Billionaire Mike Novogratz: Crypto Prices Have Bottomed

To crypto investors who lost (digital) money during the first half of September, there's some good news. Billionaire crypto investor Michael Novogratz said on Thursday that cryptocurrencies are poised to rally because prices have bottomed out. The second good news is that prices continue to rebound as of early Friday trading. "This is the BGCI chart...I think we put in a low yesterday," said the principal of New York-based Galaxy Digital on Twitter. "[Retouched] the highs of late last year and the point of acceleration that led to the massive rally/bubble ... markets like to retrace to the breakout .. we retraced the whole of the bubble." [caption id="attachment_35873" align="aligncenter" width="1050"] Credit: Novogratz Twitter[/caption] Mike Novogratz is an ex-hedge fund manager of Fortress Investment Group and was a partner at Goldman Sachs. Friday's trading action seems to confirm his optimism. Novogratz is an EOS investor and the coin (CRYPTO: EOS) gained nearly 9% over the past 24 hours as of press time. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is down nearly 50% in 2018. At $6,500 it's trading at the same level as the first week of November 2017. While Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) has lost nearly 70% for the year, it has gained almost 18% since Thursday's rally. Additionally, several investment professionals said this week they believe that Ethereum is underpriced at below $200. Satis Group predicts ETH will reach $882 in 2019. Bitcoin A Good Payment Option: Survey Bitcoin is a welcome form of payment for fans of cryptocurrency (not surprisingly), according to new survey by HR blockchain venture Chronobank. Two-thirds (66%) of cryptocurrency enthusiasts don't want to get paid in fiat cash and would prefer digital coins, according to 445 global respondents of Cryptocurrency Compensation Survey — its findings were published on news.bitcoin.com.

Remember the ChronoBank Community Survey “Would you get paid in cryptocurrencies if you could”? ?? Crypto News Magazine https://t.co/pZL2YIVfKR published an article releasing the final analysis: https://t.co/G1OzdtdjcN pic.twitter.com/sbm3Fhe6AD

— Chronobank.io (@ChronobankNews) September 12, 2018 For recruiters and employers, paying in digital coins could be an enticement for attracting top talent: 83% of respondents said they'd be happy to receive bonuses in cryptocurrencies while 72% said they would prefer cryptocurrency as payment option when choosing their next employer. "92% of the survey respondents were male, 40% were aged between 25 and 34 and 75% are currently employed." The fact that Bitcoin is regarded as digital asset could help recipients spend less in the hopes that their electronic "gold holdings" gain value in the future. According to same survey, 50% think that a crypto-denominated salary would help them spend less and only 19% would use it to make transactions. "With respect to the markets that will switch to payment of salaries in cryptocurrencies, Japan (32%) is perceived as the leader. The US (15%) and South Korea (15%) are next in line, but US respondents believe more in South Korea (25%) than in Japan (only 13%)," according to Chronobank. "In Russia, 47% believe that Japan is the dominant leader of the industry. And 57% of respondents are also confident that such initiatives will positively affect the economic growth of countries who adopt them. Interestingly, 65% of those surveyed in the US said they are willing to pay taxes on crypto salaries compared with Russia where only 30% answered the same."