roadrunner

The BCH infrastructure funding proposal initially announced by Jiang Zhuoer on January 22 will not go through as planned without greater agreement in the Bitcoin Cash community, Bitcoin.com has announced via a read.cash post uploaded today. Also Read: Heated Debate Continues Over Bitcoin Cash Infrastructure Funding Plan Bitcoin.com Will Not Support Plan Without Greater Agreement in BCH Ecosystem Bitcoin.com has now announced it will not be going through with the original proposal for infrastructure funding until a greater agreement can be reached among ecosystem participants. In a post to the popular BCH discussion hub read.cash entitled Update on Developer Funding, Bitcoin.com clarifies: 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. Though the Bitcoin.com mining pool was one of five major groups in support of the move initially, contentious discussion and debate erupted as individuals from all backgrounds and degrees of BCH ecosystem involvement weighed in emphatically on the matter. Read.cash quickly became the go-to place for influential voices to support, question, or outright oppose the plan, with some whales throwing heavy support in the form of BCH rewards to authors. Bitcoin.com maintains that “Protocol development in Bitcoin Cash is an important temporary phase to prepare for global adoption and as such, a funding proposal must be temporary.” Stating that the goal is “global, fast, reliable digital cash” the post concludes by assuring readers that any proposal putting this goal at risk needs to be reworked. “Bitcoin.com will not risk a chain split or a change to the underlying economics,” the update notes. “In order to do this, any proposal will need to have as many people of economic weight on-board as possible, including businesses, exchanges, miners, and Bitcoin Cash implementations.” Opposing Viewpoints Receive Significant Funding on Read.cash Read.cash user and vocal BCH community member im_uname found their post, Assessment and proposal re: the Bitcoin Cash infrastructure funding situation, heavily rewarded on the platform, racking up over $1,000 for expressing doubts about the initial plan and suggesting an alternative implementation. Though $1,000 came from a single voter, user MarcDeMesel, the post’s reaction helped to solidify read.cash as an up-and-coming hub for BCH debate and discussion. Im_uname writes: “Just six large holders each with 100,000 BCH can contribute $1 million each, 3% of their holdings each, and the mining tax proposal’s amount will be matched. They can do it every year and still come out with a huge profit, assuming the scaling benefits propel BCH to match today’s ETH market capitalization several years later.” Commenter Big-Bubbler added some counterpoint beneath the article, emphasizing that the shock at miners deciding to make the proposed move was somewhat unwarranted. “When the miners and the developers team up to do something they think is good for the currency they do have massive power. Pretending they do not is the normal thinking strategy we use on a daily basis, but, it was never true.” Read.cash articles on the topic gained significant monetary support. Straddling the fence of the contention was another $1,000 post (also heavily upvoted by account MarcDeMesel) on Read.cash. Entitled 7 Impolite Thoughts on the Developer Fund, the article by user Steve-Patterson notes that while unsure of the proposal for various reasons, One way or another, this proposed development fund will end up being a good thing. The BCH community has finally been shaken out of its slumber. There are real philosophical disagreements in our community that need to be sorted out. Patterson warns against what he sees as a potential path toward becoming “Bitcoin Core 2.0” due to centralized and unscrupulous attempts by prominent developers to grab power. Weighing in at a whopping $2,220.62 reward at press time, a third article has now been amended in light of Bitcoin.com’s recent announcement. The post, uploaded by user shadow-kwh, claims to be the voice of a “group of North American and European miners representing, at this point in time, 1.6 exahash/s.” The poster notes: “We will represent 2.5 exahash/s come May 2020 due to expansion amongst our companies.” The now struck-through article is emphatic in asserting that mining pools and miners should be differentiated, and that the proposed plan might lead to a loss of hash power which could endanger BCH. The post originally culminates with a reiteration that these miners have their “back against the wall.” In addressing another aspect of the discussion, shadow-kwh linked to another popular post on the platform by Bitcoin Unlimited’s Peter Rizun, which states: Although the service fee would create a reliable and stable mechanism to transfer money from investors to select developers, such a protocol change comes with great cost. It redefines who owns new coinbases. Commenters on Rizun’s post labored over what they viewed as important distinctions between miners, mining pools, and foundational protocol change versus voluntary action. The Discussion Marches On With Bitcoin.com’s announcement of stepping back from the plan for now, many in the community seem relieved to have a bit of respite to regroup, rethink, and begin to better organize proposals for infrastructure funding more seriously, and perhaps more focused and resolute thanks to the seismic jarring the announcement gave to the space. The following days, weeks and months will be interesting to watch unfold, especially as the halving approaches. Debate is sure to continue unabated, and much of it will likely be taking place on Read.cash. What do you think about Bitcoin.com’s announcement regarding the developer funding proposal? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use. 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 Bitcoin.com Update: Dev Fund Proposal ‘Will Not Go Through’ Without More Agreement appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Indian supreme court has finished hearing the crypto vs. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) case. The hearing concluded on Tuesday with the counsel for the Internet and Mobile Association of India wrapping up his arguments, followed by arguments by the counsel representing crypto exchanges. The court is now in deliberation. Also read: Regulatory Roundup — New US Crypto Tax Bill, Central Banks Join Forces on Digital Currencies IAMAI Concludes Arguments in Supreme Court The supreme court of India resumed hearing the crypto vs. RBI case on Tuesday morning. The counsel for the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Ashim Sood, picked up where he left off last week. He began by saying that there was no study showing that cryptocurrency affects monetary policy, local news platform Crypto Kanoon reported from the courtroom. Sood then brought up some previous cases to discuss the central bank’s power to take preemptive steps, reading out the RBI circular which bans banks from providing services to crypto businesses. The IAMAI counsel pointed out that the circular has neither stopped crypto trading, or its use as a means of payment, nor cross-border transactions. Therefore, it does not address any of the central bank’s concerns. Sood asserted that the circular “was always intended to control consumer behavior and it seems to been failed even in this purpose,” Crypto Kanoon conveyed. During the hearing, Justice Ramasubramaniam mentioned that Warren Buffett has made a negative statement regarding bitcoin, to which the counsel replied by showing an article where the Berkshire Hathaway CEO said he may have made a mistake by not investing in technology companies such as Apple and Google. Sood claims that if Buffett can make a mistake, why can’t the RBI? He then concluded his arguments. Warren Buffett Crypto Exchanges’ Counsel Concludes His Arguments After the IAMAI counsel, Nakul Dewan, the counsel representing a number of crypto exchanges, began his arguments. He explained that cryptocurrency “should be seen from the perspective of its legal creation whereby it has characteristics of property but not by its use whereby it is akin to money,” the news portal detailed. The counsel read out a few statements from other regulators, such as the U.K. Task Force, and submitted that crypto assets have the characteristics of property. He concluded that the central bank’s arbitrary measure has indirectly shut down crypto exchanges’ businesses. The hearing then ended, according to Crypto Kanoon, who said: The counsels [are] to submit written submissions on Friday … No date is intimated for the pronouncement of judgment yet. Local news outlet Coin Crunch India reported that the judgment is estimated to be made within three weeks. Furthermore, the court is set to hear the petitions relating to the country’s crypto policies after it has pronounced judgment on the RBI case. How do you think the court will rule? 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 Yahoo Finance. 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 Hearing Concluded: Indian Supreme Court Deliberates on Crypto vs RBI Case appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Switzerland, a nation that’s been quite positive towards crypto business, is facilitating the integration between its traditional financial sector and the blockchain industry. With greater regulatory clarity and stability coming, established banks are plucking up the courage to offer digital asset products and services helped by local fintechs. Also read: Companies Keep Flocking to Swiss Crypto Valley, Over 1,000 Jobs Added in a Year Century-Old Swiss Bank Provides Clients With Crypto Storage and Transaction Solutions Crypto banking has been expanding through partnerships within the industry, but it’s also promising to see a growing number of inter-sector projects with the involvement of established financial institutions. The latest example was provided by 130-year-old Swiss bank Julius Baer and the newly licensed crypto bank SEBA. The well-known wealth manager announced it’s launching new services related to cryptocurrencies. The offerings stem from a partnership with SEBA Bank AG, a Switzerland-based entity that was granted regulatory approval by the country’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma). “As of now Julius Baer provides its clients with access to various solutions for digital assets storage and transactions to meet an increasing demand,” the private bank said in a recently published press release. For the time being, the services are offered to clients in Switzerland where Julius Baer utilizes SEBA’s “cutting-edge platform and capabilities,” the announcement details. The partnership agreement between the two companies was concluded last year and Julius Baer revealed in February it’s entering the cryptocurrency market in order to give its customers access to a range of new services. SEBA received its Finma license in August 2019, becoming one of the first two regulated crypto banks in Switzerland, along with another startup, Sygnum Bank AG. A third company, Bitcoin Suisse, applied for a Swiss banking license in July and expects the watchdog’s decision. Besides the new storage and transaction solutions, Julius Baer has extended its service range to include consolidated portfolio overviews across conventional and digital assets. The financial institution also notes it will provide clients with access to a group of cryptocurrencies. The bank has not revealed the digital coins it’s referring to but emphasizes that these have been selected based on their tradability, safety, and technical reliability. The coordinated effort should bring benefits to both sides. Julius Baer is a leading service provider with global reach in the banking sector. At the end of October 2019, it had CHF 422 billion ($435 billion) of assets under management. The Zurich-headquartered bank maintains a presence in over 25 countries with offices in Frankfurt, London, Hong Kong, Dubai, Moscow, Mexico City, Mumbai, São Paulo, Singapore, and Tokyo among other destinations. SEBA Bank launched in November with a range of services bridging the gap between the crypto world and traditional banking. The fintech startup, which is based in Zug, now accepts institutional and private professional clients from nine other jurisdictions beside Switzerland: the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Portugal, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Switzerland’s Crypto-Friendly Business Climate Accommodates Partnerships Between Banks and Fintech Startups Examples of this kind of cooperation have become reality thanks to the positive attitude Swiss authorities have towards the nascent blockchain industry. The Crypto Valley, centered on the canton of Zug, is currently home to over 800 companies, a new report revealed. A draft plan to update the country’s banking, corporate and market infrastructure laws was introduced last year to the Federal Assembly. Both houses of the Swiss parliament are expected to debate and agree to adopt the broad changes in order to pave the way for the further development of the sector. A number of other partnerships between traditional financial institutions and fintech companies have been realized so far. The other Swiss licensed crypto bank, Sygnum, announced this week that the SIX-listed Amun Sygnum Platform Winners Index ETP is now available through its platform and alongside other banks and brokerages. It’s offered in collaboration with Amun AG, a provider of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) for the digital asset industry. SIX Swiss Exchange, Switzerland’s stock exchange, now has 12 cryptocurrency exchange-traded products listed, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. Last year, Arab Bank (Switzerland) teamed up with the blockchain tech firm Taurus to provide its customers with access to cryptocurrencies as well as custody and brokerage services for crypto holdings. Bank Vontobel and Taurus are operating a digital asset vault allowing institutional investors to store and trade cryptocurrencies outside their balance sheets. In late 2018, Gazprombank (Switzerland) shared its plans to offer a digital asset management product with the help of Avaloq and Metaco. Falcon Private Bank and digital trading platform Swissquote provide custodial solutions and intermediary services for investors interested in token sales with partners in the crypto industry. Bank Zarattini has similar services in its portfolio offered together with Inacta. Do you think we are going to see more partnerships between crypto companies and traditional banks in the future? 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. Do you need a reliable bitcoin mobile wallet to send, receive, and store your coins? Download one for free from us and then head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can quickly buy bitcoin with a credit card. The post Swiss Bank Julius Baer Offers New Digital Asset Services With Licensed Crypto Bank SEBA appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

If you’ve ever had a sudden need for fiat while all in crypto, you’ll understand the difficulty of cashing out without KYC-ing away your identity and that of your unborn children. Localbitcoins is now an AML hellhole, Bisq is great if you’re happy to wait two days for a trade, which leaves what exactly? Localcryptos.com. That’s what. Also read: A Bitcoin War Is Brewing Over KYC What’s the Deal With Localcryptos? Before its rebrand, Localcryptos (LC) went by the name of Localethereum. Launched in Australia in 2017, the platform’s addition of BTC support in late 2019 made a name change inevitable. Just as Localbitcoins.com (LBC) was raising its shutters, ejecting traders who’d been with it for six years through draconian KYC, Localcryptos swung open its doors and welcomed in the misfits whose only ‘crime’ was to desire to swap magical internet money for filthy fiat in privacy. LC haven’t minced their words in describing their main competitor, LBC, as “centralized, custodial and a far cry from private.” Stats displayed on localcryptos.com on January 27, 2020. The Finland-based LBC, to be fair, didn’t want to KYC all their customers away to Localcryptos; blame EU regulators and the jackboot stomp of AML legislation that crushes all who stand in its path. Still, when you can’t even make it past the login screen of Localbitcoins to export your trading reputation into Localcryptos due to KYC notices that literally stop you in your tracks, there’s something very wrong. KYC is a cancer on society and the world would be a better place without it. But the purpose of this article isn’t to bitch about KYC – there are plenty of other news.Bitcoin.com articles that do that. Rather, it’s to review Localcryptos.com from the perspective of a cryptocurrency user wanting to swap BTC for fiat. I used the site a couple of times this month to cash out, and found LC to be better than LBC in virtually every way, from the clean user dashboard to the escrow and reputation system. As a 2013 OG of LBC, switching my affiliation didn’t come easy. But after a couple of effortless trades on Localcryptos, I was sold. Bisq is great for selling XMR, and local.Bitcoin.com for BCH. But for BTC and ETH, Localcryptos has got it locked down. A Bitcoin Beginner Makes Their First Trade If you found your way around Localbitcoins okay, you’ll moonwalk through LC. To make sure, though, I enlisted the help of a friend who we’ll call Patrick. Patrick is new to crypto, and until this review was commissioned, had never sent a bitcoin transaction in his life. I instructed him to send some BTC from his Wirex account to Localcryptos and record his experience of losing his bitcoin virginity, adding “If there’s anything you’re unsure of while doing it, ask, but try and figure out as much of it as possible yourself.” Here’s what he had to say: “Pretty simple process, really. After creating an account, confirming my email and sending some BTC from Wirex to my Localcryptos wallet, I was good to go. I hit the “Sell Bitcoin” button on the homepage, chose my preferred payment method (bank transfer), location (UK) and currency (GBP), then got a list of sellers along with the number of trades they had performed and the rate they were buying at. I chose a user with 3,000+ trades and 100% positive feedback and initiated the trade. Now, I had to fund the escrow account and send the trader my bank details, using an encrypted chat.” “It took about 25 minutes for the funds to reach the escrow, then the seller advised that he was transferring the agreed amount to my bank. After quickly logging into my banking app and verifying that the GBP was there, I hit ‘Release Escrow’ and that was it.” Cash Out Your Coins, Keep Your Privacy Patrick’s experience of using LC sounds effortless. But in the interests of full disclosure, I should note that he did reach out to me during the process for some guidance. In fact, he sent me a dozen questions over Telegram, adding “sorry for the bombardment of questions, it’s just not obvious and I wanna do it right.” In the event, Patrick did everything right, and successfully completed his first crypto-fiat swap with minimal intervention on my part. Most of the areas where he was uncertain pertained to Bitcoin’s architecture, rather than UX failings on behalf of LC. That said, Localcryptos could still do more to help beginners out here. The first time you send bitcoin, in this case to a Localcryptos wallet, it’s not clear that the transaction requires additional blockchain confirmations before the funds can be moved into an escrow account and sold. That was Patrick’s main sticking point; a 25-minute wait for BTC to confirm, with no information as to why his funds were unmoveable. My main complaint with Localcryptos is that there’s no ability to select your entire wallet balance at the push of a button. As a result, it’s common to set up a trade, realize you’re a few satoshis or vitaliks short of the total amount, and be forced to cancel the deal or send additional funds from an external wallet. This minor gripe aside, Localcryptos gets a thumbs up from me – and a nod from Patrick who’s now leveled up his crypto knowledge and found a convenient way to cash out when he’s strapped for fiat. Patrick toasts his first bitcoin transaction. Localcryptos is light on regulations, letting you cash out without enduring laborious and invasive KYC – at least for now. What’s more, the platform utilizes noncustodial escrow, favoring smart contracts for ETH transactions and P2WSH for bitcoin. At no point are your funds custodied sitting on a centralized server. As with bitcoin P2P platform Bisq, and bitcoin cash marketplace local.Bitcoin.com, users retain their private keys, immunizing them from the fallout resulting from a hack or security breach. P2P exchanges that let you keep your privacy while selling your coins are a luxury in today’s surveillance society. Use them while you still can. What’s your favorite non-privacy-invasive way to convert coins to fiat? 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 Localcryptos Lets You Cash Out BTC P2P – Minus the KYC appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Governments have long been wary of Bitcoin, while expressing admiration for its innovative ledger system. This trend can be traced back till 2014, when the “blockchain not bitcoin” mantra was coined. Six years on and that sentiment is being backed by action as governments and businesses the world over commission blockchain initiatives. Are these entities genuinely bullish on blockchain? Or are they simply trying to stay relevant and capitalize on tech trends? Also read: US Tax Advisor Tells Crypto Customers to Self-Report on Taxes, Even If Imperfectly National and Enterprise Blockchain Projects Are Stacking Up Global governments are falling over themselves to commission blockchain projects. Last week, the Canadian government awarded a contract for steel tracking onchain, and at Davos there was widespread talk of using blockchain for data collection and environmental solutions. “Most Davos experts seem to agree that blockchain tech is best used for data collection rather than self-sovereign finance,” read one media tweet from the event, prompting Neeraj Agrawal to retort “Experts agree blockchain tech is better for the thing no one has used it for rather than the only thing it’s been used for.” Governments may envision vastly different use cases for blockchain than those favored by the crypto community, but they appear earnest in their desire to deploy distributed ledger technology. So too do the enterprises interested in utilizing and fostering blockchain adoption. In addition to the Canadian government inking a $130K deal for an onchain steel-tracking blockchain, the past week has seen Hyperledger launch a climate action special interest group dedicated to advancing DLT for governments and businesses to monitor emissions. Other entities to have recently gotten in on the blockchain game include Thailand, whose government is integrating blockchain technology into its new e-visa system. Private Chains in the Public Sector Lior Yaffe is the director and co-founder of Jelurida, a blockchain software company that maintains the Ardor and Nxt chains and develops enterprise solutions. In his view, government-favored “permissioned blockchain solutions alone cannot unleash the full potential of the technology since they ultimately depend on the good will of only a few parties.” Yaffe believes that broader blockchain adoption calls for the creation of “hybrid solutions where the main consensus engine is public and decentralized, while specific applications (for example child chains) can be permissioned for specific use cases by specific actors.” There are good reasons why governments are commissioning permissioned blockchains as opposed to building on Bitcoin or Ethereum. The trustless nature of public ledgers, and the difficulty of enforcing KYC and AML are anathema to agencies seeking DLT solutions with compliance baked in. As Coindesk’s Davos newsletter observed, ““Crypto” and “bitcoin” are still dirty words but “blockchain” – its neutered cousin – has been fully assimilated” by the global elite. The question is whether government adoption of permissioned chains will serve as a gateway to ‘full fat’ crypto networks in time. Is Blockchain the Gateway to Bitcoin? The main value proposition for permissioned blockchains, according to Lior Yaffe, is to enable “cooperation between third parties who do not trust each other.” He cites examples such as governments “using their power to force competitive corporate entities to cooperate using a single ledger not controlled by any single one of them for the benefit of their taxpayers” and envisions voting being another major use case, highlighting “shareholder voting to government internal vote tracking to city and even national elections,” adding: But in order to get blockchain voting you also need to figure out identity, which is a very privacy sensitive application. For this to materialize we need stronger built-in privacy mechanisms such as zero knowledge proofs to become more mature and harder to misuse. Chains which support these functions will always become semi-public for people to be able to review and audit them. The more public and global blockchains become adopted [at government and enterprise level], the higher the trust they will earn that they cannot be manipulated. As blockchain technology is tested at scale by government agencies, NGOs, banks, and other institutions, it will prove itself as a ledger whose data integrity can be trusted. Blockchain cannot verify the truthfulness of the information recorded on it, but it can show that the information hasn’t subsequently been tampered with. Whether that capability is enough to warrant governments and enterprises plunging headlong into blockchain can be debated. What’s less debatable is that the legitimization of Bitcoin’s underlying technology has created a world in which blockchain is no longer just a buzzword – it’s just a word – and where it’s not uncommon to find financial institutions running nodes for public and private chains. “It’s not about the B word,” insists IMB Blockchain’s Jason Kelly. “It’s about outcomes. We’re talking about sharing data across a complex supply chain with accuracy and trust … Before long we won’t even say the B word. It’ll simply be the way we transact with trusted data.” “”Before long we won’t even say [blockchain],” say the blockchain people at the blockchain companies,” riffed Matt Levine in Money Stuff. “I’m looking forward to it.” Many of the blockchain pilot projects being commissioned by governments will fail to bear fruit. If their legacy is to normalize the technology, blurring the lines between private, public, and hybrid chains, and making Bitcoin appear less alien, those trials will not have been in vain. Do you think governments are genuinely interested in blockchain, or are agencies just toying with the technology? 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 Governments and Enterprises Can’t Get Enough of Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Last Wednesday, the founder of the mining operation Btc.top announced a proposal that would fund Bitcoin Cash (BCH) development over the course of six months. Over the last five days, the funding plan has been the most dominant conversation within the BCH ecosystem, as supporters debate the merits of the miner’s proposal. This week, BCH community members heard from the developer Imaginary Username, Bitcoin Unlimited’s Peter Rizun, and an opposing mining operation that dislikes the funding plan’s details. Also Read: Bitcoin Cash Miners Plan $6M Development Fund by Leveraging Block Rewards BCH Infrastructure Development Plan Continues to Be Scrutinized This week Bitcoin Cash supporters have been conversing about the recently announced miner-funded development plan that was met with mixed reviews. When the idea was first announced it seemed like BCH proponents were enthusiastic, but there were individuals who disliked the concept right away. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on Btc.top founder Jiang Zhuoer answering questions about the subject in a Reddit ask-me-anything (AMA) thread. The same day, Bitcoin ABC developer Amaury Séchet published a post about the funding subject as well. Séchet said the funding idea is “great news” just as long as the details of the funding arrangement are done right. Following the AMA and Séchet’s opinion, Bitcoin.com and Electron Cash developer Jonald Fyookball also published articles concerning the subject. Over the last five days, the most topical conversation within the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community has been the infrastructure development plan. BU’s Peter Rizun Shares His Thoughts The debate is still one of the trending subjects on the read.cash blog and the Reddit forum r/btc today. The subreddit’s moderators even had to create a mega-thread in order to organize all the discussion that was taking place in regard to the miner-funded development concept. On January 26, Bitcoin Unlimited’s chief scientist Peter Rizun shared his opinion about the proposal and noted that the plan could become “corrupt.” “Despite the best of intentions, the developer service fee, AKA dev tax, will corrupt BCH,” Rizun insisted. “It represents a departure too far both from our core principles and from bitcoin as peer-to-peer electronic cash.” Rizun cited a number of issues he has with the developer (infrastructure) fee proposal (IFP), which he says is a more accurate description than a “dev tax.” Bitcoin Unlimited’s (BU) chief scientist Peter Rizun says that in his opinion, BU will probably not condone the infrastructure funding plan (IFP). On January 27, BU developer Andrew Stone published a BU improvement proposal called: “BUIP 143: Refuse the Coinbase Tax.” “Although the service fee would create a reliable and stable mechanism to transfer money from investors to select developers,” Rizun’s opinion post discussing the IFP idea stressed. “Such a protocol change comes with great cost. Bitcoin Unlimited’s (BU’s) mandate is to foster the development and growth of ‘Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system’ as described in the white paper. It is my opinion that BU would not condone this radical departure that hard codes a third-party into the protocol,” Rizun added. The BU developer continued: It is bad enough that mining is centralized to the point where it might be feasible for a cartel of miners to impose a tax on block rewards. The fact that the community is seriously considering modifying the protocol to kill-off this cartel’s competition is sickening. As Satoshi said, ‘the first transaction in a block is a special transaction that starts a new coin owned by the creator of the block.’ The community must reject any change to the protocol that would make this no longer so. Imaginary Username Provides Alternative Ideas The developer Imaginary Username also wrote a blog post about the subject and the read.cash thread has garnered the author more than $1,000 in BCH tips so far. Imaginary dislikes the current proposal’s specifics and has offered a number of alternative ways developers can be funded. The engineer wrote that funding could stem from direct capital investment, sponsorship, holder contributions and voluntary miner payments over mandatory miner payments. Imaginary suggested his own proposal whereby “six large holders each with 100,000 BCH can contribute $1 million each, 3% of their holdings each, and the mining tax proposal’s amount will be matched.” Imaginary’s read.cash blog post added: They can do it every year and still come out with a huge profit, assuming the scaling benefits propel BCH to match today’s ETH market capitalization several years later. The more large holders join this proposal, the greater their returns vs investment – and it is profitable for [each of] them regardless of how many ‘freeloaders’ there are. https://t.co/XaNgVHSMyB — imaginary_username (@im_uname) January 26, 2020 The software engineer says that his idea should be secured with a “Mecenas contract that releases each six month’s payments to Bitcoin ABC, or their designated agent, in monthly allotments.” Imaginary concedes by highlighting that a tool can be provided to interested holders and they can coordinate in private and tally data on a public website. “The transaction is made valid once inputs exceed the desired amount, and scheduled delivery via Mecenas contract can begin [and] this process is repeated every six months,” the developer wrote. An Unknown Shadow Miner Speaks Out Against the Infrastructure Development Plan Lastly, on January 27, a person called “Shadow Kwh” published a post on read.cash claiming to be an unknown miner who doesn’t like the miner-funded plan. “We are a group of North American and European miners representing, at this point in time, 1.6 exahash/s — We will represent 2.5 exahash/s come May 2020 due to expansion amongst our companies,” Shadow said introducing themselves. Shadow’s post also said the mining operation members are “empathic with protocol developers lack of funding.” They noted that the issue must be resolved over the long term. The miners then insisted that the Bitcoin Cash difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA) has been “gamed” for quite some time and the operation stressed the funding plan will make matters worse. Shadow believes that if the four signatories’ mining pools will not debate the plan it will be “totally unacceptable.” A mining entity that claims to process 1.6EH/s has shared its opinion about the infrastructure plan. The mining entity’s read.cash blog post got a $2,000 tip as well. “We will start withdrawing our support for the signatory pools and move to other pools for the time being,” Shadow’s blog post adds. “We will in the short term launch a competing BCH pool to offer a voice to miners that disagree with the proposal — We will [also] voluntarily donate 1% of our income to development teams while offering a voice to our miners on how to donate it.” The group dubbed Shadow Kwh concluded by stating: Assuming the proposal is not withdrawn or modified to be acceptable, we will continue to mine up to the hard fork, which will create our own chain after the fork due to the consensus rule change introduced by the signatories. We definitely plan to obtain more hashrate than the signatories can muster. The market will need to decide in the days following the fork. As far as time is concerned, there’s still around four months until the proposal would take effect, if the four signatories’ mining pools enact the plan. The proposal will also follow the upcoming BCH reward halving in the spring, which will be an exciting event on its own. A great number of BCH community members, influencers, developers, business executives, and everyday users continue to talk about the BCH miner-funded development daily ever since it was announced by Zhuoer. As the debate rages on and the days get closer toward enacting the proposal, news.Bitcoin.com will be there to keep our readers informed of the latest developments. What do you think about the new proposal for miners to fund BCH infrastructure development? Are you for or against the current infrastructure funding plan announced by Btc.top’s founder Jiang Zhuoer? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use. 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 Heated Debate Continues Over Bitcoin Cash Infrastructure Funding Plan appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency transactions in Ukraine will be strictly monitored by the state, although the country’s finance minister admits that it’s not digital coins but fiat cash that criminals and corrupt officials are more likely to use. The legalization of cryptocurrencies remains a priority in Kiev as the government has indicated its clear understanding that the benefits outweigh the risks. Also read: New Ukrainian Law Says ‘Virtual Assets’ Can Be Used for Payments Exchanges and Banks to Collect and Keep User Data Operations conducted by crypto companies and other entities dealing with digital assets will be examined and verified by Ukraine’s financial regulators, Minister Oksana Markarova announced during a recent press conference. All crypto-related transactions worth 30,000 hryvnias or more, the equivalent of approximately $1,200, will be subjected to government oversight, she emphasized while briefing Ukrainian media about the newly adopted anti-money laundering rules. Oksana Markarova Cryptocurrency exchanges, other trading platforms and banks will be obliged to collect, store and provide authorities with detailed information about the identity of their customers, both the sender and the receiver, as well as the origin of the transferred digital money. The data will be gathered only once if a user conducts the same type of crypto transactions. If a certain transaction raises suspicion, the operator of the platform is required to notify the State Financial Monitoring Service (SFMS). The agency has been charged with establishing the origin of the cryptocurrency and according to the finance minister, the watchdog now has at its disposal “the latest analytical tool” capable of determining where the money comes from and even what it has been spent on previously. “There have been successful cases,” Markarova said, quoted by crypto outlet Forklog. Currently, the SFMS cannot suspend crypto operations completely but it has the authority to freeze cryptocurrency wallets and seize digital assets that have been obtained illegally or which are intended for illicit purposes, if the agency gets hold of a wallet’s private keys in the course of an investigation. Parliament Finalizing Regulatory Framework for Cryptocurrencies in Ukraine The powers of the financial monitoring service were expanded with a law transposing the FATF standards and harmonizing Ukraine’s legislation with European AML directives. It was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in early December but its provisions will enter into force on April 24, 2020. The Financial Monitoring Bill introduces a set of legal terms pertaining to the crypto space, allocates supervisory duties and details that virtual assets can be traded, transferred and used for payments. The law lists the different types of entities that can provide exchange, storage, sale, and transfer services for digital assets. It also updates the applicable penalties for various violations such as non-compliance with due diligence and customer identification requirements or breach of procedures for the creation and storage of documents. The maximum fine that can be imposed on these companies has been raised from 34,000 to 204,000 hryvnia (over $8,000). An expert group at the Rada’s Digital Transformation Committee is currently working to finalize the framework that will regulate the circulation of cryptocurrencies in Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada Oksana Markarova acknowledged there’s no comprehensive data about the amount of cryptocurrency Ukrainian citizens currently hold but experts believe the volume is quite high. According to a 2018 survey, 13% of internet-savvy Ukrainians owned digital coins. It was estimated that the daily turnover on the top three cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country reached $2 million. Two of the platforms, Exmo and Kuna, already have anti-money laundering and know your customer policies in place while the world’s leading exchange Binance recently opened an account with Ibox Bank providing Ukrainians access to global markets. Ukraine’s finance minister, representing the country’s young administration that came to power after the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky, thinks the legalization of crypto operations can bring positives to the Ukrainian economy which outweigh the risks of using cryptocurrencies for money laundering. “I think that our criminals and corrupt officials are quite conservative and still keep funds mostly in cash. Therefore, in the legalization of cryptocurrencies, I see opportunities for the development of this industry in our country, and not a threat,” Markarova stated in an interview with the online magazine MC Today. Cryptocurrency exchanges and digital coin issuers were recently listed among the “key players of the financial ecosystem” in Ukraine’s new Financial Sector Development Strategy 2025. The document, prepared by the country’s financial regulators, including the National Bank and the Finance Ministry, also mentions blockchain development as one of five “strategic goals” of innovation growth. Do you think Ukraine will attract more crypto businesses by providing greater regulatory clarity for the industry? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. You can now purchase bitcoin without visiting a cryptocurrency exchange. Buy BTC and BCH directly from our trusted seller and, if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store it, you can download one from us here. The post Ukraine to Oversee Crypto Transactions Above $1,200, Sees Opportunities in Legalization Not Risks appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Digital cash was the original use case for bitcoin, and it remains the primary one for bitcoin cash (BCH) today. The ability to send funds anywhere in the world quickly and cheaply has made bitcoin cash a popular choice for online casino players. There are scores of gaming sites where you can deposit BCH and other cryptos and then withdraw your winnings in the same manner. Here’s a snapshot of what these crypto-friendly sites have to offer. Also read: How to Create Custom SLP Tokens With the Bitcoin.com Mint Mintdice Dice is a long-standing favorite among bitcoiners, some of whom fondly recall playing Satoshi Dice in the early days, when the hi-low gaming site provided one of the first use cases for bitcoin. At Mintdice, you can roll the dice to your heart’s content, or have a go at Bit.Rocket, a social bitcoin game that combines skill and luck. There are also slots and plinko games to be tried. The latter is a board game based on a popular TV gameshow that entails climbing a staircase to the top of the board, with various prizes appearing along the way. Mintdice accepts BCH and BTC plus around a dozen other cryptos including privacy coins like XMR and PIVX. Once your onchain deposit has cleared, you’re free to start playing. Mintdice supports anonymous accounts that require only a username for players who value their privacy, but full accounts are also available. Wild Casino Fiat and crypto are supported at Wild Casino, but deposit with the latter and you’ll receive a bigger bonus of up to $9,000. As seasoned players will know, casinos typically offer to match your first deposit by way of a welcome bonus. To claim the maximum amount proffered, therefore, you would have to deposit an equally large sum. Not only does Wild Casino accept bitcoin cash, but it also takes BTC, ETH, and, unusually, XRP. In terms of games, the casino serves up a familiar blend of slots, blackjack, table games, video poker, and a live casino. Mbit Mbit is a proud bitcoin-first casino that pledges a welcome bonus of up to 5 BTC. The site, which was established in 2014, serves up 2,000 games, requires no account to play, and enables players to cashout in less than 10 minutes. In addition to bitcoin cash, Mbit allows players to use BTC, DOGE, LTC, and USDT. There’s also a VIP program whose tiers are named after cryptocurrency planets. 500 points will take you to Planet Bitcoin Cash, while The Moon is “by invitation only.” 1xbit If a casino has “bit” in its name, it’s a sure sign it’s crypto friendly; it’s just a case of which cryptos it accepts. At 1xbit, the answer is “all of them.” In addition to BCH and BTC, there are less fancied coins like BTG and XVG accepted. You’ll receive a 100% welcome bonus of up to 1 BTC, and in addition to casino games, 1xbit has an extensive sportsbook and a separate esports section. Alternatively, if sports aren’t your thing you can bet on politics instead. Cash Games Cash Games Perhaps the best known gaming site for BCH fans is Bitcoin.com’s Cash Games. As a gaming site built around bitcoin cash, it features a leaderboard that pays out $1,000 in BCH bonuses to slots players, and there’s no need to create an account to play. Built-in coin conversion, implemented using Sideshift.ai, allows players to switch from other cryptos such as BTC to BCH in order to play. All of the games on the site are provably fair, which entails taking a random number and cryptographically hashing it, which can later be used to show that the outcome of the game hasn’t been manipulated. There’s a jackpot of up to 10,000 BCH for playing slots and 5,000 for keno. Instant cashouts come as standard and so does player anonymity. What other BCH casinos have you tried? 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 5 Online Casinos That Accept Bitcoin Cash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Tax season for United States residents is fast approaching, and the IRS wants to know about everyone’s involvement in the crypto space. Thanks to a recently updated income tax form including a question about crypto activity, tax preparation companies like H&R Block are advising filers to be sure to disclose their details. The service maintains that providing any information, even if imperfect, could result more lenient treatment from the much-feared collection agency. Also Read: Lawmakers Want Answers From IRS, Citing Major Issues With Crypto Tax Guidance The New, Critical Question Astute observers of the 2019 Schedule 1 tax form will notice a new question at the top of the page: “At any time during 2019, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?” The prompt can be unsettling even for those little to no involvement in the space. Perhaps a friend sent some dust to a wallet downloaded just for experimental purposes. Or maybe someone made a few transactions but soon forgot about the whole thing. Many are now wondering just what exactly the IRS knows about their activity, and what is necessary to report. Combined with as-of-yet unclear filing instructions, the whole thing becomes seemingly difficult to navigate. Tax Preparation Services Weigh In Leading tax preparation services nevertheless say it’s best to spill one’s guts, and report everything. Kathy Pickering, chief tax officer at H&R Block, says “The IRS is looking for people to self-report,” according to a recent article by Yahoo Finance. The outlet quotes Pickering as affirming details on how to report crypto are ill-defined, but maintaining: They’re looking for you to come forward, and they’ll be more lenient, even if you don’t get it right, if you’re disclosing. Popular online filing service Turbotax notes of crypto, “If you just buy it and hold onto it, it won’t be taxed until you do something with it. Even if you don’t receive a 1099-B, 1099-MISC, 1099-K, or summary tax statement for your cryptocurrency transactions, it’s your responsibility to report them.” The company’s post goes on to note that coins received as a result of a fork or airdrop also count as income, a point of contention for lawmakers with the IRS’s recently issued guidelines. As news.Bitcoin.com’s Kevin Helms reported in December, a congressional letter to IRS commissioner Charles Rettig stated of the airdrop tax issue: “This creates potentially unwarranted tax liability and administrative burdens for users of these important new technologies and would create inequitable results. We do not expect this is the intended effect of the guidance, and we urge the IRS to clarify the matter.” Popular tax assistance service Jackson Hewitt notes in its year-end tax tips publication that “[If] you invest in or use crypto currency the IRS is looking for you to report the information on your tax return. Make sure you have your records for all transactions during the year.” Though the theme of exhaustive self-reporting is clear, the critical questions remaining have to do with amounts, types of transactions, and the aforementioned issues with forks and airdrops, which mean some hodlers may need to go back and tediously re-file forms from years ago. Due to this ambiguity some might be reticent to tick that box on the Schedule 1 at all, knowing that perceived improper reporting may lead to unwanted and even dangerous attention. Blockchain Surveillance and What Tax Agencies Know The formation of mega-intelligence groups like the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), and the U.K. tax agency’s recent offering of $130,000 for blockchain surveillance assistance, show the tax authorities mean business. What is not so established is how much they know about the average crypto user. For those keeping funds on centralized exchanges, it’s almost a sure bet they’re ‘on the books,’ as such groups have established compliance agreements with governments. The benefits here for reporters being easily downloadable forms and records from exchange databases making the process less complicated, if at the critical expense of privacy. Some experts in the space say the IRS may just be fishing, with no efficient way to process the legions of people using crypto, though they know via NSA tracking who all of these users are. Enrolled Agent and crypto tax advisor Clinton Donnelly told news.Bitcoin.com in August that the agency may be issuing its crypto warning letters in lieu of other means to ensure compliance. “If they scare enough people they can get the same result,” Donnelly noted, claiming that crypto traders are “low-hanging fruit” for the IRS. Whatever the reality, threats associated with falling afoul of groups like the IRS are not imaginary, so concern with proper reporting is more than understandable. In this context it’s not as hard to see why some might (ill-advised as it may be) choose to eschew honesty and leverage the utility of crypto for a different childhood virtue: keeping a secret. What do you think about the new IRS tax form and H&R Block’s advice? Let us know in the comments sections 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, fair use. 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 Spill Your Sats: H&R Block Tells Crypto Customers to Self-Report on Taxes, Even If Imperfectly appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The last few years have seen the creation of blockchain projects that claim to have tokens backed by physical gold. In October, Coinshares and Blockchain.com launched a digital gold token (DGLD) backed by physical gold that uses BTC’s security. Tether just announced a new token called tether gold (XAUT), which will be listed for trading on Bitfinex. The company that created the dominant stablecoin USDT claims a single XAUT token represents one troy fine ounce of gold. Also read: Data Shows $25 Billion Worth of Bitcoin and Ether Held by Seven Crypto Exchanges While 30 Gold-Backed Crypto Attempts Have Failed, 77 Existing Blockchain Projects Attempt to Leverage the Precious Metal’s Backing The narrative that BTC is “digital gold” has been embraced by maximalists in recent years, but despite this people are still creating gold-backed tokens that utilize blockchain technology. There’s a bunch of blockchain networks that claim to leverage physical gold to back certain tokens. For instance, Digixglobal has a token called DGX, which represents 1 gram of 99% LMBA standard gold. Additionally, there’s also darico (DEC), blocknote (BNO), aurusgold (AWG), cash telex (CTLX), blockstock (BSO), tether gold (XAUT), Coinshares/Blockchain.com MKS (DGLD), g-coin (XGC), goldnugget (GNTO), goldmint (MNTP), goldfund (GFUN), gramgold coin (GGC), pax gold (PAXG), karatgold coin (KBC), and hellogold (HGT). 30 gold-backed crypto projects have failed miserably during the last 10 years. 77 gold-backed crypto projects exist today. That list doesn’t even scratch the surface of gold-backed tokens that exist today, as there are a ton more projects that have followed the same path. According to data recorded on January 12, 2020, there are over 30 dead gold crypto projects that have failed over the years. There are also roughly 77 gold-backed blockchain concepts, initial coin offerings (ICO), and gold-backed token projects that exist in the wild today. DGLD and XAUT Enter the Gold-Backed Crypto Competition Despite the fact that people think BTC is digital gold and the recent marketing attempts to “drop gold,” gold-backed tokens are still enticing blockchain creators and investors. The latest two gold offerings stem from the firms Coinshares, Blockchain.com, the precious metal trader MKS, and Tether. The UK-based firm Coinshares claims to have launched $20 million worth of gold into a digital blockchain secured by the BTC network. The company asserts each DGLD is backed by 1/10th of a troy ounce of fine gold. The coin can be bought and sold using Blockchain.com’s trading platform the Pit, and DGLD runs on the BTC chain by using Commerceblock’s sidechain. The launch last October saw some fanfare, but DGLD is not available to residents of Canada or the U.S. Last October, Blockchain.com, Coinshares, MKS, Commerceblock and Globacap revealed the DGLD token backed by physical gold. Tether’s XAUT launched last week and Bitfinex announced listing tether gold token on January 24. “XAUT is a digital asset offered by TG Commodities Limited [and] one XAUT token represents one troy fine ounce of gold on a London Good Delivery gold bar,” explained the Bitfinex announcement on Friday. The trading platform emphasized that XAUT token owners enjoy the “combined benefits of both physical and digital assets.” Essentially, users avoid the “drawbacks associated with physical gold, such as high storage costs and limited accessibility,” the Bitfinex blog announcement noted. The pax gold (PAXG) token project is similar, for it promises that each token’s redemption is backed by one fine troy ounce London Good Delivery gold bar. The creators of the dominant stablecoin tether (USDT) created tether gold (XAUT). Well known crypto proponent John Paul Koning questions if projects like PAXG and XAUT and other gold-backed cryptos are sustainable. “Interesting — Unlike traditional gold storage options, blockchain gold products like XAUT, Pax Gold, and DGX don’t charge custody fees, just redemption/transaction fees. Is that sustainable?” Koning tweeted on Friday. Brandon Arvanaghi, the chief security officer of the vertically-integrated Bitcoin mining company Layer1, responded “No, in part because the transaction fees are fickle. Offchain: any trading on a centralized exchange avoids them [and] Onchain: create a ‘wrapper’ contract that owns several of the underlying tokens. Allow trading synthetics in the wrapper.” Are Today’s 77 Gold-Backed Crypto Projects Any Less Centralized Than E-Gold’s Attempt in 1996? Despite the fact that much older projects like e-gold and Liberty Reserve fell by the wayside, the attempt to create a perfect gold-backed token has been somewhat of a holy grail. According to the gold bug Peter Schiff, a precious-metal backed cryptocurrency would likely trump coins like BTC because he believes BTC is backed by “nothing.” However, e-gold failed miserably, even though the creator tried to offer features like micropayments and a decentralized governance system. E-gold’s tenure ended rather quickly because the project was a centralized entity that failed to keep up with KYC/AML guidelines and the Patriot Act’s money transmission laws. The e-gold project created by Douglas Jackson and Barry Downey failed after the Patriot Act was implemented. Most of the blockchain gold projects today use a distributed ledger system, but that doesn’t make the project any less centralized than e-gold’s attempt. As far as market share goes, most of the aforementioned gold-backed tokens have extremely small market valuations and a decent portion of these projects are not even listed on crypto capitalization websites. Karatgold (KBC) has a market capitalization of around $65 million but only sees $200,000 worth of global trade volume. Digixglobal’s digix gold token (DGX) has a $6 million market capitalization and $193,000 worth of trade volume. Both KBC and DGX’s combined daily trade volume pales in comparison to tether (USDT) $602 million, BTC $529 million, and bitcoin cash (BCH) $30 million. Shiny metal backed tokens have a long way to go to catch up to their fiat companions’ (stablecoins) trade volume and network activity. What do you think about the gold-backed cryptocurrency attempts over the years? Do you think that gold-backed tokens are something that will stick around or even overtake a digital asset like BTC? 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 gold crypto products, gold-crypto services, or any of the aforementioned projects/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, Tether.to, DGLD logo, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, Twitter, 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 More Than 77 Crypto Projects Claim to Be Backed by Physical Gold appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Bitcoin Gold (BTG) network suffered another set of 51% attacks on January 23-24, as roughly 29 blocks were removed in two deep blockchain reorganizations (reorgs). Reports indicate that more than 7,000 BTG was double spent as the chain suffered a loss of $70,000 in two days. Also read: Bitcoin Gold Hacked for $18 Million Bitcoin Gold Sees Two Deep Blockchain Reorgs With 29 Blocks Replaced In May 2018, the Bitcoin Gold (BTG) blockchain was 51% attacked for the first time suffering a loss of more than $18 million. BTG is a fork of the Bitcoin protocol but it doesn’t use the SHA256 consensus algorithm like BTC, BCH, or BSV. The blockchain BTG utilizes a variant of the Equihash algorithm (Equihash 144, 5 or “Zhash”) which can be mined with a GPU. Bitcoin Gold’s creators believed that creating a Bitcoin fork that could be mined with GPUs as opposed to ASIC devices would be more decentralized. However, things went south in the spring of 2018 when a miner gained control of more than 51% of the overall BTG hashrate. After losing $18 million, BTG was also asked to pay the exchange Bittrex back or face being delisted. Since then BTG has been meandering along while other small coins like ethereum classic and vertcoin were 51% attacked too. The Github gist that explains the recent Bitcoin Gold 51% attack on Thursday and Friday. Last week on Thursday and Friday, BTG again dealt with a malicious mining entity as more than 51% of the chain’s hashrate was captured and still is. The blockchain suffered from two deep reorgs on both days that saw $19,000 double spent on Thursday and $53,000 double spent on Friday. For instance, at approximately 1:01 p.m. on Thursday, BTG’s chain saw 14 blocks removed and 13 new blocks added. At 7:24 p.m. on Friday, the blockchain saw 15 blocks removed and 16 blocks added during a small period of time. Most of the blame has been directed at the cloud mining operation Nicehash which has been blamed for most of the 51% attacks in the last two years. Some BTG members believe that there are secret ASICs mining the BTG network and community members are begging for a safer algorithm. “I think it’s time we get a real leader that listens to the members of this community and take action,” one BTG proponent wrote on Reddit. “It is obvious that the first 51% attack was done by ASICs — Why can’t BTG be novel and create a truly new [algorithm]? This coin is a bad investment for anyone looking to buy — None of the devs are qualified.” The Bitcoin Gold community discusses the algorithm vulnerabilities on Reddit and supporters are talking about “secret ASICs” mining the BTG network. $719 per Hour to Attack as Nicehash Captures 57% of the Bitcoin Gold Hashrate During the last few months, news.Bitcoin.com has reported on how the three main SHA256 Bitcoin forks have seen an exponential rise in hashrate. BTG’s hashrate, on the other hand, has not followed the same pattern and has declined significantly since the last 51% attack in May 2018. The lack of hashpower behind the BTG network makes the blockchain extremely vulnerable to more 51% attacks unless the developers change the consensus algorithm. According to statistics from the Crypto51 application, BTG only has 3 million hashes per second (3MH/s) securing the chain. It would only cost $788 per hour to 51% attack the BTG blockchain and cause a reorg with double spending. According to Crypto51, it only costs $788 per hour to attack the Bitcoin Gold network and cause disruption. Right now Nicehash miners control between 56-74% of the BTG hashrate on January 26, 2020. The cloud mining site Nicehash sells individuals and businesses CPU and GPU-based hashrate and on January 26, Nicehash commands 57-74% of the BTG hashrate or 2MH/s. A comparison of how much easier it is to attack the Bitcoin Gold chain in contrast to the Zcash (ZEC) network shows it’s far more convenient to attack BTG. Even though they share a similar Equihash variant, ZEC has 5 billion hashes per second (5GH/s) securing the blockchain. Nicehash miners who are mining ZEC only capture 182 MH/s of the overall 5GH/s or a mere 3% of the network. The estimated cost to 51% attack ZEC is much larger than the BTG attack at $11,788 per hour to accomplish the mission. On January 26, 2020, following the 51% attack last week, BTG prices have spiked around 9%. Interestingly enough, and similar to coins like vertcoin and ethereum classic, BTG’s market price did not drop in value. In fact, BTG’s price has jumped since the 51% attack and is up over 9.6% for the week and 15% in the last 24 hours. To most observers, it is strange that instead of losing value after two deep reorgs and $70,000 in double spends, BTG is seeing more market demand than it has in months. What do you think about the 51% attack against Bitcoin Gold (BTG)? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, r/bitcoingoldhq, Markets.Bitcoin.com, Crypto51, Wiki Commons, 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 Bitcoin Gold 51% Attacked – Network Loses $70,000 in Double Spends appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A Dubai government authority has announced that it is launching a crypto valley in the country’s free zone there is no personal or corporate income tax. With the help of its partners from the Swiss crypto valley, Dubai will offer a variety of services such as incubation for startups, coworking facilities, blockchain training, education, events, mentoring and funding. Also read: Regulatory Roundup — New US Crypto Tax Bill, Central Banks Join Forces on Digital Currencies Crypto Valley in Dubai’s Free Zone DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre), a Dubai government entity, announced at Davos 2020 on Thursday that it is launching a crypto valley in its free zone, at the heart of the city’s leading business district. DMCC explained that it is “Designed to foster growth, collaboration and integrity across the global blockchain economy,” elaborating: The ‘DMCC Crypto Valley’ will offer a variety of services including incubation for early-stage startups, co-working facilities, innovation services for corporate clients, blockchain and entrepreneurship training, education, events, mentoring and funding. “The launch of the crypto valley in DMCC will enhance the city’s dynamic business environment, and support the wider strategy of the UAE government to attract the innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers that will shape the future economy,” commented Executive Chairman and CEO Ahmed Bin Sulayem. Established in 2002, DMCC aims to enhance commodity trade flows through the country. Its free zone offers a range of benefits including 0% personal and corporate income tax. Members can also remit all profits made back to their home countries without restriction. In October 2019, DMCC received the Financial Times Fdi magazine’s “Global Free Zone of the Year” award for the fifth consecutive years. A total of 85 global free zones were nominated in the 2019 competition. Situated in the heart of Dubai, DMCC is home to over 100,000 people and 17,000 member companies representing more than 170 countries and 20 business sectors. The companies range from startups to multinational corporations. Every month, 170 more companies join DMCC, 95% of which are new to Dubai, the authority says. The singing between DMCC and CV CV for the crypto valley collaboration. Partners From Swiss Crypto Valley For the crypto valley launch, DMCC is collaborating with Swiss investment company Crypto Valley Venture Capital (CV VC) and its subsidiary CV Labs to develop “a comprehensive DMCC Blockchain Strategy that is aligned with the Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021, and supports the Dubai Blockchain Strategy launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai and chairman of Dubai Executive Council.” The agreement between the companies was signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We are thrilled to move into the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region with DMCC as a strong local partner,” CV VC and CV Labs founder Ralf Glabischnig commented, adding: We are looking forward to bringing our strong partner from crypto valley to Dubai, like Coreledger, Inacta, Lykke, and Tezos which are already active in the MENA region. With the launch of its own crypto valley, Dubai joins the company of Switzerland and the Philippines, which have already established their own crypto valleys. The Philippines has built a crypto valley of Asia which will soon get its own airport. What do you think of Dubai launching a crypto valley in its tax-free zone? Do you think it will attract many crypto companies? 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 DMCC. 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 Dubai Launching Crypto Valley in Tax-Free Zone appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The primary use case for staking blockchains is staking. That is their raison d’être, and thousands of cryptocurrency holders have utilized this provision to increase their holdings by earning staking rewards. As the total amount of staked tokens trends towards 80% for some blockchains, however, it raises questions as to what other utility these chains provide. Also read: The Fallout From Onecoin’s Ponzi Scheme Continues to Impact Investors Two Thirds of All Staking Coins Are Locked Up The total market cap of all Proof of Stake (PoS) coins stands at $12.6 billion, of which $8 billion is locked up in staking wallets. Much of this occurs imperceptibly to cryptocurrency holders due to exchanges managing staking on their behalf. Store tezos on Binance, for example, and you will automatically be eligible for staking rewards. The top five staking networks by market cap have the majority of their circulating supply locked up: Tezos (77%), Cosmos (73%), Decred (51%), Synthetix (81%), and Waves (53%). The amount of staked coins as a percentage of total issuance has been growing steadily Just as masternode coins were so-named because running a node was their defining feature, many staking coins now exist primarily to disburse staking rewards. It’s healthy to have coins distributed as widely as possible, and through locking up tokens, holders have a vested interest in seeing the network flourish. If the only users are stakers, however, not only will everyone’s staking rewards be diluted, but the network will wither away after failing to attract the developers, dapp users, and businesses that are its lifeblood. Leading PoS coins, showing total percentage staked. Source: stakingrewards.com. Build First, Stake Later Tellingly, the PoS chains that have achieved wide adoption were slow to add staking rewards, preferring to build a community and establish a diverse ecosystem of network participants. Two examples of this are Matic Network and Waves. The former has spent the past year onboarding dapp developers, forging partnerships, and gaining liquidity through multiple exchanges including Whitebit, where matic token-holders can claim lower trading fees and additional bonuses. Matic is now applying the final touches to its staking program which will see validators stake tokens as collateral and become part of the network’s PoS consensus mechanism. A partnership with South Korea’s Coinone exchange will enable users to lock up matic tokens for monthly periods in return for an APR of 30.29%. Waves, meanwhile, operates Leased Proof of Stake, whereby holders can earn a return through running a full node and generating blocks or by leasing waves tokens to a full node. The current annual reward for staking waves stands at 6.23%, or 3.1% when adjusted for inflation. Like Matic, Waves has more to offer its community than merely staking; recent developments have included interoperable blockchain protocol Gravity Hub, which can communicate with networks such as Waves and Ethereum and serve as an oracle for non-blockchain data. Waves also has a blockchain games marketplace created in conjunction with The Abyss where digital goods and in-game items can be traded. A strong developer community, complete with hackathons, online courses, and workshops, supports third parties creating and launching dapps using the Waves platform. How Sustainable Are Staking Rewards? Crypto networks that offer high staking rewards have no trouble attracting users willing to lock up their tokens to make ‘easy money.’ It is hard to see how staking rewards that run into double-digit percentages are sustainable, however. The rapid increase in the circulating supply dilutes everyone’s holdings, while the lack of features beyond staking deters adoption. Livepeer (LPT), for instance, which has 24-hour volume of just $40K, provides a staking reward of 64.8%, but when inflation adjusted, this drops to 18.8%. Fantom promises 57.7%, adjusted to 33%. As mining has become commercialized and the days of easy altcoin profits have faded, staking and lending have become the primary forms of passive income. Exchanges that provide staking as a service have obviated the need to spin up a node, and the monthly payouts provide a steady source of revenue. Stakers nevertheless have some tough choices to make. Locking up tokens over an extended period increases the risk of loss when measured in BTC. It’s possible to be up in tokens for the month but down in BTC, rendering the whole exercise pointless from a commercial perspective. The Future of Blockchains Lies in Staking Despite empirical evidence that Proof of Work makes for a more robust blockchain, the days of new PoW coins are over. Grin was the last major mineable coin to launch; today it’s all PoS chains entering the market. Stakingrewards.com lists dozens of Proof of Stake coins that are scheduled to launch, ambitiously including Ethereum 2.0, whose launch date is anything but certain. When the new improved ETH blockchain does see the light of day, it’s expected to offer staking rewards of 3.7%. Other staking options scheduled for 2020 include Polkadot (5%), Cardano (3.7%), and Matic (10%). These blockchains promise to solve a range of problems including scalability, fast payments, and interoperability. Their greatest use case, however, is likely to be staking. Do you think staking rewards of 20% or higher are sustainable? Do you intend to stake any of the PoS coins that will launch this year? 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 Everybody’s Staking But Who’s Using Proof of Stake Blockchains? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has awarded a young entrepreneur for her cryptocurrency price tracking application while the government is still deliberating on the country’s crypto policies. News.Bitcoin.com caught up with the award recipient to find out more about her app. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is being challenged in the supreme court regarding its crypto action. Also read: Regulatory Roundup — New US Crypto Tax Bill, Central Banks Join Forces on Digital Currencies Modi Awards Creator of Crypto App While the Indian government is deliberating on whether to regulate or ban cryptocurrencies in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has awarded a young entrepreneur for her cryptocurrency tracking app creation. Modi tweeted on Jan. 24: “I am delighted that the very talented Harshita Arora has been conferred the Bal Shakti Puraskar 2020 … She has been focussing on a wide range of sectors. Her passion towards science, technology and human welfare are clearly visible.” The award recipient, 18-year-old Kumari Harshita Arora, created an app called Crypto Price Tracker, a portfolio management and price tracking tool for cryptocurrencies, which she designed herself. Interacting with the award winners at his residence, the prime minister said that he is proud to see the awareness of their duty towards society and the nation, local media reported. There were 49 winners in various categories; Arora was awarded the Bal Shakti Puraskar 2020 for her excellence in innovation. Noting that he gets inspiration and energy from the award recipients, Modi was quoted as saying: “When I was getting introduced to you a while back, I was really surprised. The way you all have tried in different fields, the work that has been done at such a young age … is amazing.” The prime minister added: Whenever I hear about such courageous work of all you young comrades, talk to you, I also get inspiration and energy. The Bal Shakti Puraskar award is given by the government of India every year “to recognize exceptional achievements of our children in various fields i.e., innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts & culture, sports and bravery,” explained the government’s website. It is also “to recognize the contribution of dedicated individuals and institutions, whose tireless efforts complement the actions taken by the government of India for the welfare of children.” Arora’s Crypto Tracking App News.Bitcoin.com caught up with Arora who shared some details about her award-winning app. “I created a cryptocurrency portfolio management and price tracking application called Crypto Price Tracker and launched it on the App Store in Jan 2018,” she told the news team, noting that it was later acquired by Redwood City Ventures. The entrepreneur elaborated: My app received a lot of positive feedback from the crypto community and got thousands of paid downloads in the first 24 hours of launch which led it to becoming the #2 app in the Finance category of the App Store. Some screenshots of the crypto app Arora created. Crypto Price Tracker is a portfolio management app that does price tracking and customizable alerts. It tracks the prices of over 1,000 cryptocurrencies from over 18 exchanges in 32 fiat currencies. It also provides price charts for all monitored cryptocurrencies during the last one day, one week, one month, three months, and one year. Users can create time-based alerts to get prices of a coin as a push notification regularly or at a specific time. They can also create price threshold-based alerts to get notifications when the price of a certain coin drops, rises or changes by a certain percentage. The app is available in the Apple app store, but not in the U.S., however. Is the Indian Government Changing Its Stance on Crypto? An entrepreneur winning such a prestigious award from the Indian government for crypto-related work came as a surprise to many in the crypto community since lawmakers have been considering an anti-crypto bill. The interministerial committee (IMC) headed by former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg recommended a ban on all cryptocurrencies, except state-issued ones. Garg has since resigned but maintains a negative view on the future of cryptocurrencies. “Now this is interesting,” Varun Sethi, also known as Blockchain Lawyer, tweeted in response to the news of Arora receiving the award, pointing out that the “draft law by the interministerial committee imposes punishment for direct / indirect use of cryptos.” Indeed, the crypto bill drafted by the IMC states that “No person shall directly or indirectly use cryptocurrency in any manner,” including providing cryptocurrency-related services to consumers or investors. Those in violation face a fine or imprisonment of “not be less than one year but which may extend up to ten years, or both,” according to the text of the bill. However, the bill has not been introduced in parliament and the Indian crypto community believes that it is flawed and will not be introduced as is. Indian social media influencer by the name “Shalini” commented, “India is in a love-hate relationship with cryptocurrency,” adding: While RBI fights against crypto in the supreme court, our prime minister just awarded Harshita Arora a prestigious award for innovation in various fields including crypto (she created a crypto price tracking app). The Reserve Bank of India has repeatedly displayed its negative stance towards cryptocurrency. In April 2018, it issued a circular banning regulated financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses. The supreme court is currently hearing the petitions against this ban, which will resume next week. What do you think of Prime Minister Modi giving an award to Arora for her crypto price tracking app? 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, Harshita Arora, and the Indian government. 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 Indian Prime Minister Modi Awards Young Entrepreneur for Cryptocurrency App appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Since Btc.top founder Jiang Zhuoer revealed an infrastructure funding proposal from five major mining pools last week, which would fund BCH devs via redirection of 12.5% of BCH coinbase rewards, the Bitcoin Cash community has been understandably bustling with debate, discussion, and suggestions. Reactions have ranged from calling the move a “tax” that is incongruous with the foundational values of bitcoin, to support and ideas on how to best implement the plan. While the inundation of opinion and emotion has been noisy, a few prominent community leaders and groups with real ‘skin in the game’ have weighed in to clarify. Also Read: Bitcoin Cash Miners Plan $6M Development Fund by Leveraging Block Rewards BCH Funding Proposal in a Nutshell The infrastructure funding proposal was revealed to the community at large on January 22, via an article posted to Medium by Btc.top founder Jiang Zhuoer. It opens: “We, a group of miners representing a majority of identified Bitcoin Cash hash rate, have an interest in ensuring that Bitcoin Cash remains a strong and vibrant cryptocurrency. As such, we recognize that investment in software and commons is crucial to secure a bright future for Bitcoin Cash … To provide this funding, we intend to direct 12.5% of BCH coinbase rewards to a fund that will support Bitcoin Cash infrastructure. This funding will last for 6 months, and it will provide significant and much needed support to the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem.” Reactions to Zhuoer’s announcement varied widely across the community. The post goes on to break down the proposed process and projected deployment in general terms, with the issue causing the most controversy being the orphaning non-compliant blocks. A highlighted paragraph of the article reads: To ensure participation and include subsidization from the whole pool of SHA-256 mining, miners will orphan BCH blocks that do not follow the plan. This is needed to avoid a tragedy of the commons. Bitcoin.com, Jonald Fyookball Clarify Their Positions A new Bitcoin.com post on Read.cash, entitled “Bitcoin.com’s Clarifications on the Miner Development Fund,” addresses many concerns with the plan. The article opens by immediately noting that the announcement “created a lot of justified discussion, questions, concerns, and confusion amongst members of the community.” It further notes that at present nothing is set in stone. Regarding doubts about the Hong Kong corporation that would manage the funds, and numerous other issues, Bitcoin.com maintains: It’s important to understand that the plan proposed by Jiang Zhuoer is still very much in development … many more of the questions proposed online are well taken and the answers are still being worked out by the miners. The proposed changes would not go into effect until May 2020 and there is still plenty of time to work out answers to those questions in a way that satisfies as many parties as possible. The piece further distinguishes the difference between a coercive tax with legal penalties for non-participation, versus a voluntary choice by miners to leverage their hash power (in accordance with the Bitcoin Whitepaper) toward what they perceive to be a good move for BCH. “Bitcoin itself is a free market governed by majority hash rate, and honest majority miners are under no moral, legal, or protocol obligation to accept blocks from minority miners if they cannot agree on proper terms of doing business together. This is the free market at work, and we believe Bitcoin cannot work any other way,” the article details. Regarding the Hong Kong corporation the article notes that “Ultimately, it is miner money since they invest the capital to earn those rewards, and decision-making about the funds should be close to the people who pay the highest opportunity costs for their distribution.” A great post by @deadalnix on the proposed infrastructure plan for Bitcoin Cash and why it's not a tax.https://t.co/XCuF53j6r0 I think if the fund's controlling keys are given to trusted community members then it could work out, instead of giving funds to a random organization — Colin Talks Crypto (@ColinTCrypto) January 23, 2020 Prominent BCH and Electron Cash developer Jonald Fyookball also published his support of the proposal in an article entitled Little Known (But Important!) Facts About the Mining Plan. Fyookball acknowledged and validated specific concerns and objections, but remains resolute. “Other attempts/ideas to fund infrastructure via mining haven’t worked,” he writes. “I’ve seen suggestions involving everything from hashrate voting to p2pool, to covenants, etc. No disrespect to the great developers who come up with those ideas, but the reality is that all of those things are too complicated to have a good chance of working in practice, especially in the near term. The developer emphasizes: This is why Jiang is saying “No Debate” in his announcement. It’s time to cut the nonsense and just do what works. KEEP IT SIMPLE. Fyookball goes on to note that the plan is temporary, and should remain so, issuing a strong two-point caveat for his support and endorsement: “1. We absolutely, positively MUST include code in the node implementation that shuts off the donations after 6 months, so it is the default behavior of the software. 2. As far as I can see into the future at this time, we should not, as a community, decide to repeat the maneuver on the subsequent semester, if for no other reason than to avoid setting a bad precedent.” The BCH infra fund will be paid for by *all* SHA256 miners. That’s the genius part. Donation model would collapse. We’d love it if miners were selfless, but they are profitable businesses. Coupled with @Justin_Bons‘s idea, it has enough decentralization:https://t.co/MQaB4h8tE0 — Tobias Ruck (@TobiasRuck) January 25, 2020 Community Reactions, Suggestions for Improvement Reactions to the two posts by Bitcoin.com and Fyookball have of course been mixed, with some still claiming the proposal is not voluntary in nature. Others seem to accept the general idea, but wish to fine tune the mechanics a bit. The top commenter on the Bitcoin.com piece reacts: “I think if this is truly voluntarism, there shouldn’t be any penalization to miners that don’t want to abide by this fee.” Another user states: “This logic is quite a bit more compelling than the initial feedback, and I think helpful for the silent majority of BCH supporters … I think the fundamentals and nuance make a lot of sense, but are hamstrung by the optics of the easily memeable ‘12.5% tax’ – which we will have to be vigilant about resisting via education, while also not sounding like we’ve drank the Kool-Aid.” Latest bitcoin cash blocks by mining pool info at press time. https://cash.coin.dance/blocks/today Many community members, miners and developers — along with Zhuoer himself in his original post — are noting that though the 12.5% fee applied to mining rewards may look like a large number, that’s not the whole story considering BTC miners would also be effectively paying the costs, due to network dynamics. BCH dev Tobias Ruck tweeted: “The BCH infra fund will be paid for by *all* SHA256 miners. That’s the genius part. Donation model would collapse. We’d love it if miners were selfless, but they are profitable businesses.” Both Bitcoin.com and Jonald Fyookball also highlight this important aspect of the plan in their aforementioned articles. Some community members are even tweaking the plan and suggesting alternate implementations. Founder of Cyber Capital Justin Bons has recently published his proposal to adjust the distribution stage of the plan. Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash for Everyone Bitcoin.com’s article ends with a call to action: “Let’s keep focused on the important work of making Bitcoin Cash fast, cheap, and reliable digital cash for the entire world.” Fyookball’s final paragraph asserts that “the infrastructure plan can help us powerfully continue in 2020 in our mission to bring peer-to-peer electronic cash to the world.” Even those BCH community members genuinely opposed to the proposal are likely taking such a position for similar reason. The overarching goal of BCHers remains getting permissionless money in the hands of as many people as possible, and bringing more individual economic freedom to the world. What do you think about the new proposal for miners to fund BCH infrastructure development? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use. 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 Community Leaders Bitcoin.com and Jonald Fyookball Clarify Positions on Funding Proposal appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On January 3, 2020, a small group of crypto enthusiasts celebrated the second annual Proof-of-Keys day with hopes to get people to withdraw funds from centralized digital currency exchanges. However, exchanges holding massive amounts of BTC only saw their reserves grow larger and data shows that Coinbase now holds 1 million BTC ($8.4 billion). Crypto users are still keeping large sums of digital asset holdings on trading platforms despite the fact that 2019 saw the most exchange hacks in one year over the last decade. Also read: The Fallout From Onecoin’s Ponzi Scheme Continues to Impact Investors Despite Proof-of-Keys Day, Seven Trading Platforms Have More Than $25 Billion in Crypto Reserves 2019 saw a significant amount of trading platform hacks and exchange losses according to a recent report authored by the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis. The company noted that even though there were more attacks there was less money stolen. However, Chainalysis highlighted that malicious hackers are becoming smarter. “2019 saw more cryptocurrency hacks than any other year,” the report underlined. “But of the 11 attacks that occurred this year, none of them came close to matching the scale of major heists such as [2018]’s $534 million Coincheck hack.” Last year digital currency exchanges lost approximately “$283 million worth of cryptocurrency” due to breaches and malicious hackers. Despite the fact that 2019 saw the most exchange hacks people are still storing billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies on centralized exchanges. About a month before the second annual Proof-of-Keys day initiated by Trace Mayer, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the vast number of coins centralized exchanges held in reserve. The list was provided by Bituniverse using the firm’s Exchange Transparent Balance Rank (ETBR). The ETBR list had shown that Coinbase held roughly 966,000 BTC during the first week of December 2019. Today, the ETBR report from Bituniverse shows the San Francisco-based exchange now has 1.03 million BTC ($8.5 billion) held in reserves. The data from Bituniverse stems from onchain exchange balances recorded by Etherscan and Peckshield. Between these seven trading platforms there’s more than $25 billion in BTC, ETH, and USDT reserves. Additionally, the numbers from Bituniverse can also be cross-referenced with data from Chain.info’s crypto exchange reserve list. Chain.info’s data is slightly different, showing that Coinbase holds 983,000 BTC but most of the data is fairly consistent with the findings from the Bituniverse application. Figures indicate that Huobi is the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by reserve count with 462,000 BTC ($3.8 billion), 1.8 million ETH, and a large number of USDT as well. Binance has around 307,000 BTC ($2.5 billion) as of Saturday and 2.6 million ETH held in reserves as well. Then there’s Bitfinex (290,000 BTC or $2.8 billion), Bitmex (274,000 BTC or $2.28 billion), Bitstamp (242,000 BTC or $2 billion), Okex (211,000 BTC or $1.83 billion), Kraken (173,000 BTC or $1.8 billion), Bittrex (125,000 BTC or $1.2 billion), and Gemini (95,000 BTC or $922 million). Proof-of-Solvency and the Recent Trend of Independently Recorded Crypto Reserve Lists Other exchanges with a vast amount of digital assets held in reserves include Bitflyer, Gate.io, Poloniex, and Hitbtc. Bituniverse and Chain.info’s data shows that overall the centralized exchanges accumulated more reserves since the first week of December. Not only are a few crypto advocates afraid that large exchanges could be compromised for billions in digital assets by hackers, but there’s also the fear of fractionally reserving bitcoins. Data from Chain.info is slightly different than the list provided by the Bituniverse application. Chain.info tracks the number of addresses and large deposits and withdrawals. There have been many articles and academic papers discussing the subject of proof-of-reserves when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Researchers from Stanford University published a report in 2015 called “Provisions” which tackles the subject of exchanges and reserve transparency. The Stanford researchers explained that proof-of-solvency “demonstrates that the exchange controls sufficient reserves to settle each customer’s account.” The paper introduces a privacy-preserving proof-of-solvency. “Whereby an exchange does not have to disclose its Bitcoin addresses,” the 33-page long academic paper notes. For years now cryptocurrency advocates have discussed concepts for proof-of-solvency with cryptocurrency exchanges. Stanford researchers in 2015 wrote a paper called “Provisions” which is a privacy-preserving way to show reserves without disclosing addresses. During the last few months, platforms like Bituniverse and Chain.info have published reserve lists based on data provided by independent parties like Peckshield. Exchanges shown on these lists have neither confirmed or denied the bitcoin reserve data is legitimate. A number of community members within the cryptosphere believe trading platforms should provide their own reserve numbers so they can exemplify transparency themselves. Meanwhile, even though a lot of crypto influencers and proponents tell people regularly to store cryptos in a noncustodial fashion, the great majority of digital asset owners continue to store them on centralized trading platforms. What do you think about the billions worth of BTC held on centralized digital currency exchanges? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Bituniverse App, Stanford, Chainalysis, Chain.info, Wiki Commons, 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 Data Shows $25 Billion Worth of Bitcoin and Ether Held by Seven Crypto Exchanges appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Crypto Valley, a fintech-friendly region centered on the canton of Zug, has been expanding to other parts of Switzerland and neighboring Liechtenstein. Despite all the challenges facing the blockchain industry, favorable regulations and improving access to banking and legal services are attracting more and more crypto companies. Their number has increased for a third consecutive year and many new jobs have been created. Also read: Leading Swiss Stock Exchange Offers 12 Crypto Exchange-Traded Products With One That Shorts Bitcoin More Than 800 Crypto Firms Based in Switzerland and Liechtenstein Almost 100 new businesses established a presence in the Swiss Crypto Valley last year, shows a new study. Its findings were released during the CV Summit in Davos on Thursday, a blockchain-focused event that takes place during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. The total number of companies working with digital assets and blockchain technologies in the Crypto Valley has reached 842, the survey reveals, compared to 750 in its last year’s edition. Jobs in the sector have also increased substantially – from 3,300 in 2018 to 4,400 by the end of 2019, the Swissinfo news portal reported. The news comes despite a slowing growth rate across the industry, a trend that started after the boom of 2017 and continued into the first half of 2018. The number of “startup casualties,” the outlet notes, is also mounting. Failed projects include crypto company Alethena, tokenization platform Tend, real estate startup Swiss Real Coin, alternative banking project Oyoba, and digital payment provider Monetas. Some of these companies simply failed to persuade investors as to the viability of their business plans. At the same time, funding for the top 50 entities in the report reached $4 billion and these are valued at a total of $25.3 billion. Among the newly established or relocating members of the industry added to the 2019 list are Facebook’s Libra, blockchain developer Casper Labs which moved to Switzerland, crypto exchange Bittrex Global which set up an office in Liechtenstein, Six Group’s digital exchange initiative SDX, licensed crypto banks SEBA and Sygnum. The last two companies, along with Bitcoin Suisse which also expects approval to become a bank, are leading employers as well. Established Startups Attract More Venture Capital Funding The Crypto Valley is home to five unicorns, or projects valued at more than $1 billion. These are Ethereum ($14.4B), Dfinity ($2B), Polkadot ($1.2B), Bitmain ($1B), and Libra ($1B). Another list names unicorn contenders like Tezos ($924M), Cardano ($869M), and Cosmos ($818M). The authors of the analysis, Swiss business incubator Crypto Valley Venture Capital (CVVC), PwC subsidiary Strategy& and other organizations, point out that “the report highlights the diverse ecosystem in blockchain and cryptocurrency consisting of startups, corporates, and government” as well as its “maturity and substance.” Mature startups that are at later, more advanced stages of their lifespan typically attract more venture capital funding, which has generally increased in the past few years. A positive development in that respect is the gradual opening of the banking sector that comes with increasing regulatory certainty. While large banks and central banks recognize the potential of crypto-related technologies, they often create difficulties for crypto businesses. Smaller financial institutions, however, are more likely to engage with the industry. Swiss banks involved in the crypto space include Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, Maerki Baumann, and Arab Bank (Switzerland). “With regulatory certainty in Crypto Valley, private banks have been leading the adoption and provision of services,” the researchers note. Access to legal services has also improved markedly with an ever expanding number of law firms offering advice to crypto companies in both Switzerland and Liechtenstein. More than two dozen of them have been listed in the report. During the summit, CVVC CEO Mathias Ruch noted the increased interest from large Chinese banks, government agencies and investors in Swiss blockchain know-how. Last year, Switzerland introduced broad changes to its existing laws in order to incorporate rules for the crypto space while Liechtenstein adopted a new Blockchain Act meant to attract crypto businesses by providing more regulatory clarity. This progress has led to the formation of multiple crypto hotspots – not only Zug, which is home to over half of all companies based in the Crypto Valley (425), but also Zurich, Geneva, Ticino, Vaud, Lucerne, and Bern. Liechtenstein has 80 registered blockchain businesses in its jurisdiction. What are your thoughts on the expansion of Switzerland’s Crypto Valley? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. You can now purchase bitcoin without visiting a cryptocurrency exchange. Buy BTC and BCH directly from our trusted seller and, if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store it, you can download one from us here. The post Companies Keep Flocking to Swiss Crypto Valley, Over 1,000 Jobs Added in a Year appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In late 2019, the remnants of multi-level Ponzi scheme Onecoin crumbled. However, Onecoin’s founder, dubbed the ‘crypto queen,’ Ruja Ignatova, remains on the run and law enforcement haven’t caught up with her yet. Moreover, police are investigating two churches in New Zealand that allegedly have links to the Onecoin operation and founders. Also read: Onecoin Websites Suspended as the $4 Billion Ponzi Crumbles After Onecoin Operations Implode in Cairns, Investors Accept They Were Scammed In 2014, Ruja Ignatova, Sebastian Greenwood, and Konstantin Ignatov launched a project called Onecoin and allegedly acquired $4 billion from investors unlawfully. Ignatova and her cohorts claimed that Onecoin was a legitimate cryptocurrency and the project followed the coattails of the crypto hype up until mid-2019. Multiple reports had disclosed that there was no blockchain behind Onecoin and the product was merely a multi-level marketing (MLM) Ponzi. From left to right: Ruja Ignatova, Konstantin Ignatov and Sebastian Greenwood are the three accused creators of the Onecoin Ponzi scam. In January 2020, Judge Valerie Caproni gave Onecoin victims permission to serve Ruja Ignatova by alternative means. Ruja Ignatova has been missing for well over a year and law enforcement have not caught up with her. Konstantin Ignatov and Sebastian Greenwood were arrested in 2019. A few weeks ago, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the Onecoin project falling apart at the seams as leaders were arrested and various websites were seized. For a while, a few Onecoin websites remained operational but most have since been taken down by domain hosts or local law enforcement. Websites like onecoin.eu, oneworldfoundation.eu, and oneacademy.eu show a “server hold” notice when entering the site. The Cairns Post details that the Onecoin MLM Ponzi scheme infected the Australian region. Now in certain locations around the world, Onecoin side projects are also imploding and revealing how large the crypto Ponzi operation has grown over the years. Reports are now showing how Onecoin was very prevalent in Australia and New Zealand, signing up investors from numerous cities. On January 25, the Cairns Post reported on how investors from the east coast have started to accept that they have lost money. The Cairns Post exposed how the scheme was affecting Cairns residents in November but at the time investors were still in disbelief. Now Cairns residents have come to a point of acceptance, the news outlet notes. “I have come to the realization that the truth has been misrepresented to the Onelife network,” a Cairns-based Onecoin investor wrote. Shilling Onecoin Packages in Church and Living the ‘High Life’ in Florida on House Arrest Further, it seems that the Onecoin Ponzi infected the town of Auckland, New Zealand, and the region’s Samoan church. New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is currently investigating the Auckland-based Samoa Worship Centre over connections with the Ponzi. Onecoin leaders allegedly sold high-profile Samoan church community members “tens of thousands of dollars” worth of Onecoin products. The Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church (SISDAC). Reports disclose that both the Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church (SISDAC) and the organization’s sister worship center were used to shill Onecoin packages. According to the Auckland worship center’s pastor, Avele Tanielu, his church had no ties to the Onecoin operation. The DIA is investigating both churches and Onecoin operations are banned in Samoa. SISDAC has told the press that it was cooperating with authorities and maintains the church itself did not transgress against any money laundering laws. Florida resident and former Locke Lord LLP attorney Mark S. Scott is fighting charges against him that claim he helped Onecoin associates launder $400 million in the British Virgin Islands. In addition to the church investigations and the implosion in Cairns, in the U.S. former attorney Mark Scott has been allowed an extension to prepare motions to defend himself against a prison sentence. Scott is accused of laundering $400 million worth of Onecoin’s proceeds. Currently, Scott is under house arrest in Florida and his lawyers are allegedly preparing for a new trial or an acquittal motion. Additionally, Scott’s legal team says that Scott needs to undertake treatment for “longstanding medical issues” and they are requesting more time to prepare for new motions. However, media reports and prosecutors also note that Scott was recently “spotted out to dinner” with bodyguards and was living the “high life” in Florida. New York Southern District Court Gives Victims Permission to Serve the ‘Crypto Queen’ by Alternative Means While the aftermath of Onecoin’s demise continues to shake victims, it seems as though most of the operations are coming to a halt. The so-called crypto queen Ruja Ignatova has been missing for well over a year and she has yet to be charged like Sebastian Greenwood and Konstantin Ignatov were last year. In the U.S., Judge Valerie Caproni has authorized victims who are suing Onecoin and Ignatova to serve her by alternative means. The “crypto queen” Ruja Ignatova has been on the run for well over a year. She has yet to be contacted by law enforcement authorities and victims have not been able to serve her. The people suing Ignatova attempted to serve her through the onecoin.eu email account she used since 2016. Now thanks to Caproni’s court order, Onecoin victims have permission for alternative service. This means the plaintiffs can serve her with registered first-class mail to the Dubai headquarters, message her social media accounts and other means of contact. Caproni stressed that the plaintiffs must notify the court in writing whether they received a sender-return error for Ignatova or a contact message. What do you think about the Onecoin Ponzi? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Fair Use, Twitter, 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 The Fallout From Onecoin’s Ponzi Scheme Continues to Impact Investors appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Switzerland’s principal stock exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange, now has 12 cryptocurrency exchange-traded products listed. The latest addition, the 21shares Short Bitcoin, allows investors to profit from falling prices of the digital currency. Other listed crypto products include those that track the price movements of BCH, BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB, and tezos. Also read: Regulatory Roundup — New US Crypto Tax Bill, Central Banks Join Forces on Digital Currencies Newest Addition: An Inverse Product SIX Swiss Exchange has listed an inverse bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) issued by fintech company Amun AG. The company announced on Thursday that this product “is the first short or inverse product of its kind using a digital asset as the underlying for an ETP structure.” The product “tracks the opposite performance of bitcoin to give investors an easy, cost-effective and convenient way to gain exposure in both directions of the bitcoin price movements,” the company detailed. It is “designed to enable investors to profit from falling adverse price movements of bitcoin.” According to the announcement: The 21shares Short Bitcoin ETP (Ticker: SBTC) seeks to provide a -1x return to the performance of bitcoin for a single day. This product obtains short exposure through borrowing bitcoin and simultaneously selling it on an execution platform. The above chart reflects the value of a $100 investment at the inception of the ETP, as of Dec. 31, with 2.5% per annum fee deducted. Returns shown are for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect any transaction costs or expenses. Source: Amun AG. According to SIX Swiss Exchange’s website, the 21shares Short Bitcoin ETP started trading on Jan. 22. It is rebalanced daily, resetting at the end of each day, and its performance is not rolled over. 12 ETPs Listed on Leading Swiss Stock Exchange SIX Swiss Exchange has a range of crypto ETPs listed. The first one was the Amun Crypto Basket Index ETP in USD, which began trading on Nov. 21, 2018. The exchange then listed 10 more ETPs in 2019, nine of which were issued by Amun. They are Crypto Basket Index, Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Binance, Tezos, Bitcoin Suisse Index, Bitwise 10, and Sygnum Platform Winners Index — all trade in USD, except the Amun Bitcoin Suisse Index which trades in CHF. The 10th ETP launched on SIX Swiss Exchange last year was Wisdomtree Bitcoin in USD. This year, besides the aforementioned inverse bitcoin ETP, the leading Swiss stock exchange began offering several existing Amun ETPs in additional currencies. On Jan. 7, the Amun Bitcoin ETP and the Amun Ethereum ETP started trading in both CHF and EUR in addition to USD. On the same day, the Amun Crypto Basket Index ETP started trading in EUR, with the Amun Crypto Basket Index as the underlying investment. According to Amun, all of its crypto ETPs are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange, BX Swiss and Boerse Stuttgart in CHF, USD and EUR. Amun further explained in its Thursday announcement that “21shares” now represents the new name of all ETPs it issues. The 11 existing ones will be migrated over to the new brand during the second quarter of this year. Moreover, the company’s base prospectus for exchange-traded products has recently been approved by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. What do you think of all the cryptocurrency ETPs listed on SIX Swiss Exchange? Would you invest in the new inverse bitcoin ETP? 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 Amun AG. 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 Leading Swiss Stock Exchange Now Offers 12 Crypto Exchange-Traded Products appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Iranian government has reportedly issued more than 1,000 licenses for cryptocurrency mining since it began regulating the industry. A number of large mining farms have set up in the country, but high electricity tariffs have kept many small investors away. Also read: Regulatory Roundup — New US Crypto Tax Bill, Central Banks Join Forces on Digital Currencies 1,000+ Licenses Granted to Miners An official with Iran’s ICT Guild Organization, Amir Hossein Saeedi Naeini, has revealed the state of the country’s cryptocurrency mining industry, the Financial Tribune reported Friday. In an interview with Ibena publication, he said that cryptocurrency mining is a new industry but many people have been attracted to it in Iran. Noting that miners need to obtain a license, he shared: The Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade has issued more than 1,000 licenses for cryptocurrency mining in the country. The official further elaborated, “Our studies show that the crypto mining industry has the potential to add $8.5 billion to the economy,” the news outlet detailed. Major Challenge – Electricity Cost Amir Hossein Saeedi Naeini believes that the cryptocurrency mining industry has the potential to help the Iranian economy. However, he explained that the cost of electricity is a major challenge for crypto miners in Iran. While “A number of large and industrial farming mines have been set up,” the official told the news outlet: High electricity tariffs plus stringent regulations have made the sector less appealing for small investors. He opined, “the operating conditions in this industry should not be such that only large capitalists enter the cryptocurrency mining market but that all miners can operate,” emphasizing that modifying the electricity rates and terms could boost the crypto mining industry and generate more revenue. Amir Hossein Saeedi Naeini Iranian Crypto Mining Law Iran’s cryptocurrency mining industry has been regulated since last year. The Iranian government officially recognized cryptocurrency mining as an industry in August after months of deliberation, Aljazeera reported on Aug. 4, 2019. Crypto miners must be licensed by the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade before beginning their operations. The recognition of the industry followed a crackdown by various government authorities on crypto miners accused of using subsidized power. In June last year, Iran’s state television reported that the authorities seized approximately 1,000 bitcoin mining machines in two abandoned factories allegedly using government-subsidized electricity. A spokesperson for the country’s Energy Ministry said at the time that these mining machines were responsible for a 7% increase in power consumption. “The electricity price offered to miners will be equal to the average rial price at which Iran exports its electricity to other nations, or to 70% of the average rial price at which the country ships off its natural gas,” the news outlet explained. Furthermore, the cabinet’s directive states that “Using electricity or natural gas to mine cryptocurrencies is forbidden in peak consumption times,” and calls for the ministry to set peak hours and install a grid of smart power meters. In addition, “using electricity and gas provided at household, agricultural or industrial grades is forbidden and will be met with legal action if found out,” the directive adds. However, Amir Hossein Saeedi Naeini told Ibena that discussions are underway to set more favorable terms for crypto miners. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been discussing creating a unified cryptocurrency for Muslim countries with leaders of other Muslim nations. What do you think of the mining industry in Iran? 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 Ibena. 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 Iran Issues More Than 1,000 Cryptocurrency Mining Licenses appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On January 23, the cryptocurrency payment firm Bitpay announced it will be allowing customers to purchase digital assets using the Bitpay platform. The Atlanta-based company partnered with fiat-to-crypto payment processor Simplex to offer the crypto purchasing experience. Bitpay says the latest feature will provide an “all-in-one solution” for cryptocurrency-related activities. Also Read: Bitcoin.com Partners With Mecon Cash, Enabling Withdrawal at ATMs Across South Korea Bitpay App Now Allows Crypto Purchases Bitpay has been a leading cryptocurrency payment processor since the firm was founded in 2011 by Stephen Pair and Tony Gallippi. From 2011 until 2018, Bitpay only accepted BTC payments for invoices and settlement. However, in the spring of 2018, bitcoin cash (BCH) was added to the company’s services. Bitpay now supports BTC, BCH, ETH, and three different stablecoins. During the first month of 2020, Bitpay announced XRP integration and the coin is now live on the platform since last Tuesday. The Atlanta firm has seen a number of changes since it began supporting new coins, and after announcing XRP support, it revealed that Bitpay users can now purchase digital assets. Bitpay app users have the ability to purchase BTC and other cryptos through the firm’s partnership with Simplex. Bitpay revealed that users can also buy the supported cryptocurrencies with a credit card without leaving the application. Bitpay has partnered with Simplex to offer in-app crypto purchases. The goal of adding more crypto accessibility into the Bitpay app is to “eliminate the need to navigate a cryptocurrency exchange to fund payments.” “Cryptocurrency exchanges can be intimidating for new users,” Bitpay’s co-founder and CEO Stephen Pair explained on Thursday. “The Simplex integration, however, makes the blockchain payment experience seamless.” The Bitpay executive added: Whether converting fiat to crypto to make crypto payments or converting crypto to fiat to pay with the Bitpay card, the Bitpay app is an all-in-one solution. To provide cryptocurrency purchases, Bitpay has partnered with the fiat-to-crypto payment processor Simplex. In a Short Period of Time, Bitpay Has Added ETH, XRP, USDC, GUSD, and PAX and Other In-App Services Simplex has been working with a number of digital currency companies like Changelly, Xapo, Bithumb, and Binance to provide cryptocurrency purchases via credit and debit cards. The fiat-to-crypto payment processor Simplex undertakes the settlement process, credit card processing, and delivery of crypto coins. Simplex does levy a transaction fee for the processing and has a minimum transaction amount of around $10. The company’s founder and CEO Nimrod Lehavi said the firm looks forward to working with Bitpay. “A real breakthrough in usability can only be achieved when the leading crypto payment app meets the leader in fiat infrastructure for crypto,” Lehavi explained during the announcement. “We are proud to launch this partnership with Bitpay and will work together to add more innovative solutions in the future.” Bitpay has recently added Ethereum support, three different stablecoins, and XRP support. Additionally, the firm updated its gift card purchasing integration and now UK residents can purchase gift cards in the Bitpay app. In the last few weeks, Bitpay has integrated gift card purchasing abilities for app users in the United Kingdom, while also adding the coins XRP, USDC, GUSD, and PAX. With the added stablecoins, Bitpay believes the firm can create more efficiency when settling transactions between the U.S. and Western Europe by bypassing antiquated schemes like ACH, SEPA, and bank wires. Bitpay thinks that stablecoins will shake up the payment industry and they “provide the speed of cryptocurrency with the stability of the United States Dollar.” The latest partnership with Simplex and the new coin additions indicate the Atlanta company is attempting to cast out more nets into the cryptoconomy’s enormous ocean. What do you think about Bitpay providing people with the opportunity to purchase cryptocurrencies via the Bitpay app? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the subject matter written above. 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 ideas, software, concepts, content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Bitpay Blog, Bitpay logo, Simplex Logo, Fair Use, and Pixabay. 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 Bitpay Users Can Now Purchase Crypto With Fiat In-App appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Alexander Vinnik, the Russian-born IT specialist who spent over two years in detention in Greece, where he was arrested on a U.S. warrant, is now in Paris. The alleged BTC-e operator, suspected of laundering at least $4 billion through the now defunct crypto exchange, has been handed over to France after the Greek judiciary turned down a plea against his extradition. Also read: Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Raises $700,000 in Crypto Donations From a Greek Hospital to a French On Thursday, law enforcement officials took Alexander Vinnik from a Greek hospital away in an unknown direction, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. That happened right after the Council of State, the highest administrative court in Greece, published its decision to dismiss a complaint filed by Vinnik’s lawyers against his extradition to France and the United States. Ekaterina Sakellaropoulou, the court’s presiding judge until recently, was elected the first female president of Greece. Ekaterina Sakellaropoulou and Alexander Vinnik. Source: Zoe Konstantopoulou The accused was taken to the airport and eventually transported to France where he is currently in the Hotel Dieu hospital in Pairs, his Greek lawyer Zoe Konstantopoulou announced on Facebook. Last night, French authorities questioned Vinnik, reportedly against his will. He is in a deteriorating condition more than 30 days since he started his latest hunger strike, she added, quoting a French colleague. Social media commenters speculated that French authorities were in a hurry to interrogate Vinnik in order to proceed with his extradition to the U.S. Alexander Vinnik was arrested in the Greek city of Thessaloniki in July, 2017 during a family vacation. U.S. prosecutors accuse him of illegally establishing and operating the BTC-e digital asset trading platform, through which between $4 billion and $9 billion were allegedly laundered. Vinnik is also wanted in his home country for the theft of 600,000 rubles (less than $10,000) from a defrauded entity and Russia has tried to secure his extradition to Moscow. Paris Accuses Vinnik of Cybercrime, Extortion and Money Laundering France filed its extradition request in June 2018, claiming Vinnik was part of an organized criminal group that specialized in extortion and money laundering. According to the documents, its members broke into the emails of 5,700 victims around the world and extorted over 20,000 BTC. The arrest warrant issued by Paris cites cybercrimes, legalization of illicit proceeds, and participation in a criminal organization. Vinnik’s defense, which includes Russian lawyer Timofei Musatov, maintains that the said crimes were conducted while the accused was in jail, that the European order has long expired, and also that Vinnik has been kept in detention without charges. Alexander Vinnik, source: RIA Novosti The case has become a source of international tension, with Greece finding itself under pressure to extradite Vinnik to either France and the United States or the Russian Federation. There have been four separate decisions by Greek courts for the extradition of Vinnik so far – to the U.S., France, and two for Russia. Authorities in Athens have officially notified the Russian embassy about the extradition to France. On Friday, a spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the current situation and redirected relevant requests to the Justice Ministry. Doctors at the Hotel Dieu hospital have also refrained from statements. A French judge is expected to preside over a hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 28, which will determine the conditions of Alexander Vinnik’s further detention, his lawyer in France, Ariane Zimra, told RIA. “Depending on the state of his health, the judge may have to hold this hearing at the hospital,” Zimra added. According to Timofei Musatov, the court can impose restraint on remand in custody only if charges are brought against the Russian citizen. Otherwise he must be released, the lawyer insisted. Vinnik’s legal team plans to file international lawsuits in his defense after he spent 30 months in jail without charges. What are your expectations about the future developments in the Vinnik case? Share your thoughts in comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, RIA Novosti. You can now purchase bitcoin without visiting a cryptocurrency exchange. Buy BTC and BCH directly from our trusted seller and, if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store it, you can download one from us here. The post Alexander Vinnik Accused of Laundering Billions Through BTC-e Extradited to France appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitcoin Cash developers recently released the alpha software for Cashfusion, a privacy-preserving feature added to the Electron Cash wallet. During the last week, crypto proponents and developers have been testing the protocol regularly in order to find issues and provide the Cashfusion team with feedback. News.Bitcoin.com tested the alpha version of Cashfusion so readers can get a glimpse at how the feature works and how you can fuse transactions on your own. Also read: How to Create Custom SLP Tokens With the Bitcoin.com Mint Cashfusion Privacy: A New Realm of Transaction Anonymization BCH privacy is of great importance to Bitcoin Cash proponents and the Cashshuffle platform gathered a lot of traction since its inception. Following the Cashshuffle release, developers started working on a project that would greatly improve coinjoin-based transactions making them more private. With Cashshuffle, blockchain analysis could possibly uncover clues to where shuffled funds originally derived from when users consolidate shuffled funds. The BCH supporter “Bigblockiftrue” wrote a comprehensive report on the issue with Cashshuffle when he tracked the shuffled 300 BCH donation to Bitcoin Unlimited. “To get better Cashshuffle privacy yourself, you can avoid combining inputs into a single transaction. For a long-term user-friendly solution,” Bigblockiftrue noted at the time. “We will likely need some extension of the Cashshuffle concept to allow private consolidation of multiple inputs, for example, Cashfusion,” he added. The difference between Cashfusion and traditional coinjoin schemes is how Cashfusion does not have equal amount requirements for shuffling. “Cashfusion is actually the fusion of two powerful ideas,” Cashfusion developer Jonald Fyookball stressed. “One is a contribution from myself, which is (in a nutshell): enable trustless, private, multi-input coinjoins with blame capabilities by using a commitment-based multiparty computation scheme.” Fyookball emphasized that the second part of the fusion stems from the software engineer Mark Lundeberg’s innovation. “In Cashfusion, we have opted to abandon the equal-amount concept altogether. While this is at first glance no different than the old naive schemes, mathematical analysis shows it, in fact, becomes highly private by simply increasing the numbers of inputs and outputs,” Lundeberg underscores in the Cashfusion specifications. “For example, with hundreds of inputs and outputs, it is not just computationally impractical to iterate through all partitions, but even with infinite computing power, one would find a large number of valid partitions.” How to Leverage Cashfusion: A Step-by-Step Guide Using the Electron Cash Wallet Since Cashfusion’s alpha was released, a number of crypto supporters and developers have experimented with the application. In order to obtain a copy of the Cashfusion alpha release, individuals need to join the Cashfusion Telegram chat group to find the software for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. The following is a step-by-step walkthrough for people interested in testing the Cashfusion platform and fusing their own BCH transactions. The first thing to do is install the Electron Cash wallet that supports Cashfusion and either start a new wallet and deposit some BCH or import an existing wallet with BCH in it already. After obtaining the link to a specific copy of Electron Cash with Cashfusion support, you need to install the application which is around 40MB in size. For this specific walkthrough, we downloaded the Mac OS version of Cashfusion developed by Electron Cash programmer Calin Culianu. After the installation completes, you need to start a new wallet or use an existing Electron Cash wallet (New/Restore). Back in August 2019, I shuffled 0.0144 BCH and I decided to use Cashfusion with these shuffled funds on January 23. If you choose to create a new wallet, you also have to deposit some BCH into the wallet in order to fuse some UTXOs. When you have the alpha version of Electron Cash running with funds deposited, the next step is to turn on the Cashfusion feature. In order to do so, simply select the “tools” window and select “optional features.” At this point, you will see the option to toggle Cashfusion on or off at any point in time. In the tools section, select optional features and make sure Cashfusion is turned on. Once you turn Cashfusion on, at the bottom right side of the wallet window will be a green or red network circle. If the circle is red then you are not connected to the internet and may need to connect. After the wallet is online, simply double click the network circle which will reveal another network settings window. From here, you want to select the proxy settings and you will want to turn on Tor. The Cashfusion version of the Electron Cash (EC) wallet supports the Tor network which adds another element of privacy to the fused transaction. In the proxy window, select “start integrated Tor client” and make sure the Tor proxy is selected as well. After turning on Tor, the network circle at the bottom right side of the wallet should now be blue. After the Tor network is working with the wallet, shut off the Cashshuffle toggle switch in the EC client. After Cashfusion is on, you need to connect the wallet to Tor using the network circle on the bottom right side of the wallet. Double click this server if it is green and connect to the Tor proxy. You can also double click the Cashfusion logo in order to view the Cashfusion settings and make changes alongside a utility window for fusions. Then double click the Cashfusion symbol which is located to the left of the Cashshuffle symbol. Select “Cashfusion settings” and make sure the Tor client is connected and make sure that the “SSL” setting is not selected or shut off. If you followed all of these steps and there’s a fraction of BCH stored in the EC wallet, then you are ready for the Cashfusion process. In the Cashfusion settings make sure Tor is autodetected and SSL is not checked. You do not want SSL checked while fusing. Additionally, you will want to shut Cashshuffle operations off as well, and after this is complete you can begin fusing your funds. The wallet’s main window will show you the funds are being prepared for the fusing process and you might have to wait a while in order to fuse a transaction. While experimenting with Cashfusion it took me around an hour to fuse 0.01440652 BCH. You can select the Cashfusion settings again and watch the fusion progress by selecting the utility window called “fusions.” The utility window will tell you that you are queued in line or whether or not you are able to connect to people fusing transactions. It took me about an hour to fuse the 0.0144 BCH and the transaction finalized with 37 inputs and 79 outputs with Schnorr signed signatures. According to the block explorer, around $17 in BCH was fused during that period. My test transaction of 0.01440652 BCH finally fused and a block explorer had shown there were 37 inputs and 79 outputs within the transaction data. Transaction signatures were also Schnorr signed and the funds fused with roughly $17.60 worth of bitcoin cash. The fused funds I had used were already shuffled using the Cashshuffle platform a few months prior. Overall, the Cashfusion feature for the EC client is fairly simple to use after following a few directions at least once. If you already have a grasp using Cashshuffle, then utilizing Cashfusion should be a breeze. The wait time for a fusion can be long, but if more people participate, then time frames between fuses should shrink. When news.Bitcoin.com first tested the Cashshuffle platform, the wait time was similar during the early testing phases. The trick is to be patient and simply let the wallet sit running in the background in order to prepare for the Cashfusion process and before you know it, you will notice that you’ve fused your first BCH transaction. For a step-by-step walkthrough that covers the Cashshuffle process, check out this article here. What do you think about the Cashfusion protocol for the Electron Cash wallet? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned software. The software mentioned in the article above is in its alpha stage which could be buggy and have issues. Bitcoin.com or the author is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, software or services mentioned in this article. This editorial review/guide is for informational purposes only. Image credits: Shutterstock, Fair Use, Electron Cash Wallet, Cashfusion logo, and Jamie Redman. 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 How to Obscure Bitcoin Cash Transaction Data by Leveraging Cashfusion appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched an extensive review that will examine a wide range of its policies by the end of this year. Under its new president, Christine Lagarde, the bank will try to establish why its monetary stimulus has failed to achieve the Eurozone’s goal of close to 2% inflation. Sharing few details, Lagarde indicated the ECB will go on pushing towards the threshold as the institution’s governing body kept a key interest rate below zero and pledged to continue to inject billions into Europe’s economy. Also read: 6 Bankers Accused of Earning €30M in Bonuses From German Fraud, Tax Lawyer Out on €4M Bail ECB Maintains Interest Rate at Record Low -0.5% During a Governing Council meeting on Thursday, the Eurozone’s central bank decided to keep in negative territory the benchmark deposit rate, the one banks face when leaving money at the ECB. The record low level of -0.5% was approved in September 2019 when the financial institution also announced the restart of its stimulus program. The monthly buying of €20 billion ($22 billion) worth of bonds, which began in November, will continue indefinitely. The quantitative easing effort is an open-ended commitment to pump more money into the system which struggles to maintain inflation above 1%. The ECB started buying bonds in early 2015 and spent over €2.6 trillion in the previous program, which ended in December 2018. Although Christine Lagarde noted a “moderate increase in underlying inflation” and remarked that downside risks to the Eurozone’s economic outlook are “somewhat less pronounced,” she was quoted by Bloomberg stating that the monetary policy must remain “highly accommodative” and that governments which can afford to increase spending should be prepared to do so. The improved economic prospects are due to the easing tensions between the United States and China, which signed a preliminary trade deal. However, the storm has not subsided for the European Union yet. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned during the World Economic Forum in Davos that if there’s no deal with the EU, he will have to impose “very high tariffs” on cars and other European imports. Policymakers at the European Central Bank are determined to make sure borrowing costs for EU businesses will remain at their current levels or be lowered even further. This state of mind and status quo are likely to persist until the inflation outlook converges with the 2% goal, they say, while quantitative easing will be practiced for the foreseeable future. No one has a firm idea of how long that could possibly be. Review to Cover Monetary Policy, Climate Change and Anything in Between After years of monetary stimulus that saw interest rates in Eurozone countries drop to historically low levels and billions of euros printed, the ECB will now try to find out and explain why the measures didn’t work. It will attempt to do so after the policies evoked strong criticism that led to lawsuits in some Eurozone member states. In Germany, which is Europe’s economic and financial locomotive, a political initiative to curtail negative rates has been gaining traction in the past months. Its backers point out that savers are losing money due to ECB’s policy. A ban to prevent the passing of negative rates onto small savers has been proposed in the Federal Republic. The review announced by the ECB represents the first rethink of its policies since 2003. Its former president, Mario Draghi, left the post in late 2019 after an eight-year term at the helm of the important institution during which key interest rates were never raised. The bank’s new management now wants to conduct a wide-scope assessment of its policies but it hasn’t shared many details about it. At a press conference after the Governing Council meeting, Christine Lagarde stated: We are going to review a whole host of issues. It will have to do with how we deliver, how we measure, what tools we have and how we communicate… It’s a broad exercise. My commitment was really to be able to listen to the expectations of ordinary people, to better understand the economic concerns and the imperatives and how we can deliver on them. It is going to be our task and our goal to listen. The process will involve the central banks of all 19 Eurozone member states which, as Lagarde acknowledged, don’t always speak the same language. Besides studying the ECB’s economic and monetary policy toolkit, the assessment will focus on tackling other issues such as concerns related to financial stability in general, employment in the single currency area as well as environmental sustainability. The Eurozone is not in perfect shape but the world’s other leading economies are experiencing similar challenges. The U.S. Federal Reserve, for example, is also conducting an appraisal of its strategy despite certain improvements due to the fiscal policy applied in the United States. The results of the Fed’s review are expected this year too. And in Japan, where inflation has hovered around and below 1% since 2015, an extremely accommodative policy hasn’t helped to significantly improve the economy. What do you think will be the results of ECB’s policy review? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you need a reliable bitcoin mobile wallet to send, receive, and store your coins? 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U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Tuesday saying the U.S. and other nations are “forced to compete … with nations that are getting negative rates, something very new.” Trump took direct shots at the U.S. Federal Reserve, claiming they’ve not lowered rates quickly enough. The harsh words echo remarks made just last week during the “phase-one” China trade deal signing ceremony, where the president stated he doesn’t know “where the hell it leads” but that negative interest rates such as implemented in Germany and Japan are “incredible.” Also Read: Maduro Opens International Crypto Casino Trump Enamored by Minus Signs During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump lamented the U.S. being unable to keep up with countries like Germany and Japan which have negative interest rate policies (NIRP). “[Other nations are] forced to compete, and we compete, with nations that are getting negative rates, something very new,” the president remarked during a half-hour speech at the event. He went on: Meaning they get paid to borrow money, something that I could get used to very quickly. Love that. Gotta pay back your loan? No. How much am I getting? Trump speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday. Though Trump assured the audience that the “time for skepticism is over,” and cited flows of labor and industry back into the U.S. — going on for almost half an hour detailing the many ostensible achievements of his administration — the flowery language was tempered by talk of negative rates and the U.S. Federal Reserve. “The Fed has raised rates too fast, and lowered them too slowly,” Trump asserted. More Verbal Jabs During China Trade Deal Signing Last Week Trump made similar remarks during the signing ceremony for the phase-one trade deal with China on January 15. Admitting he doesn’t know “where the hell it leads,” but nonetheless advocating negative rates, he stated: It bothers me when Germany and other countries are getting paid to borrow money … They get paid, I love this, this concept is incredible. Again, you don’t know where the hell it leads, but you borrow money and when you have to pay it back, they pay you. This is one that I like very much. In the speech the president was noticeably unable to grok the NIRP system, musing aloud why anyone would give out loans at a loss, but nonetheless lent strong verbal credence to the practice, much like his pro-NIRP counterparts at the European Central Bank. Non-Conservative Views on Monetary Policy In one sense, the president’s lamentations about high rates in the U.S. are not surprising, given a growing global trend toward and beyond the zero bound. However, aiming for sub-zero sovereign bond yields such as those seen in Japan and Germany seems to some like a race to the bottom, where no bottom may be in sight. https://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-legacy-of-low-bond-yields-holds-lessons-for-u-s-europe-11577710806 Trump’s views are mirrored by those of European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde, who stated in October that “We should be happier to have a job than to have our savings protected.” Of course many strongly disagree with both Lagarde and Trump, and are looking to find safety in assets like gold and crypto, often perceived to be more economically sound than fiat money. In the context of stagnating and uncertain economic climates like those in Trump’s model nations of Germany and Japan, it seems everyday individuals are not as in love with the idea of NIRP as the world’s so-called leaders. What are your thoughts on Trump’s position regarding the Fed and negative interest rate policy? Let us know in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Evan El-Amin, fair use. 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 Trump ‘Loves’ Negative Rates and ‘Could Get Used to’ Them, Criticizes Fed at World Economic Forum, China Trade Deal appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article