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Police in South Korea on Wednesday raided and seized the offices of Coinbit, the country’s third largest crypto exchange, over allegations it faked 99% of its trading volume. According to a report from Seoul News, local police took control of Coinbit’s headquarters in Gangnam as well as other sites elsewhere. Police accuse the exchange’s owner Choi Mo and other managers of “wash trading”. For about a year until May 2020, the process earned Coinbit 100 billion won ($84 million) in profit fraudulently, it said. A wash trade is a form of market manipulation in which an investor simultaneously sells and buys the same financial asset to create misleading, artificial activity in the marketplace. It is illegal in most jurisdictions. In the case of Coinbit, the exchange was functionally split into two operational accounts containing all user funds, say police. Fraud within the first account involved major cryptocurrencies bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), ripple (XRP), and tether (USDT), which Coinbit staff moved internally between “ghost accounts”. The other account exclusively traded dubious altcoins and initial exchange offerings. The firm prevented transactions with outside exchanges so that the owner and management were able to control the supply of coins. Choi and his team manipulated this structure by trading large quantities of the listed crypto and then dumping them on unsuspecting retail traders. According to the newspaper report, authorities are also questioning the possibility of additional malpractice and embezzlement. The paper said it examined Coinbit’s books before alerting the police. It held off its report at the police’s request, but its investigations found discrepancies in the deposits and withdrawals of 99% of the trading volumes. An accounting firm refused to work with Coinbit after reviewing its accounts, the paper said. In April, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service also refused to sign-off the exchange’s financial statements, which had not been externally audited. Coinbit had 252,000 visitors in the last three months and is only surpassed by Bithumb and Upbit in South Korea. Police investigations are ongoing. As South Korea drafts crypto laws, there is concern that more such seizures could follow. What do you think about the Coinbit seizure? Let us know in the comments section below? The post Korean Police Seize Crypto Exchange Coinbit Over Allegations of $84 Million in Wash Trades appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX has acquired the popular portfolio tracking app Blockfolio for $150 million in a bid to gain a foothold in the crypto retail market. The deal – consummated after nine months of negotiation – was settled using a combination of cash, crypto, and stock, both companies detailed. It is one of the biggest acquisitions in the digital asset industry’s short history. According to a blog post published Aug. 26, the firms are currently working on a retail trading application that is expected to fit into Blockfolio’s existing product offering. The newest app will be released in September. The companies did not provide further details about the planned feature. For Hong Kong-based FTX, the plan is to expand into the retail market by leveraging Blockfolio’s popularity. The app, which boasts six million users and 150 million page views each month, allows retail traders to track crypto prices and monitor their portfolios in real-time. More than 600 exchangers utilize Blockfolio’s tools to communicate with their customers. Launched in 2019, FTX provides a suite of crypto derivatives trading products such as futures and options contracts. The exchange reportedly manages $750 million of trading volume per day. FTX is also planning to launch a decentralized exchange (DEX) called Serum on the Solana blockchain soon. Blockfolio is targeting to tap into this market. Ed Moncada, chief executive officer and co-founder of Blockfolio, was quoted by industry media as saying: We believe crypto is on the cusp of mainstream adoption. So we are thrilled with the potential of uniting one of the best product teams in our industry with what we are convinced is the best exchange in the space. In a press statement, FTX said the acquisition of Blockfolio represents “a chance to bring its powerful trading suite and industry-leading liquidity to a new audience.” The exchange’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried added: “The goal here is to be able to offer the best product that can leverage the loyal following that Ed has built out. That means giving access to Blockfolio to all of the entities we have and for each user, hooking them up with what fits them.” The FTX-Blockfolio deal ranks among the largest mergers and acquisitions within the crypto industry. It is smaller than Binance’s reported $400 million purchase of Coinmarketcap as well as the $350 million merger of Lightyear and Chan, which led to the founding of Interstellar. However, it is bigger than the Tron Foundation’s $125 million acquisition of Bit Torrent. What do you think about FTX’s acquisition of Blockfolio? Let us know in the comment section below. The post Crypto Exchange FTX Buys Blockfolio for $150 Million in Effort To Expand Retail Presence appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The fervor for cryptocurrency assets in Russia has grown wild over the last few years. This week Xangle Research published a comprehensive report about digital currencies and the Russian environment in 2020. The study’s findings show that Russia is one of the world’s key players when it comes to the crypto economy, but finding reliable information about the subject is “not very easy to find,” researchers stress. It’s safe to say that Russia is one of the regions in the world where cryptocurrency adoption is booming, but it’s hard to verify the regulatory climate in the area. A recently published study from Xangle Research explains that the country is a hotbed for crypto in 2020. The research also quotes Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) who has said: “Russia is our key market, one of the most active markets in the global blockchain space.” Exchanges that see a lot of internet traffic that stems from Russia. The Xangle Research report is a comprehensive look at the crypto economy’s relationship with Russia this year, and the author also highlights that the region is a “key market for crypto.” Two of the biggest sectors in Russia that currently fuels the crypto environment is mining and trading. Demand for crypto trading is high,” Xangle’s report notes. “Russia [also] owns the [third] biggest BTC mining power (hashrate) in the world: 6.9% comes from Russia as of April 2020, according to Cbeci.org,” the study highlights. At present, Russia commands the third-largest Bitcoin hashrate in the world. Additionally, the 2020 crypto report covering the country says a “large portion of the traffic to major crypto exchanges come from Russia.” Xangle’s stats show that Binance captures most of the Russian traffic and the trading platform is followed by Coinbase, Bithumb, and Kraken respectively. “Crypto derivatives exchanges are also very popular in Russia,” the study reveals, disclosing the two most popular platforms include Bitmex, and Bybit. Crypto asset exchanges that offer ruble fiat on-ramps. Digital currency exchanges that offer ruble fiat on-ramps have some of the highest Russian internet traffic. Trading platforms such as Binance, Okex, and P2pb2b have RUB as a fiat-on-ramp, and some of the top sources of traffic as well. Despite the large internet traffic, the ruble is “not actively used in trading” as it only represents a market share of “less than 0.3%.” “Despite the popularity of RUB as fiat-on-ramp, it is not actively used in trading,” the Xangle Research report highlights. The Xangle Research report also mentions some of the regulatory climate in Russia concerning digital currencies. The study discusses the recent law that will come into force on January 1, 2021 signed by Vladimir Putin, which gives legal status to cryptocurrency. Further, the report also mentions how the largest bank in Russia, Sberbank, is considering the creation of a stablecoin. “We probably may issue a stablecoin on the basis of the law that has been adopted recently. As we can peg this stablecoin to the ruble, this token could become a basis or an instrument for settlements involving other digital financial assets,” Sergey Popov, the director of transaction business at Sberbank told the media this year. Despite the law’s crypto recognition, Xangle researchers highlight that the cryptocurrency law Putin signed still prohibits the use of crypto as a means of payment in Russia. Among a number of luminaries, experts, and politicians quoted in Xangle’s 17-page study, the authors also quote Putin’s recent statements. “The Central Bank of the Russian Federation considers cryptocurrency neither a means of payment nor a store of value,” the Russian President’s statement says at the end of Xangle’s Russian crypto study. “Cryptocurrency is not backed by anything. One should treat it cautiously, carefully,” Putin stressed. What do you think about the Xangle Research report called “Crypto Asset Market: Russia in 2020?” Let us know what you think in the comments section below. The post Report: Russia Remains a ‘Key Market for Crypto,’ Commands the 3rd Largest Bitcoin Hashrate in the World appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has begun sending new warning letters to cryptocurrency owners. This followed the tax agency prioritizing cryptocurrency on its tax forms. “The IRS is getting very serious about cryptocurrency tax compliance,” a tax expert told news.Bitcoin.com. IRS Sending New Warning Letters The IRS has started sending out a new round of tax letters to cryptocurrency owners. Several tax service providers revealed on Tuesday that their clients have received a warning letter from the IRS similar to those the agency sent to about 10,000 crypto owners last year. There are three types of letters. The first type, Letter 6173, specifies a date by which the taxpayer must respond or their tax account will be examined by the agency. The other two, Letter 6174 and 6174-A, only remind taxpayers of their tax obligations. The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS, has said that the IRS letters violate taxpayers’ rights. “We have information that you have or had one or more accounts containing virtual currency but may not have properly reported your transactions involving virtual currency, which include cryptocurrency and non-crypto virtual currencies,” reads Letter 6174-A, shared by bitcoin tax software provider Cointracker. The letter is dated Aug. 14. The IRS letter proceeds to advise cryptocurrency owners that if they did not accurately report the cryptocurrency transactions on the federal income tax return, they should “file amended returns or delinquent returns.” The agency warned: If you do not accurately report your virtual currency transactions, you may be subject to future civil and criminal enforcement activity. Cointracker co-founder Chandan Lodha shared with news.Bitcoin.com on Tuesday: “We don’t know for sure where the IRS got the user list, however we have seen Coinbase as a common exchange synced across users who are receiving these letters so that does seem likely.” He continued: “We also know from the US government that in addition to Coinbase subpoena data, they also receive 1099 reports from exchanges, have subpoenaed other exchanges including non-US exchanges like Bitstamp, and are using blockchain analytics software like Chainalysis, Coinbase analytics, and Palantir. They have even gone so as far as to start trying to de-anonymize on-chain privacy coin transactions.” Lodha outlined that in the past 12 months, the IRS sent out warning letters, added a cryptocurrency question to Schedule 1, issued new crypto tax guidance, and solicited contractors to help them with crypto tax audits. Last week, the agency moved the crypto tax question from Schedule 1 to the front page of Form 1040. He emphasized: The trend seems to be pretty clear: the IRS is getting very serious about cryptocurrency tax compliance. What do you think about the IRS’ warning letters to crypto owners? Let us know in the comments section below. The post IRS Sends Fresh Round of Tax Warning Letters to Cryptocurrency Owners appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Akon has joined bitcoin entrepreneur Brock Pierce’s 2020 campaign to become the president of the United States. Akon will serve as the chief strategist for the Pierce campaign while building his “futuristic” Akon City in Senegal, Africa, that will be run on the akoin cryptocurrency. Akon: The Chief Strategist for Brock Pierce’s 2020 Presidential Campaign The two time Grammy Award-nominated artist and crypto entrepreneur Akon, whose full name is Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, has joined independent candidate Brock Pierce’s 2020 presidential campaign. Pierce, an early bitcoin adopter who founded Blockchain Capital and co-founded Tether, tweeted on Monday: We are excited for Akon to join our campaign as chief strategist. “Not only is Akon one of the most well-known artists globally, he is a successful global businessman and philanthropist,” Pierce, who announced his candidacy in July, said in a statement quoted by Cheddar. “I started my life as an artist so I have the utmost respect for culture and the arts — without it we are lost. His aspirations to be in politics, to be in civil service, and what he has accomplished in Africa and beyond will be valuable for our platform on a regional, national, and world-wide level.” “I have always known Brock Pierce to be a standup guy,” Akon told the publication. “He’s a real people’s person and he doesn’t operate between party lines. We share the same dream of pushing America forward for everyone without showing favoritism to one particular base.” Pierce was also an inspiration for Akon to create his own cryptocurrency called akoin. This cryptocurrency will be used in Akon City, the futuristic city Akon is building in his home country of Senegal, Africa. Phase one of Akon City is expected to be completed by 2023 and the entire city is expected to be completed in 2029. Phase one will include a 5,000-bed hospital, homes, hotels, schools, police and fire stations, an airstrip, a mall, a waste facility, a solar power plant, and all the other hallmarks of modern-day cities. Furthermore, Hollywood film producer and akoin co-founder Jon Karas learned about bitcoin from Pierce, according to Micky publication. Brock Pierce is currently on the ballot in eight U.S. states and Washington, D.C., which is more than any other independent candidate in 2020, including Kanye West, Cheddar detailed. West announced his running for the 2020 U.S. presidential race at roughly the same time Pierce did. Pierce has also petitioned to join the ballot in several more states. Entrepreneur Karla Ballard will be his vice president while data rights activist and whistleblower Brittany Kaiser is Pierce’s campaign manager. Kaiser was a key whistleblower in the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, exposing the abuse of data in elections around the world. On Monday, the Independence Party of New York announced its endorsement for Pierce as the next U.S. president. The party says it has more than 500,000 members statewide. “Honored to be nominated by the Independence Party of New York as their candidate for President of the United States of America,” Pierce tweeted in response. What do you think about Akon joining Brock Pierce’s presidential campaign? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Akon Joins Presidential Campaign of Bitcoin Entrepreneur Brock Pierce as Chief Strategist appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

One of the world’s largest darknet markets (DNM), Empire Market, allegedly exit scammed after the marketplace was taken offline for a number of days this week. DNM patrons are upset about Empire Market’s departure and customers say that $30 million in bitcoin held by the darknet’s admins has been stolen. Three days ago news.Bitcoin.com reported on the Empire Market’s recent downtime, as our report had shown the DNM was offline for more than 36 hours. At the time, much of the blame was cast at a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. However, as time continued to unwind; customers, vendors, and DNM researchers started discussing “exit scam” theories more regularly. An exit scam is when the moderators of a darknet marketplace suddenly shut the operation down with no warning, and users and vendor funds are stolen. For instance, at times vendors pay a deposit in order to list wares on specific DNMs and customers also keep funds in the DNMs wallets and in escrow systems during exchanges. Exit scams in the past have allowed DNM moderators to walk away with millions in bitcoin by suddenly shutting down the operation and going offline. It is assumed as of right now that Empire Market has officially exit scammed, as discussions about the downed DNM are all over forums and social media on Wednesday. The Twitter account @Darkdotfail or Dark.fail explained early Wednesday morning (ET) that the DNM is gone, ending a long “golden age” of trust. “Empire, the largest darknet cryptomarket is gone. With no explanation from its admins and no announcement from law enforcement, this looks like a devastating exit scam,” Dark.fail tweeted. “The darknet was in a golden age of trust. Expect a rough year of exit scams ahead as trust is rediscovered.” Dark.fail’s thread continues by adding that the massive DNM was launched in January 2018 after the fall of the infamous Alphabay marketplace. Empire Market quickly grew to 1.3 million users in a matter of no time. Dark.fail’s Twitter thread estimates that Empire staff members may have gotten away with around $30 million from the exit scam. “A staff member estimates under the condition of anonymity that the admins profited 2,638 BTC, $30 million USD,” the researcher notes. Empire Market has been down since it went offline on August 22, 2020, which is a total of four consecutive days. Reports say that even though the DNM operators have stolen around 2,638 BTC, onchain funds stemming from the DNM have not moved yet. On the Reddit forum r/darknet a great number of the 128,000 subscribers are talking about the incident. Some posts assume that the Empire Market “money is gone” and people have been checking the BTC addresses they leveraged while using the marketplace. Individuals are also discussing how much they lost from Empire Market’s sudden departure. Some Empire users claim to have lost just a few dollars, others lost hundreds, and a few people said the moderators got a few thousand from their purses. “$5.5k in escrow [right now] for me,” said one Empire patron. [Two] orders arrived yesterday, $500, and $350 (couldn’t finalize em though).” On the DNM forum called Dread, a known Empire staff member named “Se7en” said the marketplace was indeed down but he doesn’t believe it was an exit scam. Although many DNM insiders do not believe Se7en’s story and some have insisted that “Se7en deleted his Dread account.” The researcher Dark.fail has also been discussing the character called Se7en as well. Dark.fail’s recent Twitter thread highlights that “eight major sites exit scammed in 2019 after Wall Street Market’s seizure, yet Empire remained trustworthy.” The Twitter account and a number of Empire fans on the Reddit forum r/darknet also said a lot of people assumed Empire Market would be different. “Launched ‘in the memory of Alexandre Cazes’ – the alleged AlphaBay admin who committed suicide – many believed that Empire was not operating out of greed, but to continue AlphaBay’s movement,” Dark.fail added. The Twitter account and DNM analyst further stated: What really caused this sudden disappearance with everyone’s money? We may never know. What do you think about the possible demise of the DNM Empire Market? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Sources Say World’s Largest Darknet Empire Market Exit Scammed, $30 Million in Bitcoin Stolen appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Minereum, the project behind the first self-mining smart contract, has released a new crypto bond allowing investors to earn up to 50% a year on their digital assets. The Minereum Crypto Bond is described as a blockchain experiment to prove that it is technically possible to bring traditional bond functionalities into a distributed ledger. This is an exciting offer for savers and a major development in the growing DeFi space. Earn up to 50% a Year With the Minereum Crypto Bond Minereum has recently announced to the community that its new Crypto Bond is now live. Traditional bonds are considered to be among the safest and most predictable securities among long term investors, but they were always dependent on trusting centralized issuers such as municipalities, governments and corporations to not default on their debt. Minereum solved this issue by bringing bonds into the future of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and pioneering bonds guaranteed by indisputable software code instead of just promises. Launched in April 2017 with an airdrop as the first self-mining smart contract, Minereum allows users to generate new coins without the need for crypto mining equipment, letting the code do all the work. The project has undergone a new airdrop in March 2020 with about 1.2 million addresses participating, adding a variety of new features such as decentralized trading, staking and a provably fair on-chain Lucky Draw game. How the Minereum Crypto Bond Works Similar to traditional bonds, the Minereum Crypto Bond has three factors that investors need to understand: Maturity, Yield and the Bond value. Maturity is the duration of the bond, which you can currently choose to be between 1, 3 and 5 years. Value is the amount of MNE you want to invest in the bond. Yield is paid out to you yearly for the duration of the bond you choose. Once you generate a bond, the yield is fixed based on the selected duration and never changes. There are 3 available yields to start with: 30% for 1 year maturity, 40% for 3 years and an incredible 50% for 5 years. If you are not familiar with how bonds work this means that by investing 100 MNE in a bond you can earn 50 MNE each year for 5 years and when the bond expires you also get back the 100 MNE you invested. Minereum explained that yields are planned to decrease over time for new bonds so hurry to invest if you want to take advantage of these terms (they can’t change for generated bonds). An important difference from traditional bonds is that in the Minereum Crypto Bond there is no debt, your tokens will simply be locked for the duration of the bond. Additionally, Minereum is not a centralized company, but a decentralized smart contract on the ether blockchain. To participate in this offer all you will need is a web3 wallet such as Metamask for desktop or Coinbase Wallet for mobile devices, and the amount of MNE wanted for investing in the ethereum address you are using in your web3 browser. If you don’t have MNE yet, you can simply buy it on Livecoin.net, the MNE DEX and Uniswap Exchange. To learn more about Minereum and how you can invest in the new MNE Crypto Bond visit the project’s website at www.minereum.com and get involved with the community. This is a sponsored post. Learn more on how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. The post Minereum Launches Crypto Bond With up To 50% Yield appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Regional reports say that officials from Inner Mongolia delineated 21 bitcoin mines, as the region plans to stop subsidized electrical rates for certain data firms. Unless the bitcoin mining facilities pack up and migrate, mining farms may see an electrical price increase by one third. The Chinese newsdesk Weixin revealed that bitcoin mining farms located in Inner Mongolia will no longer be able to access subsidized electricity. A blockchain journalist based in China, Colin Wu, reports that on August 24, the Inner Mongolia Department of Industry and Information Technology issued an electrical policy notice. A rough translation of the notice says it is called the “Notice on Matters Related to Mining Enterprises’ Participation in Inner Mongolia Electric Power Multilateral Trading Market.” The Weixin report notes that at the end of 2019, a number of on-site inspections into more than 30 data and computing companies had found 21 mining operations. A large number of Chinese miners operate within Inner Mongolia’s borders including a very large bitcoin mine located in the city of Ordos, which is maintained by Bitmain. Officials from China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region ostensibly enforced action in September 2019 in order to clean up “illegal” bitcoin mining facilities capitalizing on subsidized electricity. Weixin’s recent findings also said the firms did not qualify or match Inner Mongolia’s Electric Power Multilateral Trading Market criteria. On Twitter, Wu told his followers that officials “will increase the overall electricity price by about 1/3.” “Miners are worried [that] Xinjiang will follow,” the reporter added. Between Sichuan, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and other areas in China, data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index shows the country captures more than 60% of Bitcoin’s (BTC) global hashrate. Responding to Wu’s tweet a few people were pleased and hoped bitcoin miners decide to migrate elsewhere. “Very good, hashrate [will] go to other places. You will be very welcomed,” the individual wrote in response to Wu’s tweet. The Inner Mongolia Electric Power Multilateral Trading Market was introduced in 2010 and it was the first provincial power market in China. Since the introduction of the power trading market advocates believe the method is an effective approach to bolster Inner Mongolia’s infrastructure development. Moreover, government officials leverage the power trading market to cushion electric power exports to the rest of China. When the Inner Mongolian inspection team concluded on-site inspections of the data centers the investigators conceded that relevant departments could recover 6.732 billion yuan ($960 million) after removing certain entities from subsidization. Last November, the Department of Industry and Information Technology of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued a notice about the inspections and the “rectification of virtual currency mining enterprises.” The notice said that bitcoin mining didn’t add anything to the “real economy” and mining consumers a massive amount of energy. Chinese miners may have to find a way to avoid higher electrical prices and some may have to develop in places like Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Iran. In fact, Chinese bitcoin miners have been developing strong relationships in the oil-rich nation as well as crypto mining facilities in Iran. Weixin’s report concludes that currently, Inner Mongolia’s electrical load cost for crypto miners is still lower than Xinjiang and Sichuan. What do you think about Inner Mongolian officials making bitcoin miners pay a ⅓ more than usual? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Official Notice Says Cheap Electricity to End for Inner Mongolian Bitcoin Miners appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Los Angeles, California, August 25th, 2020 – The global cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Global has announced the listing of SENSO token, the in-platform currency of Sensorium Galaxy, a social VR platform that rethinks the way people interact with each other and experience the arts. Developed on the Ethereum platform, SENSO token drives all value transactions within the VR alternate universe. Sensorium Galaxy is being built in partnership with world-known artists and producers, including the creator of the nightlife hubs Ushuaïa Ibiza and Hï Ibiza Yann Pissenem. Similar to popular games like Fortnite, the business model of Sensorium Galaxy is based on a free-to-play model, where profits come from event ticket sales, premium accounts, and in-game merchandise. The company expects to acquire over 1,8 million users by the end of 2022 who would pay for the access to the content exclusively with SENSO tokens. The listing will take place on Tuesday August 25th, with trading of the SENSO-ETH and SENSO-BTC pairs opening at 11:00AM PDT . Sensorium Galaxy will go live in H1 2021. It was first introduced to the public in 2019 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, United States. Since its foundation in 2018 it has attracted over $100 million in investments. About Sensorium Corporation Sensorium Corporation oversees both the technological development of the Sensorium Galaxy as well as the full-scale management and production of its content offerings. The corporation supplies the Sensorium Galaxy with events and experiences through top-tier global content partnerships. The Sensorium Corporation also collaborates with leading VR and AI players to ensure the Galaxy always delivers the best experiences. To date, the Sensorium Galaxy project has raised over $100 million in investments. Website: https://sensoriumxr.com/ About Sensorium Galaxy Sensorium Galaxy is a multi-user social platform designed to seamlessly stream live content in virtual reality to fans from all over the world. The platform allows a new perception of virtual reality, going beyond its former secluded nature and, in fact, is a product of the evolution of social networking, taking users beyond the use of one-dimensional platforms. The alternate universe of Sensorium Galaxy consists of multiple planets which act as hubs for thematic content. Each of the planets include various scenarios for social interaction, including live events and activities, as well as a series of on-demand setups from the content library. Unlike other virtual reality platforms, the AI component of the Sensorium Galaxy permits users’ avatars to continue learning and evolving within the platform without direct control of the user. Website: https://sensoriumgalaxy.com/ About Bittrex Global Bittrex Global is an internationally trusted global cryptocurrency exchange owned by US-based digital trading platform Bittrex. Bittrex is known for its stringent listing process, evaluating projects on their commitment to their mission statement, innovation, underlying technology, business model, and regulatory compliance. The combination of a strict listing process, fast transactions, military grade security, and regulatory compliance have earned Bittrex Global recognition as one of the world’s most trustworthy crypto exchanges. In September 2019, the Blockchain Transparency Network (BTI) nominated Bittrex Global as one of blockchain’s most transparent exchanges. It was also listed by CoinGecko as one of the world’s top five cryptocurrency exchanges based on trading volume and reliability. To learn more about Bittrex Global, visit: https://global.bittrex.com/. 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 Bittrex Global Announces Listing of Sensorium (SENSO) appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Zambian President Edgar Lungu fired the country’s central bank governor Denny Kalyalya last week sparking fears that government wants to end the institution’s independence. Kaylalya was immediately replaced by Christopher Mvunga who reportedly has close ties to the President. The abrupt decision, which sent shockwaves across Zambian financial markets, saw the country’s currency, the Kwacha shedding 0.7% against the greenback to reach an all-time low of 19.20 kwachas to a single U.S. dollar. Since the start of the year, the Kwacha depreciated by more than 25%. According to a report, the President’s decision came as Zambia, which is the world’s second-largest producer of copper, is expecting its economy to contract by 4.2% in 2020. Zambian President Edgar Lungu. Although no official reason has been given for the sacking, many experts believe that President Lungu wants to fight the effects of the global pandemic Covid-19 economy with increased spending. The closure of the economy has curbed the country’s revenue inflows. Undoing some of the negative effects emanating from the Covid-19 pandemic will boost the President’s chances in next year’s elections. Before his termination, Kalyalya had “repeatedly urged the government to cut the fiscal deficit amid ballooning debt and falling foreign-exchange reserves.” Falling foreign exchange reserves, in turn, exert more pressure on the Kwacha currency. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is weighing the country’s request for a financial bailout, issued a statement reacting to Kalyalya’s sacking. In its comments, the IMF reminded Zambia that “is it imperative that central banks’ operational independence and credibility is maintained, particularly at this critical time when economic stability is threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic.” Meanwhile, in an unusual public rebuke of an African government by another, South Africa’s Finance Minister Tito Mboweni attacked the decision on Twitter. “Presidents in Africa must stop this nonsense of waking up in the morning and fire a Central Bank Governor,” Mboweni said. “You cannot do that. This is not some fiefdoms of yours! Your personal property?! No!!” he further exclaimed. Mboweni, the former governor of the South African Reserve Bank, has since been reprimanded for his comments by the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa. In the meantime, Zambian economic commentators offered varying views on Kalyalya’s sacking and what this possibly means for the economy. Still, many argue the decision is ill-timed and sends the wrong signals. One of the commentators quoted in the report is Grieve Chelwa, an economics lecturer at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. Chelwa suggests that “there’s been a struggle for control over the central bank,” which preceded the President’s decision. He adds that the final move to fire Kalyalya “might be a response to the government’s failure to push through a constitutional amendment that would remove the responsibility of printing currency from the Bank of Zambia.” Chelwa expressed fears that the appointment of “pliant” Mvunga as Kalyalya’s replacement, means Zambia might be following the path walked by Zimbabwe until its economy collapsed in 2008. “Kalyalya’s removal could push Zambia toward the soaring inflation seen in Zimbabwe in the 2000s,” the report quotes Chelwa saying. Zimbabwe faced its worst hyperinflation in the period between 2005 and 2008 leading to the collapse of its currency in 2008. Zambia’s current inflation of 16 percent is likely to get worse if the government gets its way and the central bank starts to inject more money into the economy. The resulting high inflation levels will push Zambians to search for alternatives that are immune to government-induced inflation such as bitcoin. Already, Zambians are active traders of digital assets on popular peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platforms. According to data sourced from some of the leading P2P bitcoin trading platforms, Zambia is one country with active traders. However, weekly trade volumes attributed to the country are still thin, as they do not exceed $25,000. However, if Mvunga purses inflationary monetary policies as many experts are predicting, traded volumes on P2P crypto trading platforms will soar as ordinary Zambians seek refuge in digital assets. What do you think is going to happen to the Zambian economy after this decision? Share your thoughts in the comments section below The post Hyperinflation and Currency Collapse Fears After Zambian President Fires Central Bank Governor appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On September 4-6, Bitcoin Cash engineers will be holding the third annual developers’ conference dubbed “BCH Devcon III.” More than 30+ bitcoin cash ($8,300) will be available in prizes for winning teams who participate in the 72-hour hackathon. Software developers are gearing up for the third annual hackathon, BCH Devcon III, an event that’s aimed at fueling Bitcoin Cash (BCH) development. The event’s website explains that the community of programmers will gather for 72 non-stop hours of hacking and all the participants can compete for the top prizes. Similarly to the voting process used in the past, BCH Devcon will leverage project votes from sponsors via the Simple Ledger Protocol. Additionally, prizes will be airdropped via a SLP dividend calculation tool. On Friday, September 4th, 2020 at 00:00 UTC, the hackathon coding will begin and the event will kick off with a live stream of the event. At 00:00 UTC on Monday, September 7, the coding will stop. BCH Devcon workshops will be hosted by well known software engineers like Chris Troutner with a seminar on the Bitcoin Cash JavaScript Library. Other workshops will include the SLP JavaScript Library (JT Freeman), SWAP Protocol (Vin Armani), BCH C#/.NET API (Fernando Pelliccioni), Bitcoin Cash Smart Cards (Tobias Ruck), and an “Introduction to Cashscript,” by Jerry Qian. I'm happy to announce we now have a full brazilian team (4 members) competing on @DevConcash we will meet you there #BCH #BitcoinCashBrasil — alcipir (@alcipir) August 25, 2020 Currently, BCH Devcon III has five sponsors including FullStack.cash, Satoshi’s Angels, Grapefruit Trading, General Protocols, and Bitcoin Bay. The event is hosted by a Bitcoin Cash community leader from southern California, Christian, who also operates the Bitcoin Cast podcast. Furthermore, BCH Devcon III is being organized by the organizer of the BCH Devcon hackathon in Amsterdam, Eléonore Blanc. Individuals who are interested in participating in the 2020 BCH Devcon hackathon can register by visiting the event’s web portal. Further programmers and interested parties can discuss the event by leveraging the BCH Devcon III Discord channel. Eléonore Blanc also discusses the upcoming BCH Devcon III on the recently published Bitcoin Cast show episode 43. News.Bitcoin.com readers can check out Bitcoin Cast podcast by leveraging the link below. What do you think about the BCH Devcon III hackathon? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Developers Plan to Compete in Bitcoin Cash-Fueled Hackathon ‘BCH Devcon III’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The decentralized finance (defi) open-source protocol built on Ethereum, Aave, has surpassed the Maker Dao project in terms of total-value-locked (TVL) this week. The lending and borrowing platform Aave has $1.43 billion locked on Tuesday climbing 7.7% in the last 24-hours. On August 25, the defi project Aave (the Finnish word for ‘ghost’) has seen it’s TVL supersede the Maker Dao project. Essentially Aave is an open-source, noncustodial protocol that has allowed individuals to stake credit lines by leveraging a myriad of digital assets. After the first month of launch, Aave’s protocol TVL had over $5 million in liquidity locked and it jumped 28,500% since then. At the time of publication, Aave is the top defi application on the website defipulse.com representing $1.43 billion locked into the protocol. On Tuesday, August 25, 2020, the Aave protocol’s TVL reached $1.43 billion. Maker Dao holds around $1.42 billion on Tuesday, as the lending protocol Maker is usually the top defi app in terms of TVL. Basically, Aave (previously known as Ethlend) allows for decentralized lending and borrowing using a variety of cryptocurrencies while also leveraging variable and stable interest rates. Individuals also utilize Aave for flash loans, a loan that must be executed within a single Ethereum transaction. Aave has outpaced the Maker lending project which typically dominates the defi ecosystem. Flash loans if executed properly can allow anyone to borrow liquidity from the Aave protocol and they don’t need to provide any collateral. As long as the liquidity is reimbursed within the one transaction in a single block, the loan will carry out as planned. Aave’s lending and borrowing protocol at times can remove the need for capital, which essentially lowers the barrier to entry. Stablecoins are the biggest players on the Aave protocol with Maker’s DAI, Circle’s USDC, Trueusd, Tether, and sUSD dominating Aave on Tuesday, August 25, 2020. In addition to the platform’s recent surge in popularity, Aave’s U.K. business entity, Aave Limited, was recently issued an Electronic Money Institution license. Documents show Aave was approved by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on July 7, 2020. Aave is also in the midst of transitioning to V2, a fully autonomous system called the “genesis governance.” The team believes that in time the project can encompass tokenized mortgages on the Ethereum blockchain. In a recent blog post Aave’s Marc Zeller hinted at the concept concerning tokenized real estate. “The Aave Protocol will now allow the governance to open private markets to support tokenized assets of all kinds,” Zeller wrote. “A collaboration between Real-T and the Aave Protocol is in the works to push DeFi even further and bring mortgages on Ethereum.” In addition to the FCA approval, Aave launched a website dedicated to its position as an Electronic Money Institution in the U.K. region. Flash loans have been a big part of Aave’s popularity and news.Bitcoin.com reported on how there’s been over $100 million a day in flash loans using the lending protocol. Moreover, developers have created programs like Furucombo that combine all the defi applications together in order to execute combined actions within a single transaction. However, Furucombo’s website notes the program is beta software, and it “should be treated as highly unstable.” What do you think about Aave’s TVL surpassing Maker and the project’s recent Electronic Money Institution license? Let us know what you think in the comments below. The post Aave Protocol Outpaces Maker With $1.4B Locked, Defi Project Granted UK Electronic Money License appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitmain Technologies Inc. said Monday that Nasdaq-listed Riot Blockchain is buying 8,000 of its Antminer S19 Pro bitcoin miners in a deal worth $17.7 million. In a blog post, the Chinese crypto mining hardware maker stated that the machines will be delivered in batches of 2,000 over four straight months starting January 2021. “We are glad to continue and expand our cooperation with Riot. Riot is a long-term friend of ours, and we have witnessed and assisted them in building up a powerful mining operation in North America,” said Irene Gao, Bitmain’s Antminer sales director of NCSA Region. “We believe this new purchase help will Riot expand a leading position in the market and fulfill their business vision, which we are more than happy to be and continue being part of,” she added. The Antminer 19 series uses the latest generation of SHA256 Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) from Bitmain, making it more energy-efficient compared to previous models from the Beijing-based entity. Specifically, the Antminer S19 Pro, which was released earlier this year, comes with a hashrate of 110 terahash per second (TH/s) and a power efficiency of 29.5 joules per terahash (J/TH). At a price of $2,407, the miner is not particularly cheap compared to other competing machines within its range. However, the S19 Pro is the most profitable bitcoin miner on the market currently, generating up to $5.79 of profit each day, according to data from F2pool, a global BTC mining network. Microbt’s Whatsminer M30S++, which boasts a hashrate of 112 TH/s and power efficiency of 31 J/TH, rakes in a daily profit of $5.70. Jeff McGonegal, chief executive of Riot Blockchain, said that the new Antminer units will help the Colorado-based company reach its hashrate goal of 1.45 exahash per second (EH/s) on 47 megawatts of electricity “by early 2021.” “…Sourcing hardware can be exceptionally challenging during the current pandemic and in this economic climate. Bitmain provided us with exceptional service in a path towards achieving our goal and because of their robust supply chain we are scheduled to exceed it,” he said. Riot Blockchain currently operates more than 15,000 Bitmain bitcoin miners, including the older Antminer S17 Pro machines. Its order follows another by Marathon Patent Group earlier this month, which is purchasing $23 million worth of the S19 Pro BTC miner from Bitmain. Another U.S. firm, Core Scientific bought 17,600 machines from the Chinese company in June. What do you think about U.S. companies aggressively buying newer bitcoin miners? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Riot Blockchain Buys 8,000 of Bitmain’s Latest Bitcoin Miners, Company Targets 1.5 EH/s by 2021 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Analysts have predicted a bearish outlook for the U.S. dollar as the country’s 2020 presidential election approaches. One analyst says gold will correct with Donald Trump’s victory followed by the collapse of the U.S. dollar. Bitcoin, on the other hand, stands to gain from the election. Effect of 2020 US Presidential Election on Gold, Dollar, and Bitcoin Analyst and consultant Dan Popescu has shared his view on how the outcome of the U.S. presidential election could affect several markets. He discussed the outlook of the gold market and the U.S. dollar before and after the U.S. presidential election on the “IG Trading the Markets” podcast, which he shared on Sunday. Popescu specializes in gold, silver, and forex. IG is a leading online forex trading provider. “Right now the markets expect [Joe] Biden to win, and that’s also one of the things that I’m quite sure has been bullish for the price of gold and the collapse of the dollar index, and that will continue,” Popescu described. Citing current polls showing Biden as the more likely candidate to win the 2020 presidential election, the analyst said the dollar will weaken and gold will climb even higher leading up to the election. Popescu also discussed what will happen to the gold market and the U.S. dollar if Donald Trump wins the November election. “The American stock market is very very bullish and likes Donald Trump because he cut taxes for the super rich, he cut taxes mostly for the stock market, which has been very bullish for the stock market,” he opined. On the night of the election, if Trump wins, then the dollar will rise along with the stock market and gold will retrace, he explained. However, he added that it will be temporary “Because the monetary crisis will explode even more with Donald Trump.” Popescu tweeted that in the short-term: Gold will correct with Trump victory followed by collapse of US dollar and explosion of gold to $5,000 faster with Trump than with Biden but up irrespective of Trump or Biden. Both are bearish US dollar. Other analysts also see the dollar’s weakness. “The shrinking of its interest rate advantage makes the USD less appealing and pushes investors to consider deposits in other currencies,” JPMorgan Asset Management’s Patrik Schowitz was quoted by CNBC as saying. “These cyclical factors won’t turn around in a hurry and the US dollar likely has room to fall further.” Blackrock strategists also see the dollar’s weakness persisting in the near term. They noted, “The prospect of the dollar retaining its perceived safe-haven status is another concern.” Last month, Goldman Sachs warned that the U.S. dollar risked losing its world reserve currency status. Devere CEO Nigel Green believes that the U.S. election will boost the price of bitcoin. “Bitcoin is already one of the best-performing assets of the year, up around 70% year-to-date,” he said. “We can expect the world’s largest cryptocurrency to be further fuelled for the rest of 2020 by the U.S. presidential election and the weakness of the U.S. dollar, which will serve as high-octane price drivers.” Citing the growing level of political uncertainty coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, the CEO stated: As uncertainty heightens, investors will pile into safe-haven assets, in particular those not tied to any specific country, such as bitcoin and gold. How do you think the U.S. election will affect bitcoin, gold, and the dollar? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Analysts Predict US Presidential Election Outcome Could Collapse Dollar, Boost Bitcoin and Gold appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Spot trading is a popular way for investors to access the crypto market in a straightforward manner. It’s mainly fiat-to-crypto trading, as well as crypto-to-crypto trading. It’s simple, you get a crypto wallet, you buy a token with fiat currencies, and then once the price has increased, you sell the asset and make a profit. Margin Trading vs Spot Trading? Well, imagine you don’t have enough for the trade you’re looking towards leveraging. With margin trading, the trading platform allows you to open a position that is larger than the balance of your account. Essentially, this allows people, or traders to access an amount of funds to increase their order, which then effectively means they boost the gain from a profitable trade. In essence, you’ll be maximizing your potential gains, allowing you to open a larger position than you would normally allow within your account. With margin trading, you’re effectively boosting your gains from market swings, opening up your trading horizons, and letting you, the trader, explore new trading opportunities and strategies. This then allows you to use leverage for the short, or long term gains on a variety of cryptocurrencies, giving you a bigger earning potential compared to spot trades. What’s an example of Margin Trading? Let’s all assume that the price of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is equal to USDT1000 and a trader thinks, and feels that it will rise in the future. However, the trader only has USDT100. The amount the trader has won’t limit him from amplifying his potential gains with margin trading. The trader can use the maximum 10x leverage provided by Bitcoin.com Exchange to open a USDT1000 long position (trader’s USDT100 was multiplied to 10). Now let’s assume that during the next few hours the price of Bitcoin Cash rocketed by 10% to USDT1000. The trader decides to close this profitable position and realizes a positive Profit & Loss of nearly USDT100 (you need to take into account the fees and paid Interest Rate – Check out the Fee Page). If the trader opened this position without the leverage he or she will only see USDT10 gain, because the position’s value would be equal to the trader’s balance of USDT100. How can I start my Margin Trading journey? Bitcoin.com Exchange provides one of the leading Margin Trading platforms in the industry, giving users the opportunity to trade borrowed assets. This means that clients now can open Long and Short positions on a variety of cryptocurrencies by up to 10x leverage. Those who use Margin Trading can amplify their potential profit depending on the selected leverage for 29 markets as seen below: Enjoy up to 10x leverage on: BCH/USDT, BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT, ETH/BTC, BCH/BTC, XRP/BTC, TRX/USDT, LTC/USDT, EOS/USDT,XMR/USDT, ETC/USDT, ADA/USDT, TRX/BTC, LTC/BTC, ETC/BTC, ADA/BTC,XMR/BTC, EOS/BTC. Up to 5x leverage on: ZEC/USDT, DASH/USDT, VET/USDT, DOGE/ USDT XLM/USDT, ZEC/BTC, DASH/BTC, XLM/BTC, DOGE/ BTC, VET/BTC. So what are you waiting for? Take advantage of added leverage to boost your potential gains today, with Bitcoin.com Exchange. Disclaimer Please consider that margin trading has several risks due to cryptocurrency price volatility and product complexity. We advise you to exercise carefulness and attention. Bitcoin.com provides high liquidity, 24/7 multilingual support, and dozens of trading pairs complemented by high security, but we are not responsible for your financial losses during trading activities. This is a sponsored post. Learn more on how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. The post Increase Your Profit Potential With Margin Trading appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Leading cryptocurrency exchanges are bullish about Africa’s growth prospects as evidenced by their ongoing forays into the continent. During the month of August, Kucoin crypto exchange announced the addition of Nigeria’s naira currency as a payment option on its peer-to-peer platform. Similarly, Binance added Kenya’s popular mobile money service Mpesa to its peer-to-peer platform in the past week, some five months after adding the naira option. Paxful, which has had success on the continent, already supports multiple payment options. Local.Bitcoin.com, the bitcoin cash peer-to-peer exchange which uses a blind escrow, similarly supports multiple payment options. In the meantime, Kucoin and Binance are reportedly planning to add more African currency payment options as they look to expand their foothold on the continent. From the few examples mentioned above, it appears that peer-to-peer crypto trading is now the favored approach by major exchanges seeking to tap into the African market. On the surface, many countries on the continent appear to be primed for mass crypto adoption but that has not happened because there are no fiat on-ramps. Ideally, such on-ramps are necessary as they help potential users of digital assets to switch from fiat to crypto seamlessly. The absence of such on-ramps has had the effect of dissuading interested users from buying. This ultimately slows the adoption of digital assets as well as the growth of the space. Some observers believe peer-to-peer crypto trading provides the breakthrough crypto exchange platforms have been searching for. News.Bitcoin.com spoke to one observer who shares this view, Elisha Owusu Akyaw, an influencer and cryptocurrency researcher at Blocknewsafrica. Akyaw, who keeps track of weekly peer-to-peer trading volume trends, says African cryptocurrency users have always wanted fiat on-ramps. Commenting on reports that leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Kucoin and Binance, added local currency to payment options, Akyaw said: It shows how much there is a demand for fiat-on ramps from African users, and platforms are (now) willing to provide that. Also weighing in is Roselyne Wanjiru, Kenyan economist and Director at Pesabase, who says the addition of Mpesa as a payment option truly opens up liquidity options for traders. She adds: “One of the key challenges of crypto trading in Africa is that of access to quick and easy ways to deposit and withdraw cash in a bid to exchange it for cryptocurrencies.” Wanjiru asserts that the addition of Kenya’s popular mobile money as a payment option by the major exchange means more people will have the opportunity to participate in digital asset trading. Meanwhile, Akyaw also believes that “peer-to-peer trading will continue to be the go-to option for users and platforms due to the uncertain regulatory environment (that prevails in many countries).” Regulatory uncertainty has been central in constraining the growth of the crypto market on the African continent. Some countries have purportedly banned cryptocurrency trading while others have decreed that financial institutions cannot interface with crypto platforms. It appears, however, that this is not a major concern for peer-to-peer trading platforms, especially when looking at the growing number of such platforms. Still, Akyaw weighs in with another possible reason why more peer-to-peer platforms will be good for Africa. “Recent additions to the P2P ecosystem in Africa have the potential to improve crypto knowledge levels. For a continent plagued by crypto scams, education will be vital for growth and adoption. Based on precedence, most of the top P2P platforms contribute to education efforts which in turn attracts more people to the crypto space,” said Akyaw. Paxful is one of the peer-to-peer platforms that are actively involved in cryptocurrency and blockchain education on the continent. Finally, Akyaw believes the growing competition between exchange platforms will also benefit traders in the form of much wider payment options and lower fee structures. This, in turn, will boost the adoption momentum. What do you think of the leading P2P exchanges’ pivot to Africa? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. The post P2P Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Africa Pivot: Nigeria and Kenya the Target Markets appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Venezuela has blocked the main opposition from distributing $18 million worth of cash previously seized by the U.S. from the Nicolas Maduro government. The money is being dished out via peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchange Airtm to 62,000 healthcare workers starting Monday. However, it is not yet clear whether the money at the center of the dispute will be disbursed in cash or bitcoin (BTC). Workers will reportedly be paid $300 each over three months in equal installments. The U.S selected the Juan Guaido-led opposition party to facilitate the distribution. Guaido is recognized by several countries as Venezuela’s legitimate president due to his position as speaker of parliament. In a recent press announcement, Guaido acknowledged Airtm’s ongoing efforts to make the money available to the intended beneficiaries. Matt Ahlborg, the creator of crypto analytics firm Useful Tulips, reported on Guaido’s plans to airdrop censorship-resistant digital dollars to the workers through Airtm in a thread on Twitter. Airtm operates a P2P exchange from Mexico City where its primarily Venezuelan users have logged in to trade Bolivars and bitcoin “for digital US dollars for years”, according to Ahlborg. Venezuela accounts for 65% of Airtm users. He said: As a result of this redistribution campaign, the Maduro government yesterday (Aug. 20) blocked access to Airtm from inside of Venezuela. However, just as quickly, Venezuelan activists were creating educational resources on how to access Airtm despite the block. The U.S does not recognize Maduro’s government following a disputed 2018 election. Cryptocurrencies have a heavy role from both ends of the diplomatic stand-off, initially taking the form of Maduro’s sanction-busting Petro and now, the U.S.’ latest intervention through a bitcoin-aligned company. Beating the System According to Airtm, access to its website is restricted through internet service providers such Cantv, Movistar, Digitel, Supercable, and Movilnet. In a blog post, the Coinbase-funded exchange provided expected beneficiaries with a VPN primer. The post also details Airtm’s history of censorship under the Maduro government. Last week, the country’s Superintendency of Institutions of the Banking Sector of Venezuela (Sudeban) said Airtm’s “unusual operations” fall outside regulations and would be related to money laundering and terrorist financing in terms of Venezuelan law. In a joint statement with the Financial Intelligence Unit (Unif), Subedan urged banks to exhaustively monitor such operations and guarantee the transparency of transactions. Unif called on banks to report intermediaries “who lend themselves to transactions with this type of platform” but did not spell out measures to be taken against them. Airtm relies on intermediaries to facilitate the exchange of funds. Ahlborg noted that the developing story highlights “a new era of geopolitical brinkmanship as certain countries make available their own currencies and financial infrastructure to the citizens of other countries en masse.” Britain recently seized $1 billion worth of Venezuelan gold and maintained sanctions on Maduro’s regime. What do you think about the opposition in Venezuela using a bitcoin exchange to facilitate payments? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Venezuela Blocks Opposition From Disbursing $18 Million To Health Workers via Bitcoin Exchange Airtm appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The SHA256 hashrate that secures the Bitcoin network has grown massively during the last few years, as Bitcoin’s processing power has touched all-time highs in 2020. Moreover, the gigawatts of electrical consumption powering industrial bitcoin mining today consumes as much as seven nuclear power plants. Bitcoin mining is a process where groups of miners compete in order to capture as many block rewards as they can. Bitcoin miners essentially plug machines into the wall that consume electricity in order to hash away at the Bitcoin network’s consensus algorithm so they can outpace competitors. Hashrate is how analysts measure the amount of computing power dedicated to the blockchain network. The BTC network’s hashrate has touched close to 140 exahash per second (EH/s) in 2020. Today, according to charts.Bitcoin.com data the hashrate is hovering around 120EH/s. Basically, ASIC mining machines that produce higher hashrate values than others, will obtain more BTC via mining. In 2020, there are now extremely large facilities and warehouses filled with thousands of ASIC mining rigs. Additionally, solo miners working in remote areas in the world typically join a mining pool so they can pool their hashrate together in order to gather more bitcoins. On Monday, August 24, 2020, the price per BTC has been hovering between $11,600 to $11,800. Collectively the aggregate total of all the bitcoin miners combined makes up the total amount of hashrate dedicated to the blockchain. Today the Bitcoin (BTC) network hashrate is around 120 exahash per second (EH/s). Analysts don’t know exactly how much electricity is consumed to power the entire network. But researchers have been able to come up with a very close estimate on how much electricity is consumed and the average price miners pay per kilowatt-hour (kWh). The researchers from Bitooda estimate that China’s overall hashrate is only 50% of the global network. Bitooda also estimates the cost of production of one single BTC in July is around $5,000. For instance, findings from Tokeninsight’s 2020 mining research and the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) show that on average, miners are paying between $0.03 to $0.05 per kWh this year. Estimates also indicate that at the end of March 2020, the cost to mine a single bitcoin (BTC) is roughly $7,577.51. At current exchange rates, this gives miners a profit margin of around $4,184 on Monday, August 24. Although, another estimate from Bitooda’s mining report published in July claims the cost to produce a single BTC is around $5,000. Bitooda’s researchers think the BTC network hashrate could surpass 260 exahash per second during the next year and a half. “By our assessment, the Bitcoin network can exceed 260EH/s in Hashrate in the next 12–14 months,” the report published on July 15, 2020, notes. “Led by a modest increase in available power capacity from 9.6 to 10.6GW and an upgrade cycle that will replace older generation S9 class rigs with newer S17 and next-generation S19 class rigs. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) shows the estimated power to run the Bitcoin (BTC) network is 7.46 gigawatts (GW). An average-sized nuclear plant in 2020 produces 1GW of electrical power. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), produced by the Cambridge Center for Alternative finance, attempts to estimate the amount of energy consumed by bitcoin mining. Today, the CBECI says the Bitcoin network’s power consumption is more than seven gigawatts (GW) of electricity. On Monday, the CBECI indicates that there is 7.46 GW running the BTC network which equals around 63.32 TWh or terawatt-hours of energy consumption. The amount of power consumed by bitcoin miners is equal to more than seven nuclear power plants or 21.8 million photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. The Bitcoin (BTC) network is as powerful as 9.1 million horses (horsepower) of energy or 14,000 Corvette Z06s engines. The BTC network is as powerful as 2,884 utility-scale wind turbines or 9.1 million horses (horsepower) of energy. For instance, last week the mining facility operator Enegix told the financial technology columnist, Paddy Baker, that the firm was set to launch a large mining facility in Kazakhstan with 50,000 ASIC devices. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) Mining Map on August 24, 2020. Baker’s story calculates that the operation would power 180,000 U.S. homes, but news.Bitcoin.com’s calculations indicate the Kazakhstan facility would power only 90,000 American houses. This would mean that according to CBECI’s data the whole BTC network could power 2.25 million U.S. homes. Cambridge’s mining map shows that China commands 65.08% of the global hashrate, but this estimate may be incorrect. In July, researchers from Bitooda claims that Chinese miners only account for 50% of the network and the U.S. has upped its game to 14%. Countries by hashrate consumption according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) data. In contrast, Cambridge’s mining map indicates that the U.S. only commands 7.24%, Russia 6.9%, Kazakhstan 6.17%, Malaysia 4.33%, and Iran captures 3.82% of the SHA256 hashpower. The mining map leverages geo-location data (IP addresses) of miners connected to major mining operations. More than a decade ago, Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor who allegedly mined the first 18,000 blocks on a single high-end computer workstation, predicted the massive growth the network handles today. “At first, most users would run network nodes,” Nakamoto wrote on November 2, 2008. “But as the network grows beyond a certain point, it would be left more and more to specialists with server farms of specialized hardware. A server farm would only need to have one node on the network and the rest of the LAN connects with that one node,” Nakamoto added. What do you think about the Bitcoin network’s current power consumption in 2020? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post The Bitcoin Network Now Consumes 7 Nuclear Plants Worth of Power appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On Monday, Canadian graphics software company, Snappa, revealed that it was holding bitcoin as a reserve asset. Snappa follows the firms Microstrategy and the Canadian restaurant chain Tahini’s by deciding to convert cash reserves into the scarce crypto asset. The graphics software firm Snappa based in Ottawa has joined the trend of companies converting cash reserves into bitcoin (BTC). The company revealed its decision on Monday, August 24, when the company’s cofounder, Christopher Gimmer, wrote a blog post about the move. Additionally, Gimmer also spoke with the journalist, Zack Voell, in a private chat and he detailed that Snappa allocated “40% of our cash reserves” into the crypto asset. In the blog post titled “Why We’re Holding Bitcoin as a Reserve Asset,” Gimmer explains why the firm made its decision. “Would you rather save money in a currency whose supply is inflating each year? Or would you rather save in a currency whose terminal supply is programmatically fixed?” Gimmer asked in the announcement’s opening statements. The company realized that this was an important consideration when the firm’s bank “slashed the interest rate on our ‘high interest’ savings account to 0.45% earlier this year.” Gimmer further stated: This means that the purchasing power of our Canadian and U.S. dollars is actually decreasing after adjusting for inflation. Fortunately, I believe we now have a far superior savings technology available to us. That technology is Bitcoin. The cofounder of Snappa underlines a number of reasons why the firm decided to allocate bitcoin into the company’s reserves. Much of the reasoning was due to global economic uncertainty, the devaluation of fiat, and Bitcoin’s digital scarcity. Gimmer also mentioned the controversial stock-to-flow (S2F) theory in the announcement and believes that because Bitcoin is transparent, “we can actually measure Bitcoin’s S2F with 100% certainty at any point in the past and at any point in the future.” Gimmer said that “many people” believe that quantitative easing (QE) and the government’s manipulation of debt will lead to “asset price inflation and a widening wealth gap.” The cofounder of Snappa thinks this trend of money creation and the devaluing of fiat currencies will continue. Gimmer’s blog post also discussed the billion-dollar firm Microstrategy’s purchase of 21,454 BTC for $250 million. Microstrategy also said when it shifted reserves that holding bitcoin (BTC) was far superior to holding dollars. “After pouring over the research myself, I believe that massive amounts of quantitative easing combined with fiscal stimulus will continue to result in currency debasement,” Gimmer concluded. “In addition, I expect governments to keep doing more of the same in attempts to fight the natural deflationary pressures of technology.” The Snappa cofounder added: In order to hedge this risk, we’ve chosen to adopt Bitcoin as a primary reserve asset on our balance sheet. What do you think about Snappa converting 40% of its cash reserves into bitcoin? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. The post Corporate Crypto Reserve Status: Software Firm Snappa Swaps 40% Cash Reserves for Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bitmex will be restricting access to users from Ontario, Canada, starting the beginning of next month. The company says the restrictions are mandated by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Bitmex Stops Servicing Users in Ontario Bitmex, a cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform that offers up to 100x leverage, announced Monday that it will be restricting access to residents of Ontario, Canada. Starting Sept. 1, “we are restricting access to users who are Ontario (Canada) residents,” the exchange wrote. Affected users will be unable to place orders for new positions or to increase existing positions. Open positions will continue in accordance with the company’s terms for the relevant contract. However, they must be closed by Jan. 4, 2021, at the latest. Any position still open at that time will be forced closed, the exchange warned. New customers who are Ontario residents will not be able to register on the platform after Sept. 1. Any attempt to register or trade on the exchange after that date will be a breach of the company’s terms of service. Bitmex clarified: The restrictions are mandated by the Ontario Securities Commission. The exchange says it will continue to work with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and will keep its users updated. The OSC has been active in the crypto space. In late July, the regulator gave asset manager 3iq Corp. a preliminary approval for the initial public offering (IPO) of the company’s Ether Fund. The regulator previously approved the IPO of 3iq’s Bitcoin Fund. Last month, it started a proceeding against cryptocurrency exchange Coinsquare and its executives for market manipulation and wash trades worth 590K BTC, among other charges. It also recently evaluated the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Quadrigacx, concluding that it “operated like a Ponzi scheme.” The Canadian Securities Administrators, a council of the regulatory bodies of Canada’s provinces and territories, published guidance in January that subjects Canadian crypto exchanges to securities laws. What do you think about Bitmex restricting users from Ontario? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Bitmex Restricts Ontario Residents as Mandated by Canadian Regulator appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published a video explaining what cryptocurrency is. Besides suggesting that cryptocurrency could “completely change the way we sell, buy, save, invest, and pay our bills,” the video states that it “could be the next step in the evolution of money.” IMF Explains Crypto The IMF tweeted a video explaining what cryptocurrency is on Sunday that instantly went viral. Referring to cryptocurrency as “a special currency,” the two-minute video attempts to outline its benefits in payments, such as by removing middlemen, lowering costs, and increasing transaction speed. It also warns of what it sees as risks, such as anonymity and volatility. The video has garnered more than 523K views at the time of writing; it has been retweeted 5.5K times, liked 8.2K times, and received 807 comments. The video ends with: If we can counter the risks, then this new technology or some variation of it can completely change the way we sell, buy, save, invest, and pay our bills. And who knows, this could be the next step in the evolution of money. What are cryptocurrencies? https://t.co/ggONlLkA2r pic.twitter.com/yYpj3Jf37E — IMF (@IMFNews) August 23, 2020 The video references the IMF’s F&D (Finance & Development) magazine, June 2018 edition, entitled “Money, Transformed – The future of currency in a digital world.” When that magazine edition came out, the organization posted the above video on its Youtube channel, which received little interest at the time. Many people in the crypto space view the IMF’s video as bullish. Tweets such as “IMF learning fast. Global adoption is on its way,” “This is a big deal,” and “They are finally understanding blockchain and cryptocurrency are not going away” flooded Twitter. One user wrote: “I still can’t believe I see this. IMF shills cryptocurrencies, of course, not bitcoin yet, but that time will come too.” Since the IMF’s crypto explainer video does not mention any specific cryptocurrency, many commenters took the opportunity to promote their favorite coins. Some people, however, criticize the content of the IMF video, saying that the information is misleading and omits many important points, including mining. Many also believe that bitcoin should have been mentioned. “Nothing about why people choose to store their wealth in a scarce currency like bitcoin instead of fiat currencies that are benign constantly debased by banksters and cantillionaires,” one user tweeted. “You forgot one fundamental difference between fiat and bitcoin. Fiat is printable by centralized entities like government & banks, whereas BTC is decentralized and has a limit cap to its supply where only 21 million will ever exist in this universe. All powered by blockchain,” another wrote. Some questioned who the “bad guys” in the video are supposed to be and frowned upon it referring to private keys as passwords. Some say the video gives the appearance that all cryptocurrencies share the properties of bitcoin, and some suspect that the IMF is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency. One user noted that this video is set up like a “Prelude to their own crypto coin that will come out at some point fixing all the problems with crypto” that the IMF has outlined in this video. What do you think about this IMF video? Let us know in the comments section below. The post IMF Publishes Cryptocurrency Explainer, Saying It ‘Could Be the Next Step in the Evolution of Money’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over $50 billion in cryptocurrency flowed out of China over the past 12 months amid trade wars, a new study finds. East Asia is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market; its crypto trading volume is driven by “a robust professional market” as well as an “extremely active” retail market. The World’s Largest Crypto Market East Asia is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market, a new report from blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis shows. The region, which includes China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, and Taiwan, accounted for about 31% of all cryptocurrency transacted in the last 12 months. In an excerpt from its upcoming 2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency report, Chainalysis explained that more cryptocurrency was sent from East Asia than other regions to foreign addresses. “Over $50 billion traveled from East Asia addresses to addresses in other regions, compared to just over $38 billion for Western Europe, the region next in terms of value sent out of the region,” the firm revealed. Most of the cryptocurrency outflow was from China, Chainalysis added, noting that the Chinese government only allows citizens to move an equivalent of $50,000 at the most out of the country each year. Wealthy Chinese have found some ways to circumvent the restrictions, such as via real estate and shell companies, but the authorities have been cracking down on these methods. “Cryptocurrency could be picking up some of the slack,” the firm noted, elaborating: Over the last twelve months, with China’s economy suffering due to trade wars and devaluation of the yuan at different points, we’ve seen over $50 billion worth of cryptocurrency move from China-based addresses to overseas addresses. “We can think of $50 billion as the absolute ceiling for capital flight via cryptocurrency from East Asia to other regions,” the firm suggested. Relations between the U.S. and China have deteriorated to all-time lows in recent weeks as the two countries spar over issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang. Value sent from East Asia between June 2019 and 2020. Cryptocurrencies included are BAT, BCH, BNB, BTC, ETH, GUSD, LTC, MKR, OMG, PAX, TUSD, USDC, and USDT. East Asia’s cryptocurrency trading volume is driven by “a robust professional market” and an “extremely active” retail market, Chainalysis highlighted. Roughly 90% of all crypto volume transferred from the region in any given month is “professional-sized,” meaning transactions are worth more than $10,000, the firm continued. Professional crypto investors in the East Asian market also appear to trade a wide range of cryptocurrencies frequently for speculation, unlike in North America, where professional traders focus more on bitcoin and hold for longer. “The liquidity of the East Asia market also makes it the closest we have to a self-sustaining market,” the firm remarked. Stablecoins, particularly tether (USDT), are heavily traded in East Asia, accounting for up to 33% of all value transacted on-chain. “Tether is by far the most popular stablecoin in East Asia, making up 93% of all stablecoin value transferred by addresses in the region,” Chainalysis wrote. Share of value sent to East Asia by cryptocurrency, such as BCH, LTC, ETH, USDT, and BTC. Chainalysis emphasized that with China controlling about 65% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, Chinese mining and capital flight have substantially contributed to East Asia’s trading volume, asserting: East Asia-based addresses have received $107 billion worth of cryptocurrency in the last 12 months, which is 77% more than Western Europe, the second-highest receiving region. Although East Asia remains the world’s largest cryptocurrency market by a wide margin, its share of the overall crypto activity has been declining since October last year, Chainalysis further noted. What do you think about cryptocurrencies leaving China? Let us know in the comments section below. The post $50 Billion in Cryptocurrency Left China Amid Escalating Trade Wars appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Brazilian crypto companies have signed a code of self-regulation that aims to legitimize and to boost adoption of crypto assets in the country. The document was signed under the auspices of Abcripto, the country’s association of cryptocurrency companies. According to regional media reports, Brazilian firms that specialize in cryptocurrency custody services, brokerage services, and exchanges “will now have to incorporate measures to prevent crime and money laundering on their platforms.” The country’s prominent cryptocurrency firms that signed the code include Foxbit, Ripio, Bitcoin Market, and Novadax. The association members say they are targetting a $100 billion cryptocurrency market by end of 2020. According to Abcripto officials, who see the agreement as a significant milestone, “these exchange platforms account for up to 80% of the volume of cryptocurrency transactions in Brazil.” The signing ceremony was broadcast live and the code will be “registered on a private platform based on blockchain created by Growthtech.” Growth Tech develops distributed ledger solutions for the notarial and real estate market and is backed by IBM cloud services. The objective of the agreement is to establish operational practices and compliance standards that all members must adhere to. Speaking after the signing, the executive director of Abcripto, Safiri Felix, says this is an important step for the fast-growing market. According to Felix, Brazil’s cryptocurrency market has grown by double-digit figures in each of the last three years. Despite the phenomenal growth, “this ecosystem continues to face the regulatory vacuum, as four possible bills for cryptocurrencies are still being discussed in the nation’s congress.” Explaining the objectives of the code, Felix says the “main goal of this self-regulation is to protect users ‘without impeding the free initiative’ of companies.” Abcripto members also committing to fight the negative perception cryptocurrencies in the country. The code also attempts to align the Brazilian crypto market with global standards as it requires “all platforms to apply the basic requirements of know-your-customer (KYC).” Furthermore, “members must increase their security parameters, strengthen their legal infrastructure, commit to respect free-market principles, and to respect users’ privacy.” The code also seeks to penalize members that fail to comply with these regulations. For more than a year, representatives from the crypto market say “they have been investigating cases of self-regulation at the international level in order to adapt it to the Brazilian ecosystem.” Still, Felix believes that “at some point, the Brazilian government will issue a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency companies.” Shortly after the self-regulation code was signed, media reports surfaced suggesting that the Brazilian legislature is proposing another law that seeks to regulate bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in that country. The reports say under the law proposed by Brazilian Senator Soraya Thronicke, Brazil wants the central bank and the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, Felix reveals that the global pandemic, Covid-19 might have played a part in forcing Abcripto to hasten the move to self regulate. “This health phenomenon has triggered the use of financial technologies worldwide including transactions based on bitcoin,” Felix explains. The executive director adds that “this could be the opportune moment for the more than 30 Brazilian crypto exchanges to adopt protection measures for their users.” What do you think of the self-regulation move by Brazilian crypto players? Share your thoughts in the comments section below The post Brazilian Crypto Companies to Self-Regulate: Target a $100 Billion Market by Year-End appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Governments are injecting record levels of new money into economies to contain the impact of shutdowns. Restrictions imposed on people in countries all over the world have forced many to look for alternative but safe ways of transacting. This is one reason why blind escrow bitcoin cash trading is increasing: it is not burdening users with KYC requirements. Some countries hit hard by the pandemic like the United States, have reportedly printed more money in less than six months than they have in several decades. Without a doubt, the deluge of new money entering the system will have dilutive effects on the value of money already in circulation. This has inevitability spurred on an increased interest in cryptocurrencies. Similarly, the restrictions imposed on people’s movement have forced many to look for alternative but safe ways of transacting. That is why the recent increase in the number of cryptocurrency holders is in some ways linked to lockdown measures. Increased cryptocurrency use Events of the past few months have made it increasingly apparent that cryptocurrencies are not just speculative assets. They can be used as practical tools to shield savings or wealth from the effects of inflation. Furthermore, the use of cryptocurrencies fit very well with social distancing or stay-at-home measures. Yet despite this, many people face obstacles to getting cryptocurrencies for the first time. Even those with adequate knowledge about this fintech still face difficulties in acquiring these. It is true that cryptocurrencies are widely available at centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and at peer to peer trading platforms. However, these institutions use elaborate and sometimes cumbersome procedures that ultimately kill the interest of those searching for such alternatives. For instance, the know your customer (KYC) processes, which are now a mandatory requirement with many leading exchanges, drive people away from cryptocurrencies. Ordinarily, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin cash are not supposed to be subjected to such restrictions. Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision for a peer to peer digital cash was never premised on centralized third parties exercising veto powers as is the case now. The KYC barrier to adoption So while bitcoin appears poised to achieve Nakamoto’s vision, many potential users may not see it as that alternative because they lack an identity document. Clearly, the mandatory KYC requirement by exchange platforms is turning out to be an Achilles Heel for crypto adoption efforts. In fact, the same requirements are identified as the reasons why many adults globally lack access to financial services. For instance, the 2017 World Bank Global Financial Index survey identifies the lack of proper identification as one of the major reasons why many adults are unbanked. Still, the survey notes that it was another financial technology, mobile money, that proved instrumental in reducing the number of unbanked adults from 2.2 billion to 1.7 billion between 2014 and 2017. Many in the crypto community are hopeful that faster and cheaper to use cryptocurrencies can help narrow this gap even further. However, this is only possible if restrictions that preclude potential users from accessing cryptocurrencies are dropped. Bitcoin.com Local & Blind Escrow That is partly the reason why platforms like local.Bitcoin.com which are embedded with blind escrow for bitcoin cash trades are not burdening users with KYC requirements. Anyone can create an account on Bitcoin.com Local where they are not asked to disclose any personal details. The platform is, therefore, ideal for marginalized groups like undocumented migrants or those lacking identity documents for some reason or the other. A platform like Bitcoin.com Local has the potential to hasten crypto adoption if only enough people know about it. Still, potential users might want to know how this service works in practice? Put simply, blind escrow is the use of an autonomous contract capable of holding assets on behalf of two parties who are in the process of completing a transaction. The autonomous contract will hold the asset in limbo until the conclusion of a specific event or time. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin.com’s blind escrow system leverages Script called OP_CHECKDATASIG, which is a functionality that allows for escrows, covenants, and decision-based transactions. Therefore, by having a blind escrow in place it means Bitcoin.com Local never takes custody of the bitcoin cash (BCH), even while it is in escrow. It is technically impossible for local.Bitcoin.com to spend the BCH in escrow. In the majority of transactions, local.Bitcoin.com is uninvolved, as both parties can complete the escrow on their own. While Bitcoin.com Local does get involved when there is a dispute, however, the platform “can only allow the BCH to be spent by the buyer or seller.” Moreover, every message sent via Bitcoin.com Local is end-to-end encrypted in the user’s browser. This means no one — including anyone at local.Bitcoin.com — can read those messages. To local.Bitcoin.com’s server, “the messages look like a bunch of random indistinguishable numbers.” However, once the keys used to encrypt the messages are destroyed, that conversation is gone forever. According to the Bitcoin.com Local team, the “only time in which our staff can read messages is when the key required to decrypt them is volunteered by one of the parties (this is done in the case of a dispute).” In other words, it means the buyer only interfaces with the seller and the blind escrow is there to ensure trustless trading. This type of platform is especially suitable for places or countries that are traditionally shunned by centralized exchanges. Trustless Trading with Local.Bitcoin.com In the absence of a trustless platform, traders need to “trust” each other but that has not stopped reports of fraud and scams. However, when Bitcoin.com Local is involved, traders have an increased sense of security. Explaining how the blind escrow works, the local.Bitcoin.com developers say when the seller puts BCH in escrow, “they are creating an on-chain bitcoin cash transaction.” This transaction contains two relevant outputs, the escrow and the fee output. The escrow output can be spent by either the buyer or seller. The second output is the fee portion of the trade. If the trade is unsuccessful, the fee can be reclaimed by the seller; if the trade is successful, the fee will be swept by Bitcoin.com Local. Meanwhile, unlike many exchanges with limited base pairs and currency options, traders on Local.bitcoin.com can create a trade with any payment method. “You can even open a trade for items or services.” What do you think of Local.bitcoin.com blind escrow? Tell us in the comments section below. The post New Demand for Cryptocurrencies: Trading on Bitcoin Cash KYC-Free Exchange With Blind Escrow appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The decentralized finance (defi) ecosystem has matured quite a bit in 2020 and one project that’s seen some growth is the Ren Protocol. The application that allows people to access inter-blockchain liquidity for a number of defi applications. The following post is a step-by-step guide on how to leverage the Ren Protocol with Bitcoin Cash and a Metamask wallet. This week news.Bitcoin.com tested the Ren Protocol, another decentralized finance (defi) application that has been making waves within the crypto community. This is because the total value locked (TVL) in the Ren-VM system right now is more than 12,600 BTC ($146 million). Defi Pulse data shows that the Ren-VM Protocol has around 12,600 BTC locked into the system on August 23, 2020. The Ren protocol also works with zcash (ZEC) and bitcoin cash (BCH) as well, as it offers cross-chain capabilities with three blockchains and then connects them to Ethereum. In order to give our readers some perspective on how the project works, we tested the Ren Bridge to mint a very small fraction of renBCH. In order to create Ren-based synthetic bitcoin cash (BCH), zcash (ZEC), and bitcoin (BTC) users need to visit the website bridge.renproject.io/. Essentially renBCH is just like renBTC, as it is a synthetic form of bitcoin cash. After the tokens are minted they can be leveraged on a number of defi applications like Curve or Uniswap. The following guide illustrates how easy it is to utilize these defi platforms, but it also shows how Ethereum is suffering from fee issues. Paying $3 to $6 per transaction is nothing to someone leveraging various defi apps in order to yield off of 6,000 USDC with an intricate flash loan. In my experiment, I only minted $1 worth of BCH to test the system for this article and this is totally not a recommended amount with current gas prices. On Saturday, August 22, 2020, I minted $1 worth of bitcoin cash (BCH) as a test to see how the platform works. It is recommended by the Ren developers to leverage more than $10 worth of BTC, BCH, or ZEC, but with fees today it’s likely the person should spend a lot more money to make it worthwhile. In this example, it cost $6.52 in gas to settle the smart contract and there’s also a small fee involved in the minting process. Before even leveraging the Ren Bridge the website explains that the platform should be used for over $10 worth of BCH, BTC, or ZEC. I found with gas so expensive today, it’s probably better to leverage a bit more than just $10, but for this test, I had the audacity to mint $1 worth of bitcoin cash (BCH). Despite the fact that Ethereum (ETH) has high fees, some traders are able to leverage complex transactions like flash loans that utilize a combination of defi applications in order to profit significantly. A $3-6 gwei fee is meaningless to the person who conducted this transaction making tens of thousands of dollars. The first thing you will need is some ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and a Metamask wallet. You will also need a bitcoin cash (BCH) compatible wallet too and then you can head over to the website at bridge.renproject.io/. From here you can connect with your Metamask wallet and accept the interaction with the Ren Bridge. Once the wallet is connected, you can then leverage the Ren Bridge to mint renBTC, renBCH, or renZEC. As mentioned above, I decided to mint 0.0035 BCH ($1) into renBCH and the application lets you choose the asset, amount, the destination address, and it also shows you how much you will receive. The invoice that I sent the $1 worth of bitcoin cash to in order to execute the process. The window told me I would get 0.002797 renBCH and the next page breaks down the settlement fees. After accepting, the bridge gives you an invoice or bitcoin cash address to send the BCH to in order to continue. I sent $1 worth of BCH from my Bitcoin.com Wallet by scanning the QR code given with the invoice. 15 confirmations adds quite the wait time to the process, but that’s what it takes to mint bitcoin cash (BCH) using the Ren Protocol. Other blockchains like BTC take fewer confirmations. Paying the invoice takes a while, as the Ren Protocol wants 15 BCH confirmations in order to continue the process. From here, I walked away for a few hours and came back after my transaction made it through 15 confirmations. Once the wait time is over, the Ren Bridge will ask you to submit the transaction to the Ethereum network. After the 15 confirmations finished, I submitted the interaction to the Ethereum network. From here after a confirmation, the swap for bitcoin cash (BCH) to renBCH is complete. After hitting confirm, the Ren Bridge connects with Metamask again and the wallet explained the fee would be $6.52 to process the action. Even though I knew the fees were well above what I minted, I continued the process for testing purposes only. The $1 renBCH mint completed on Saturday, August 23, 2020. After the Ethereum blockchain confirmed the transaction, I was the proud owner of 0.002797 renBCH. The Bridge application also allows users to “release” the renBCH and you can get bitcoin cash (BCH) or whatever coin you leveraged during the process back at any time. Instead, you can also leverage the wide variety of defi applications with the newly minted coins. Defi apps with few or no trust assumptions are available on the open web and renBCH and other crypto synthetics are supported for trade. My newly minted renBCH was identified on Uniswap and other platforms after simply connecting my Metamask wallet. After minting renBCH, renBTC, or renZEC users can leverage other defi apps like Uniswap, Balancer, Curve, and other applications. (Picture on the left) The $1 worth of renBCH was recognized by the Uniswap version 2 protocol, but $1 worth is too small to trade. If you do have enough coins to trade (as shown in the picture on the right) you can swap for nearly any token created with Ethereum. Overall the experience was simple to process and as mentioned a few times above, minting less than what it costs in fees is not sustainable. I highly recommend leveraging at least $50 or more, of any crypto asset supported, in order to use the Ren Protocol with gas fees today. Although, people should research Ren with due diligence and never use more crypto assets than they can afford to lose with any defi application in existence. Even though defi offers solutions with little to no trust involved depending on the protocol, there is always risk involved. However, those with deeper pockets who do want to leverage these defi applications in order to obtain certain preferable actions are likely willing to pay for such fees. Users can make a whole lot of money farming yield, executing flash loans, and providing scalable dark pools of liquidity. All three of these concepts can be worthwhile even with $6 gwei prices if the person knows what they are doing. What do you think about the minting experience using the Ren Protocol? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. The post Inter-Blockchain Liquidity: Minting Synthetic Bitcoin Cash With the Ren Protocol appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article