Bitcoin dropped for other currencies

Investors go for dash, monero

WITH bitcoin on a tear, Mira Kwon decided there was more money to be made elsewhere. A little over a month ago, the University of Maryland economics graduate began pouring more than $2 000 (R26 400) into a different crypto-currency called dash.

“Bitcoin is expensive,” says Kwon, a mother, investor, Korean interpreter and US Army veteran. “Dash has a bigger growth rate.” So far, it’s worked. Dash has risen to $46 from $15.20 when Kwon started, according to prices at Coinmarketcap. With a market value of $326 million, dash has become the third-largest crypto-currency, behind bitcoin and ether.

Other digital currencies are on the move, too, including monero and zcash, to name some of the 700-plus out there. Investors who feel they missed out on bitcoin are seeking a different path to crypto-riches.

“They think they’ve missed most of the move, so they are starting to look at other coins that could be their ticket,” says Adam Wyatt, chief operating officer of the crypto-currency researcher Bullbear Analytics.

Speculation

Trading crypto-currencies is speculative. Characteristics that might give each version value include a restricted supply, the willingness of merchants to accept it as terms of trade, technical features and ultimately the faith investors put in it.

Chris Burniske, an analyst at Ark Investment Management, sees signs that some investors are cashing out of bitcoin and putting funds into so-called alt coins, varieties that haven’t gone up as much.

His company operates an exchange-traded fund with 5 percent of its assets in blockchain – the database technology underlying bitcoin – and peer-to-peer computing.

Bitcoin fell 0.5 percent to 1.239.35 on Tuesday in New York. It’s up 30 percent this year. Others are trying to hedge as bitcoin approaches possible speed bumps. – Bloomberg