The CryptoKick Observations August 15th

Hello Cryptoverse!

Disclaimer: I am not your financial advisor and this is not financial advice. This is just my personal view on the crypto currency market. Please, do yourself a favor, only invest what you can afford to lose.

Welcome to CryptoKick! Your one stop shop for CryptoCurrency news, ICO Reviews, and Portfolio tips. Today's Wire is authored by Bruce Parker.

News: Geopolitical Effects on Crypto//Between the lines

The past week has been a wild ride for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin reached an all time high while Ethereum may have broken the single day trade volume record.

Why? While there are many pressures on the market from a macro perspective, one interesting one is the geopolitical landscape of the USA and North Korea. Tensions are extremely high between these nations and it may be driving funds into both currencies. If we take a look at the incredible trade volume in ETH, more than 40% of the volume came from the Korean won! I believe this is an indicator South Koreans are trying to store value in an uncorrelated asset in case the situation hits a breaking point.

Ray Dalio has recently recommended individuals hold 5-10 percent of their wealth in Gold. This is again due to the geopolitical tension in North Korea and the unwillingess of the US government to raise the debt ceiling.

Let's take the principle behind Ray's recommendation. He is essentially saying people should be interested in assets uncorrelated with debt based economies. Gold is a good example of this and cryptocurrency is another! Remember, diversify your assets- Ray Dalio isn't telling you to liquidate your 401K into something from an early 2000's rap video [looking at you cash money records.]I forecast an increase of interest from major US investors looking to hedge the USD.

Bitcoin to the moon! Wait a second- not so fast says Sheba Jafari of Goldman Sachs. While, according to Sheba, we may see prices surge as high as 4800, we may be due for a steep correction. The Goldman analyst believe we are in for a 38.2 percent correction after the 4800 USD mark, bringing BTC below 3000. While I do not have a strong call of my own- it makes complete sense for a correction after such an aggressive jump.

ICO Review: Neo's First ICO! Red Pulse//Should you buy?

NEO Platform ICO
September 10th 2017 - September 24th 2017

Red Pulse is a Chinese research content platform that aims to simplify content creation incentives and directly compensate valuable research [sounds like Steemit!]. The RPX token will be used to pay out content providers and create incentive for consumers to participate in the community. RPX is designed to reduce intermediaries and create a public, fair record for compensation of content.

Let's get some numbers out of the way:

Exchange Rate: 1,000 RPX : 1 NEO
Target: US$15,000,000
Token Cap: Currently Unknown

A research platform where content creators will be paid in a token- color me skeptical. When I look at a new ICO I ask myself a few questions:

1. What does this technology solve for?
2. Who else is in the same market? Has anyone obtained network effects in this space?
3. What is the application of the coin?
4. What is the underlying technology that will deliver this solution?
5. Who is behind the project? What is the likelihood they can achieve success?

When I answer these questions for Red Pulse I am not incredibly impressed with the answer I get.

What is the incentive for analysts to adopt RPX vs getting paid in fiat? What will differentiate this platform from the other outlets who already do this? Red Pulse isn't able to answer these questions after researching it. The underlying tech doesn't seem to be all the way there yet as well. The roadmap shows Red Pulse hiring blockchain developers months after the initial ICO, not something that excites me in an ICO. The dev team also lacks blockchain experience.

The last concern I have, the dagger, is the token distribution. 40 percent of all RPX will be held by Red Pulse. If you were a Ripple pitchfork mob attendee- I have a new target for you.

I am incredibly happy Neo is getting it's first ICO but I wouldn't recommend becoming a HODLER of RPX. I would recommend using the ICO period to place a short term position in NEO. ICO's, historically, cause a short term pump in price followed by a correction. Use this time to make some sweet, succulent profit.

Portfolio

In the spirit of transparency I will always let you know which picks I am personally invested in.
I will always do my best provide accurate assessments based on the macro economic climate, technical analysis, and coin fundamentals.

Sorry Steemit. Since our account was just created, you missed some profit yesterday. Picks included:

1. NEO @ .0099 with a take profit @10-15%
2. DNT @ .00003300 with a short term position until Bittrex listing
3. ETH @ 275 USD - ACCUMULATE

No worries! Here are some positions I find particularly interesting in the next few days.

1. NEO @ anywhere around 0.010604 BTC
   Neo has had a strong push followed by a correction in the past week. I think this listed level is undervalued. This coin should be a 65USD coin quickly- no later than the RPX ICO Invested

2. DNT @ anywhere around .00033
   If you missed a small profit today or didn't accumulate for the Bittrex/Binance listing, here is your second chance. The listings could greatly increase the value of this coin. I would look to take profit shortly after listing on larger exchanges. I have a very bullish TP level, I believe we may see this coin double. Invested

3. ARDR @ .0003183 for a medium term hold until main net release
   While I have lowered my overall valuation of Ardor after the ETH Plasma news, I think there is still profit inn Ardor. Look to accumulate Ardor through the main net release in Q3. This should cause a large value spike followed by a correction. You will here more from me about this coin in the coming weeks.

That's all for tonight! I hope you enjoyed- any feedback is appreciated. Look out for the Crypto Wire everyday on Steemit and coming soon to YouTube!

Sources:

Goldman Sachs Predicts Correction
Geopolitical Effects on Crypto
Ray Dalio Recommends Gold
Red Pulse Website