you can profit off of cannabis legalization. 

Own a food truck 

If there’s one universal truth about stoners, it’s that they like to eat. A good smoke session inevitably ends in a hunt for the munchies, so why not capitalize on that tendency. The trick to running a successful food truck business is all standing out from the crowd. Brand your business as a 420-friendly option, and make sure to offer plenty of creative menu items. If you prefer, you can also infuse drinks or snacks with cannabis and charge at an even higher rate. Finally, make sure to park your truck outside a popular dispensary to take full advantage of hungry smokers. 

Open a headshop 

Every stoner has their favorite headshop they visit a few times a month. Whether replacing a shattered glass rig or improving their arsenal with a durable grinder, herb enthusiasts spend serious cash at head shops. Set your business apart from the rest by partnering with local artisans and brands. That way, you will become an essential part of the community while making a profit off of various partnerships. 

Offer marketing services to growers and dispensaries 

To expand their clientele base and compete with industry leaders, dispensaries are in desperate need of market strategists. Offer services like website design, SEO strategizing, and social media management to herb professionals. Companies may already be looking for talent, but many are unaware of the positive impact you could make on their business. Pitch your freelance services to multiple growers or dispensaries. You might be surprised how much they will offer. 

Invest in cannabis stocks 

With the proper research, you can make a considerable passive income with herb stocks. Herb-focused stocks fall under three categories, the first being flower-based biotechs that develop cannabinoid-based drugs. The second type is companies selling ancillary products to growers, such as lighting systems or hydroponics. Lastly, you can invest in retailers and growers themselves that distribute products directly to the consumer. 

Make herb merchandise 

If you have a passion for the arts, consider making your own herb gear. Whether you are designing unique t-shirts, crafting wearable herb accessories, or blowing one-of-a-kind glass pieces, stoners are always looking to purchase 420-friendly merchandise. Start by listing some of your products on a retail website like Etsy and ask dispensaries to display your work. 

Offer financial services 

Despite the growing legalization and widespread acceptance of ganja, there are still several financial barriers to growers and retailers. Most banks view cannabis businesses as risky and  refuse to grant even small-scale loans. In addition, a lack of trust between traditional financial services and herb companies forces many companies to operate on a cash-only basis. As a financial advisor, you can assist businesses in making intelligent economic decisions while obtaining a healthy salary yourself. 

Final thoughts

Herb acceptance is at an all-time high, and thousands of savvy business people are seeing a healthy profit. With the right approach and branding, you can cash in on the green rush and become a part of the cannabis community. 

How to Improve the Mental Health to Trade Efficiently

Many traders are not bothered about their mental health at all. But, in trading, mental health plays an important role. If you think, you need to only take care of your physical health, you are wrong. Because, to make the right decision, you have to boost your mental energy. Or else, you might make the wrong decision and face a big failure in the market. However, most of the traders don’t even know how to increase the mental strength. So, they should know about the ways of improving mental health.

To help them, in this article, we will discuss the ways of increasing mental stamina. We hope, it would be helpful for you. So, let’s know about these.

Do the mental exercise

To keep the mind stable, traders need to do some exercise. You might raise the question, what is a mental exercise. Mental exercise helps the traders to keep their minds calm. For example, meditation aids the traders to breathe properly and generate mental energy. Besides this, yoga also helps the traders to boost energy and refresh the mind. During trading, traders face severe problems. For this reason, they become tired. By doing these exercises, they can reduce their tiredness.

Take sleep

Proper sleep will help you to generate energy. If you think, you can work continuously, you are not right. Because, if you start work continuously, after some time you will become tired. As a consequence, you will lose the strength to think logically. That’s why you will start to make big mistakes in the stocks market. Ultimately, you will face a big loss. So, if you want to avoid these, you should take the proper sleep which will help you to start the new day with new hope. Always try to maintain stable health and give importance to sound sleep. Unless you do that, you will be under heavy stress and this will create a negative impact on your trading performance.

Take a break

A break can help you to reduce your anger, fear, and depression. As a result, you may get the motivation for trading properly. In the market, traders face huge ups and downs. For this reason, they become frustrated. Remember, frustration forces the traders to do self-harm. So, being a trader, you should take a proper break and spend some quality time. In the break time, don’t think about the trading. During this time, you should try to do some interesting tasks which you enjoy a lot. Remember, sometimes, you need to enjoy yourself to work with great enthusiasm.

Recalling the good memories

If you lose hope, you might not trade anymore. So, it’s important to get back the hope. For this, you should recall your memories which will help you to get back your hope. You should review your winning streak to understand how you have won the trade during that time. By recalling the memories, you might get the motivation for trading again. Bear in mind, if you always think about the losing streak, it would difficult for you to gain success in the market. So, think about the process, not the outcomes.

Make friendship with the positive person

By making friendships with a positive person, you might reduce your negativity. As a result, you will start to think positively like them. Keep in mind, to generate positive energy, you have to eliminate the negativity from your surroundings. Smart traders always maintain the friendship with positive thinkers. As a result, they can generate positive energy which helps them to make wise decisions in trading.

The above techniques will aid you to increase the mental energy and perform better in the market. Remember, if you are emotionally weak, you can’t survive in the market. So, always try to keep calm and quiet to trade systematically in the market. Or else, you can’t increase the percentage of winning trades.

Timeshare Exit – Why It May Be The Best Financial Decision

Timeshare Exit

Owning a timeshare sounds like a great idea, but the picture may not be as appealing as you think when you scratch the surface. It is easy to fall for slick salesmanship and tempting offers as the concept of vacation ownership is thrilling for the first-timers. But sooner or later, you may realize that buying the timeshare was the worst choice. When the realization dawns, the first thing you will want to do is to get out of the contract. The sooner you do it, the better. Let us explain why it could be the best decision you can take for your finances.

Hefty annual maintenance fees can hurt your finances

The foremost reason to exit timeshares is the hefty maintenance fees that burden your finances year after year. Sales reps often downplay maintenance fees when they sell timeshares, but the truth is that it goes up every year. Even worse, you have to pay the timeshare annual fees whether you go for a vacation or not. You will not want to be saddled with an expense just because you own a property and not even use it. Not paying up can harm your credit score, which is the last thing you will want to happen. It makes sense to get rid of the agreement that only hurts your finances year after year.

Changing financial status makes it a sensible choice

Timeshares are forever, but your financial status may change at some point. You may face hardships with money. The pandemic is an unprecedented lesson for everyone. At such times, paying timeshare fees can be a challenge, and wyndham timeshare exit is the best option. Since you will expect to do it quickly and without any hassles, a timeshare exit company can help you on both fronts. There are many providers around, and choosing the right one may be difficult. But online reviews can show you the way. For example, you can check Wesley Financial Group reviews if you plan to collaborate with this renowned company. Once you are happy with the reviews, go ahead and cancel the contract to set the pace for your financial recovery.

Smart money move for your children

Since a timeshare contract never ends, your children may inherit it. The gift may actually land them in a fix by burdening them with the yearly maintenance fees even after your death. It is a tricky legal area, and the worst thing to do is enter the contract without understanding its long-term implications for your next generation. Timely exit is a smart money move for your children as it can save them from an unwanted and expensive inheritance. Unless your children want your timeshare, you must take steps to deal with the exit formalities.

Without any doubt, a timely timeshare exit can save your money and prevent stress for your children. If you have it in mind, you must take the first step sooner rather than later. Connect with a trustworthy Best Timeshare exit company and open the opportunity for financial freedom right away.

Bad Credit and Car Finance: How To Get Approved

Bad Credit and Car Finance

Nothing compares to getting behind the wheel of a new car. There are endless possibilities, road trips, commutes and experiences to discover. But the only thing standing in your way is the means to finance such a significant purchase. 

Throw in a complicated credit history, and your chances of getting approved are long lost, right? Well, not exactly. With a more customer-focused approach to financing, where lenders are more understanding of their customer’s situations, there’s never been a better time to give car financing a shot. 

Here are our top tips to getting approved when you have bad credit history:

First off, what is bad credit car finance?

Life is a complicated affair, and sometimes we hit a few stumbling blocks along the way that end up having a negative impact on our bank balance. You might miss a phone bill or forget to check your mortgage repayments, and then wham! You have a default against your credit history, and getting a loan or financial agreement from anywhere has become nigh on impossible. 

Fortunately, the car finance industry quickly realised that we’re all human, and some of you need a helping hand to rebuild your snowballing credit score. That’s where bad credit car finance comes in – enabling those who have a poor credit history to receive a loan that they have been unable to borrow elsewhere. 

What sort of loans can I get?

Bad credit car finance is in essence still car finance, just with a few minor tweaks to ensure the lender gets guaranteed repayments, such as having a guarantor, secured assets and slightly higher interest. It covers the three main types of finance:

Personal Contract Purchase (PCP)

Considered the most popular financing option, PCP allows you to place a lump sum deposit (typically 10%) and then the rest of the amount is paid off in manageable, fixed monthly installments. The car is yours as soon as the final repayment is made.

To speed up the repayment process, you can pay a final lump sum towards the end of your contract. But with any loan, you need to stick to your agreed terms and conditions throughout (mileage allowance, maintenance etc) and stay on top of your payments – you want to improve your credit score after all. 

Hire Purchase (HP)

If you find a more flexible lender – they are out there! – a hire purchase loan takes the pressure off of you and is secured against your chosen car instead. Again, you are required to place down a lump sum deposit before your monthly repayments begin. 

This type of loan is harder to get approved for with bad credit, but it is possible. 

At no point can you part with your chosen vehicle unless you seek permission from the lender first or have made your final repayment. The biggest perk is that you get a whole heap of bonuses, such as servicing to take the pressure off your bank balance. 

Personal loan

First off, a personal loan is an unsecured loan. So it isn’t secured against any assets like your house. It comes with a fixed term agreement, where you have to pay back all the interest on the amount you have borrowed. 

The best part is that the rate of interest is fixed, and is included in your monthly repayments. 

Like any type of loan, bad credit car finance requires you to stick to whatever agreement you have made with the lender. One of the biggest benefits is that you can boost your credit score by making sure you stick to your monthly repayments. The best specialist lenders out there will make sure that they get you the best deal that won’t put you out of pocket. 

Take a look at your credit report

Yes, you might have a “bad” credit score, but what does that actually mean? 

Understanding your credit history is the first step to recovery, and the best way to see where you have missed payments in the past is to use a credit check service. Most banks and online providers provide this service free of charge, and should identify any active credit, missed payments and who you are financially linked to. 

While you are there, make sure that all your personal details are up to date to protect you from potential fraud. 

Just make sure you read the fine print, and ensure that only a soft credit search is undertaken. That way, only you can see that a check has been made. 

How to ensure you get approved

Anyone from the self-employed to those on benefits, people who have CCJs and more can get a bad credit finance deal. But ultimately, it is the honesty of your answers that swing specialist lenders in your favour. 

Evaluating your budget ahead of application will have a more positive impact on the lender.   Make sure you identify all your outgoings such as mortgage, rent, food, utilities etc vs fuel, tax, insurance, running costs and interest before commiting to a borrowing amount. That way, you are sticking to what you can reasonably afford to ensure you never miss a repayment again. 

Other things to check:

  • Update all personal details to your current situation
  • Identify through credit checks where you have missed payments in the past
  • Be prepared to ask a close friend or family member to be a guarantor
  • Ensure that any potential guarantor have a good credit score
  • Be prepared to submit evidence such as benefits, employment history and asset information

Like anything, there are no hard and fast guarantees that you will be approved regardless of your credit history. But, with a range of reputable, bad credit finance specialists at your fingertips, your chances of getting approved today are more likely than ever. 

Having “bad” credit doesn’t mean you are barred from ever getting finance again. If anything there are more opportunities to rebuild your credit score than ever before. Are you ready to sit in your next hot ride? 

How Influential People Manipulate the Price of Cryptocurrency

Studies reveal that the trading volumes of most cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are non-economic and fake. The cryptocurrency exchanges purposely manipulate data to attract investors to their desired trading platforms. 

Price manipulation aspects apply to both small and larger currencies, with some incidences occurring from a single market player. For instance, in 2017, the Bitcoin price soared and the market value reached $326 billion. At least 50% of the increase was a result of price manipulations. 

Price manipulation applies to non-regulated and regulated crypto exchanges

Data from Tier 1 exchanges constituting or unregulated and unregulated ones reveal that regulation does not prevent cryptocurrency price manipulation. Thousands of cryptocurrencies are exchanged within minutes after sudden price shifts, whether there is enough liquidity or not.

In all the cased of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency’s “dump and pump” events, the spot volumes increase above the average that occurs in exchanges. The events result in a rapid decline or increase in the cryptocurrency’s price

After investing in cryptocurrencies, investors encounter large trades taking place on the exchanges with “thin books,” where a large volume of cryptocurrencies are executed in the exchanges with low liquidity. 

This is an indication that market manipulation is happening to cause investors to reap quick profits. The manipulators take advantage of the thin order book by selling volumes of assets on the spot market. 

Focusing on huge liquidations

In markets that are leveraged, huge losses for some investors mean profits for others. The continuous impact of cryptocurrency price manipulation indicates that some investors become liquidated and suffer huge losses as a result of margin calls when the price manipulation influences the price. 

Many traders employ leverage while trading futures or spot market. For instance, in May 2020, Bitcoin fell by 8% and this caused investors to liquidate assets worth $250 million in the futures market. 

This manipulative phenomenon is suspected to have taken place earlier. Later, the price of Bitcoin dropped by 17% within a few minutes and after a few hours, the price went down further by an additional 40%. The sharp drop caused a $1.5 million worth of liquidation in Bitmex futures

The multi-exchange method

The cryptocurrency price manipulators may be using the multi-exchange method, complicating price manipulation identification. Most regulated and recognized cryptocurrency exchanges have anti-manipulation procedures in place. However, the multi-product manipulation signal that the manipulators may be capable of using top exchanges for unscrupulous purposes without sending alarms. 

This means that the market manipulators of cryptocurrency may not be deeply hidden. There have been several cases of major cryptocurrencies, such as the Bitcoin moving down or up within minutes, where high trading volumes are involved. The high movements of volumes result in massive price swings.

Some price movements occur due to organic trading, while others are evidenced by foul play. The key influential people deliver large volumes of cryptocurrency to exchanges some days before dumping takes place. 

Challenging the Bitwise theory 

Multiple exchanges may be used to manipulate the cryptocurrency market. Therefore, getting data from various exchanges may not be enough to deter the manipulation effects. Although using multiple exchanges makes price manipulation harder, it is still viable because the manipulators use such exchanges for elicit purposes.

The “five-minute effect” may also be used to challenge a portion of Bitwise’s presentation. Bitwise’s presentation means that it is possible to manipulate most of the worldwide spot bitcoin volume within five minutes to have an impact on the NAV.

This theory can be challenged on the grounds that manipulation can occur between two minutes and 120 minutes, although in most cases, the manipulation lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. The suspected manipulation activities include trading of several assets, whether regulated or unregulated. 

Using advanced trading products

For most cryptocurrency traders and holders, it is believed that markets may feel the manipulation effects after some time. More upcoming trading products in the crypto space may be contributing to price manipulation. 

Today, crypto markets have grown than they were before. Sophisticated products have come up, including leveraged derivatives and spots that are commonly used by manipulators. Leveraged products are known to exaggerate the decrease or increase in prices and these are used by influential traders for manipulation.

The platforms of crypto that may support manipulative schemes are very powerful. To prevent price manipulation, there is a need for exchanges to have vibrant surveillance tools to detect manipulation, a process called spoofing. This may be supported by tools like order books and real-time trade analysis. 

Conclusion

The question of whether the prices of cryptocurrency are manipulated by influential people has lingered in many investors’ minds. A little manipulation of crypto prices may lead to a boom in the crypto market, while significant manipulation can cause a price surge. With or without price manipulation, cryptocurrency remains one of the most popular forms of investment, allowing investors to efficiently and quickly transfer funds while enjoying investment security.

 

About the Author

Thomas Jackson a professional writer and an active member of several writing clubs in New York. He works for a custom essay papers site and has also been writing his own songs since he was a child. As a young author, he gets inspiration from live concerts, music shows and from his family.

The importance of digital investor engagement in a changing world

By Roberto Escoto, Corporate Management Director, Apex-Brasil

This year, the success of the annual Brasil Investment Forum was a testament to and example of how Brazil has been innovating to engage its investment community notwithstanding the enormous challenges posed by the global pandemic.

Our annual signature event, the Brasil Investment Forum (BIF) took place on 31 May and 01 June. This year it was a fully-online event, but that didn’t diminish the attractiveness of the event for the investor community: on the contrary, while the last edition gathered 1,500 participations including CEOs, governments and international organisations, this year’s edition of the BIF saw a huge 6,300 participants.

The event, organised by Apex-Brasil in partnership with the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) and the Brazilian Federal Government, was a truly unique opportunity for investors to learn about new investment projects, hear from a broad range of Brazilian stakeholders including ministers, business leaders and sector experts, and engage in one-to-one meetings.

Just over a year ago the idea of running this major investment event as pure-play digital was somewhat inconceivable, and the fact that we’ve been able to dynamically shift gear proves our ability to quickly adapt to changing circumstances to the benefit of our investors and stakeholders. Indeed, I would submit that Brazil’s continuing success in continuing to attract the right investors in these challenging times is in no small measure due to us scaling up our digital capabilities, including promoting our infrastructure portfolio online.

Let’s be clear: the global pandemic has had a massive impact on FDI flows. Last year global FDI was $859bn, a 42% fall on the $1.5tn in 2019 and far worse than anything experienced in the 2008 financial crisis. The pandemic has also led to increased risk aversion among global investors who are seeking to make secure investments with a lower risk profile and long-term return. Multinationals are reallocating financial, human and technological resources with a focus on creating shorter production chains and supply routes.

The pandemic has also led to increased risk aversion among global investors who are seeking to make secure investments with a lower risk profile and long-term return.

Our digital events have massively expanded the range and accessibility of information available to potential investors. Our social media platforms are updated with fresh and live content. We have also hosted a range of webinars on Brazil’s investment opportunities in sectors including infrastructure, oil and gas, agribusiness, renewable energy, research, development and innovation. In 2020 the Invest in Brasil Infrastructure series gathered over 2,000 participants across five events. We have created an English-language hotsite of pandemic-related information for foreign investors which was recognised by UNCTAD[1] in their July 2020 report on innovative and proactive measures taken by Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) worldwide.

We will also be rolling out in the near future an interactive online platform where potential investors can find up-to-date and reliable information on investments, business opportunities, projects and potential partners, and can get direct access to our dedicated team of specialised investment analysts in Brazil and our global offices.

But Brazil’s success is not just down to its digital responsiveness. It also offers an investment landscape that is ripe and attractive to the international FDI community. Investors are continuing to seek out the right FDI opportunities, and with a keener focus on sectors linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like infrastructure, sanitation and access to clean water, innovation, renewable energy, mobility, health and education.

Brazil has a very diverse portfolio of investment opportunities in sectors closely associated with the SDGs. This includes in particular infrastructure, where we are currently rolling out an ambitious concessions programme with a large number of auctions planned, and in renewable energy, with ongoing projects in green hydrogen, offshore wind and gas.

We are working hard to create a highly favourable investment climate across these sectors and others. For example, in July 2020 Brazil introduced a Basic Sanitation legal framework to provide universal water and sewage services for the entire population by 2033. Another example of the legislative support being provided is federal bill 576/2021 that regulates power generation in maritime areas to support the energy transition and expand renewables in Brazil’s energy mix.

Over 80% of the country’s energy is generated by renewables, and new regulatory frameworks are being adopted to support offshore wind and green hydrogen projects, as well as natural gas as a transitional energy. This legislative support will offer foreign investors access to major privatisation, concession and public-private partnership (PPPs) projects across the country.

Infrastructure is another priority, as reflected by the 94 auctions to take place in 2021 aiming to secure some $64.4bn in infrastructure investments. To put those numbers into perspective, in 2019-2020 we held a total of 65 auctions attracting over $97.6bn in projected investments and $19.6bn in concession fees.

To put those numbers into perspective, in 2019-2020 we held a total of 65 auctions attracting over $97.6bn in projected investments and $19.6bn in concession fees.

Brazil remains a hugely attractive investment destination and enjoys a robust reputation as a competitive partner for international investors who want easy access to markets. It is a hub not only for business production chains in the region, but its unique location at the crossroads from North America, Asia, Africa and Europe and its pro-business culture all add to Brazil’s attractiveness and high value proposition for foreign investors.

Our success in these difficult times has been maintaining close contact with our clients and prospective investors and making it easy for them to engage. That means keeping channels of communications open, bringing events to where they are rather than them to where we are and seeking continuous feedback on the eventual hurdles they may be facing. Our expanded advocacy demonstrates clearly to the international investment community that Brazil remains open for – and to – business.

It goes without saying that the economic landscape remains uncertain and that there are many challenges to overcome. As we have witnessed a shift in investments to a lower risk profile, we expect to see a reciprocal change in FDI strategies. Those with higher risk, including capital intensive projects, will decrease in favour of more brownfield modes of entry such as joint ventures, partnerships and mergers and acquisitions.

Recent figures from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) have shown that Brazil’s GDP grew by 1.2% in Q1 2021 totalling just over US$400bn[2]. This is fantastic news considering the past four quarters have seen drops in growth. It shows our economy is on the mend and that Brazil remains open for business.

The Brazilian Central Bank recently reported an income of US$17.7bn in the first three months of 2021. This represents a 40.3% increase on the same period last year (US$12.6bn). There are many exciting investment opportunities to be had in Brazil, and at Apex-Brasil we will continue working tirelessly to provide support and communicate these opportunities to all our international investors around the world.

About the Author

Roberto Escoto

Roberto Escoto, Corporate Management Director of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), is a Major General of the Brazilian Army (Retired). He graduated from the Brazil Military Academy (AMAN) and holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Brasilia (UnB) and a PhD in Military Sciences from the Army Command and General Staff College (ECEME).

Along 37 years in the military, he served in several advisory, leadership and command positions in Brazil and abroad. Between 2008 and 2010, he was the Army Attaché’s Deputy at the Brazilian Embassy in the United States and Canada. During this period, he headed the Brazilian Army Commission in Washington (CEBW), a body responsible for international purchases of defence material. He also worked at the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and at the United Nations Department of Peace Operations in New York.

References

  • [1] Investment Promotion and Facilitation Monitor: Post-Covid-19: Investment Promotion Agencies and the “New Normal”
  • [2] Conversion to US$ from R$ on 2 June 2021

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