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An unofficial referendum pursued by the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó took place over the weekend in Venezuela powered by a blockchain platform, while at the same time, parliamentary elections called by the president Nicolás Maduro also had its scenario in a widely criticized, qualified by many countries as a “fraud.” Venezuela’s Guaidó Orchestrated Parallel Referendum via Blockchain Platform According to Spanish media outlet ABC, over 6.5 million Venezuelans cast their votes via Voatz, a U.S. blockchain-powered platform used for democracy-related purposes, where citizens were asked to decide whether or not Maduro should resign or not, and also restore international relations “to address the humanitarian crisis and rescue democracy.” Voatz offered the possibility to cast votes via a mobile app from December 7 to 11 and through Telegram, a chat app widely used among the crypto community. Also, people can participate on-site in selected locations across the country and overseas. Such a platform has been previously used by authorities in West Virginia, Colorado, and Utah, but has also been the subject of controversy due to concerns about its safety. Guaidó decided to orchestrate the parallel referendum due to his boycott of what he called a “widescale fraud” over the weekend. Maduro’s administration took control of the National Assembly, which claimed victory by 70%, although many countries dispute such a figure. Emilio Graterón, a coordinator of the political command of the unofficial referendum, commented about the security brought by the platform and how people could feel safe that their identity is not at risk to end in the hands of Maduro’s government: The process is reliable, and the people who participated in-site today [on Saturday] have their identity protected. There will not be any trace of participation, and they can rest assured about it. All notebooks and ballots will be destroyed immediately when the totalization transmission is complete. Venezuelan Opposition and Crypto Community The fact that Guaidó is endorsing blockchain to pursue electoral processes is not a surprising move among the crypto community. On November 20, 2020, stablecoin issuer Circle expressed its support to the Venezuelan opposition leader, even referring to him as the “President-elect.” In the same announcement, the company said that in collaboration with US-based fintech innovator Airtm, and coordination with the US government, they could offer “Guaidó’s government” their support via a fund leveraged by USDC. Do you think that blockchain technology is sufficiently prepared to be implemented in electoral-related processes? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Millions of Venezuelans Voted via Blockchain in an Unofficial Anti-Maduro Referendum appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In Bitcoin, the promise of a limited supply is great. This was one of the biggest things that initially appealed to me when I heard about Bitcoin. “No more than twenty one million bitcoins will ever exist!” But can this promise be kept in the long run? Has the Promise Already Been Broken? Some would say that Bitcoin’s scarcity has already been violated since forking creates multiples of the 21m coin limit, with each chain’s token commanding a different market price. But setting aside this concern over forks, let’s focus on a more modest goal: Can even one bitcoin chain (such as BCH) strictly maintain its issuance schedule over the next hundred years or longer? The issue is that cryptocurrencies are based on software, and software can always be changed. Some have questioned if Bitcoin’s issuance schedule can maintain security on either Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash in the coming decades, but we’ll deal with that question later. First, let us examine if it’s likely or not for users to even agree on what is already in place. Phrases like Bitcoin’s “social contract” or “economic policy” get thrown around a lot, but what do they mean? In a word: change. Any major change to how Bitcoin works is often equated with a modification to the core contract or policy. Bitcoin Isn’t Set in Stone Since Bitcoin is based on software, the only real agreement contract, or policy, is a de-facto standard in which everyone agrees to run software with the same rules as everyone else. This purportedly makes Bitcoin “hard to change” and there may be quite a bit of truth to that. However, we know that these social agreements are not set-in-stone revelations sent by the gods. Inevitably, the winds of change blow. Disagreements brew. Fresh actors can enter the ecosystem. Software developers can create new rules. This leads to a range of possibilities. One possibility is that long-revered tenets of the “social contract” may be cast aside, even if popular. Popularity, in the first place, is heavily influenced by the public discourse, which in turn may be influenced by disinformation and propaganda. We saw this play out during the BCH/BTC fork of Bitcoin. Forks are the free and fair mechanism by which Bitcoin resolves irreconcilable differences. Regardless of how manipulated the news may be, the market provides an open-ended and continual mechanism that determines the value of the tokens on competing blockchains. Upon reflection, it seems that “social contracts” and such are more wishy-washy than we would like them to be. Leading up to the BCH/BTC fork, many Bitcoiners simply assumed that, “of course”, the blocksize would have to be raised. But those were the assumptions of the early community, and opinions change over time. The famous “overton window” is one way of looking at some of the dynamics involving changes of public opinion. An idea can be radically unthinkable at first, but over time see itself become at least debatable, and finally commonly accepted. Investors often buy coins with the presumption that the network rules are going to be there for the long term, but this isn’t so; the rules of a ledger can change at any time, at least in theory. In practice, there are checks and balances built into crypto. A change of rules is considered a fork, and forks generally only happen at specific pre-scheduled times. Developers cannot just publish “any code they want” because the miners won’t necessarily run it. And even if they do, if there is any subset of the community which prefers to use the old software (or an alternate software), then the fork becomes contentious, leading to a chain split. This splitting mechanism protects investors, who automatically get coins on both sides of a split. Although it should also be said that a split isn’t always a net positive outcome for investors. For example, if a split causes a community to lose too much network effect, then the sum value of the coins post-fork may be less than the pre-fork price. Therefore, we can conclude that there is never a guarantee to the continuation of any blockchain’s rules. The best we can do is rely on rules that seem to have some stability, and enjoy a measure of hope that the rules we cherish the most will continue on in some form. Even if Everyone Agrees, is Zero Inflation Achievable? Blockchain governance questions notwithstanding, the next issue that confronts us is: Is it economically feasible to keep the original Bitcoin issuance schedule in place in the far future, even as block rewards tend toward zero? A corollary question is: are transaction fees alone going to be sufficient to secure the blockchain in the future? (This question can be asked of both Bitcoin BTC and Bitcoin Cash BCH). One point of conflict in the BTC/BCH split dealt with this question specifically. The BTC Core developers argued that without capping the supply of block space, fees would be too low. By instead limiting the transaction capacity, this creates a fee market and thus sustainable levels of security, assuming users will continue to pay the high fee rates on the BTC chain, rather than use an alternate blockchain. In practice, this theory has been demonstrated to be true, at least to a degree. We have seen Bitcoin blocks with fee totals comparable to (and in some cases exceeding) that of the block reward subsidies. We have also seen some willingness in the market to keep using BTC regardless of the high fees. Interestingly, the fixed supply of the block space for transaction plays into this demand-supply equation as demand sits just below supply. You might expect demand to completely collapse, but it looks like the theories that people will pay more for transactions (because they are on the BTC chain) has some truth to it in practice. Of course, that is only true based on a few years of data and it could change at any point in the future; for example, if crypto users decide they aren’t getting enough for their money. That seems somewhat unlikely at the moment; currently BTC is used primarily for speculation and as an inflation hedge, so its users do not need fast or cheap transactions. The Unusual Case of Bitcoin BTC At the same time, BTC seems to depend more on its network effect for investor dollars, rather than the actual functionality it allows. The price of any coin is based both on its network effect as well as its functionality, so this is not unusual in and of itself. But, BTC is the only coin I am aware of that has intentionally high fees. While this theoretically does help address the fee problem, it is unclear how long BTC can maintain this economic policy without turning off users and investors. The other approach to fees is the original one: Have tons of transactions and thus keep fees relatively low but make up for it in volume. As Satoshi said “I’m sure that in 20 years there will either be very large transaction volume or no volume”. Bitcoin Cash is following the original design of Bitcoin in terms of keeping fees low. But how is it working? So far, not great. That’s because there hasn’t been any real growth in the number of BCH transactions. But again, it is really too early to say. Bitcoin Cash may see an explosion of growth at any point in the next several decades. The idea in Bitcoin Cash is you want to have a large number of transactions. But what if that doesn’t happen quickly enough? One other relevant factor is the price of the coin. If the coin price keeps doubling every four years, then the security level remains unchanged in dollar terms. Both rising coin prices and rising transaction count can help. Either of these things can offset the diminishing block rewards. But what if neither is sufficient? That seems like it’s the worst-case scenario for Bitcoin playing out, but not everyone believes this is so unlikely. There are some in the crypto community who believe that the fixed supply model is simply not achievable. Some coins, like Ethereum and Monero avoid this problem with the use of a so-called “tail emission”, which means block rewards will continue forever. While the block rewards found in advanced years are planned to be small, since they go on, the coin cannot advertise itself as having a fixed supply. What other remedies and solutions exist? One simple idea is just for miners to raise fees on their own. It is certainly possible for miners to do that without a fixed block size. If the developers can enact an economic policy, the miners can do the same. Of course, this runs into the same issue of fees getting too high for the chain to reliably support the “peer to peer cash” usage, but perhaps there is a market-driven sweet spot where fees can rise for larger transactions while still allowing cheap or even free transactions. In that scenario, obviously the existing pricing-by-kilobyte fee scheme would have to be overhauled. Going Beyond Proof-of-Work Beyond the straightforward remedies of higher prices, more transactions, or higher fee rates, increasing security would start to involve looking at more esoteric and radical changes to the technology. Proof-of-work is a powerful tool, but has the limitation that it requires a majority of the network to be honest. This is more of an issue on a minority chain like Bitcoin Cash that shares its hashing algorithm (SHA-256) with BTC. For years, Bitcoiners have loosely discussed adding some kind of “proof of stake” element to Bitcoin security. In recent years, there have been many interesting developments in crypto technology and consensus mechanisms. For example, the Avalanche coin (AVAX) brings a new method of achieving distributed consensus. And some have discussed trying to bring elements of this technology over to Bitcoin Cash in an attempt to “bolt it on” to the existing PoW security. But, it should be noted that all these schemes are ultimately variations of Proof-of-stake, because they require coin holders to participate and provide security based on their holdings. The ultimate goal of any such scheme would be to ensure that an attacker had to have both 51% of the hashpower AND 51% of the circulating supply. It doesn’t seem like we can do better than that, at least on the surface, if “work” and “stake” are the two fundamentals at play. But this would provide quite an increase in protection. A less invasive method may be to use coin age as a determinant in qualifying a block for having sufficient work done. This idea was first proposed by Gavin Andressen but hasn’t received much discussion. However, I think it would work well if implemented as overall coindays of the blocks’ transactions. Other schemes involving both coin age plus coin days offer different properties and tradeoffs. Still more extreme measures can be implemented, such as using time based delay penalties for re-org protection, which I had proposed last year. The idea would be that malicious attack chains wouldn’t be recognized as valid if there was a significant delay between when a node received the block and when it received a competing block of the same height. But this kind of scheme (and re-org protection schemes overall) is less robust than pure nakamoto consensus. It is possible for an attacker to cause a chain split if alternate blocks are sent to different parts of the network with precise timing. It is also theoretically possible for some internet outtage to create a similar situation. Not to mention that new nodes coming onto the network and syncing do not have knowledge of these time delays. This is sometimes referred to as “weak subjectivity”. In general, resolving these kinds of potential chain splits caused by impure consensus schemes would involve some centralization — for example manual pool coordination in the event of a chain split attack. For Now, Business as Usual I think the bottom line is that nothing is really certain just yet about how the Bitcoin experiment will continue to play out. It has certainly surprised us so far, and may continue to hold many surprises in the future. It’s too early to tell if some or all of the “promises” will come true. We have years or decades to continue researching and observing how things will unfold. The security of the blockchain is something we will keep eye on, but we still have time. What do you think about the 21M limit in Bitcoin? Share your views in the comment section below! The post 21M Bitcoin and the Promise of Scarcity appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Forex trading is the world’s largest decentralized liquidity market. LPN TOKEN is an undisputed leader in this domain of finance. This is possible with the help of Dubai based Next Forex Technologies LLC, the sister company of LPNT. LPN TOKEN actually provides the best forex trading services on MT-4 and MT-5. More than 200,000 customers worldwide are already fully satisfied with their forex trading services. Their association with the world’s biggest and reputed liquidity providers like Swissquote and GBE PRIME could be largely credited for this. The association of world’s best and heavily experienced forex trading professionals should also be given credit. Therefore, the traded users’ trade is always safe. Coming to the point, LPN TOKEN is now offering 200% leverage through NFX Technologies LLC to every registered and verified user for trading in crypto. The list of things you can trade in using LPN TOKEN now includes but is not limited to the forex trading, shares, precious metals, energies, soft commodities and indices. The attributes of LPN TOKEN also play an important role in this. Meaning, forex trading in LPN TOKEN is now possible. The decentralized crypto vault designed and developed is for ensuring the security of funds in wallet/account. The decentralized payment gateway will help users process payments related to forex trading services and many more things. Since LPN TOKEN is a multi-utility cryptocurrency, it can be used as a preferred mode of payment for buying anything. In addition to the utilization, circulation and demand & supply, the basic rules of economics, these attributes will also play an important role in the growth of LPN TOKEN in the cryptocurrency market. Utilization: The utilization of any cryptocurrency reaches the next level with its increased utilization on multiple platforms. LPN TOKEN is already being utilized on multiple platforms. The circulation of a cryptocurrency gets better with increased utilization on multiple platforms. An effective strategy for growing the circulation of LPNT those platforms has been devised already. Increase in utilization and circulation will automatically result in the increase of circulation of LPN TOKEN. This is where the concept of increase in demand and limited supply will come into play for the growth and price hike of LPN TOKEN in the crypto market. ABOUT LPN TOKEN: The group is an undisputed leader in the domain of decentralized finance and forex trading. They have the best team of forex trading professionals to serve their client base. Website: https://lpntoken.io/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LpnTokenPro/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lpntokenofficial/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lpn-token-98b0b31b1 Telegram: https://t.me/LPNT_Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/lpntoken This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post LPNT’s Strategy For Increasing LPN TOKEN’s Utilization, Circulation, Demand and Supply appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The prices of the latest generation mining rigs have gone up 35% since the beginning of November, according to Hashr8. The observed price increase comes as Bitmain and Microbt are reportedly sold out until May 2021. As a consequence of the supply of mining rigs failing to meet the demand, some miners are now forced to turn to the secondary market. In a blog post, Hashr8’s John Lee Quigley wrote that the bitcoin mining machine market is heating up because “everybody is bullish on bitcoin and the rise in the price of mining machines is certainly reflecting that.” While Bitmain and Microbt are sold out, Quigley reveals that one firm, Marathon Patent Group, did manage to secure “a purchase agreement for latest-generation rigs.” According to Quigley, Marathon will receive 6,000 Antminer S-19J Pro rigs in August 2021 and another 4,000 in September 2021. The purchases will raise Marathon’s total hash rate output to 3.56 EH/s. Meanwhile, Quigley shares his thoughts about the prospects of the mining market. He says: With large firms like Marathon buying bulk amounts and sentiment indicators showing all-time highs for bullish outlooks, it doesn’t look like the market for mining machines will be slowing down anytime soon. As more institutional investors join the bitcoin buying frenzy, bitcoin analysts predict this will push the value of the digital currency further upwards. When bitcoin’s price significantly increases, everything in the mining industry ramps up. Meanwhile, as Quigley explains, rising BTC prices only help to encourage “current miners to expand their operations to capitalize on wider profit margins.” On the other hand, “new miners also seek to enter and secure a slice of the lucrative mining conditions.” Do you agree with Quigley’s assertions that rising BTC prices are responsible for the increased mining rig prices? The post Bitcoin Mining Rig Prices up 35% Since Start of November — Shortages Force Miners to Turn to Secondary Market appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

According to two anonymous sources, U.S. President Donald Trump is considering clemency for Ross Ulbricht. White House reporters Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley claim sources detailed that Trump “has expressed sympathy” for Ross Ulbricht and his double life sentences. Ross Ulbricht may get clemency from the sitting U.S. President Donald Trump if the American leader is swayed by the Silk Road founder’s story. Ulbricht is known for creating the darknet market website Silk Road and he was arrested in 2013. After his arrest, in May 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to a double life sentence plus forty years without the possibility of parole. Ulbricht and his family also tried to leverage the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2017 and also the U.S Supreme Court in 2018. However, both attempts were unsuccessful and Ulbricht currently resides in Tucson Penitentiary. Ever since Ulbricht was arrested and sentenced to double life in jail, many individuals and organizations believe Ross’s case is a miscarriage of justice. The website freeross.org has published material showing over 250 organizations, eminent individuals, and leaders voicing support for Ulbricht’s freedom. A clemency petition written to U.S. President Donald Trump on the web portal change.org has amassed a whopping 366,800 signatures to-date. Then on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, a report published by the Daily Beast explains that Trump may be considering giving Ulbricht clemency. White House reporters Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley say that two anonymous sources have revealed Trump’s review of Ulbricht’s case. “People familiar with the matter” have said “the White House counsel’s office has had documents related to Ulbricht’s case under review, and Trump was recently made aware of the situation and the pleas of the Silk Road founder’s allies,” the reporters’ detail. The report adds: Two of these sources say the President has at times privately expressed some sympathy for Ulbricht’s situation and has been considering his name, among others, for his next round of commutations and pardons before the Jan. 20 inauguration of his 2020 Democratic opponent. The journalists note that it is uncertain whether or not Trump will grant Ross clemency but they note the Silk Road founder has “gained some influential backers in the president’s political and social orbit.” The well-known activist Weldon Angelos detailed that he’s forwarded documents to contacts in the White House since February. “In the beginning of the year, [Ulbricht’s] family had reached out to us for our support, and my organization and I have endorsed his full commutation, and I am hopeful that President Trump will commute his sentence in its entirety,” Angelos said. “This case has perhaps more support than I’ve seen in any case of this kind.” According to the White House correspondents for the Daily Beast, the Trump administration has not commented on this subject matter. “We’re praying and remain hopeful that he will show mercy on Ross, as he has others, and commute his sentence to time served and give my son a second chance at life,” Lyn Ulbricht, Ross’s mother said in an interview on Tuesday. What do you think about sources saying U.S. President Donald Trump may grant Ulbricht clemency? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Report Claims US President Trump Considering Clemency for Ross Ulbricht appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

E-commerce giant Paypal’s stock price surged to a new all-time high of $223.16 on Monday, December 14. Since November 12, when the payments giant opened the way for its US customers to start trading cryptocurrency, the stock has soared 17%. Paypal’s Turnaround The stock’s record-breaking performance comes after Paypal recently reported a drop in its third-quarter earnings in October. While that performance subsequently forced Paypal not to provide preliminary guidance for 2021, there is, however, a belief that the cryptocurrency trade service will result in a turnaround of the company’s fortunes. To illustrate, according to one report, Paypal stock bulls are expecting online “penetration of total retail spending to continue growing this holiday shopping season during the coronavirus pandemic.” To support these bullish sentiments, the report quotes Bryan Keane, an analyst at Deutsche Bank saying: A recent PYPL survey revealed 54% of PYPL users have an interest in its crypto offerings and we believe there has been strong interest in demand thus far. Even more powerful is the frequency of visits to the PYPL commerce portal from crypto users, which will lead to higher customer engagement and more monetizable transactions. Paypal Customers Buying All Newly Minted BTC In the meantime, starting in early 2021, Paypal customers will also be able to use cryptocurrencies to shop at the 28 million merchants on its network. This will likely result in increased demand for cryptocurrencies by Paypal’s clients and ultimately increased revenues for the company. Meanwhile, as Paypal’s stock was touching a new high, Bill Barhydt, the CEO and co-founder of Abra was tweeting that demand for bitcoin on the payment giant’s platform alone now exceeds the daily supply of new coins. Barhydt wrote: Paypal (alone) now fulfils more bitcoin demand than the amount of bitcoin created daily. (In) 2021 or 22 will highly likely see a retail bitcoin ETF. Demand will likely go up 100x at that point. While I discourage using Paypal to buy bitcoin ( Abraglobal is the way) …wow. Still, despite the influence of Paypal’s crypto service on the price of BTC, some bitcoiners like Barhydt are still wary of the implications of the company’s crypto policies on adoption efforts. Paypal has previously said its customers will not be able to withdraw or transfer their crypto funds to outside wallets. However, others like Twitter user Anthony Acquadro argue that “those who participate in expanding the space must be welcomed.” Meanwhile, at the time of writing, the Paypal stock had pulled back to $220.79, a price which, however, is still “above a cup-base buy point of 215.93.” Do you think the surge of the Paypal stock is related to the company’s crypto service? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. The post Paypal’s Stock Soars to All Time High as Demand for BTC on the Platform Now More Than Supply of New Coins appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Swapping cryptos on an exchange can be incredibly inefficient, as no exchange has all the coins in one fold. VaultSwap – a project by Jason Wright, which is also the CEO zenomatrix.net – intends to offer a solution to this problem. It has several high-paying investment schemes that reward investors for their confidence in the project. What Is VaultSwap? VaultSwap is a blockchain-powered exchange and Yield Farming where you can swap one cryptocurrency for another. VaultSwap is completely decentralized, as it also supports staking applications. Some of the groups that will receive VAULT after the token sale are Pre-Sale, Staking platform, as well as Exchange listings. The team behind VaultSwap comprise of technocrats who understand the dynamics in the asset swapping ecosystem. The team has a track record of delivering on their promises. Where To Buy VAULT Tokens The VAULT tokens sale is live. The sales started on November 20th and will end on December 20th. The maximum supply is 200,000 VAULT with 5,000 ETH hard cap. The team behind VaultSwap is moving rapidly with having VAULT listed on P2Pb2b. More listings are expected in the coming weeks. Token Sale Link Interested in buying VAULT tokens? Then visit https://vaultswap.io/#token-section to get started. Steps To Buy VAULT Tokens Participating in the ongoing token sale is a breeze. Kindly follow the steps below: ● Send ETH to this contract address: 0x8cf4dd7aa26f00d5710b6d1c82bf6647ee2d55a9 ● Vault Token allocation is automatic via contract ● Ensure you send ETH from an ERC20-supported wallet. ● Do not send ETH from an exchange ● Minimum buy is 0.1 ETH VaultSwap Exchange Products The following are the products offered by VaultSwap: ● Staking: Instead of storing away your VAULT token in a wallet, you can stake it and be rewarded with an APR of 30%. ● Lending: Some investors are seeking funding to scale their businesses. You can lend them your cryptos (USDT, USD, DAI, TUSF, PAX, and BUSD) and get up to 26% APR. ● Yield Farming: Yield Farming gives you the opportunity to earn up to 2,000% APR when you contribute liquidity on the VaultSwap platform. ● Referral Program: Convince your friends or family members to participate in the ongoing token sale, and you would be rewarded with 10% of the total sum that your referee invested. VaultSwap Tokenomics ● Name:VaultSwap ● Max Token:200,000 VAULT ● Hard Cap:5000 ETH ● Price:1 ETH = 20 VAULT ● Currency:ETH ● Min Purchase:0.1 ETH / 2 VAULT ● Starts:November 20 (9:00 AM) ● Ends:December 20 (11:59 PM) ● Contract address: 0x8cf4dd7aa26f00d5710b6d1c82bf6647ee2d55a9 Point To Note: VaultSwap is going to be listed on P2pb2b, and more listings are expected to follow in next 1 week! https://twitter.com/p2pb2b/status/1331267513565503496 https://www.facebook.com/p2pb2b.io/posts/997694927363848 Conclusion VaultSwap is a blockchain-powered crypto-swapping exchange. To achieve a smooth assets-to-assets swapping, VaultSwap does not rely on synthetic assets or wrapped ERC-20 tokens. In fact, the process of swapping assets on the VaultSwap platform is pretty easy and doesn’t exceed 5 steps. You don’t need any special wallet or software to swap your coin. The basic thing you need is a strong internet connection, an asset, a wallet address, and a good browser. VaultSwap Exchange does not charge a fee to swap from one crypto to the other. Media Contacts Further information at https://vaultswap.io/ Support Contact: ceo@vaultswap.io Media contact Company: Vault.ltd Contact: Jason Wright Contact: +17026232463 Telegram: https://t.me/VaultSwap Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vault_Swap This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post VaultSwap Announces Its Token Sales and Exchange Listings appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Raw data from the Federal Revenue of Brazil (RFB) shows that crypto traded volumes in the country exceeded $6 billion between January and September this year. According to the data, bitcoin dominates as it accounts for over 80% of traded volumes. Still, other cryptos like bitcoin cash, dai, and dogecoin had significant volumes in the period under review. Since August 2019, Brazilian crypto companies and individual users have been complying with the new requirement to furnish the RFB with details of their digital currency transactions. The regulations specifically state that companies and legal persons must provide the “monthly value of the operations, alone or jointly, which exceeds $5,900 (30,000 reals).” As one report explains, Brazilians use cryptocurrencies when settling transactions that occur outside official channels. Brazil, which has the ninth-largest economy in the world, has a “long history of capital controls.” Such capital controls primarily affect small businesses’ access to foreign exchange. This lack of access forces small businesses to seek alternatives when making payments across borders. Meanwhile, the report same quotes João Canhada, the CEO of Foxbit crypto exchange commenting on the profile of BTC traders in Brazil. Canhada says: They are investors seeking diversification, often leaving the traditional market, finishing with financial investments in traditional banks and brokers, and coming to acquire their first bitcoin. This customer profile prefers OTC. In the meantime, the RFB urges caution when using its data as it may be subject to changes in the future. The revenue collector states that “what is disclosed in this open data document is consolidated information provided by taxpayers” and therefore it may include errors. The RFB warns that the “errors are frequent, can be significant and are not, in principle, identified and excluded from the set of data now disclosed.” What are your thoughts on RFB’s crypto volumes data? Share your views in the comments section below. The post Brazil Revenue Collector’s Data Shows Cryptocurrency Volumes Exceed $6 Billion Between January and September appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over 1,000 cryptocurrency firms’ licenses have been revoked in Estonia this year as the country tightens the oversight of the crypto industry amid heightened money-laundering concerns. 1,000+ Crypto Firms Lost Their Licenses This Year The Estonian Ministry of Finance revealed Friday that the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has revoked more than 1,000 crypto companies’ licenses this year. Estonia, once a Mecca for cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, started worrying about the money-laundering risks in the crypto sector last year. The announcement follows the meeting of the Government Anti-Money Laundering Commission where the issues surrounding the regulation of cryptocurrency service providers were discussed. Veiko Tali, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance who serves as the deputy head of the commission, stressed that “the monitoring and regulation” of crypto service providers are “in continuous need for heightened attention.” He explained that in 2019, many businesses expressed interest in acquiring a license to operate cryptocurrency services and a large number of licenses were subsequently issued. However, the Estonian government’s “means for scrutiny and intervention” in the crypto field were limited, he noted, adding that the amendments to the Estonian law which came into force this year have tightened the licensing of crypto service providers. The finance ministry’s announcement states: In 2020, the Financial Intelligence Unit has withdrawn more than 1,000 activity licenses of virtual currency companies. At the same time, there are still about 400 companies active in Estonia that offer virtual currency services. “The connection of many of these companies to Estonia is minimal and the clientele of some of the companies is from remote countries,” the announcement continues. In June, news.Bitcoin.com reported that 500 crypto firms got their licenses revoked. Tali confirmed that the commission plans to focus on crypto oversight next year, elaborating: A number of important regulatory changes are planned for the services of virtual currencies in order to further regulate the field. According to a survey conducted by the FIU this summer, Estonia-registered crypto service providers have the largest number of customers in the U.S., followed by Venezuela, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, India, and Iran. According to the study, the turnover generated by crypto service providers in the first half of 2019 totaled more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.46 billion), which more than doubled the amount in the previous year. What do you think about Estonia revoking over 1,000 crypto licenses? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Estonia Revokes More Than 1,000 Crypto Firms’ Licenses This Year appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Amon, known for their innovative app that aims to make using digital currencies stress-free, will soon release their debit card in 31 EEA countries. The company, which recently got approval to release a crypto debit card, is currently fundraising on the online platform that facilitates investments in FinTech, blockchain, and bitcoin companies, BnkToTheFuture. Amon has so far raised over $470.000 in equity funding and is backed by a large Hungarian Bank and a VC. Amon is still fundraising on BnkToTheFuture for a few more days. Since its inception in April 2018, Amon has onboarded two institutional investors -MKB Bank (the fourth largest bank in Hungary) and Digital Magics, a VC that invests in innovative FinTechs. They have been developing Amon Wallet which integrates fiat, crypto, and several other products to support user spending and investing. The Wallet offers different solutions to ease crypto adoption such as: EUR/GBP and crypto wallets Amon Earn -an investment product in partnership with Celsius.Network to earn passive interest on crypto assets A one-click exchange Coming up soon are: Amon Debit Card to spend EUR/GBP currencies anywhere UnionPay is accepted Investment Assistant to help users make better spending and investment decisions An Ethical Token Utility to support charities What are the main value propositions? With the green light for the card launch, Amon is set to become an important player in a market that is still widely underserved, considering going by the massive growth of crypto users in of the past years (from five million in 2016 5 to 46 million crypto users from 2016 to by 2018 according to a Cambridge University Study). Amon is also launching an Investment Assistant which its CEO, Daniele Izzo, says that “will support users in their investments and spending decisions.” says the CEO, Daniele Izzo. The Amon Investment Assistant is a tool that will help new and existing crypto users to understand crypto trends, compare volatility and get a risk score to each user’s Portfolio. This information will help users to balance their portfolio in a more or less risk averse position. In June 2019, Amon has also launched a partnership with Celsius.Network which now enables , Amon Wallet users are already able to get 3% to – 12% annual passive interest rates – , paid on and a weekly basis and without a locking period – on their crypto assets like, in the Amon Wallet for BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, BCH, DAI and USDCCD. Celsius.Network is also actively supporting Amon fundraising on their Twitter showing Amon as one of their first partners. The integration of the Wallet with the Card will then allow users to earn passive interests and spend them within the same Wallet. If you haven’t checked it out yet, here you can find their pitch on BnkToTheFuture. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post Amon, AI-Powered Crypto Wallet and Card Is Fundraising on BnkToTheFuture appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

JPMorgan’s analysts have predicted significant demand for bitcoin following the $100 million purchase of the cryptocurrency by Massmutual. The analysts believe that other traditional investors, including pension funds, will follow suit, leading to a conservative estimate of $600 billion demand for bitcoin. $600 Billion Demand for Bitcoin JPMorgan Chase’s analysts wrote a note Friday explaining why they see significant demand for bitcoin. They explained that the recent investment of $100 million in the cryptocurrency by mega insurer Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (Massmutual) highlights “the potential for additional institutional demand for the cryptocurrency in coming years,” Bloomberg conveyed. The note adds that the purchase “suggests adoption of bitcoin is spreading from family offices and wealthy investors to insurance firms and pension funds.” The JPMorgan analysts further detailed, “Massmutual’s bitcoin purchases represent another milestone in the bitcoin adoption by institutional investors,” elaborating: One can see the potential demand that could arise over the coming years as other insurance companies and pension funds follow Massmutual’s example. They explained that traditional investors like insurance companies and pension funds face regulatory hurdles relating to the “risk levels and liability mismatches” that would limit how much they can invest in bitcoin. While the analysts do not expect large insurance companies and pension funds to dive into the cryptocurrency with heavy weighting, they believe that even a small portfolio allocation, such as 1%, in BTC could be significant for its market. With bitcoin outperforming most other assets this year, the analysts explained that “if pension funds and insurance companies in the U.S., euro area, U.K. and Japan allocate 1% of assets to bitcoin, that would result in additional bitcoin demand of $600 billion,” the news outlet conveyed. Institutional interest in bitcoin has been rising rapidly. Recently, the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank said that widespread cryptocurrency adoption is “absolutely inevitable,” while the CEO of Blackrock said bitcoin can evolve into a global market. Ready for institutional demand, a growing number of major banks have started offering cryptocurrency services, including Standard Chartered Bank, BBVA, and DBS. A survey by Fidelity shows that the majority of institutional investors feel that cryptocurrencies have a place in their portfolios. Do you agree with JPMorgan’s analysts? Let us know in the comments section below. The post JPMorgan Sees $600 Billion Demand for Bitcoin From Global Institutional Adoption appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

One of the wealthiest oligarchs in Ukraine and a former governor in one of the country’s regions are reportedly mining bitcoin in a factory located in the U.S. Ukrainian Businessmen Are Reportedly Running Crypto Mining Operations at US Factory Per Radio Free Europe (known also as Radio Liberty), Igor Kolomoisky is said to be using the facilities of a factory owned by CC Metals & Alloys (CCMA) in Kentucky to mine bitcoin (BTC), allowing him to use cheap electricity prices. However, the plant shut down its ferrosilicon production operations back in July due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the report, despite most of the staff being expected to return to work at the end of the year, they were told that the rest of the staff would be fired, but the mining equipment will still be running within its facilities. The 70-year-old factory is owned by Kolomoisky — who also has links with Ukraine’s current president, Volodymir Zelenskiy — and his business partner, Hennadiy Bogolyubov. On-Site Operations Are Now Focused on Crypto Mining Under the condition of anonymity, employees of the company told Radio Free Europe that one of the factory’s warehouses is now filled with computers that “mine” cryptocurrencies. CCMA is one of only three plants in the U.S. that produces ferrosilicon, an alloy of iron and silicon, used primarily in steelmaking to increase its strength. Although the plant has been profitable since its foundation, employees said they believe the owners “mismanaged the plant” and tried to run it from Miami instead of running it on-site, reducing its portfolio. That’s why the Ukrainian businessmen reportedly embarked on the crypto business, claimed employees. The report adds that crypto mining operations work independently of the plant itself, and it has not been affected by the cuts. Radio Free Europe said that the CCMA plant had invited a third party to install a computer center operating in its field of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to diversify profits. Moreover, Kentucky is well-known for its low electricity costs, making it a preferred destination for other crypto mining facilities. Oligarchs Under Investigation But both Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov are also controversial figures in Ukraine, as they’re under the investigation of the U.S. Department of Justice, who alleges that the oligarchs fraudulently took billionaire loans from Privatbank in 2008-2016 and laundered these funds through front companies, including real state, steel and iron plants in the United States. What do you think about these mining operations of the oligarch? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Controversial Ukrainian Oligarch Is Reportedly Mining Bitcoin in the US appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Every single day the conversation about the Great Reset continues to amplify. More recently, mainstream media publications have been publishing rebuttals in response to the many skeptics of this agenda who believe the reboot propaganda is meant to install a new world order. The American broadcaster Max Keiser is telling a few countries to get as much bitcoin as possible to hedge against the economic reset. Meanwhile, Dr. Joseph Mercola explains that unlike central bank digital currencies, bitcoin is the “decentralized and a rational strategy to opt-out.” The Great Reset Subject Is Still a Trending and Very Controversial Topic Conversations about the Great Reset continue to rise as a variety of pundits, analysts, economists, and even mainstream media continue to cover the subject in great detail. The Great Reset is a proposal initiated by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the WEF director Klaus Schwab, and it is being heavily promoted by the mainstream media and politicians from various countries. Proponents of resetting the global economy say they want to usher in a new form of equality and improve capitalism. Great Reset supporters believe that the coronavirus outbreak gives people the chance to press pause and change the global economy. The Great Reset. “You’ll own nothing and be happy”. pic.twitter.com/tkMDcpJQz5 — 𝓐𝓶𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓵 ꕥ (@PoempieIoempie) December 13, 2020 However, skeptics of the Great Reset believe that these proponents are fear mongers leveraging Covid-19 fears and climate change as well to usher in a new economic order controlled by socialists. Naysayers believe that Great Reset supporters plan to create a stronger form of fascism by tethering the world’s oligarchs to the private sector. Moreover, during the last few weeks, mainstream media publications have been printing articles that say anyone who questions the Great Reset is a “conspiracy theorist.” For instance, Daily Beast contributor Will Sommer goes to great lengths this past week to dispel these theories that he believes started after the election results. “The Great Reset is a hodgepodge of one-world-government fears that has gained steam in the wake of Biden’s win,” Sommer wrote about the theory. Max Keiser Thinks Countries Should Have as Much Bitcoin as Possible for the Financial Reboot The American broadcaster, Max Keiser, from the media channel RT (formerly known as Russia Today) discussed the Great Reset with Keiser Report cohost Stacy Herbert. The couple discussed the significant amount of gold purchases in Turkey and said “wait until the Turks discover bitcoin.” The American broadcaster, Max Keiser, from the media channel RT. Keiser thinks that there’s going to be a sit-down with the global elite and according to him, members of the G20 and G7 nations plan to reset the global economy and will do so based on gold. Keiser also talked about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calling for a “new Bretton Woods moment.” “Let me make this recommendation to countries around the world as this idea of a global reset is being talked about by the IMF,” Keiser said. The RT host noted that countries that own bitcoin will have more leverage than those that do not. “I would say this to Turkey and to every other country: when you sit down to the reset table with the IMF, have as much bitcoin in your back pocket as possible, or you are going to be miserable because that’s the only stick you have to leverage,” Keiser stressed. A Global War on Savings Opponents of the Great Reset also think that the elite plans to pillage the global citizenry’s wealth. At the web portal mises.org, Mises Wire contributor Daniel Lacalle detailed the Great Reset is likely “a global war on savings.” Lacalle wrote that the reboot message sounds promising, except for the parts where the government is “directing the market.” He also noted that of course the “most bureaucratic and government-intervened economies” have softened to the idea of rebooting the economy. But the risk is huge and “the idea that governments will promote an economic system that reduces inflation, improves competition, and empowers citizens is more than farfetched.” The Mises Wire writer added: We should always be worried about well-intentioned ideas when the first ones to embrace them are those who are against freedom and competition. ‘Bitcoin Is a Decentralized and Rational Strategy to Opt-Out’ Additionally, there have been a number of people that have claimed bitcoin is all part of the Great Reset proposal and it is being used to systematically create a cashless society. However, many bitcoiners believe that the crypto asset and other decentralized digital currencies are meant to protect the individual from governments’ stealing wealth. Some cryptocurrency supporters think that during the transition into the Great Reset economy there will be a battle between central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and decentralized cryptos with no central point of authority. The CEO of Elitium.io, Raoul Milhado, wrote about this subject in an opinion editorial called “What Role Will Crypto Play During ‘The Great Reset?’” Milhado using Satoshi Nakamoto’s famous words said “the Great Lockdown and subsequent economic depression has kicked the hornet’s nest, and the swarm is headed toward us in crypto.” “The Great Reset might come down to central bank digital currencies versus the cryptocurrencies of the people — centralization versus decentralization,” Milhado concluded. The American alternative medicine proponent, Dr. Joseph Mercola. Milhado is not the only person who thinks the fight may come down to a battle between decentralized cryptos and CBDCs. The American alternative medicine proponent, Dr. Joseph Mercola has warned about the Great Reset and the technocrats as well. In an editorial about the reboot propaganda and the technocratic rulers, Mercola said people often believe that bitcoin and CBDCs are the same things. “Many uninformed people believe that these new CBDCs will be very similar to existing cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, but they would be mistaken. Bitcoin is decentralized and a rational strategy to opt-out of the existing central bank controlled system, while these CBDCs will be centralized and completely controlled by the central banks and will have smart contracts that allow the banks to surveil and control your life,” Mercola wrote in an article called: “Globalist Technocrats Poised to Press the Great Reset Button.” Despite the mainstream media publications pumping out articles and opinion editorials that stress the Great Reset theories are nothing more than “conspiracies,” detractors believe the agenda is blatantly obvious. Mercola’s editorial paints a frightening dystopian future that follows the Great Reset, a place where “not one area of life will be left untouched.” Corporatists and governments will be in charge of everything and will continue to strip basic human liberties away. It’s understood by a great number of economists, historians, and analysts that the world’s governments and their fraudulent central planning are to blame for the current economic hardships. Mises Wire contributor Lacalle believes that putting the fallible government in charge of everything would be more disastrous than we could ever imagine. “If we want a more sustainable world, we need to defend sound money policies and less government intervention. Free markets, not governments, will make this world better for all,” Lacalle said. “The same massive government intervention that brought us here is not going to get us out of here.” What do you think about the role cryptocurrencies and bitcoin will play during the Great Reset? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post The Great Reset Agenda: ‘Bitcoin Is a Decentralized and Rational Strategy to Opt-Out’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Origin Protocol team has unveiled a compensation plan for its depositors who were adversely affected by the flash loan attack in November. According to the team, there is now a plan to provide compensation equal to 100% of the value deposited to OUSD at the time of the exploit. Two Compensation Plans Still, the team clarifies that one’s OUSD holdings before and after the hack will be a key determinant of the compensation package they will receive. In an update issued via Medium, Micah Alcorn who is the Production Engineer at Origin Protocol says: Approximately two-thirds of affected users will receive full compensation in the form of newly minted OUSD. The remaining affected users — mostly larger depositors — will receive 25% of their compensation in OUSD upfront and 75% of their compensation in Origin Tokens (OGN) that are locked for one year. Alcorn adds that in order to compensate these users “for the time value of money and not having all their funds available upfront, locked OGN will earn interest at 25% over the year.” This according to Origin team means for the OGN portion of compensation, “users will receive 1.25x the value in OGN one year after the compensation program goes live.” The compensation process is set to start “in a few weeks.” Out of Pocket Compensation Meanwhile, the team is insisting that its compensation plan will not impact negatively on the project’s prospects. Stressing this point, Alcorn says: While the out-of-pocket portion of this compensation will be a substantial one-time expense for Origin, we remain well-capitalized with plenty of runway to ensure the success of OUSD and our other e-commerce products. Interestingly, the update says founders will not receive any compensation as a part of this plan despite having lost over $1 million in the hack. Immediately after the flash-loan attack, Origin Protocol team offered $1 million as a reward to anyone with information that would help to recover the stolen funds. In addition, team Origin pledged to work with exchanges and third parties to freeze and recover the stolen funds. However, at the time of writing, there have been no new updates on this while the stablecoin is still trading at $0.15. What do you think of Origin’s compensation plan? Share your views in the comments section below. The post Flash Loan Attack: Origin Protocol Unveils Compensation Plan that Excludes Founders appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

During the first week of September, the world’s largest adult web portal Pornhub expanded its payment options by adding bitcoin and support for three other cryptocurrencies. However, after Mastercard and Visa severed ties with Pornhub last week, the company’s premium services payment processor now defaults to cryptocurrency only. Pornhub is by far the largest adult website in the world, as the site provides pornographic video sharing services to billions of people across the globe. According to similarweb.com page ratings, the adult site is the 10th most trafficked site on the web and the company claimed to have 42 billion visits last year. Estimates say that 11,082 hours of video is watched per minute on Pornhub, and ever since the Covid-19 lockdowns traffic has skyrocketed. However, the company has been dealing with financial issues, as the leading payment processors Mastercard and Visa cut off Pornhub last week. This means individuals looking to purchase the company’s premium services cannot use a credit card for payments. Since the financial blockade by Mastercard and Visa, Pornhub’s premium services plans now must be paid with cryptocurrencies, as that is the only option available. If a user wants to purchase a plan that starts off at $9.99 a month or a yearly plan with a one-time payment of $95.88, the person has 13 cryptocurrencies to choose from. Pornhub is leveraging the payment processor Probiller and the service supports bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), dash (DASH), ethereum (ETH), ethereum classic (ETC), litecoin (LTC), monero (XMR), nem (XEM), tether (USDT), tron (TRX), verge (XVG), waves (WAVES), and zcash (ZEC). “Unfortunately, we are unable to accept credit cards at this moment,” the Pornhub premium services webshop page says. On social media and crypto-related Reddit forums, crypto advocates were thrilled to see cryptocurrencies become the default payment for Pornhub. On the subreddit r/btc, a number of BCH fans discussed the revamped crypto support by the mega large adult video sharing site. “One of the biggest news of the year for adoption,” one Redditor wrote. “I would say one of the biggest ever,” another person responded to the adoption comment. “Because in this instance, credit cards aren’t even an option.” The individual added: Pornhub is such a massive website. This is going to bring so many normies into cryptocurrency who don’t care or want to invest in it. They just need an uncensorable payment method. In fact, Pornhub users who want to purchase premium services won’t just need an uncensorable payment method, they just need any payment method that works, and the only option they have is crypto assets. While Pornhub leverages the payment processor Probiller, users can also opt to use the Pumapay service too, which is basically just another blockchain provider that settles payments in crypto. People who wish to pay for Pornhub’s premium membership with centralized services like Paypal, Mastercard, and Visa are shut out entirely, and it’s not likely the companies will reverse the financial blockade decision. What do you think about the fact that crypto asset payments are the only payment options for Pornhub’s premium member services? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Pornhub’s Premium Services Now Default to Crypto Payments, 13 Digital Assets Supported appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Microstrategy Inc. has raised $650 million from the sale of convertible senior notes so that it could buy more bitcoin. In a note to investors on Dec. 11, the business intelligence and mobile software firm said it completed the sale of $650 million in convertible bonds to private investors at 0.75% interest per year. The sale was closed just days after Microstrategy made the initial offer, which intended to raise $400 million. Microstrategy plans to use the net proceeds – about $635 million after expenses – to buy bitcoin (BTC). Should the company go ahead with the planned purchase, it would have invested around $1 billion in the cryptocurrency since August. At current prices, $635 million would add around 34,500 BTC to Microstrategy’s reserve holdings. The firm already holds 40,824 bitcoins valued at $751 million. Microstrategy has earned about $276 million in profits since making its first bitcoin purchase. However, some Wall Street analysts have not been impressed by Microstrategy’s “aggressive” bitcoin investments. Citigroup analyst Tyler Radke recently downgraded Microstrategy from “neutral” to “sell” concerned that, with an additional BTC purchase from the convertible bonds, the firm had become overexposed. Michael Saylor, the Microstrategy CEO, has also taken flak from some quarters, accused of turning his outfit into an investment company (IC) or of launching a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Saylor rubbished the claims, in a post on Twitter this week, stressing that “holding BTC doesn’t cause Microstrategy to become an IC”. He explained that according to the 1940 Investment Co. Act, an investment company is one that invests at least 40% of its assets in securities. But “bitcoin is not a security,” he said, citing the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) definitions of the digital asset. Saylor has always maintained that he moved into bitcoin to preserve value. What do you think about Microstrategy’s dive into bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Microstrategy Completes $650 Million Capital Raise to Fund More Bitcoin Purchases appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin.com Exchange is thrilled to announce the upcoming listing of TON on the 14th of December 2020 at 17:00 UTC. Bitcoin.com Exchange will be the first major cryptocurrency exchange in the industry to list Free TON on the platform. Founded in May 2018, TON Labs is the core developer of Free TON, a decentralized community focused on developing the infrastructure and free software for TON OS. TON will be listed with BTC and USDT trading pairs. What is TON Labs? TON Labs believes that decentralization will bring the necessary changes to the way the world is being run today. All TON Labs’ internal processes are predicated on a merit based system. Widely known as an underrated token by the crypto community, due to its current stance of active validators compared to its circulating supply. The community behind TON Labs believes that the principles of free software allow to effectively develop advanced, sustainable products and services that contribute to and benefit from the greater community. TON Labs is fully committed to the privacy of user data and security of its software as a mandatory condition for success, aiming to provide developer communities with a set of free software tools to build infrastructure and applications for optimal interaction with decentralized solutions. The community aims to facilitate the adoption of technology and decentralized ecosystems accordingly, all of the essential components of the TON Labs developer stack are available as open source. What is Free TON? Free TON is a peer-to-peer multiblock system built on the TON protocol with a native token called TON Crystal (TON). Free TON states it is a community project which uses the Telegram developed open source “TON OS” as a virtual Operating System to run smart contracts and decentralized applications. TON OS is designed as a decentralized operating system to handle decentralized applications. Boasting more features than the Ethereum Virtual Machine which only strictly runs code. The decentralization of a proof-of-stake blockchain network is achieved by: Several independent validators, so there is no single interested party. Public TONs distribution among many users to prevent centralization of staking power. Several teams of developers are working on the protocol design, including its specifications, core software, and compilers. Free TON is close to exceeding 400 validators by the time of an anticipated mainnet announcement scheduled for December 22, 2020. This makes Free TON the most decentralized PoS network. Importantly, these validators were chosen through a series of contests in Q3 2020 where teams were competing on performance. Partnerships can be found here. Why should one choose TON? Free TON would like to provide equal economic opportunities for people around the world with a new, more effective way to govern public finance, without the external influence from political elites. The creators of the project firmly believe in freedom of speech, information sharing, and free software. The main objectives of Free TON: To allow continuous debugging and development of the Free TON protocol To drive the wide adoption of decentralized solutions by millions of users To accommodate future development scenarios To ensure that original protocol developers can participate once it is permitted To ensure uniform development of a single network and to discourage unnecessary forking Free TON is a high-tech project with a strong underlying infrastructure and development plan. It claims to be the fastest blockchain currently, with the highest performance and lowest latency. The network is capable of 40 to 60 thousand operations per second. Free TON is the first blockchain with Dynamic Mapping (automatic data refresh). Free TON also boasts several big corporate partners within the community, these consist of companies and entities like; WorldChess, AdGram, Chatex, Cointelegraph, Changelly, Sigma, Lumi, Playkey, ZB.com and many more. Other partners can be found here. Key Differences between TON & Free TON Key differences between the original vision of TON and the Free TON as it stands today can be summarized in three key statements: (a) No corporate entity behind – Telegram as a messaging platform and as a business has publicly abstained from being involved further. Today, the community is both the founding fathers and the key asset of the Free TON as an ecosystem. (b) The protocol is built upon the ideals of decentralization upon both, the network and the governance layer. (c) Distributional decentralization – the distribution of tokens happens as this is being written on a per-merit basis based on the proposals that are submitted on the Free TON Community Forum and voted for by the community and the validators. Strong Endorsement Danish Chaudhry, CEO of Bitcoin.com Exchange, shared his views on Free TON and the listing of their crystal tokens on the exchange: “The fastest, with the highest performance, and the lowest latency out of all blockchains is the dream of all projects being developed in the industry at the moment, and with Free TON, the community is achieving this, marking another step forward for a decentralised world. I’m pleased to work and discuss thoughts on new upcoming innovations with their incredible community, and I am very pleased to have the token listed on the exchange. More great things to come, so stay tuned!” Upon the upcoming news, we found that Free TON’s collective community voice said; “We are happy to see Bitcoin.com Exchange believing in the values of Free TON as evidenced by the decision to list TON crystal tokens”. About Bitcoin.com Exchange The mission of Bitcoin.com Exchange is to empower people from all over the world to trade cryptocurrencies with ease and confidence, from first-time traders to advanced trading professionals. With high liquidity, 24/7 multilingual support and dozens of trading pairs, complemented with a high level of security, we offer an attractive platform for trading any cryptocurrency. Within one year since launch, on average, our exchange has been visited by more than 500K active traders per month, and this number continues to grow as you read this sentence. About Free TON Free TON is a community powered movement for a free and open decentralised internet. It’s a next-gen blockchain technology that belongs to no one and to everyone at the same time. The network does not have an owner or centralized management that decides what should be done or when, nor what tools or projects should run on it. Instead, Free TON practices decentralized governance principles empowering the community to engage, contribute and make decisions. Technology-wise Free TON is the first multi-threaded, multi-shareded, highly scalable blockchain with low latency. It has an advanced Proof-of-Stake consensus and versatile smart contract platform supporting several high level computer languages. Free TON promotes a unique concept of End-to-End Decentralization. Media Contact Antonio Bileci antonio@bitcoin.com PR at Bitcoin.com Exchange This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post Bitcoin.com Exchange to List Free TON Token as the Next Step in a Decentralised Crypto World appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In an apparent snub to Ripple, Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) is set to open a new cross border remittances corridor in partnership with Lightnet, a fintech company that uses the Stellar blockchain. SCB says the partnership opens the door for more efficient cross border funds transfer from South Korea to Thailand. Before choosing Lightnet, SCB teamed up with Ripple’s partner Azimo in April to open a payment corridor between Thailand and Europe by using the Ripplenet. However, in announcing the new partnership, an executive with SCB lauds the new service model saying it “will increase its service capabilities while improving transaction speeds under a secure environment.” In addition, the service will be offered “at a lower cost, (therefore) helping satisfy fast-rising demands for better international fund transfers.” The bank’s vice president Srihanath Lamsam adds: We expect that this new service model will help raise the service experience bar for seamless cross-border transfers for our customers and serve the growing demand for better cross-border remittances. Meanwhile, SCB is not explaining why it has partnered with Lightnet ahead of long term partner Azimo for this particular corridor. Still, the bank hints in the statement that this cooperation will allow the bank “to extend the scope of its international fund transfer services.” SCB’s choice of Lightnet, which wants to make SWIFT and Western Union obsolete, suggests that Stellar might be winning the battle with Ripple in Thailand, one of the biggest global remittances market. Both Stellar and Ripple aim to make cross border payments more efficient and both appear to target the same markets although the latter has focused on partnering with financial institutions. What does SCB’s partnership with Lightnet mean for Ripple in Thailand? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. The post Thailand’s Largest Bank Snubs Ripple – Selects Stellar-based Blockchain for Cross Border Remittances appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The cofounder of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, ethereum, warned about crypto wallet vulnerabilities, claiming the tools are not ready for widespread adoption and encouraged to open more discussions on security matters. Buterin Calls for More User-Friendly Crypto Wallets for Non-Technical Users During the 4th day of Labitconf 2020 on December 10, 2020, Vitalik Buterin participated in an interview made with the famous crypto podcaster and businessman Andreas Antonopoulos. The Canadian-Russian programmer pointed out the need for more user-friendly crypto wallets because the current ones are “insecure.” Buterin pointed out that the crypto community didn’t give enough importance to the security topics, making it easier to lose huge amounts of digital assets if a wallet gets hacked. Ethereum’s co-founder also said: In my opinion, we don’t talk about the security issues enough because no one is willing to admit they lost $200,000, because if you admit you lost $200,000, you look like an idiot. The conversation started when Antonopoulos talked with Buterin about which topics do not have enough importance within the industry. The podcaster added to the discussion that “being your own bank” carries responsibilities that people even don’t understand fully is another topic that hasn’t been addressed. Crypto Ecosystem Needs to Be More ‘Proactive’ On the other hand, Buterin stressed the importance that the ecosystem needs to understand that crypto leaders are working on solutions that are expecting to benefit everyone and “not just a single group of people,” and that’s why the crypto ecosystem needs to be “more proactive to minimize the risks” of the protocols used nowadays. Ethereum’s cofounder commented more on the security’s side of crypto wallets: The fact is that even if you are a super genius or capable of being really careful, the reality is a system that requires you to expend less effort on not losing your stuff is a better system. As per the latest development in the Ethereum’s landscape, the research and analysis team Coin Metrics published a report on September 30, 2020, on how decentralized finance (defi) is “fueling Ethereum’s growth,” stating that cumulative ETH fees in 2020 superseded bitcoin’s by a long shot, as high gas prices “are becoming the new norm.” Do you agree with Buterin’s comments? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Vitalik Buterin Warns Current Crypto Wallets Are Not Ready for Mainstream Adoption appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

South Korean securities exchange operator is now expanding its overseeing capacity by monitoring all crypto-related stock activities after volatile movements seen in the last few weeks on listed companies tied to the industry. KRX’s Market Oversights Committee to Supervise Crypto-Linked Stocks in South Korea According to Yonhap, Korea Exchange (KRX), through its KRX’s Market Oversights Committee, announced that they would start to scrutinize both crypto-linked stocks and bio-related ones, such as healthcare and vaccine companies, in the wake of 56 warnings issued to some firms between November 30 and December 4, raising concerns on “unfair trading” maneuvers. The listed companies’ volatility is given in the context of the latest Covid-19 vaccine developments and rising bitcoin (BTC) prices across the board, which has been waking the investors’ interest in the crypto-related firms whose portfolios are listed on the KRX. The KRX has over 2,500 stocks with a market capitalization of over $1.5 billion, and although the headquarters are located in Busan, all the oversight operations are done from Seoul. Companies Executives Allegedly Involved in Unfair Trading The report published by the news agency noted that there is some suspicion that some executives and traders have been taking advantage of the crypto prices’ skyrocketing frenzy by converting and selling bonds right after information – mostly inaccurate – started to make the headlines on crypto-related announcements. Yonhap also adds another example of unfair trading from an unnamed company: The Committee is also analyzing the unfair trade of the five accounts that realized profits by intensively buying Company C’s stock immediately before the announcement of the decision to issue capital increase and selling all of it immediately after the announcement. If the investigation concludes there are foul play maneuvers in the aforementioned cases, KRX has the right to forward the information to the South Korean financial watchdog, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), to impose fines and, in the worst-case scenario, to delist such offenders companies from the stock markets. Do you think this scrutiny is strict enough to control unfair trading? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Korean Exchange Operator to Oversee Crypto-Linked Stocks in the Midst of Suspicions on Unfair Trading appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cleanspark Inc., a Nevada-based corporation, said Thursday that it is acquiring U.S. bitcoin miner ATL Data Centers for $19.4 million in a deal to be completely settled in shares. Cleanspark specializes in microgrid energy software. It claims that it can use this technology at the ATL facility to create energy savings, expand total power capacity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to a press statement, Nasdaq-listed Cleanspark intends to quadruple the number of ASIC bitcoin miners in operation at ATL. This will happen once the firm adds another 30 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the facility by April 2021, bringing total capacity to 50MW. There are currently 3,471 bitcoin mining units at ATL, with a combined hashrate of 190 petahash per second (PH/s). When the new rigs are fully installed, Cleanspark expects that the facility will increase its bitcoin mining capacity to between 0.9 and 1.4 exahash per second (EH/s). The company said it will “demonstrate” that through the use of its microgrid software, “we can reduce the cost of energy to below $0.0285 per kw/h.” Eventually, the facility will feature a real-time web-based view of power and dollar savings generated by Cleanspark’s technology, it claimed. “We identified energy-intensive companies facing the greatest amount of exposure to high power costs and resiliency risk,” detailed Zachary Bradford, chief executive officer of Cleanspark. “Our prior experience in the digital currency mining industry provided insight into how proper energy management was crucial to successful and profitable mining operations.” In 2018, Cleanspark designed what it calls “a microgrid solution for a ‘stand-alone’ mobile bitcoin mining system.” Bradford said as part of the ATL complex, they now have 23 such mobile mining rigs in addition to the main facility. Shares of Cleanspark soared as much as 13% on the news on Thursday. The stock is up 6.6% at $16.41 in Friday morning trade. In the past 52 weeks, it has oscillated between a low of $0.97 and a high of $16.95. What do you think about Cleanspark’s acquisition and its microgrid software? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Cleanspark Buys US Bitcoin Miner for $19.4 Million, Plans to Quadruple Mining Capacity appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The anonymous Bitcoin Cash proponent called, ‘Bitcoin Man,’ has made the news once again, this time in Fresno California. Bitcoin Man was featured on a local Fox News report on December 11 for creating a “modern-day scavenger hunt” with bitcoin cash-loaded stickers hidden throughout the state. Back in September, news.Bitcoin.com reported on an anonymous individual that distributed 100 pre-loaded bitcoin cash (BCH) stickers in Bakersfield California. One of the stickers also contained a golden sticker worth $500 in BCH. The scavenger hunt stickers loaded with bitcoin cash (BCH) and Bitcoin Man’s money-hunting contest, has managed to get featured by a few media outlets. Now Bitcoin Man is at it again and this time around, he visited Fresno California to disperse a number of BCH-loaded stickers in the region. The Fresno bitcoin cash scavenger hunt was popular and one contest participant managed to find $1,000 in bitcoin cash by finding a golden ticket. The story was also featured on one of the Central Valley’s leading news outlets KMPH Fox 26 News Fresno. The news station’s accompanying video says: “People right here in Fresno are finding free money hidden by someone who calls himself ‘Bitcoin Man.’ We’ll show you how to get in on the growing treasure hunt.” The news anchor also detailed that the anonymous man “created a modern-day scavenger hunt leaving bitcoin cash prizes for people to find in cities all over California. The clues can be found on his Instagram page and this week Bitcoin Man came to Fresno.” Further, Fox 26 Fresno reporters spoke with some of the local winners. “The man behind all of this says he’s doing this for two reasons,” a KMPH Fox 26 street reporter said. “The first is to help people struggling due to the coronavirus. The second is to teach people more about cryptocurrency like bitcoin, using these QR codes posted all around town,” she added. Adam Fisher, one of the scavenger hunt prize winners, told the reporter: The easiest one thousand dollars, the luckiest thousand dollars. What [Bitcoin Man is] doing is so cool. And so I saw that he was in Fresno, and we watched the whole teaser video he did and it had a slight little shot of this [sign] right here. Adam Fisher, one of the scavenger hunt prize winners found $1,000 in bitcoin cash (BCH) by finding a golden ticket. Fisher simply scanned the golden ticket he found in Fresno with his Bitcoin.com Wallet. Another person interviewed by Fox 26 News also said it was a scavenger hunt for money basically. The lucky winner found some BCH-loaded QR codes in the Tower District. Nishea Balajadia found 30 dollars in bitcoin cash (BCH) and said it was a “cool kind of hope” that Bitcoin Man created with the scavenger hunt concept. Balajadia further added that it was just fun to get out of the house. Following Balajadia’s statements, the Fox 26 reporter said the scavenger hunt for bitcoin cash was a “coronavirus friendly activity and a teachable moment.” This was because Balajadia never used cryptocurrency until she joined the bitcoin cash scavenger hunt in Fresno. “All you need is Instagram and the Bitcoin.com Wallet app,” the reporter stressed during the Fox 26 news segment. According to the KMPH report, Bitcoin Man said he plans to hide even more bitcoin cash across Fresno and other regions. All the bitcoin cash scavenger hunters have to do is download the noncustodial Bitcoin.com Wallet app and find the hidden QR codes. Bitcoin Man also revealed that he plans to do the scavenger hunt in every small city in California. He plans to give away a total of $40,000 in bitcoin cash, the KMPH Fox 26 news anchor concluded. Check out Bitcoin Man’s scavenger hunt on KMPH Fox 26 news here and he also uploaded the video to the Reddit forum r/btc as well. “Haha, he is back,” said one Redditor in regard to Bitcoin Man’s Fresno scavenger hunt post. “That is so cool seeing adoption coming, keep going that way man, this is the right strategy,” the BCH supporter added. What do you think about Bitcoin Man’s scavenger hunt in Fresno and his idea to hide bitcoin cash in every small city in California? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Fox News Report Highlights Bitcoin Cash Proponent’s Modern Day Scavenger Hunt appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Global payment companies Mastercard announced on December 10, 2020, its official decision to ban their customers from using credit and debit cards to arrange purchases on one of the biggest adult websites. Visa has taken the same measure on a temporary basis. Mastercard Cuts Ties With Pornhub Following Accusations According to a statement sent through Bloomberg, Mastercard said that after investigating Pornhub “over the past several days,” which “confirmed violations of our standards prohibiting unlawful content on their site.” Another payment processor giant, Visa, decided to block payments on Pornhub temporarily on the same day. They referred to the accusations raised in a column published in the New York Times, who claimed the website allegedly was negligent in removing videos depicting child abuse and non-consensual violence, although Pornhub denies all the accusations. However, Visa and Mastercard are not the first ones who cut ties, indefinitely so far, with Pornhub, as one year ago, Paypal decided to do the same by suspending payments that went to the adult website. Back in January, Pornhub has been making steps towards crypto adoption. One of its first crypto payment methods added was tether (USDT), as in the announcement, the website detailed that the fact that the U.S. dollar backs tether makes it easier and secure for the user to send the payment. The adult site clarified that users could take advantage of wallets that support Tron-based digital assets. Such announcement was backed at that time by Tron’s founder, Justin Sun, who said that “this is a brilliant way to support the victims of centralized payments platforms like Paypal.” Followed by tether’s addition, Pornhub added bitcoin (BTC) and litecoin (LTC) as payment methods for its premium services since September 01, 2020. As of press time, it stands as the tenth most popular website in the world with 7.21 billion monthly visitors. Is this good or bad for crypto? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Mastercard Severs Ties With Pornhub — Is Mainstream Crypto Adoption Coming for the Porn Industry? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A great number of companies have been converting cash reserves into bitcoin during the last few months. At the end of August, the Mediterranean restaurant chain Tahini’s announced the Canadian company converted all of their cash reserves into bitcoin. On Friday, Tahini’s tweeted about the recent crypto reserve conversion, as the team recalled telling the firm’s financial advisor that the precious metal gold and it’s years of being a reliable safe haven are numbered. This year, a great number of private and publicly listed companies have been gathering vast amounts of bitcoin (BTC) and storing the crypto asset as a form of reserve status. For instance, the web portal bitcointreasuries.org shows 23 companies that are holding bitcoin as a reserve. The close to two dozen firms listed hold approximately 888,864 BTC worth over $15 billion or 4.23% of the supply. Back in August, after Microstrategy announced its initial purchase, the Canada-based Mediterranean restaurant establishment Tahini’s announced it converted all of its cash reserves into bitcoin (BTC). “We just converted our entire cash reserves that were originally used as savings into bitcoin,” Tahini’s revealed at the time. On Friday, the restaurant chain’s official Twitter account told the public why it decided to choose bitcoin in contrast to choosing the precious metal gold as a safe haven. “We looked our financial advisor in the eye and told him gold will turn into a scam because of bitcoin,” the company tweeted on Friday. “He laughed and condescendingly came back with the 6,000 years argument,” Tahini’s added. The restaurant owners decided to further explain why the company thinks “gold’s years are numbered.” Tahini’s concedes that gold has been a store-of-value for a very long time and used in jewelry. Then the Twitter account noted that individuals in the gold sales industry like Peter Schiff “will lie to you and tell you that gold’s value comes from practical use cases like electronics,” Tahini’s said. “Gold does get used for other things besides a store of value, but that demand is not what gives gold a $10 trillion dollar market cap,” the Canadian restaurant owners insisted. Instead, Tahini’s believes that large countries and institutions hoarding gold in vaults is what has been giving gold long term value. For millennia this has worked Tahini’s said because “gold was always the scarcest asset with the highest Stock/Flow ratio.” However, Tahini’s stressed that “Bitcoin changed that.” Tahini’s opinion is that bitcoin is “1,000x better than gold in all aspects” and gives 14 reasons why the firm thinks the crypto asset is better. For one, unlike gold, bitcoin is “100% monetary premium which means it is not used for electronics or any other use cases other than pure money.” “Bitcoin dematerializes value and makes it digital which made it easier to move value across the world without the need for any third parties,” the company wrote. “We can move $100 million from Canada to the UK to Australia and back to Canada in 2 hours for 30 bucks max. To do that with gold you will need an armed security team and [it] will cost you from 300 to 500 thousand dollars [and] take [four] to [five] months,” Tahini’s added. The restaurant owners further said that because gold is so heavy, some countries like Venezuela store their gold elsewhere and risk it being confiscated. Tahini’s wrote that even common citizens will go to great lengths to smuggle gold and illustrated their point by referring to a man who got caught storing gold bullion in his rectum recently. “Gold is scarce but bitcoin is absolutely scarce— A very important differentiation,” the company said. “Gold miners currently mine 2% of the gold supply every year. The higher the price of gold goes, the more resources will be spent on trying to mine more gold— Just like oil.” In the future, Tahini’s expects gold mining technology to improve and in contrast, bitcoin’s supply issuance is fixed and has a difficulty adjustment. The company concluded with a few more reasons why BTC was better than gold, and further noted that precious metals investors can “easily be surprised that a discovery of a new gold mine will soon flood the market.” During Tahini’s summary of gold versus bitcoin, the company also said that it disagreed with investors like Dan Tapiero, Paul Tudor Jones, and Stan Druckenmiller that “think gold and bitcoin are cousins.” “Bitcoin’s supply is verifiable to the last 1/100millionth unit simply by running a full node on your laptop,” Tahini’s determined in its Twitter thread. “While gold bugs will tell you that gold scarce— There is no accurate way of verifying that scarcity to the last ounce.” What do you think about the Canada-based Middle Eastern restaurant chain Tahini’s opinion that bitcoin is 1000x superior to gold? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Restaurant Chain That Converted Cash Reserves Into Bitcoin Says Gold’s Safe Haven Days Are Numbered appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article