roadrunner

The 2020 U.S. Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg addressed the subject of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICO) in his recently published Financial Reform Policy. Bloomberg wants more “regulatory oversight” when it comes to this promising technology, claiming he sees “plenty of hype, fraud and criminal activity.” Also read: Bitcoin, Tesla Stock, Tron: How Warren Buffett Got His First Bitcoin Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 Financial Reform Policy Discusses Intensifying Crypto Regulation Michael Bloomberg, former New York City mayor and the creator of the financial news operation Bloomberg LP, recently published his Financial Reform Policy. It’s the type of policy that would be enacted if Bloomberg was elected President after the 2020 U.S. election. The nine-page document discusses how Bloomberg would tackle the American economy if he was elected and he wholeheartedly believes “finance should serve the American people.” Much like his Democratic Party counterparts, Bloomberg leans toward fixing things with a socialist attitude. Bloomberg’s policy mentions the 2008 financial crisis and blames a lack of regulatory oversight for that period’s disastrous economy. “Given how profoundly the 2008 crisis undermined faith in the establishment — and given how close it brought the world to economic collapse — authorities everywhere should be doing all in their power to fix the flaws it revealed,” Bloomberg’s Financial Reform Policy insists. The democratic 2020 candidate’s plan further states: Yet the Trump administration is rolling back what safeguards were put in place, and none of the candidates for president is offering a viable alternative. The American politician, businessman, and author Michael Bloomberg, otherwise known as Mike, addressed the cryptocurrency industry in his plan for the U.S. economy if he were to be elected President of the United States in 2020. Bloomberg: ‘The Crypto Industry’s Regulatory Oversight Remains Fragmented and Undeveloped’ Bloomberg also touches upon the subject of the $290 billion cryptoconomy and he thinks the industry needs a lot more regulation. Former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang was one of the only democrats to discuss cryptocurrencies in his reform proposal before Bloomberg mentioned the topic. “Cryptocurrencies have become an asset class worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet regulatory oversight remains fragmented and undeveloped,” Bloomberg’s proposal details. “For all the promise of the blockchain, bitcoin, and initial coin offerings, there’s also plenty of hype, fraud and criminal activity.” The former 2020 U.S. Presidential candidate Andrew Yang was one of the only democrats that discussed digital currencies in their reform program. Representative Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) did address bitcoin and cryptocurrencies prior to Yang and Bloomberg but Swalwell was out of the race very quickly. President Donald Trump tweeted about Bitcoin and Facebook’s Libra late last year. Bloomberg does not like the economy under Donald Trump’s leadership and he makes that very clear throughout the reform plan. Bloomberg believes that his experience with creating a global fintech firm stands him in good stead for reforming the current American economy. “Mike Bloomberg considers this state of affairs unacceptable — and as the founder of a successful global financial technology company, he understands the system well and is uniquely qualified to make it work better for all Americans.” As far as crypto is concerned, Bloomberg really wants regulators to crack down on the industry and create regulatory standards across the board. “Regulatory oversight” needs to be refined in order to protect “consumers from cryptocurrency-related fraud,” the policy notes. What do you think about Michael Bloomberg’s Financial Reform Policy and his statements about cryptocurrencies? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Michael Bloomberg photos, Fair Use, Wiki Commons, Andrew Yang photo, and Pixabay. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 Finance Policy Proposes Strict Bitcoin Regulations appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

For a while now, central banks like the Federal Reserve have been participating in quantitative easing (QE) practices, despite the fact they don’t like to call it QE. Following the massive dollar injections, a recent report from the wealth insights provider Wealth-x details the number of wealthy people in the world spiked in 2019. The study cites the Federal Reserve’s stimulus is a direct effect of the rich getting richer, as the funds go directly to private banks and likely trickle down to the bubbling U.S. stock market. Also Read: Federal Reserve Considers Creating a Separate Entity for Cash Injections Wealth-x Study Cites the Fed’s Stimulus and Bubbling Stock Market as the Primary Drivers of 2019’s Wealth Distribution Eight years after the Occupy Wall Street movement fizzled into oblivion, the world’s central banks are printing fiat again, making the 1% grow richer. A recently published Wealth-x study shows that in 2019, the number of rich people getting richer surged as the “distinctive tier of wealth” expanded a great deal. News.Bitcoin.com’s “Money and Democracy” two-part series explain how the wealthiest families in the world (bankers) have colluded for hundreds of years in order to maintain the status quo. Since the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2012, central banks like the Federal Reserve have been injecting billions of dollars into the hands of private banks. The recent Wealth-x report cites the Fed’s stimulus programs as a direct primer of the stock market and growth of very high net worth (VHNW). It’s not like the economy’s manipulators used the free market to become the giants they are today; financial incumbents use force provided by the nation-states politicians and cronyism to manipulate the world’s markets. Wealth-x researched very high net worth (VHNW) individuals and showed that they follow the same patterns as their wealthier counterparts. VHNW is people who own between $5-30 million+ and their number jumped 10% in 2019. The study also notes that in 2018, there were 2.39 million people in the world who made the criteria but in 2019 the number had risen to 2.67 million. The growth in wealth stemmed from the bubbling U.S. stock market in 2019, which saw record-breaking highs. The Wealth-x study attributes the stock market spikes to the Federal Reserve’s “monetary stimulus.” And because private banks are allowed to feed on the dollar injections, the S&P 500 rose 28.9% last year and hasn’t seen a spike like that in six years. Similarly, Nasdaq had the best performance in six years and the Dow saw record numbers in 2019 as well. After the report from Wealth-x published, Northman Trader author Sven Henrich sarcastically congratulated the Federal Reserve for the achievement. The financial analyst Henrich tweeted: Central banks have become the primary driver of wealth inequality. And they refuse to admit the self-evident. They are the driver of excess that primarily benefits the few. Central banking is socialism for the top 1%. Financial analyst from the web column Northman Trader, Sven Henrich, has been a critic of the Fed and central banking practices for a long time. Sven Henrich: ‘Global Markets at All-Time Highs — Everybody Cries for More Stimulus’ Henrich and many others have been critical of central banks like the Federal Reserve because they believe the funds only go to private hands and create a foundation for the current 1%. Henrich even helped prove the point in a further tweet, when he said: “Last week […] Fed: ‘We’ll reduce repo next week,’ [Apple] AAPL: ‘We’ll miss revenue,’ Fed: ‘Here’s $78.5B in repo.'” ”Global markets at all-time highs and everybody cries for more stimulus,” Henrich added. Central banks and smaller financial institutions have also been accused of colluding for years and they have conspired with politicians. Politicians are always friendly toward the cash injections from central banks. Recently, Barack Obama bragged about the stimulus during his presidential terms and Donald Trump has been pressuring the Fed for more easing as well. Skeptics believe bureaucrats have always conspired with the banking cartel to keep the system rigged. Former U.S. President Barack Obama recently bragged about his efforts to promote more cash injections when he signed the Recovery Act. However, the comments stemming from Obama’s tweet detail that ordinary citizens, who are not part of the cartel of bankers and conniving groups of bureaucrats, didn’t really get much help from the Recovery Act. In actuality, the average U.S. citizen got to foot the bill. “Your stimulus cost us (taxpayers) $831 billion for one of the slowest recoveries in history while doubling the national debt,” an individual said in response to Obama’s tweet. “You would be the worst president in history if the Federal Reserve didn’t bail out your pathetic legacy — Try again.” The current American President, Donald Trump, has been no different and has tweeted on many occasions that he would like to see more monetary easing and the slashing of interest rates. “The Federal Reserve should get our interest rates down to zero, or less, and we should then start to refinance our debt,” Trump tweeted in September. Furthermore, the Wealth-x report highlights that the wealthiest individuals’ gains in 2019 were “not evenly distributed” worldwide. Throughout the year, global debt hit a record high in 2019 and central banks like the Federal Reserve have been accused of fueling one of the biggest heists in history. Wealth-x says the U.S. led the way as far as the number of VHNW individuals goes and their net worth rose by 15%. There was some growth in Asia and Africa, but Europe saw the collective net worth drop to below-average growth. “Regions performed considerably better than the Middle East, which saw negligible increases, and Latin America and the Caribbean, where wealth creation stagnated,” Wealth-x researchers noted. What do you think about central banks like the Federal Reserve injecting capital into the hands of private banks and their friends? Do you think the Fed, current financial incumbents, and politicians collude today and have ruined global markets? Do you think cryptocurrencies like bitcoin can help? Let us know your thoughts on this topic in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, Fair Use, Wiki Commons, Wealth-x, and Pixabay. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post ‘Central Banking Is Socialism for the 1%’ – Report Cites Wealth Inequality Driven by Stimulus appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

As the decentralized finance juggernaut rolls inexorably forward, the exploitation of defi project Bzx – in which $350K, or around 2% of total assets was taken – has called the decentralization of the industry into doubt. The attack forced an admin key reset to redeem lost funds and sparked a surge in defi insurance, with major players hastily taking out cover to immunize themselves from financial loss. Exactly how decentralized is decentralized finance, critics are wondering. Also read: 50 Cent, Talib Kweli, Snoop Dogg and Nas: Celebrities Who Could Be Bitcoin Millionaires DEX Volume Swells 71% in a Week Decentralized exchanges, around which the defi movement revolves, are going strong. More than $2.3B was traded on Ethereum-based DEXs last year, and 2020 is on course to comfortably surpass that. $119M was traded in the last seven days, according to Dune Analytics, marking a 71% increase. Meanwhile, new DEXs are springing up regularly to meet growing demand. The latest, Dexive, will operate as a dual Ethereum and Neo decentralized exchange, with integrated trading features such as asset details, news portal, discussion forum and microblog. There are plans to ultimately integrate other blockchains such as Eos and Zilliqa to create a universal DEX. Latest DEX volume according to Dune Analytics While demand for decentralized token trading, and the defi primitives it supports, ramps up, the industry has looked shaky of late. The Bzx exploit that occurred on February 15 has sparked intense debate as to whether decentralized trading protocols are truly decentralized, or whether the presence of a “kill switch” nullifies all such claims. Bzx is the seventh largest defi protocol, with over $18 million worth of funds locked. A Complex Transaction The exploitation of Bzx occurred on February 15, with project co-founder Kyle Kistner providing details via the platform’s official Telegram channel and temporarily pausing all trading on the exchange. “Exploit” is probably the most apposite term, although arbitraging, attacking, hacking, and thieving have all been liberally used. The net result is the same: Bzx’s balance wound up $350K worth of ETH lighter, though the damage was far worse given the consequent loss of equity. So, how did it happen? Essentially an exploit was executed against a contract on the project’s Fulcrum trading platform. The perpetrator took out a 10,000 ETH flash loan from non-custodial exchange Dydx before dispatching 5,000 ETH to Compound and borrowing 112 wrapped bitcoins (WBTC). Thereafter, the attacker sent 5,000 ETH to Bzx, opening a 5x short position for WBTC. After the exchange had converted 5,637 ETH to 51 WBTC via Uniswap, the attacker then converted the 112 WBTC to 6,871 ETH on Uniswap before paying Dydx their original 10,000 ETH. The total transaction cost incurred by the multi-part smart contract was $8. Confused? You’re not alone; the sophistication of the exploit has had commenters applauding and head-scratching in equal measure. Tweets like "DeFi apps are no different than centralized exchanges because all the contracts have admin keys" is the cheap, boring fast-track to "CT wokeness" these days, forcing me to take the devil's advocate and point out why that's sometimes wrong. Warranted retort: — Eric Wall IS RIGHT (@ercwl) February 17, 2020 An Oracle Problem In the end, the perpetrator exploited a Bzx flaw that enabled them to trade an inordinate amount on Uniswap at an inflated price of 3x. In other words, it wasn’t an oracle bug per se, but a fundamental vulnerability in the design of the defi stack that facilitated its execution. Opening such a huge position caused a drain of funds from Bzx to Uniswap, enriching the rogue actor to the tune of $350K and resulting in a $620,000 loss of equity for Bzx. Market manipulation at its finest. Our first claims assessment has finalised with the 30,000 DAI claim on @bzxHQ being declined. 7 out of 8 members voted No, with over 76,000 NXM being staked in the process (over $300,000 worth of stake). The claimant can resubmit a claim one more time if they wish. https://t.co/ffAvyKZlt0 — Nexus Mutual 🐢 (@NexusMutual) February 16, 2020 As well as temporarily taking Fulcrum down for maintenance, Bzx deployed a contract upgrade they said would make their system more robust against similar attacks and stated that they would cover the attacker’s loan repayment by streaming “interest and exit liquidity to existing iETH holders” from the 600k of WBTC left behind. Amid the post-mortem of the attack, insurance for DeFi lending has experienced a serious uptick, with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cover taken out across protocols such as Maker, Compound, Dydx and Bzx. The largest defi protocols according to Defi.Pulse How Decentralized Is Decentralized? Perhaps the most relevant question to emerge from this fiasco was posed by Twitter user @SupraBo_ in response to Bzx’s update on the transaction: “Decentralized finance is so efficiently decentralized that it can be paused.” The bZx attack occurs regularly in traditional markets in the form of derivative manipulation, which tends to result in harsh regulatory punishments. The real conundrum with DeFi is not flash loans or oracles, but that "attackers" merely play a permissionless game by the rules. — Qiao Wang (@QWQiao) February 16, 2020 Another tweet suggested the attack exposed the wider danger posed to the Ethereum network of fast-growing finance initiatives: “DeFi = how to increase systemic risk on Ethereum.” Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, meanwhile, sounded off by calling defi “the worst of both worlds,” noting that it “can be shut down by a centralized party, so it’s just decentralization theatre. And yet no one can undo a hack or exploit unless we add more centralization. So how is this better than what we have now?” Research by Chris Blec, who bills himself as “defi’s best friend and toughest critic,” has shown that most defi protocols have an admin key that can override the system in emergencies. While it is easy to see why faith in defi has been knocked by this ingenious heist of sorts, another perspective is that the event represents a bump in the road for the movement, which remains at an early, experimental stage despite over $1 billion worth of value being locked in, mostly in lending solutions. The exposure of vulnerabilities, and consequent beefing up of procedures, is necessary for maturation of an industry in which innovation continues to play out. What are your thoughts on the Bzx exploit? Do you think defi protocols are truly decentralized? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post DEX Volume Soars But Bzx Exploit Raises Questions About ‘Decentralization Theatre’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Many celebrities have mentioned the benefits of bitcoin and leveraged the asset for certain projects. For instance, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Talib Kweli all sold albums for BTC, but when cryptocurrency prices skyrocketed, 50 Cent told the public he sold his coins as soon as he got them. Many other celebrities from Hollywood and the music industry have used digital assets to help bolster their marketing efforts. Also read: Bitcoin, Tesla Stock, Tron: How Warren Buffett Got His First Bitcoin 50 Cent: ‘All Money Is Money’ In 2018, cryptocurrency enthusiasts discussed the headlines revolving around hip-hop star Curtis Jackson III, also known as 50 Cent, who accepted bitcoin for his 2014 album. According to reports, 50 Cent’s album called “Animal Ambition” made around 700 BTC ($6.7 million USD at today’s exchange rate) from sales. The album made it to Number 4 on Billboard’s charts and sold a total of 124,000 copies, which was far less than Jackson’s prior album sales. 50 Cent sold his album “Animal Ambition” for bitcoin and other currencies in 2014. The recording artist allegedly acquired 700 BTC from the sales and bragged about forgetting about the investment in 2018. However, during his bankruptcy court hearing, 50 Cent claimed he sold the BTC for U.S. dollars immediately after the albums were purchased. No one truly knows if 50 Cent was telling the truth and the assets would be worth $6.7 million at today’s exchange rate, but he did tell a court of law that he sold. Years later, when BTC was priced at around $11,000 per coin, 50 Cent shared an Instagram picture of a TMZ article that reported on the artist’s 700 BTC in sales. “Not Bad for a kid from South Side, I’m so proud of me,” the rapper said. “I’m a keep it real. I forgot I did that s—.” When he sold the album in 2014 he explained “all money is money,” when people asked the rapper why he accepted bitcoin. However, when 50 Cent filed for bankruptcy he told the court and the public an entirely different story. The hip-hop artist explained that he didn’t feel he needed to disclose that he had sold the BTC immediately after the albums were purchased. 50 Cent then claimed he was just stating that he had forgotten about the investment. “When I first became aware of the press reports on this matter, I made social media posts stating that ‘I forgot I did that’ because I had in fact forgotten that I was one of the first recording artists to accept bitcoin for online transactions,” the recording artist wrote in 2018. He further stated: I did not publicly deny the reports that I held bitcoins because the press coverage was favorable and suggested that I had made millions of dollars as a result of my good business decision to accept bitcoin payments. From Talib Kweli to Nas, Are Celebrities Bitcoin Rich or Just Using Crypto for Marketing? 50 Cent says he was one of the first rappers to accept BTC payments for album sales and a few others followed suit shortly after. In November of 2015, the now-defunct Coinbase application Zapchain sold the recording artist Talib Kweli’s album for BTC. @TalibKweli I bought your album in 2015 w/ bitcoin on Nov 6. My Indie 500 is now worth $645. Hope you kept all the #BTC from that album 😎 — Jamie Redman (@jamieCrypto) December 18, 2017 “Buy my new album for bitcoin on Zapchain – [plus] first 1,000 people get 1 track free,” Kweli tweeted at the time. No one has ever followed up with the number of BTC he accrued when he sold “Indie 500, featuring 9th Wonder.” But news.Bitcoin.com did remind Kweli about the album sales during the bull market in December 2017. Rapper and activist Talib Kweli sold his album “Indie 500, featuring 9th Wonder” for BTC in 2015 through the now-defunct Coinbase application Zapchain. In 2017, News.Bitcoin.com’s Jamie Redman tweeted to Kweli and mentioned BTC from the album sales, but Kweli did not respond. In fact, there’s a lot of popular musicians and Hollywood actors who have used cryptocurrency to further market themselves. Another prolific rapper, Nas, used BTC to reward 100 scores in a contest hosted by theraptest.com. Nas also told Coindesk in 2014 that he was an investor in Coinbase. “[Bitcoin] will evolve into an industry as big, if not bigger, than the Internet. My man Ben Horowitz really opened my eyes to that point. This isn’t of the Internet age, bitcoin is its own age,” Nas explained to reporter Peter Rizzo at the time. The rap star added: Obviously challenges will arise from a security and privacy perspective, but the Internet was the same way 20 years ago. The prolific MC Nas told former Coindesk reporter Pete Rizzo in 2014 that “[Bitcoin] will evolve into an industry as big, if not bigger, than the Internet.” Nas also said he was a Coinbase investor. No one knows if Nas is a Bitcoin millionaire or not, but he very well could be.Many other celebrities have used cryptocurrency to push their marketing to another level in recent years, and a number of them have leveraged the initial coin offering (ICO) route. Famous people like Paris Hilton, DJ Khalid, Akon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher have all mentioned digital currencies in some form or another. For instance, Paltrow is an advisor to the cryptocurrency firm Abra, and Snoop Dogg claims he beat 50 Cent to the punch when he sold album copies for BTC in 2013. No one knows how much BTC Snoop Dogg obtained from album sales, but he was selling copies for 0.3 BTC in 2013. “The future is here and Snoop is your captain, taking you to the moon (that’s a bitcoin thing) — My next record available in bitcoin n delivered in a drone,” Snoop tweeted at the time. Although, one BTC address suggests Snoop Dogg only got around 0.01245982 BTC from the sales, which is only $102 worth of crypto today. BitPay investor Ashton Kutcher dropped by our office this week to talk to our team & share insights on taking #bitcoin payments mainstream. pic.twitter.com/2Lgsmoufhe — BitPay (@BitPay) June 9, 2017 The truth is, no one actually knows if these celebrities are crypto millionaires, but they very well could be. Besides the musicians, actresses, and actors mentioned above, there’s a ton of other socialites who could be bitcoin rich from past investments. This includes people like Hugh Laurie, Mike Tyson, Pitbull, Mel B, Lionel Messi, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Johnny Depp, and Madonna, all of whom could have significant stashes of crypto. What do you think about all the celebrities who have used crypto for marketing purposes and some of the socialites who could be rich with digital currencies? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Source, Twitter, Bitcoin.com, Pixabay, Fair Use, and Wiki Commons. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post 50 Cent, Talib Kweli, Snoop Dogg and Nas: Celebrities Who Could Be Bitcoin Millionaires appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the last few days, Bitcoin Cash proponents have been debating the Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP) after Bitcoin ABC published an announcement on implementing the plan into the upcoming software release. Again the concept was met with mixed responses and the community has been arguing about the situation on forums and social media. Following the community responses to Bitcoin ABC’s blog post, Btc.top founder Jiang Zhuoer published an updated version of the plan the following day. Also Read: 5% of Block Rewards – Bitcoin ABC Will Add Infrastructure Funding Plan in Next Release Bitcoin Cash Infrastructure Funding Plan Discussions Continue as Jiang Zhuoer Publishes Update Members of the BCH community have been discussing the latest information regarding the Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP) after Bitcoin ABC told the public it would be implementing code for the plan in the 0.21.0 ABC software release. The plan had a few changes to the proposals discussed prior which included only 5% of the coinbase rewards, a BIP-9 like voting method with threshold, and funds that can go to “more than one project and can go to one of several in a whitelist.” The whitelist ABC came up with included donation addresses for a “General Fund, Bitcoin ABC, Electron Cash, and BCHD.” Check out the recent video about the Infrastructure Funding Plan from Bitcoin.com’s executive chairman Roger Ver. Bitcoin.com’s executive chairman Roger Ver discussed the IFP subject on Youtube and had a number of objections and questions concerning the latest IFP update. On an r/btc forum post, Ver’s Reddit account stressed: “As it stands now, Bitcoin.com will not go through with supporting any plan unless there is more agreement in the ecosystem such that the risk of a chain split is negligible.” Following Ver’s statements, Btc.top founder Jiang Zhuoer published another blog post on the read.cash platform called “BCH Miner Donation Plan Update Again.” Zhuoer’s latest post is much shorter than the two blog posts he published prior in regard to the IFP subject. The post is also aligned with the Bitcoin ABC announcement and further discusses the voting threshold and coinbase donation amount. Zhuoer’s latest IFP update states: It will start by the hash voting, if 2/3 of network hash agrees, the donation plan will be put into effect. (I believe the miners have the right to vote on how to spend their output). For the 5% of the coinbase donated by miners, the miners shall have the option, at their sole discretion, to select a number of donation objects, such as: General Foundation, ABC, BCHD, Electron Cash. The donation plan will last for 6 months (as one version is valid for a maximum period of 6 months). I suggest that we stop the fundraising after 6 months, and we may restart it eventually to prevent it [from] becoming a permanent rule. There are numerous objections now, I am inclined to start the donation plan after that the community reaches a basic agreement. If they fail to achieve it, we could set up the General Foundation first, let’s see its operation effect funding by donation, then we could proceed the hash voting next time. Block 622509, Bitcoin Verde, and Bitcoin Unlimited In addition to Zhuoer’s latest blog post, BCH block #622509 mined by SBIcrypto.com left a coinbase message that says “no” and a link to the Bitcoin ABC announcement. There are also comments stemming from developers of full nodes like Bitcoin Verde and Bitcoin Unlimited. The pool SBIcrypto.com mined a Bitcoin Cash block that says “no” in the coinbase message with a link to Bitcoin ABC’s announcement. Bitcoin Verde’s Joshua Green tweeted about the announcement from Bitcoin ABC and questioned why Verde was excluded. The chief scientist of Bitcoin Unlimited, Peter Rizun, tweeted about the announcement from ABC as well. “Amaury Sechet is literally modifying the BCH protocol to issue coins to him and his friends,” Rizun explained. “Due to the poison pill, miners and exchanges must upgrade before May 15. If they do as usual and download the new version of ABC, his plan succeeds by default.” Greg Maxwell Stirs the Pot In addition to the opposition against the IFP, former Blockstream developer Greg Maxwell is seemingly stirring the pot. Within the depths of an r/btc thread that Greg Maxwell started, he claims Amaury Sechet (Deadalnix) private messaged him about creating a version of Bitcoin ABC without the IFP. Github code linked by Maxwell shows a version of ABC without the IFP and again states that “Amaury Sechet requested that I post this.” Former Blockstream CTO Greg Maxwell appeared on the Reddit forum r/btc to discuss the IFP. He also claims he was requested to build an IFP-free Bitcoin ABC version. “It is completely untested and may not even compile,” Maxwell says and then insults BCH toward the end of his comments. Of course, Maxwell’s thread, statements, and IFP free code were controversial among r/btc patrons. Not too many people believed Maxwell’s words, and lots of his commentary was downvoted throughout the thread. Maxwell was also known for being involved in the November 2018 hash war as it was once claimed he was helping Craig Wright. With Negativity In the Air, Open Discussion Is a Net Positive and Worthwhile The IFP discussion continues to unfold and read.cash and r/btc are filled with threads and blog posts about the subject. If anything can be said at the moment about the furious debates it is that at least people have open forums to discuss the situation. Back in 2015, when bitcoiners tried to debate raising the block size, moderators from the most popular Bitcoin Reddit forum censored anyone who approved of raising the block size. Right now, in the world of Bitcoin Cash, there is no censorship happening and even Blockstream developer Greg Maxwell is free to speak his mind within BCH forums. The IFP debate and discussion is continuing to unfold and news.Bitcoin.com will be there to inform our readers every step of the way. What do you think about the discussions revolving around the IFP subject? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Coin Dance, Btc.top, Youtube, Bitcoin.com, Fair Use, Blockchair, and Pixabay. Do you want to maximize your Bitcoin Mining potential? Plug your own hardware into the world’s most profitable Bitcoin mining pool or get started without having to own hardware through one of our competitive Bitcoin cloud mining contracts. The post BCH Funding Debate: Btc.top Founder Suggests 2/3 Hash Vote and 6-Month Evaluation appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The book “New Libertarian Manifesto” (NLM) by libertarian-anarchist Samuel E. Konkin III (SEK3) launched a movement that has grown amazingly over the last few decades: Agorism. This is the movement of peaceful revolution through counter-economics. Counter-economics is “the study or practice of all peaceful human action which is forbidden by the State.” Agorists, SEK3 wrote, are “counter-economists with libertarian consciousness.” As such, they refuse to participate in the state or to use violence except in self-defense. Also read: Bitcoin and Doomsday Preppers — Would Crypto Have Any Survival Value If SHTF? Agorism According to Samuel E. Konkin III “We witness to the efficacy of freedom and exult in the intricate beauty of complex voluntary exchange. We demand the right of every ego to maximize its value without limit save that of another ego. We proclaim the age of the Market unbound, the natural and proper condition for humanity, wealth in abundance, goals without end or limit, and self-determined meaning for all: Agora.” So wrote Samuel E. Konkin III in the “New Libertarian Manifesto” (The quotes in this article all come from NLM.) SEK3 died in 2004 and missed the opportunity to embrace cryptocurrency. As an associate and friend of his, however, I guarantee he would have reveled in it. As it is, NLM foreshadowed one of the most important effects crypto will exert on individuals and the world. Crypto will mitigate the coming collapse of the dollar and of the global economy, which will probably take down several nation states with it. Like crypto, Agorism will do so by offering a non-statist method to create and use wealth while increasing individual freedom. Both of them function outside the box. Agorism in Action The key to how Agorism operates outside the box lies in its approach to four types of markets: red, black, grey, and white. Red markets consist of “exchanges” that involve coercive acts by private individuals, such as a mugging or a threat of harm. Although some coercive acts are popularly associated with the black market, this is a miscategorization. “The Mafia, for example,” SEK3 noted, “is not black market but acts as government over some of the black market which collects protection money (taxes) from its victims and enforces its control with executions and beatings (law enforcement), and even conducts wars when its monopoly is threatened.” Black markets consist of “anything non-violent prohibited by the State and carried on anyways.” The goods and services exchanged include drugs, censored material, prostitution, fake documents, illegal housing, bootlegging, gambling, and knock-off products. The black market consists of victimless crimes. The importance and extent of the black market in any given society depends on the size of the white market that co-exists beside it. In the former Soviet Union, for example, the black market was vast because the white market—the “official” Soviet economy—was micro-controlled by the state and could not deliver the needs of the people. Grey and White A grey market refers to the trade in goods and services that are not in-and-of themselves illegal but which are obtained or distributed in ways that are. Unlicensed and under-the-table labor, such as “freelance” plumbing or construction work, are examples. Plumbing is not illegal but the state demands above-board plumbing so as to take its cut in the form of licenses and taxation. The line drawn between an act or exchange being red, black, and grey depends on the level of aggression that is present. Consider the act of killing someone. “Murder is red market,” SEK3 explained, “defending oneself against a criminal (when the State forbids self-defense) … is black in New York City and grey in Orange County.” The difference, at least when NLM was published in 1980? Orange County recognized the right to self-defense but limited the circumstances in which it could be exercised. A white market consists of legally accepted transactions that are regulated by the state and taxed. These exchanges are what most people conduct on a day-to-day basis. In a statist system, the economy will naturally tend toward black and grey zones because that is where financial freedom and profit exist. The restraining factor is fear of the state and punishment. As a practical reality, however, “even large businesses today could go partially counter-economic, leaving a portion in the ‘white market’ to satisfy government agents and pay some modicum of taxes and report a token number of workers. The rest of the business would (and already often does) expand off the books with independent contractors who supply, service, and distribute the finished product. Nobody, no business, no worker, and no entrepreneur need be white market.” Going grey is a choice, albeit one with risks. The Four Categories of Crypto Crypto can be viewed through the lens of all four categories. Red market crypto occurs when someone hacks into another person’s wallet or uses ransomware to extort; this is aggression. Black market crypto is when an e-currency is prohibited by the state but people use it anyway because it offers freedom and a superior store of wealth; Venezuela is an illustration. Grey market crypto happens when a legal crypto is exchanged in an illegal manner, such as peer-to-peer trading that avoids a state’s tax requirements. White market cryptos are epitomized by state- or central-bank issued ones but also include crypto exchanges that comply with the state requirements on issuance and reporting; this latter form of crypto functions as an extension of the state, which is the antithesis of the free market and freedom. In writing of Agorism, SEK3 highlighted an impact that cryptos share as well. Namely, they not only soften the effect of statism on the individual who employs Agorism and crypto, they also provide a softer landing for society when the economy collapses. “Counter-economics provides immediate gratification for those who abandon statist restraint … But only New Libertarianism offers reformation of society into a moral, working way of life without changing the nature of Man. Utopias may be discarded; at last we have a glimpse of how to remold society to fit Man rather than Man to fit some society.” This means the way to individual freedom and prosperity is the same as the path to societal health. Indeed, it would be remarkable if the paths diverged since society is nothing more than a gathering of individuals who share the same basic nature. The fundamental nature of man is to exchange for economic and personal gain, and the human need to exchange is what creates societies in the first place. The wellbeing of the individual is the wellbeing of society. Free Exchange Without Coercion For a genuine exchange to occur, however, the individuals must act voluntarily. To the extent aggression is present, the “exchange” becomes coerced. The more coercion, the less beneficial the “exchange” is to anyone but the aggressor. Otherwise stated: the black and grey markets allow individuals and societies to flourish. The red and white markets drain them of energy, prosperity, and freedom. Unfortunately, crypto may be at a disadvantage vis-a-vis Agorism when it comes to functioning in the white market. It is not only possible but also commonplace for people to use black and grey markets to avoid the state. For one thing, the state often turns a blind eye either because the stakes are so small or because it realizes that society’s survival depends on under-the-table trades; the Soviet Union was an example of the latter. But the stakes are far from small with competing currencies, and the state’s survival depends on maintaining its money monopoly. As cryptocurrency gains in popularity, it increasingly threatens state power. There will be no blind eyes when it comes to crypto. Those who value the prosperity and freedom of crypto would be wise to always prefer black or grey market means even when convenient white market ones are available. The former strengthens the individual and society; the latter strengthens the state. Op-ed disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. 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 information in this Op-ed article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post Cryptocurrency Is Agorism in Action appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Higher prices since the start of the year have been restoring popular interest in cryptocurrencies. Google searches for “bitcoin” have increased since December to about half of those registered in June last year. There’s one country that sticks out as a benchmark for the indicator. Nigeria has consistently topped the chart in the past 12 months. Only a couple of other African nations, Ghana and South Africa, come close. Also read: Wifi Sharing Platform Wicrypt Gets Government Grant in Nigeria Socio-Economic Hardships Pave the Way for Crypto Adoption in Nigeria Although it’s the continent’s largest economy, Nigeria is facing numerous economic and social challenges. Last year it overtook India as the country with the largest population living in extreme poverty, almost 87 million of its 200 million people. In the past two years, the Nigerian economy has returned to growth but since last summer inflation has been rising too, with the annual inflation rate almost touching 12% in December 2019. Scams taking advantage of the desperate and warnings issued by the central bank against Bitcoin have not deterred Nigerians from trying to learn more about cryptocurrencies, buying coins and using them in everyday life. For example, after a decrease last fall, trading volumes on the peer-to-peer exchange Localbitcoins are picking up again, reaching over 600 million Nigerian naira a week, or $1.65 million, according to data compiled by Coin Dance. Being a country with so many people struggling to meet ends, Nigeria is quite reliant on remittances from migrants who live and work abroad. Between January and November 2019 it received $17.57 billion from the diaspora, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced in January. The total represents an increase of 56.4% over the same period in 2018. Like other African nations, however, Nigeria pays very high fees for cross-border transfers that can reach almost 10%, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. Nigerians Have Many Options to Trade and Use Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies provide an economical alternative to the fiat system, but in order to be a viable option a functioning trading and exchange infrastructure is needed. Luckily, Nigeria has a number of local platforms that support purchases and sales of digital coins with the national currency, the naira. Options include Nairaex, which is the largest local crypto exchange supporting several payment methods to buy and sell BTC including bank transfers, and bitcoin remittance platform Bitpesa. The latter works with M-Pesa, a popular mobile phone-based money transfer service initially launched in Kenya and Tanzania. Nigerians can use Bitpesa to buy bitcoin with debit cards. They can also take advantage of the services offered by Wallet.ng, Busha, Tradefada, Bitfxt, and many more. Nigerians now also have plenty of options to use cryptocurrencies. Paychant is a payment processor that offers a cryptocurrency gateway for businesses to accept digital coins through instant conversion to local fiat, NGN in this case, helping them to protect their revenues from crypto price volatility. The platform currently supports BTC and ETH. Merchants who want to accept crypto directly can download and install the Bitcoin Cash Register app. The point of sale software will allow them to process BCH payments. A growing number of Nigerian companies already accept payments in cryptocurrency, the Buy Bitcoin Worldwide website reveals. One of them is the mobile airtime and SMS packages provider Gsm2me. The Nigerian platforms works with over 500 networks in 135 countries. Lagos-based online boutique shop and leather atelier Minku is another example. Its store sells fashion items and accessories in over a dozen other countries beside Nigeria. Do you think Nigeria can become a leading example of cryptocurrency adoption? Tell us in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. You can now easily buy bitcoin with a credit card. Visit our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely, and keep your coins secure by storing them in our free bitcoin mobile wallet. The post Curious About Bitcoin, Nigerians See Increasing Opportunities to Buy and Spend Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In March 2014, a Newsweek columnist named Leah McGrath Goodman published a story called “The Face Behind Bitcoin.” She claimed Bitcoin’s inventor was a retired physicist named Dorian Nakamoto. When Goodman arrived at Dorian’s home in California, he said he was “no longer involved in that” and he “cannot discuss it.” The commentary prompted Goodman and her Newsweek cohorts to assume he was talking about the creation of Bitcoin, so they published an exposé about Dorian’s life. The following is the fifth installment of news.Bitcoin.com’s “the many facts” series, with a comprehensive look at the evidence that was tethered to Dorian Nakamoto and Bitcoin’s mysterious creator. Also Read: The Many Facts Pointing to Ian Grigg Being Satoshi Dorian Nakamoto: ‘I Am No Longer Involved in That and I Cannot Discuss It’ Six years ago, Newsweek’s Leah McGrath Goodman published an exposé on Bitcoin’s inventor and her report claimed it was the California resident Dorian Nakamoto. During the last 11 years there’s been a number of self-proclaimed candidates, as well as those who have been accused of being Satoshi. Most of the usual suspects had a few ties with the cypherpunk movement, but Goodman’s suspect wasn’t involved in that scene. Goodman spent two months investigating her story and one of her biggest selling points was the fact that Dorian’s birth name is “Satoshi Nakamoto.” The cover of the Newsweek article written by Leah McGrath Goodman. Interestingly, Goodman calls herself @Truth_eater on Twitter. The exposé claimed the Japanese-American, Dorian Nakamoto, invented Bitcoin. Instead of being a member of the cypherpunk movement, at the time Dorian was a 64-year-old Japanese-American, retired physicist and well-educated engineer. Dorian’s life skills and occupation made Goodman and others believe that he had what it takes to invent the cryptocurrency and release it to the world anonymously. Because Dorian worked for a few corporations and the U.S. military, some of the projects he worked on were deemed classified information. The shroud of secrecy made Goodman once again believe that Dorian was part of Bitcoin’s initial creation. Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto after the Newsweek article published. McGrath drove to California after studying Dorian’s life for two months and visited his house located in Los Angeles’s San Gabriel foothills. She got two police officers from Temple City to escort her and they asked if Dorian was in trouble. “I don’t think he’s in any trouble,” Goodman responded to the officers. “I would like to ask him about Bitcoin — This man is Satoshi Nakamoto,” she added. When Goodman caught Dorian leaving his home she faced him with two police officers as witnesses and questioned him about his involvement with creating Bitcoin. Goodman said that Dorian’s response was “careful but revealing.” The Newsweek columnist stressed that Dorian “tacitly acknowledg[ed] his role in the Bitcoin project” but refused to answer direct questions. “I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it,” Dorian told Goodman and the officers that day. “It’s been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection.” Dorian Denies Involvement With Bitcoin – Questions Were Taken Out of Context All this made Goodman believe all the more Dorian was denying his role, and she thought she had found the mysterious creator. So the reporter and her publication Newsweek decided to run the expose on Dorian’s life story and claimed several similarities between Dorian and Bitcoin’s anonymous inventor. Following the published story, the entire Bitcoin community debated the subject and a great majority of crypto proponents didn’t believe Goodman’s article. The biggest evidence that the article leveraged was that Dorian was a Japanese-American, worked on classified projects, graduated in physics from California Polytechnic, and when he was questioned directly he said he had “turned it over” to other people. Dorian also lived very close to Hal Finney’s house and the Japanese-American showed he leaned toward a libertarian-like ideology. He is also smart enough to complete the project as coworkers noted that Dorian worked on “defensive electronics and communications for the military.” Dorian’s daughter spoke to Goodman and told the reporter that her father wholeheartedly believed in individualism. His daughter also noted: He was very wary of the government, taxes, and people in charge. Dorian did a video appearance with Andreas Antonopoulos after the community sent him BTC donations. However, Dorian told the public shortly after the publication that he felt victimized and he misunderstood Goodman’s questions. Dorian claims he thought the reporter was talking about a classified project that he worked on with the financial giant Citibank. After Dorian told his side of the story, the crypto community was outraged with Newsweek and Goodman’s report. They complained that Dorian was doxxed, as the article contained a photograph of his home in California. All this invoked bitcoiners to start a fundraiser for Dorian in order to pay for his troubles and the invasion of privacy that the Newsweek article started. Not too long after the article was published, Dorian spoke with a reporter from the Associated Press (AP) on camera and denied being involved with the Bitcoin project. Dorian’s statements highlighted that he was confused when Goodman questioned him and that his “I am no longer involved in that” comment was taken out of context. “I’m saying I’m no longer in engineering. That’s it. And even if I was, when we get hired, you have to sign this document, contract saying you will not reveal anything we divulge during and after employment. So that’s what I implied,” Dorian told the AP reporter. The retired physicist added: It sounded like I was involved before with bitcoin and looked like I’m not involved now. That’s not what I meant. I want to clarify that. The Bitcoin community likes Dorian and they have invited him to speak at a few crypto conferences. Dorian was sent a total of 102 BTC ($1 million USD) for his experience being doxxed as Satoshi Nakamoto and the wallet is now empty. Dorian also did a video with the Bitcoin evangelist Andreas Antonopoulos telling his side of the story and he thanked the Bitcoin community for all the donations he received. The BTC address: 1Dorian4RoXcnBv9hnQ4Y2C1an6NJ4UrjX has received over 102 BTC ($1 million USD at today’s exchange rate) and the wallet is now empty. This is a stark contrast to the over 1 million BTC sitting in the Satoshi Nakamoto wallets that have been left unspent for over a decade. Following Dorian’s Newsweek expose, the Japanese-American became a hero amongst the crypto community appearing on posters, t-shirts, and stickers. Dorian has appeared at crypto conferences and discussed his experience after Newsweek’s hit piece turned his normal, toy train-collecting life upside down. Moreover, with the slew of unattractive self-proclaimed Satoshis who have come out of the woodwork, many crypto proponents actually wish Dorian was Satoshi, as he’s far more friendly. People have even crowned Dorian as the best Satoshi Nakamoto suspect in years. Who do you think is Satoshi? One person? Many? Let us know in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Newsweek, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, and fair use. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. The post The Many Facts Pointing to Dorian Nakamoto Being Satoshi appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitcoin’s next bull run will look very different from the last one. In 2017, BTC took the elevator to $20K before following the stairs down to $3K over the course of 12 months. In 2020, as bitcoin prepares for its halvening – followed by another potential price run – the cryptocurrency landscape looks very different. Here’s what’s improved since 2017. Also read: Tradeblock Estimates Post-Halving Mining Cost of $12,500 per BTC More Fiat Gateways In 2017, getting funds into crypto called for routing them via dubious banks, paying dearly for the privilege, and often waiting days for the transaction to clear. In 2020, most exchanges have in-built fiat gateways, with new fiat currency options being added on a weekly basis. This week alone, Binance has added another 15 fiat currency pairs after payment processing partner Simplex expanded its fiat on-ramp. Similar ones in place at Bitcoin.com and on exchanges like Kucoin and Bithumb enable investors to purchase crypto using credit or debit card at low cost. As a result, when the retail FOMO begins, enhanced on-ramps will channel more fiat, more efficiently than was the case in 2017. Better Customer Service One of the biggest bugbears during 2017’s bull run was the time it took to get verified on exchanges. Users were left waiting weeks for the go-ahead to start trading, as overworked compliance teams battled to clear the backlog. Some, like Bittrex, simply closed their books altogether and refused to accept new registrations. If you ran into technical problems, meanwhile, such as withdrawal issues, you could forget about receiving customer support. When Circle took over Poloniex in the wake of bitcoin mania, its first task was clearing the backlog of support tickets that had stacked up. In 2020, exchange support still has room to improve, but it’s far more robust than what passed for customer service three years ago. Technical improvements have also kicked in, enabling KYC verification to be completed in minutes rather than days. Better Liquidity Better liquidity means stronger support for bitcoin at key price points. Not only do deeper order books reduce spread and minimize slippage, but they make it harder for whales to single-handedly move the market. That’s not to say that whale shenanigans have been entirely eliminated today, but it’s certainly harder to pull the kind of stunts that were commonplace three years ago. Better liquidity isn’t just about volume, either: it also applies to the number of trading venues where BTC and other cryptocurrencies can be acquired at market price. More Options When bitcoin embarked on its giddy run in 2017, there weren’t many derivatives options for shorting outside of Bitmex, and nothing at all for institutional investors. CME and Cboe’s futures products launched at the peak of the bubble, and were too late to have any meaningful impact on the market. Today, these institutional options are complemented by a string of derivatives exchanges for retail investors including Binance Futures, FTX, and Deribit. Even Coinbase Pro has belatedly gotten in on the act, introducing margin trading this month. If bitcoin reaches new all-time highs and then keeps on climbing – despite there being efficient ways to short it this time around – it will suggest the rally is steeped in more than simply speculative mania. You can purchase Presidential futures on FTX Lower Fees Ever since peaking at a median of over $30 in December 2017, BTC fees have been mercifully low, averaging less than 10 sats/byte, and often reaching no more than a couple of sats per byte. Broad adoption of Segwit has also slashed the average transaction size by a third, further reducing costs, and exchanges have gotten more efficient at batching transactions. All this has meant that sending BTC onchain has been affordable for most people and for most amounts above $5. If bitcoin enters a full-blown bull market, fees can be expected to rise as coins in cold storage are dusted down and sent to exchanges and the mempool fills up. However, if fees can stay affordable for most people, bitcoin should remain attractive to newbs making their first Coinbase buy and sending BTC over to Binance to trade. One thing that is unlikely to be ready by the next bull run is Lightning Network, which is still 18 months off, and may still be in 2140 when the last bitcoins are mined. Different Emotions? There’s one final thing that will be different when bitcoin embarks on its next record-breaking run: many of the investors involved will recall 2017, when a good proportion of them first entered the industry. As bitcoin smashes record after record, they’ll recall those euphoric feelings that, for a few months in 2017, became the norm. This time around, though, will they have the presence of mind to sell while in profit, or will the lessons of three years ago be forgotten as greed takes over? In hindsight, $19K would have been a great place to have sold bitcoin. In the next bull run who’ll have the shrewdness to stop near the top? History suggests virtually no one. Do you think bitcoin is on the verge of entering another bull market? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post More On-Ramps, Liquidity, Options: Why Bitcoin’s Next Bull Run Will Be Different appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Crypto blogging platform Steemit is undergoing a big change, migrating from its own Steem blockchain to the Tron network. The struggling crypto blogging platform launched in 2016 and made waves when big name libertarian users began to make thousands of dollars per post. The platform’s heyday was short-lived, however, and after the departure of co-founder Dan Larimer of EOS fame, attempts to rebrand, and layoffs, it has finally ended up in the care of crypto mogul Justin Sun, founder of the Tron platform. Also Read: Ethereum vs Tron: Comparing Data, Defi and Stablecoins from Both Chains After Viral Tweet Steemit Sold to Tron Founder The once highly popular social media hub for anarchists, libertarians, and crypto heads in general — not to mention all sorts of other demographics like photographers and lifestyle bloggers — is moving operations to the Tron network according to a press release issued on Valentine’s Day. “Steemit Inc., the largest decentralized blockchain-based social media and blogging platform, announced a strategic partnership with TRON Foundation,” the release states. “TRON and Steemit’s development teams will immediately begin working together to bring Steemit and other Steem blockchain-based DApps to TRON blockchain and its community of over 20 million users, products, and services.” Former Steemit CEO and co-founder Ned Scott tweeted: Steemitans and Twitterers, after four beautiful years, I have sold Steemit to @justinsuntron. AMA tomorrow at 9am PT. The Ask Me Anything video finds Tron founder Justin Sun in discussion with Scott, elaborating on the details and implications of the deal. In explaining why he sold the company, Scott stated he is “moving on for personal reasons” and that “there’s a couple other companies that I’m working on behind the scenes privately.” This is notable since one of the common criticisms of Steemit historically has been the project-hopping of leaders, with Bitshares creator Dan Larimer, who helped Scott create Steemit, leaving the project in 2017 to work on EOS development. Steem Community Reacts to Sun’s Latest Acquisition Tron founder Justin Sun has gained a reputation in the crypto space for making big moves financially, acquiring Bittorrent in 2018 and blockchain based streaming platform Dlive last year. Dlive was originally built on the Steem blockchain and was popular with users on the Steemit platform before migrating to the Lino network prior to Tron migration. In recent news, Sun was also able to finally have his postponed lunch meeting with multi-billionaire Warren Buffet after spending $4.57 million to do so. Sun’s big moves are not impressing everyone, though, and some Steemians are very concerned with how the steem token will be migrated, and what the new “tron steem” platform might look like. Sun’s announcement post on Steemit, which has garnered over $150 in steem at press time, has elicited lots of questions from community members. One user commented: I am here for Steem, not Tron. I have zero interest in anything Tron offers, and moving Steem to Tron’s network is something that’ll happen without me as a result. Another details that “the community is very worried about what the next steps are and there is a lot of talk about a fork away from Tron within the Steem community as many members presently see this as a hostile take over by Tron and not a mutually beneficial partnership.” Veteran steem whale @berniesanders lashed out in trademark fashion as well, with an incendiary comment on the post: Regarding the concerns about currency migration, Sun stated in the Feb. 16 AMA with Ned Scott: I don’t think we have a plan for immediately like token swap, so I think we will keep both steem and the tron tokens separate and run separately … there is no token swap for right now … I just want to talk with the team and found out the best solution to integrate eventually for steem, Steemit, and Tron. That may sound well and good, but for the dedicated bloggers who came to Steemit seeking a real decentralized social media and fell in love with the chain and platform, the official press release is clear: “Together, TRON Foundation and Steemit Inc. will look to create further value for their users and to augment their advancements in decentralized technologies,” it states, “including moving old STEEM token to a new TRON based STEEM token.” Some are not so pessimistic, hoping the sale could bring steem a long overdue shot in the arm of recognition in the crypto space and beyond. As for Scott, he states in the press release, “From launching the platform in 2016 on a shoestring budget with an idealistic team to today, I’ve enjoyed the development of the platform and the growth of its user base — now I’m excited to see a strategic partner attempt to bring it to new heights.” What are your thoughts on the sale of Steemit to Justin Sun and the upcoming migration to the Tron network? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Piotr Swat, fair use. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. The post Steemit for Sale: Popular Crypto Blogging Platform Sold to Tron, Community Reacts appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has reportedly filed 84 patents relating to its plans to launch a digital currency. The patents reveal the central bank’s plans which include integrating digital currency wallets into existing retail bank accounts. The potential for the Chinese central bank digital currency to achieve scale from the get-go has put several other central banks worldwide on high alert. Also read: Trump Views Crypto a Threat, Proposes Countermeasures in New Budget PBOC’s 84 Digital Currency Patents The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has filed 84 patents relating to its plans to launch a digital yuan, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The publication claims to have seen and verified all of them, which include: Proposals related to the issuance and supply of a central bank digital currency, a system for interbank settlements that uses the currency, and the integration of digital currency wallets into existing retail bank accounts. Several of the patents “indicate that China may plan to algorithmically adjust the supply of a central bank digital currency based on certain triggers, such as loan interest rates,” the news outlet detailed. Some patents “outline mechanisms to allow customers to make deposits with their existing banks and then exchange that for digital currency … Other patents are focused on building digital currency chip cards or digital currency wallets that banking consumers could potentially use, which would be linked directly to their bank accounts.” The patents were uncovered by the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Patent attorney Marc Kaufman, a partner at Rimon Law who worked with the chamber on the project, commented: Virtually all of these patent applications relate to integrating a system of digital currency into the existing banking infrastructure. The majority of the patents are attributed to the PBOC’s Digital Currency Research Institute, with some attributed to state-owned corporations or government subsidiaries. The institute was set up at the end of 2016 to study the possibility of issuing a sovereign digital currency when commercial tradeable cryptocurrencies started gaining traction, the South China Morning Post described. The director of the institute, Mu Changchun, previously said that the digital yuan was almost ready. In December, the official Shanghai Securities News reported Mu explaining that this new currency is not for speculation and would not need the backing of a basket of currencies, emphasizing that it is different from bitcoin and stablecoins. Global Responses to Digital Yuan China’s claim to be close to launching its central bank digital currency (CBDC) has put other countries on high alert. In the U.S., Representative Bill Foster pointed out during a House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Services hearing on Tuesday that besides Facebook’s Libra project, China is the only one in a position to launch its own digital currency and immediately achieve scale. However, both the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Secretary of the Treasury believe that the U.S. does not need a digital dollar yet. Meanwhile, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, and the Swiss National Bank formed a group last month to assess potential cases of central bank digital currencies. According to reports, they will meet in mid-April in Washington on the sidelines of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) conference to discuss this issue. Bank of Japan board member Takako Masai told a news conference in Nara on Feb. 6: In Japan, we don’t have any plans now to issue central bank digital currencies … But we need to make an effort so we’re ready to respond, in case public demand for central bank digital currencies rises dramatically. To help central bankers decide whether to issue a central bank digital currency, the World Economic Forum published a toolkit for policymakers last month. It aims to provide high-level guidance and information on different types of CBDCs — such as retail, wholesale, and cross-border — and alternatives in private money for large, small, emerging and developed countries. In the same month, the BIS released the outcome of a survey it conducted of 66 central banks’ digital currency efforts. The results show that 40% of central banks have progressed from conceptual research to experiments, or proofs-of-concept, and another 10% have developed pilot projects. However, only a few from small and medium-sized economies have progressed to intensive development and have firm intentions to issue a digital currency soon. “Central banks currently not looking at CBDCs are typically from smaller jurisdictions and/or report that they face more pressing priorities,” the survey finds. What do you think of the PBOC filing 84 patents relating to a central bank digital currency? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post 84 Digital Currency Patents Filed by China’s Central Bank Show the Extent of Digital Yuan appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence has admitted that cryptocurrency could undermine the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The head of the U.S. Intelligence Community is seeking researchers to detail the impact of that status loss on the U.S., its economy, and national security. Also read: Fed Chair Powell Reveals US Response to China’s Digital Yuan, Libra, Public Payments Ledger Crypto Could Undermine USD as the World’s Reserve Currency The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence has posted a research opportunity entitled “Evaluating the Impact of U.S. Dollar Losing Its Status as World Reserve Currency.” “There are many advantages for U.S. national security to have the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency. Any international transaction settled in US dollars gives the U.S. jurisdiction over financial crimes associated with those transactions,” the office stated in its posting. “In addition, the U.S. is able to effectively level sanctions against or designate entities that violate international laws or treaties, or that have the potential to cause financial instability in global markets.” However, “there are many threats to the U.S. dollar maintaining its status as the world reserve currency,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence explained. “Countries such as China and India have large growing economies that could compete with U.S. economic growth,” its post describes, adding: Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts predict that either a global cryptocurrency or a national digital currency could undermine the U.S. dollar … The U.S. should prepare for scenarios that threaten to undermine the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency and determine how those scenarios could be overcome, protecting our status in the global economy. Referring to the above threats, the post notes that “If either of these scenarios or others come to pass, the U.S. would lose both its status in the world and its global authorities.” The posting further asserts: “The U.S. should prepare to identify potential ‘black swan’ events that could revolutionize the financial playing field in ways we do not yet understand – presenting strategic surprise — and understand root causes and driving factors that are particularly sensitive to certain global or technical events.” Who Can Apply and Scope of Research The research opportunity above is a U.S. Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program through the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Technology. The Intelligence Community is a coalition of 17 agencies and organizations, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA). The Director of National Intelligence, acting as the head of the Intelligence Community, oversees and directs the implementation of the National Intelligence Program and acts as the principal advisor to the president, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council. The U.S. Intelligence Community comprising 17 agencies, with the Director of National Intelligence as the head of the community. Two positions are listed in the research opportunity posting: postdoc and research advisor. Postdoc applicants must be U.S. citizens and either recent Ph.D. graduates or doctoral students who will soon complete their degrees. Research advisor applicants must be an employee of an accredited U.S. university, college or U.S. government laboratory but are not required to be U.S. citizens. The application deadline is Feb. 28. “This project should leverage all available information as well as recent breakthroughs in applied statistics, artificial intelligence, and deep learning to determine the most likely scenario(s) for how the U.S. dollar loses its status as the world reserve currency, why that scenario(s) is most likely, and in what timeframe this scenario(s) could unfold,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence clarified, elaborating: It should also detail the impact of that status loss on the U.S., its economy, and national security. What do you think of the U.S. researching how crypto could undermine the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post US Worried Crypto Could Undermine Dollar as World Reserve Currency, Hiring Researchers to Prepare Response appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Research has shown that government paper money is a hotbed for bacteria and that, at least in the U.S., most bank notes in circulation are tainted by cocaine. Now you can also worry about a new threat possibly sticking to your fingers when you handle a bill – a deadly virus coming out of China. Also Read: China Stocks Plummet Despite 1.2 Trillion Yuan Injection to Mitigate Effects of Epidemic China Scrubs Cash to Stop Virus Outbreak The People’s Bank of China, the Chinese central bank, has announced that it has taken a number of actions to fight the spread of COVID19 – the novel coronavirus infecting the country. In a press conference on Saturday, February 15, it was revealed that commercial banks have been ordered they must take out of circulation used notes and disinfect them. The disinfected fiat cash will also need to be kept in quarantine for a period of 7 to 14 days before it can be reintroduced to the public, with the length of time bills are kept in isolation varying from region to region according to its level of infection with the virus. Moreover, the Guangzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China claimed on Saturday that all used cash notes coming from hospitals, wet markets, and public transportation buses will simply be annihilated as soon as possible. And according to reports from the area, stacks of cash are now being stockpiled in warehouses waiting until they can be eliminated. Additionally, Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the Chinese central bank, said Saturday that commercial banks have been instructed to give out new banknotes to clients instead of used ones if they can. For this purpose the People’s Bank of China made an “emergency issuance” of four billion RMB in new notes to the most severely effected region, Hubei province, right before the recent Lunar New Year holiday. These steps are meant to “secure the public’s safety and health when using cash”, Fan said. Will Outbreak Have Long Term Implications on Cash? Over 1,660 people have died from the COVID19 outbreak so far and almost 70,000 cases have been confirmed. Besides the heavy human cost, the spread of the virus has also had a strong impact on the Chinese economy. With cities under lockdown and civilians discouraged from leaving their homes, many businesses have taken a massive hit as both employees and customers have stayed away. The local stock markets have also taken a pounding and GDP growth numbers will probably need to be revised downward. The recent moves to disinfect used fiat bills point to the need to consider this outbreak might have long lasting consequences for the usage of government paper money in the giant Asian country too. China was already a world leader in the use of mobile payments apps, with Alipay and Wechatpay allowing users to shop almost anywhere in the country and pay directly to anyone using QR codes. If many people in China will associate cash with the risk of catching deadly viruses they might dump it altogether. Beyond China, this crisis might also be used by governments in different parts of the world that want to transition to a “cashless society” to justify their actions. They might introduce a ban on fiat paper cash as a public safety measure instead of just a way to ensure total surveillance on citizens’ economic lives. However, it is important to remember that fiat money was always dirty, not just as a concept, and research has shown that a random bill in New York can be home to hundreds of bacteria and up to 80% of USD notes in circulation contain traces of cocaine. Bitcoin Cash solves all this. What do you think about China scrubbing paper money to stop the spread of the virus? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Bitcoin.com Markets, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post China Is Scrubbing Cash Notes to Stop Virus Spreading so Its Government Paper Money Wont Kill You appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

ATMs supporting digital coins have increased parallel to the predominant trend on cryptocurrency markets since the beginning of 2020. With over 400 new devices added in January, the global total is now closing on the 7,000 mark. The sector has seen exponential growth in the past three years. Also read: Bitcoin.com Partners With Mecon Cash, Enabling Withdrawal at ATMs Across South Korea Crypto Teller Machines Increase by Over 5% in January This year had a promising start for cryptocurrencies, with the price of BTC rising from below $7,000 in the first days of January to around $9,350 at the end of the month and to over $10,000 in mid-February, the Bitcoin Markets tool shows. Other cryptocurrencies gained market capitalization too. Bitcoin cash (BCH), for example, increased its rate from a little under $200 per coin to almost $500 on Feb. 14. Higher prices are bringing interest back to the crypto space, with more people looking to invest in digital assets. Bitcoin ATMs are an accessible way to acquire cryptos for those who are entering the ecosphere now and the Google Trends statistics reveal that the queries about this type of teller machine have doubled since last year. Period highs were observed in June 2019, when BTC almost touched $13,000, and in the first half of January, when the current bull market started. The number of newly installed BATMs has continued to grow at a stable rate this year, according to data compiled by the tracking website Coinatmradar. Its Bitcoin ATM Market Dynamics January 2020 report shows that there were 6,377 operating devices around the world at the start of the month. 432 machines were launched during the period while only 104 were closed, which represents a net growth of 328, or 5.1%. The majority of manufacturers increased production. Genesis Coin is leading the pack with 146 new ATMs (7% increase), followed by General Bytes with 62 (3%) and Coinsource with 40 installations (up 11.7%). Many operators introduced new machines. Coinflip Bitcoin ATMs tops the chart with 36, Bitcoin Depot is a close second with 34 and ATM Coiners comes in third place with 33, or a 50% increase in its devices. New players are entering the niche with U.S.-based Pro ATM installing its first 12 machines. Large Operators Fare Better Than Firms With Few ATMs Coinatmradar has been following and analyzing the activities of 870 Bitcoin ATM operators since 2013. Despite the common perception that they charge high fees, not all companies have made it so far due to various costs and risks. The survival rate seems to depend on the number of operated ATMs. Firms that ran between 1 and 10 machines at peak level lasted for a year and a half on average. While over 450 of these small operators are still active, more than 300 have already closed down. At the same time, none of the companies with 100 or more devices went out of business. In January, the United States saw the highest number of new BATMs – 325 new machines were installed across the country, which is a 7.7% increase. Canada and the United Kingdom are distant second and third with only 5 and 2 recently added locations respectively. Unfortunately, there are nations that closed some of their crypto teller machines last month. Italy, for instance, has lost 7 Bitcoin ATMs and now has 47. Three of a total of 179 devices were decommissioned in Austria while two were unplugged in the Netherlands. Most of the machines in operation allow you to buy and sell multiple currencies. Bitcoin core (BTC) is the most widely supported crypto on all but three of the 6,833 active ATMs. Their number increased by over 300 in the first month of the year. A total of 2,307 devices currently offer Bitcoin cash (BCH), up from 2,226 at the end of January and 2,141 at the start of 2020. Last month, BCH supporting devices increased by 85 or almost 4%. Meanwhile, teller machines offering zcash (ZEC), dogecoin (DOGE) and monero (XMR) have decreased in number. Do you expect Bitcoin ATMs to continue to spread around the world? Do you see a correlation between their numbers and crypto market trends? Tell us in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coinatmradar. You can now easily buy bitcoin with a credit card. Visit our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely, and keep your coins secure by storing them in our free bitcoin mobile wallet. The post Bitcoin ATMs Grow in Number Reaching Almost 7,000 in Operation Around the World appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitcoin ABC developers published a blog post on Saturday which discusses the miner Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP) and the team told the community the software engineers have been “requested” to implement IFP. According to the developers, the code for IFP will be implemented in the upcoming 0.21.0 ABC software release. Also Read: 3 Cents per kWh – Central Asia’s Cheap Electricity Entices Chinese Bitcoin Miners Bitcoin ABC Will Implement Code for the Infrastructure Funding Plan in the Next Software Release Btc.top founder Jiang Zhuoer recently introduced a miner-funded Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP) that would see a fraction of block rewards sent to core developers working on the BCH protocol. At first, the plan was to use 12.5% of the BCH coinbase rewards and miner participation was required. While some people liked the plan, the proposal didn’t sit well with a number of BCH supporters and people debated the subject for days. Then Zhuoer followed up with the community after hearing the responses and he explained that the coinbase reward would be reduced and instead of requiring other miners to donate they could burn their percentage. Again, BCH community members mulled over the revised plan and the conversation had settled for a while. Then on Saturday, Bitcoin ABC announced the team would be adding support to the IFP within the next codebase release. The 0.21.0 ABC software release will contain code that implements the rules if triggered by miners via [a] BIP-9 like method. The method would be the same steps used when BTC developers activated Segregated Witness (Segwit) for soft fork deployment. The Bitcoin ABC blog post states: The new plan addresses several of the major concerns expressed over the last few weeks. Bitcoin ABC has been requested to implement this plan in the node software, and as such will be including this implementation in the upcoming 0.21.0 release. BIP-9 Like Voting Will Be Used for IFP Activation According to the development team, the new plan is different as it will be “triggered by miners via BIP-9 like method.” “The amount is reduced to 5% of block reward [and] the funds can go to more than one project, and can go to one of several in a whitelist,” the update says. The post goes further and explains the “whitelist” of possible projects. The following criteria include: Must be common infrastructure, things that different products build on top of. The project must provide a “Public Good” The project must use open source software licenses compatible with other projects in the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem. The plan should prioritize projects that are in need of money. The current node count for the top three BCH node implementations according to Coin Dance statistics. The software engineers disclosed that by applying the criteria a whitelist has come to fruition. There will be donation addresses for a General Fund, Bitcoin ABC, Electron Cash, and BCHD. “As a project, Bitcoin ABC believes that stable funding of Bitcoin Cash software infrastructure is vital to the success of the project,” the developers concluded. “While we recognize that some aspects of this plan have been controversial, we believe that overall the benefits of the plan create the potential for a very exciting future in which Bitcoin Cash can grow and compete, and can reach its goal of becoming the best money the world has ever seen.” The developers also thanked Btc.top’s Jiang Zhuoer and other mining pools for their “desire” to fund infrastructure. “We are optimistic this plan could be a great success,” the team’s blog post further highlights. What do you think about Bitcoin ABC’s recent announcement? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Bitcoin ABC logo, and Coin Dance. Do you want to maximize your Bitcoin Mining potential? Plug your own hardware into the world’s most profitable Bitcoin mining pool or get started without having to own hardware through one of our competitive Bitcoin cloud mining contracts. The post 5% of Block Rewards – Bitcoin ABC Will Add Infrastructure Funding Plan in Next Release appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On February 7, the blockchain analytics provider Tradeblock published a report about the upcoming BTC reward halving. BTC’s block reward is expected to halve on or around May 12, 2020, and Tradeblock’s report estimates that the cost to mine BTC will be over $12,500 after the halving. Also Read: The Controversial S2F Model Predicts Bitcoin Price Will Reach 100,000 USD Within 2 Years BTC’s Price Must Rise According to Post-Halving Cost Estimate The great reward halving of 2020 is coming and the discussion about this topic has intrigued crypto supporters. BTC, the largest blockchain network by market capitalization, will see a reward halving on or around May 12, 2020. This means a miner who finds a block on the network will only get 6.25 BTC, in comparison to today’s 12.5 BTC reward. Of course, the BTC reward halving has prompted intense speculation on whether the price will rise prior to the halving and remain profitable to mine after the event as well. Across social media platforms and crypto-focused forums, individuals have been debating the subject regularly. Additionally, there’s been various studies done on the subject and Tradeblock recently published the firm’s thoughts on the upcoming BTC reward halving and estimated post-halving cost. Figure 1 from Tradeblock’s report shows BTC’s network hashrate and difficulty hit new all-time highs. The blockchain analytics provider emphasized that the post-halving cost should be around $12,525. “In our latest estimates, we projected that commercial mining operators were likely operating at healthy profit margins as the price of bitcoin increased throughout 2019 (albeit with bouts of volatility over the year),” Tradeblock’s researchers noted. “However, the network hash rate has continued on a record run, making new highs nearly each week.” They added: Hash rate increases as the number of resources, in aggregate, committed to securing the network through mining activities rises. As resources dedicated to mining rise over time, efficiency gains and/or mining costs rise. As such, in order to maintain healthy profit margins for miners, a rising hash rate is typically needed to correspond with a rising bitcoin price. Tradeblock’s generated assumptions for cost calculations. Analysts and Controversial Stock-to-Flow Charts Show the Halving Could Propel BTC’s Price to $100K Tradeblock stressed that the gross cost to mine a single BTC after the halving would need to be around $15,062 per coin. However, by adjusting the assumption that hashrate remains relatively flat then the cost would drop to $12,525 per BTC. “It is important to note, however, that large scale commercial mining pools such as those operated by Bitmain will likely have a lower device price point as they will be utilizing Antminer devices at cost,” Tradeblock’s report highlights. “As such, this would allow breakeven costs to be somewhat lower than the above estimates.” The Tradeblock report follows the report published in September by Bayerische Landesbank (Bavarian State Bank), which estimated BTC prices could touch $90,000 soon. The report’s estimates and reasoning derive from speculation concerning the reward halving and the controversial stock-to-flow (S2F) system. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on how a few S2F charts show a possible climb to the $100K mark. Traders who wholeheartedly believe in S2F technical analysis think that the reward halving is one of the biggest reasons why the $100K price is achievable. Additionally, onchain data indicates that BTC miners are hoarding coins as the difference between freshly generated coins and their first spends have consistent gaps week after week. Statistics from Bytetree’s “Generation / On-chain 1st Spend” data shows lots of miners are hoarding coins prior to the halving. Tradeblock’s report assumes miners will continue to expend resources in order to secure the network despite the reward halving. The study’s data suggests that the “cost (per mined btc) increase following the halving” will surely happen, but the rise in price is theoretical. “This suggests that miners are likely expecting the price of bitcoin to rise to higher levels (above ~$12,000-15,000 per BTC) around the halving allowing them to continue to generate a profit, or they likely will look to reduce resources following the halving resulting in a hash rate decline as profitability falls,” Tradeblock’s report concludes. If the price of bitcoin means it is not profitable to mine after the BTC halving in May, significant miner capitulation could occur. What do you think about the BTC reward halving? Do you think the price is already priced in or do you expect BTC to rise just before the halving? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Price articles and market updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Image credits: Shutterstock, Wiki Commons, Twitter, Tradeblock report, bitcoinblockhalf.com, Bytetree, and Pixabay. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Tradeblock Estimates Post-Halving Mining Cost of $12,500 per BTC appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency markets have been climbing higher in value as coins like BTC have gained over 19% during the last 90 days. However, many other digital assets have seen much larger gains and BTC dominance has been sliding downwards consecutively for the last 14 days. Also Read: Craig Wright’s $100B Theft Claim – BTC and BCH Used His Database Without Permission BTC’s Ratio of Market Dominance Sinks to 60% During the last few weeks, BTC dominance has dropped from a high of 70% to a low of 60%. The term and metric BTC dominance is the ratio of BTC’s market capitalization versus all the other coin market caps. So the current market valuation of the entire cryptoconomy is around $305 billion and BTC captures 61% of that today with a market valuation of around $186 billion. BTC has always been the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and prior to February 2017, the asset captured more than 80% of the entire cryptoconomy for eight years straight. However, the video tweet below shared in 2018 shows how crypto dominance metrics can change drastically over time. The evolution of the altcoin market share and BTC dominance #cryptocurrency #cryptosec #Crypto #cryptotwitter #altcoins #cryptotrader #cryptotrading #blockchain #btc #eth #bch #eos #ltc #xrp #bitfinex #cryptoexchange #binance #bitmex #crypto #cryptocurrencynews#cryptotrading pic.twitter.com/1IcerX7BHC — Cryptosec (@vivasatori) September 15, 2018 After February 26, 2017, BTC dominance slid from 85% to a low of 40% one month later. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) spiked to an all-time high of 31% of the cryptoconomy’s overall valuation and XRP was at 17%. A number of people believe that BTC’s rising network fees and clogged backlog (mempool) of transactions in 2017 and 2018 attributed to the decline. Alongside this, many crypto proponents and traders referred to the time as “alt season,” in which a variety of alternative digital assets reduce BTC’s share of the entire coin market cap. After BTC dropped to a low of 40%, the dominance metric slid even lower in January 2018 as BTC dominance was around 33%. Since then, the digital currency has regained a lot of market cap dominance and BTC had risen to close to 70% on September 8, 2019. However, after the jump to 70%, BTC’s share of the cryptoconomy has been sliding once again. From September’s high of 70%, BTC dominance has dropped down to 60% on February 15, 2020, losing roughly 10%. The sliding metric has been due to other digital assets that have done far better percentage-wise as far as gains are concerned. For instance, during the last 90 days, BTC has gained 19%, but ETH jumped 52%, XRP 26%, BCH 82%, and BSV rose by 185% in that time period. BTC dominance has slid consecutively for the last 14 days straight to its current low and only today has it started to rise again slightly. It’s been one of the longest downward slides for BTC dominance since September 2018. BTC’s market dominance touched a high of close to 70% during the first week of September 2019. Are Market Valuations and Dominance Important Metrics? Even though BTC dominance is a metric used by crypto market price aggregation websites, many proponents do not believe the data reflects any real value. Market caps only reflect the current worth of every coin circulating in real-time and some people think the data can be skewed. Despite the fact that a number of crypto proponents believe market caps and dominance are inadequate value metrics and do not necessarily reflect the project’s real worth, these metrics are used by the majority of crypto enthusiasts. In the early days, after assets like namecoin, ripple, litecoin, and mastercoin appeared, the website coinmarketcap.com was developed and the public were able to compare coins based on market valuations. There’s now a great variety of coin market cap aggregation websites that show similar data and provide other statistics too like trade volumes. BTC dominance has slid 10-12% touching a low of 60% on February 15, 2020. Despite some believing that market cap lists are not a good reflection of real value, individuals find the data very important. As mentioned above, investors believe there are significant reasons for BTC dominance declines, whether it was the network stress or alt season that prompted the decline from 85% to 33%. Market caps and dominance metrics show investors the level of risk involved as small-caps, mid-caps, and large-caps see different types of movements. BTC dominance calculated by Trading View. Traditionally, mid to small market caps are far more volatile than larger-cap cryptocurrencies and they can spike in price and drop in value very quickly. People view market valuation and dominance as a reliability metric because large caps usually present less risk to investors. Smaller crypto market caps provide investors with high-risk trading situations which can be good or bad depending on how the individual is trading. The fact that BTC lost 61% of the dominance it commanded over the entire cryptoconomy between February 2017 and January 2018 is a metric of great importance to a lot of crypto enthusiasts. When BTC’s dominance climbed from 33% back to 70%, some maximalists and hardcore BTC supporters said that “altcoins were dying.” Although ever since this, altcoin values have been outperforming BTC by a long shot. Lesser known coins are also outpacing many coins in the top 20. BCH and ETH’s rise during the last 90 days did outperform BTC, but coins like presearch (PRE 2,641%), cryptaur (CPT 1,351%), htmlcoin (HTML 333%), vetri (VLD 322%), and Digixdao (DGD 308%) did even better. Where do you see the cryptocurrency markets heading from here? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Price articles and market updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.” Cryptocurrency prices referenced in this article were recorded on February 15, 2020, at 9:30 a.m. ET. Images via Shutterstock, Trading View, Bitcoin.com Markets, Twitter, coinmarketcap.com, Fair Use, Pixabay, and Wiki Commons. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. The post BTC’s Market Share Drops Consecutively for 14 Days – Dominance Ratio Slides to 60% appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Tax regulations implemented even before dedicated legislation has been adopted have hit Brazilian cryptocurrency exchanges. Digital asset brokers failing to comply with the new reporting requirements face fines and the stricter rules are hurting smaller platforms, which are shutting down due to dwindling trading volumes. Also read: Tax Agents ‘Confiscate’ Bitcoin From Criminal but Keep the Coins in His Wallet Exchanges Struggle With Compliance Costs and Diminishing Returns One of the affected exchanges, Acesso Bitcoin, points to the current situation created by the new regulations as the main reason for its decision to quit. “After the Federal Revenue Service introduced these rules we noticed a significant decrease in the traded volume,” said cofounder Pedro Nunes, quoted by the crypto news outlet Portal do Bitcoin. “We also feel that the market has cooled off for smaller exchanges,” he added. Porto Alegre-headquartered Acesso Bitcoin recently advised clients on how to proceed with withdrawing their funds. Anyone who keeps bitcoin core (BTC) with the exchange should transfer the coins to a private wallet or another exchange. Customers who have balances in Brazilian real (BRL) can withdraw the money at any time in accordance with the terms and conditions that were applicable when the platform operated normally. Latoex, formerly known as the São Paulo-based platform E-juno, is another cryptocurrency exchange that’s shutting down due to difficulties meeting the tax authority’s new requirements. Last week, the closure was confirmed by Diego Velasques, chief executive officer of Latoex Capital, the investment arm of the exchange which separated from the crypto trading platform in December. Latoex (Latin America Token Exchange) is now looking to sell its assets to other companies and return remaining funds to its clients. The asset manager is also trying to reverse a suspension order issued by CVM, Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission, which threatened to impose a 100,000 Brazilian rial ($23,000) fine in case the group does not comply with its decision. Brazil is yet to adopt legislation tailored to regulate the crypto space. In the absence of a dedicated law, interactions in the industry are now largely governed by Normative Instruction 1888 issued by Secretaria da Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB), the Department of Federal Revenue. The substatutory act was published in May and entered into force on Aug. 1, 2019. According to the instruction, all transactions carried out through Brazilian crypto exchanges must be reported to the RFB, regardless of the amount traded. Noncompliant brokers and companies that present inaccurate information will be fined. Failure to file a monthly declaration would cost them between 500 and 1,500 rial ($350) per violation. But even without fines, compliance requires additional investments as the whole sector is trying to adapt to the new regulations. Three Crypto Bills Stuck in the National Congress Multiple proposals to comprehensively regulate the crypto industry and place it under the oversight of the Central Bank of Brazil have been filed in both houses of the country’s National Congress. The main draft so far, Bill 2303/2015 which was introduced to the Chamber of Deputies almost five years ago, was archived in 2018 and later placed back on the agenda in March 2019. A special commission has been appointed to analyze it and make revisions, if necessary. National Congress of Brazil Two other bills, PL 3825/2019 and PL 3949/2019, are currently under review in the Senate. Both aim to establish general rules for the cryptocurrency market with particular focus on implementing regulations for digital asset brokers and investor protection measures. No specific time frame has been set for the enactment of either of these pieces of legislation which are still subject to deliberation. The new challenges for crypto companies in Brazil mirror some regulatory developments European businesses have to deal with. Stricter due diligence requirements were introduced in the EU with the bloc’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) that member-states had to transpose into national law by Jan. 10, 2020. Several crypto startups have already closed down or relocated to other jurisdictions in order to preserve their business models and keep their customer base. The European Commission is still working on a comprehensive proposal to regulate crypto-related activities in the union. What are your expectations about the future of crypto businesses in Brazil? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Acesso Bitcoin. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Tax Rules Hit Brazilian Crypto Exchanges, Forcing Trading Platforms Out of Business appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The infamous Craig Wright, the Australian native who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, has published a blog post that explains he owns “the full rights to the Bitcoin registry” and developers do not have the right to change the protocol’s underlying database. Wright’s recent blog post makes it seem like “legal redress” is coming to a few specific blockchain projects in 2020. Moreover, a photograph from a Slack channel shows Wright claiming that BTC and BCH broke contractual rights and they “are in effect, a theft of $100 billion plus USD.” Also Read: Craig Wright’s ‘Bonded Courier’ Allegedly an Attorney Who Can’t Communicate Self-Proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto Claims Developers Forked Bitcoin’s Underlying Database Without Authority On February 13, Craig Wright published a blog post on his website called “Forking and Passing Off…” In the post, Wright goes into great detail about forking a software branch and codebase that derived from Bitcoin’s original code. According to Wright, digital assets like LTC and ETH are considered “‘forked’ codebases, derived from Bitcoin.” “Corecoin, BTC, differs in the sense that it both copied the database and sought to pass off the new system as the old or original,” Wright emphasized. Craig Wright published a blog post on Thursday called “Forking and Passing Off…” Wright then explained his opinion of how the open-source MIT license works and he thinks that developers do not understand how the system works. For instance, Wright mentions: “Linux and Openoffice are each open-source products. If I was to write a novel using Linux as the operating system and Openoffice as the editing platform, the software remains open-source, but the product of my work does not.” With Bitcoin, Wright claims he owns all the rights to the original codebase. “As the sole creator of Bitcoin, I own full rights to the Bitcoin registry,” Wright asserted. “People can fork my software and make alternative versions. But, they have no rights to change the protocol using the underlying database.” Wright continued: I was explicit when I said so by putting forward reasons not to fork the database. Yet, both Bitcoin Core (Core) and Bitcoin ABC (ABC), global partnerships under law, have sought to use my database without authority. Screenshot of Wright Claims a Theft of $100 Billion The self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor then detailed that rather than seeking licenses, these development teams “sought to attack my character and impugned me.” So Wright says he’s taking action and “control” over his system. “Those involved with the copied systems that are passing themselves off as Bitcoin, namely BTC or Corecoin and BCH or Bcash, are hereby put on notice — Please trust me when I say that I’m far nicer before the lawyers get involved,” Wright stated. In addition to Wright’s recent blog post about his alleged ownership of the Bitcoin registry, a screenshot of Wright in a Slack chatroom allegedly shows him saying “BTC and BCH are not forks. They are a breach of contractual rights to the database.” Wright’s statement in the screenshot also states: They are in effect, a theft of $100 billion plus USD. A screenshot of Wright making statements about breaching the rights to the Bitcoin database. The statement claims that BTC and BCH are theft of $100 billion plus USD. Kleiman Lawsuit Allegedly Littered With Thousands of Redacted Documents Wright has also been dealing with the Kleiman lawsuit and the plaintiffs have accused him of obfuscating thousands of documents. Kleiman’s legal team said that Wright claimed attorney-client privilege over 11,000 documents and also reported that the bonded courier is a lawyer who cannot share any information with the court. In the most recent court filing, Wright insisted that he is “both exercising a right and fulfilling an obligation,” by not sharing the thousands of documents with the plaintiff. “Plaintiffs make this remarkable demand on the grounds that a dissolved corporation has no such privilege,” Wright’s defense team noted. “This request is contrary to both Florida law and Australian law, both of which hold that a corporation’s privilege is not extinguished upon a corporation’s dissolution. The privilege firmly holds its ground and transfers to the successors or similar representatives.” The filing from the law firm Andres Rivero further detailed: Plaintiffs’ reliance on the federal privilege is misconceived. This is a diversity action and the attorney-client privilege is governed by state law. Plaintiffs erroneously proclaim that the attorney-client communications are not privileged unless the privilege is “claimed.” Not surprisingly, they offer no support for that argument. Wright Is Still Unable to Prove the Validity of the Satoshi Claim to the Greater Cryptocurrency Community Despite the recent blog post and the statement about BTC and BCH being “a theft of $100 billion plus USD,” his latest argument has been downright comical to the greater cryptocurrency community. From the BBC interviews to the cover of GQ, Wright has been claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto for years now, and more recently has been far more brazen about his claim. Wright and his firm Nchain have acquired a great number of blockchain patents too, which makes people believe the firm might use them to “patent troll.” “The Bitcoin software was released under the MIT License such that it provided for the rights to copy the software but not the database,” Craig Wright’s blog post details. To this very day, however, a great number of cryptography experts and well known bitcoiners have debunked every claim he’s presented and no matter what Wright presents, they still believe he’s pulling a ‘long con.’ As many people have said in the past, if Wright was Satoshi he could easily prove so by simply signing a message or moving some older coins. Even Star Trek star William Shatner said it should be easy for Wright to prove he’s Satoshi. After years of claims and lawsuits, Wright still hasn’t swayed the masses, minus the Bitcoin SV (BSV) fans who wholeheartedly believe him. What do you think about Craig Wright’s claims about owning the Bitcoin registry and BTC and BCH using his database without authority? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, Fair Use, Wiki Commons, and Pixabay. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Craig Wright’s $100B Theft Claim – BTC and BCH Used His Database Without Permission appeared first on Bitcoin News. 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On February 13, the IOTA network came to a screeching halt and the IOTA Foundation reports that $1.6 million worth of the native currency was stolen. The following day, the IOTA network status page still shows the mainnet is “not operational” and the development team has found an “exploit related to the Trinity Wallet.” Also Read: IOTA, EOS, XLM, ADA – 4 ‘Bitcoin Contenders’ With Zero Use Cases and Barely Any Infrastructure IOTA Trinity Wallet Compromised for $1.6M The IOTA network is a hot topic within the cryptocurrency community right now, with people discussing the network’s recent outage. At the time of publication, IOTA’s network status page says “Mainnet (1341599), Not operational, TPS: 0.6500.” Alongside this message are multiple status updates from the core development team. At first, the team heard several reports of theft and decided to warn people using Discord and Twitter. The developers also said: “As a precaution, we ask you to keep your Trinity wallet closed for now.” Following the initial investigation, IOTA programmers decided to turn off the “coordinator to make sure no further theft can occur until we find out the root cause of these thefts.” Since the initial announcements, the topic has been trending among the crypto community across social media. The team also warned the community on Twitter and explained that law enforcement were involved. The official IOTA Twitter account stated: Currently, IOTA is working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to investigate a coordinated attack, resulting in stolen funds. To protect users, we have paused the coordinator and advise users not to open Trinity until further notice. Even after the two warning tweets from the IOTA Twitter account, the page still has a pinned tweet on its profile showcasing the introduction of the Trinity Wallet. Despite this message, the Twitter account still has a pinned Twitter post that explains the Trinity wallet is “secure.” After the warning tweet and update message that disclosed the team shut off the IOTA Coordinator, many people on Twitter asked what they meant by the phrase “paused the Coordinator?” Commentator Eric Wall discussed the IOTA fiasco on Twitter where he’s well known for calling out the vulnerabilities tied to the IOTA network. Wall stated: A question that keeps me up at night: Is it possible to create a rubbish coin based on advanced bullshit, build a community of misguided fans nevertheless, run it centralized for 5 yrs, hard fork-copy the design of a real working project, keep the community and become a success? This is very bad news, what's going to happen to all the Bosch control system that IOTA is powering ! Think of all the Volkswagon vehicles that can no longer operate because the entire network is shut down. This is worse than Y2k. I'm going into my bunker to prep for doomsday. https://t.co/DK4VB3Oipv — Kay Kurokawa (@kaykurokawa) February 13, 2020 ‘Refrain from Questioning Community Moderators – IOTA Team Is Developing a Mitigation Strategy’ IOTA developers noted in another update that the IOTA Foundation has been working around the clock to investigate the matter. “Most evidence is pointing towards seed theft, cause still unknown and under investigation,” the IOTA status page noted. “Victims (around 10 that identified with the IOTA Foundation so far) all seem to have recently used Trinity,” the developers added. Iota network paused. LMAO. THEY PAUSED IT. WHAT IS THIS A VIDEOGAME? LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO — Shillhouse (@shillycrypto) February 13, 2020 On February 14, the IOTA team gave the public another update which said they had found the exploit and are “now working on resolving the issue.” IOTA engineers insisted that the exploit was definitely related to the Trinity wallet and stressed “the IOTA core protocol is – as already communicated before – not breached.” IOTA team members further disclosed: We know that you would like to understand more details, but ask you to refrain from questions towards the community moderators due to the parallel ongoing coaction with law enforcement. The teams are currently developing a mitigation strategy. We will share all details about the exploit in due time and (of course) publish a complete incident analysis as well. The discussion regarding IOTA’s lack of decentralization is at the heart of the conversations on social media. The leadership at IOTA seems to be extremely fragile according to a recent blog post and the chain stopped working for 15 hours during the last week of December 2019 as well. Despite all the craziness surrounding the IOTA project, the market has remained the 21st largest blockchain by market capitalization. IOTA has gained 1% this week despite the paused Coordinator. What do you think about the issues with IOTA during the last 24 hours? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, Fair Use, and the IOTA Status Page. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post IOTA Network Still Down: How the Next Bitcoin Killer Screeched to a Halt appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This week news.Bitcoin.com spoke with George Donnelly from the BCH Latam initiative about his plan to help the people of Latin America “achieve greater individual liberty and prosperity.” Donnelly explained the BCH Latam initiative aims to generate greater financial inclusion through mass adoption systems and the organization’s gamified adoption app will help with this goal. Also Read: 3 Cents per kWh – Central Asia’s Cheap Electricity Entices Chinese Bitcoin Miners From Dash to Bitcoin Cash: George Donnelly Discusses the BCH Latam Initiative George Donnelly is a libertarian entrepreneur who recently worked with the Dash Latin America (Dash Latam) effort, but has since moved his focus over to bitcoin cash (BCH). Not too long after, Donnelly officially launched BCH Latam and hopes to help spread liberty and economic freedom to residents living in Latin America. Donnelly started crowdfunding the initiative to help further the project’s goals and he used the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) to create PAN token. PAN will be used to help bolster adoption, create gamification and leverage SLP attributes like dividends as well. Donnelly told our newsdesk that the team has sold 1% so far and aim to give the PAN token life by applying merchant acceptance for goods and services. While chatting with news.Bitcoin.com, the BCH proponent also discussed his views about the current state of Bitcoin Cash. George Donnelly launched the BCH Latam Initiative. Bitcoin.com (BC): Can you tell our readers how you got into spreading cryptocurrency adoption? George Donnelly (GD): As a libertarian activist during the Ron Paul years, I couldn’t help but discover Bitcoin. And understanding Bitcoin meant I couldn’t help but start using it and inviting others to use it. With the 2017 price run-up, it seemed like a good time to finally work on mass adoption. So, in early 2018 I started affiliating merchants for Dash in Medellín, Colombia, my home now for nearly 20 years. BC: You once worked with the Dash community. Can you explain why you left the Dash community and have been promoting bitcoin cash recently? GD: Bitcoin Cash has more promising conditions that should enable us to achieve our goals, which include onboarding 1 billion new daily crypto users by 2030 and solving the inflows challenge. Bitcoin Cash has a larger community with a welcoming and positive attitude that is focused on market-based growth and Bitcoin as P2P electronic cash. Dash has abandoned its Latin America and digital cash strategies and is now pursuing a venture capital and dapps strategy. For more information about the BCH Latm initiative check out the proposal here. BC: Can you tell us about the BCH Latm initiative? GD: We created BCH Latam in order to serve the people of Latin America in their efforts to achieve greater individual liberty and prosperity. We aim to generate greater financial inclusion through self-sustaining BCH adoption systems with a strong focus on the informal economy. The informal economy in Latin America includes 150 million working people, 53% of jobs and one-third of regional GDP. Informal economy entrepreneurs are excluded from economic growth by excessive government bureaucracy, taxes, and fees. Business activities that we take for granted, such as formal asset registration, incorporation, credit, and banking, are not readily available to the informal economy. BCH Latam aims to build a thriving Bitcoin Cash ecosystem in Latin America with a bowling pin strategy of merchant adoption, remittances, B2B buying, international trade and more. We’ve honed our plan with more than two years of research and fieldwork in Latin America, where we have team members in six nations plus Spain. Our gamified adoption app will enable indie BCH adoption workers to earn their way into Bitcoin Cash by completing verifiable tasks that add concrete value to the Bitcoin Cash network. Gamified adoption is a viral feedback-loop system to kickstart BCH adoption globally in parallel at a low cost. BCH Latam is in this to kickstart the Bitcoin Cash commons in Latin America, provide superior value to the developing world through BCH and eventually make Bitcoin Cash the international currency of Latin America. We aim to leverage our results to create a groundswell of buzz for Bitcoin Cash across the globe. BC: What prompted the idea to start crowdfunding and create a video presentation? GD: Remittances are a key early bowling pin for us, but it is an industry that requires a multi-location approach and a serious marketing and development plan. There is no formal funding mechanism for Bitcoin Cash projects and the Bitcoin Cash Ecosystem Fund is taking some time to get off the ground, so we aim to offer value for value by giving our donors our fixed-supply PAN token. Our PAN token enables donors to both show off their support for BCH Latam and potentially profit from our success in the future. We are also seeking feedback from the Bitcoin Cash community on our plans and activities, as well as new members to join our team. We hope to attract a CFO and lead developer from within the BCH community this month. BC: Which specific countries in Latin America do you think need the most attention? GD: We’re focused on Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Chile, roughly in that order. Colombia sends a lot of small remittances to Venezuela, often paying fees as high as 40%. Mexico is the largest remittance recipient in Latam, and the third largest in the world, with $36 billion in 2018 inflows. Cuba is a small market that is experiencing high remittance fees and difficulties due to US sanctions. BC: How do you expect to create a “viral, feedback-loop mass adoption system”? GD: Our gamified adoption app will present the end-user with a series of tasks they can complete to earn our PAN tokens. Tasks will begin with watching videos that teach them about Bitcoin Cash and progress to onboarding merchants, becoming liquidity agents, referring new remittance senders, spending BCH, providing support to merchants, holding meetups, starting Bitcoin Cash businesses and more. Think of it as a hybrid of Duolingo, Uber, a choose-your-own-adventure novel and a mechanical Turk. All tasks will be verifiable. Verification will be done via gamification by more advanced users and/or by an in-house quality control team. We will be able to limit the use of the system by market and country, thus ensuring that each market develops in a balanced manner. By enabling new users to earn their way into Bitcoin Cash, we remove the barrier to entry of having to buy-in. This also helps solve the inflows challenge. BC: What are PAN tokens? GD: PAN is an SLP token with a fixed 400,000 token supply that we are selling in order to finance our profit-seeking BCH remittances business plan. We have sold about 1% of the 180,000 currently for sale. We aim to give our PAN token real-world utility by having our merchants accept it for goods and services and by making it the currency of our gamified adoption app. We’ve apportioned up to 45% of the total supply to finance 15 to 18 months of runway for our BCH remittances startup Panmoni, 25% for the team and 30% for the gamified adoption app or possibly a second financing round. Full details are available at bchlatam.com/crowdfunding2020. PAN token data from the website Simpleledger.info. BC: Do you think Bitcoin Cash will ever become a global currency or something that’s just used by a niche group? GD: I believe that Bitcoin Cash can become the dominant currency of the world. Our challenge is to build real consumer utility that crosses the chasm and is adopted by mainstream users to meet regular and basic needs. Remittances are a repeat-use $689 billion per year industry that promises to be an excellent first stepping-stone towards regular, global use for Bitcoin Cash. BC: How do you feel about the current state of Bitcoin Cash as far as ecosystem and development growth? GD: The irregular block times and the passionate furor over the Infrastructure Funding Plan are a bit unsettling. The frequent meetups, the number, and variety of developers read.cash, memo.cash, the people working on merchant adoption, Bitcoin.com, the welcoming and supportive attitude of the community, and Local.Bitcoin.com are all very encouraging. We urgently need to move forward on ecosystem funding, regular block times and instantly-settled transactions. We need more mobile developers. A reduced focus on passionate philosophical debate and an increased focus on practical, systematic business plans would be good. It’s important people realize that we need to solve the inflows challenge in order to progress beyond small-scale, hobbyist merchant and consumer adoption. Almost no one is talking about this. I’d like to see software development revolve around more evidenced, researched and properly presented business use cases so we can use resources effectively to grow real use in the real world. What do you think about the BCH Latam initiative and George Donnelly’s efforts? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, BCH Latam Initiative, Fair Use, and Pixabay. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post BCH Latam: Creating a Viral Feedback Loop for Mass Adoption With Bitcoin Cash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Pirate Chain (ARRR) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency with non-optional, private-only addresses and transactions. This coin has is now available for trading to users of Bitcoin.com Exchange, soon after the team behind it joined the Blockchain Privacy, Security & Adoption Alliance. Also Read: Users of Bitcoin.com Exchange Can Win Rewards Worth $25,000 in Gocrypto Trading Competition ARRR Now Available for Trading on Bitcoin.com Exchange Bitcoin.com Exchange has added support for trading Pirate Chain (ARRR), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency with non-optional, private-only addresses and transactions that are shielded by ZK-Snarks technology. The developers of the coin state that they aim to create the most secure and anonymous cryptocurrency, and explain that ARRR is secured by Bitcoin and Komodo’s hashrates through a Delayed Proof-of-Work algorithm. Pirate Chain’s Captain Draeth commented on the Bitcoin.com Exchange listing: “It is difficult to find a large exchange that is willing to list privacy coins, especially Pirate Chain since we are one of, if not the most, private coin in existence. On top of that, most of the larger exchanges require some sort of company or corporation behind it, which goes against the ethos of Pirate Chain and crypto in general. Being able to list on this exchange shows that there are larger exchanges willing to list coins that represent financial freedom, because that’s exactly what Pirate Chain stands for.” Bitcoin.com Exchange was launched in early September 2019 as an easy-to-use platform with world-class security and a powerful trading engine. The platform employs institutional-grade encryption, two-factor authentication (2FA) and IP whitelisting to keep user accounts secure at all times. Available digital assets include ADA, ATOM, BCH, BTC, EOS, ETC, ETH, LTC, ONT, TRX, USDT, WAVES, XLM and XRP. To help introduce Pirate Chain to its users, Bitcoin.com Exchange is hosting a trading competition and a draw where users can win prizes in ARRR and BCH. For the exact details of the terms and conditions check out this page. Pirate Chain Joins Blockchain Privacy, Security & Adoption Alliance The Pirate Chain team has recently announced a partnership to form the Blockchain Privacy, Security & Adoption Alliance (BPSAA). In addition to Pirate Chain, current members of the BPSAA include Turtle Network, Sentinel and Ether-1. The alliance aims to lead by example on innovation and cooperation and become a vocal champion for the blockchain industry. Turtle Network is a highly scalable smart contract platform with a decentralized exchange (DEX) featuring multi-currency secure wallets for all activities. Ether-1 is a community-governed, decentralized, content and web-hosting network. Sentinel is a multi-protocol ecosystem focused on equal access to a marketplace of distributed services and resources. The BPSAA says it will continue to expand its foundation by onboarding projects with strong vision and real-life usage potential. Interested projects need to contact the alliance and applications will be reviewed on a periodic basis. According to BPSAA founder Pirate Chain Captain Draeth: “All members hold the belief that cross-platform interoperability between projects will create value and exciting innovative cross-chain fintech solutions. Each member provides a unique role and has their specialization within the alliance. This creates the foundation for a well-rounded alliance with a wide range of tools and skillsets. Together the alliance aims to set new standards for collaboration and innovation in the blockchain industry.” Benefits to BPSAA members include a common forum of developers to help provide technical and integration assistance, a group think tank to cultivate ideas for new solutions, a united co-marketing effort that increases the visibility for all alliance members, and the right to vote on new alliance member applicants. What do you think about Bitcoin.com Exchange listing pirate chain for trading? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Bitcoin.com Markets, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Pirate Chain Coin Now Available for Trading on Bitcoin.com Exchange, Joins New Alliance appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave his testimony on cryptocurrency before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. Mnuchin said crypto is a “crucial area” that the Treasury has spent a lot of time on. He also talked about stablecoins and announced that new crypto regulations focusing on transparency will be rolled out soon. Also read: Trump Views Crypto a Threat, Proposes Countermeasures in New Budget Mnuchin on Cryptocurrency Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday regarding President Donald Trump’s budget for the fiscal year 2021 released earlier this week. During the hearing, Senator Todd Young asked Mnuchin several questions about cryptocurrency and the challenges it creates for the U.S. government in various ways. “Proponents of crypto believe it can benefit the everyday consumer by lowering transaction costs for online purchases and increasing protection from identity theft and breaking down various financial barriers,” Young began. “How does your department, Mr. Secretary, plan to respond to this rapidly evolving technology of cryptocurrency and other digital assets?” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. Emphasizing that the Treasury is supportive of the proposals, including those concerning cryptocurrency, outlined in Trump’s new budget, Mnuchin replied: We’re spending a lot of time on the issue of cryptocurrencies and digital payment systems. It’s a crucial area. While asking Mnuchin questions on cryptocurrencies, Young referenced Trump’s budget proposals for added crypto oversight and the IRS’ efforts, including increased crypto-related enforcement and additional guidance for cryptocurrency. Earlier this week, the White House released the government’s budget for the fiscal year 2021 containing two proposals affecting the crypto industry. One was to return the Secret Service to the Department of Treasury and the other was a request for more funding for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to enhance its work on regulating the crypto sector. Mnuchin on Cryptos, Bitcoin, Stablecoins, New Crypto Regulations Coming Soon The Treasury secretary noted that “there’s a lot of different things that get grouped together into this one area [cryptocurrency].” He proceeded to address three key areas: pure cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Young pointed out that there’s a concern that cryptocurrencies can be used to operate outside of the current international financial system. Senator Todd Young On the subject of stablecoins, Mnuchin said: “we do think the technology can be used to reduce payment processing quite considerably, particularly for small dollar payments cross-border.” Regarding a central bank digital currency, the Treasury secretary said both Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and him agree that the U.S. does not need to consider issuing a digital dollar right now “but could consider again down the road.” He added: On pure cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and there are others, we want to make sure that these are not used as the equivalent of secret bank accounts. The Treasury secretary further revealed: “We are working with FinCEN and we will be rolling out new regulations to be very clear on greater transparency so that law enforcement can see where the money is going and that this isn’t used for money laundering.” Mnuchin’s testimony followed one by Powell who gave his testimony before the House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee regarding the country’s monetary system and the state of the economy on Tuesday. The Fed chairman answered a number of questions regarding cryptocurrencies, including the digital dollar’s progress. He was urged to speed up the work on it since China claims that it will be rolling out a digital yuan soon. Powell also admitted that Facebook’s Libra project was a wake-up call for the Fed. What do you think of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s testimony and the Treasury working with FinCEN to roll out new regulations for cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Fox Business. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Gives Testimony on Cryptocurrency, New Regulations Rolling Out Soon appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A report published by cybersecurity organization Insikt Group claims internet use in North Korea has grown significantly in the past three years. The group cites a “300% increase in the volume of activity to and from North Korean networks since 2017,” and part of this activity involves monero (XMR) mining. Insikt observes a tenfold increase in mining of the privacy coin by the DPRK since May 2019. Though the global internet is used only by elite parties in the communist nation, crypto is said to be mined in an effort to avoid Western sanctions, with monero likely “more attractive than Bitcoin” according the group, thanks to its anonymity. Also Read: Hacker Group Lazarus Uses Fake Exchanges, Telegram Groups New Report by Insikt Group on North Korean Mining Activity Insikt Group, a division of private cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, has just released a new report on internet activity in North Korea which finds that both internet usage and mining of monero have increased drastically in recent months. “For this research, Insikt Group examined North Korean senior leadership’s internet activity by analyzing third-party data, IP geolocation, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing tables, network traffic analysis, and open source intelligence (OSINT) using a number of tools,” the paper states. “The data analyzed for this report spans from January 1, 2019 to November 1, 2019.” As global internet usage is restricted to elite parties and political officials in the communist regime, findings on crypto mining and network usage can be viewed as all the more compelling. Insikt observes: For the North Korean political and military elite, the 2019 data show that the internet is not simply a fascination or leisure activity, but is a critical tool for revenue generation, gaining access to prohibited technologies and knowledge, and operational coordination. The report analyzes the global internet, accessible only to these parties, and does not focus on activity occurring via “Kwangmyong,” the country’s domestic intranet. https://go.recordedfuture.com/hubfs/reports/cta-2020-0209.pdf 10x Increase in Monero Mining For those in the crypto space, the finding likely to be most notable relates to mining of XMR in the regime. Stating that as of November last year the group has continued “to observe small-scale mining of Bitcoin,” Insikt details, “The traffic volume and rate of communication with peers has remained relatively static over the course of the last two years,” and that “we remain unable to determine hash rate or builds.” While North Korea has previously been reported to be involved in the mining, stealing, or generating of bitcoin, litecoin, and monero, Insikt emphasizes: By our assessment, as of November 2019, we have observed at least a tenfold increase in Monero mining activity. We are unable to determine the hash rate because all of the activity is proxied through one IP address, which we believe hosts at least several unknown machines behind it. The report cites the “Wannacry” ransomware attack of 2017, noting: “Monero has been used by North Korean operators since at least August 2017, when the Bitcoin profits from the Wannacry attack were laundered through a Bitcoin mixer and ultimately converted to Monero.” The group further elaborates: “Monero is also different in that it was designed to be mined by non-specialized machines, and its mining ports tend to scale by capacity. For example, many miners use port 3333 for low-end machines, and port 7777 for higher-end, higher-capacity machines.” The notable increase is observed as occurring over port 7777 according to the group, which added: …we believe that these two factors — anonymity and the ability to be mined by non-specialized machines — likely make Monero more attractive than Bitcoin to North Korean users. Malware, Foreign Operators, and DNS Tunneling — Other Means for Revenue Generation and Obfuscation Insikt Group’s report also details various hacking schemes and obfuscation techniques thought to be used by DPRK to generate revenue, evade sanctions, and even “to acquire nuclear-related knowledge banned by U.N. sanctions.” “North Korean defectors have also talked extensively about the role that foreign countries play — many unknowingly — in the Kim regime’s cyber operations,” the group notes. “From the cyber perspective, third-party countries are used by the Kim regime to both train and host state-sponsored operators.” Regarding malware, Pyongyang-linked hacker group “Lazarus” is one example of how the North Korean government may be leveraging fake “trading platforms” to generate funds. As news.Bitcoin.com reported last month, multiple fronts for phony trading platforms have been discovered, and Telegram groups were also leveraged to deliver sophisticated malware. The Insikt Group report further details changes in North Korean opsec behavior, with the incorporation of domain name system (DNS) tunneling. “The original intent for DNS was to ease the lookups and associations of domains and IP addresses, not to secure that process,” the group elaborates. “As a result, and because DNS is so critical to a network’s operation, DNS ports (port 53 typically) are left open, and traffic is relatively unscrutinized. DNS tunneling is when the DNS process is used not for a domain resolution, but for data transfer or tunnel between networks or devices. The report maintains that though DNS tunneling is nothing new, North Korean users appear to have introduced the practice just recently, in mid-2019. What do you think about the reports of North Korean actors mining monero more than bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post New Report Finds North Korean Mining of XMR Increased Tenfold in 2019, Online Activity 300% appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Coinbase has launched margin trading for users of its cryptocurrency trading platform, Coinbase Pro. Both individual and institutional investors in selected regions now have access to Coinbase margin trading. The company plans to expand access to more regions and provide more types of collateral assets. Also read: Bitcoin, Tesla Stock, Tron: How Warren Buffett Got His First Bitcoin Coinbase Margin Trading Launches Digital asset platform Coinbase announced Wednesday that it has launched margin trading on Coinbase Pro, its cryptocurrency trading platform. The San Francisco-based company wrote: Today we’re excited to announce the availability of margin trading for eligible Coinbase Pro customers … Coinbase Pro customers in 23 U.S. states can access up to 3x leverage on USD-quoted books. Coinbase margin trading screenshot on Coinbase Pro. Margin trading (or leverage trading) has been one of its most requested features, Coinbase noted. Margin trading “can amplify the impact of your trades by allowing you to borrow additional funds,” the company described. “If deployed as part of a responsible trading strategy, margin trading doesn’t just increase your position in a specific trade, but can also help diversify your portfolio, allowing you to hedge or arbitrage across multiple positions without depositing additional capital,” Coinbase detailed, elaborating: Over the next year we plan to expand access to the product to customers located in more regions. We will also be expanding the product to include more types of collateral assets. The platform claims to have over 30 million users trading over $150 billion. Coinbase previously offered margin trading of up to 3x leverage through its GDAX platform but the service was later suspended. Launched in 2015, GDAX was the company’s professional trading platform for individuals; it became Coinbase Pro in May 2018. Coinbase Pro screenshot. Margin Trading on Coinbase Pro — Who Is Eligible In its Wednesday announcement, Coinbase explained that “For institutional customers to access margin trading, they must be based in one of the 43 states or 9 international countries where we currently offer margin for institutions.” In contrast, the company added: For individuals to qualify for margin trading, they must live within one of the 23 states where we currently offer the feature, have a valid Coinbase Pro account, and be active on Coinbase Pro, measured by recent trades, balances, and deposit and withdrawal activity. Users may be subject to additional requirements for margin trading, including having enough collateral assets in their Coinbase Pro accounts. Coinbase Pro “offers an intuitive interface with real-time orderbooks, charting tools, trade history, and a simple order process so you can trade from day one,” according to its website. It is available to users in a number of countries worldwide. Anyone with a Coinbase account can upgrade to a Coinbase Pro account and start trading. Some countries have access to crypto/fiat trading pairs while others can only access crypto/crypto trading pairs. The Coinbase Pro app is available for both iOS and Android operating systems. What do you think of Coinbase offering margin trading for its Coinbase Pro users? Would you use it? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Coinbase Pro. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Coinbase Margin Trading Now Live for Coinbase Pro Users appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article