roadrunner

A new political force is being born in Russia out of the country’s tech business circles. The idea has been conceived by representatives of the country’s growing digital economy sector who want to embark on finding solutions to numerous issues that concern the crypto space. Also read: Eastern Europe Sees More Fiat Options for Trading Crypto World of Tanks Developer Leads Russian IT Party The political project was announced by members of the IT industry led by Vyacheslav Makarov, former product manager at Wargaming who was involved in the development of the popular online action game World of Tanks, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported. Markov is the chief ideologist of the group which is working to establish the Direct Democracy Party (abbreviated PPD). The team has already filed for registration with the Russian Ministry of Justice in November. The party building process will culminate in a constituent congress to be held on March 5. PPD plans to take part in Russia’s 2020 regional elections, focusing on constituencies where large IT companies are operating. Vyacheslav Makarov hopes to attract more developers from these organizations to the project. He points out that in many Russian regions IT companies are the biggest taxpayers and are well acquainted with local problems. His initiative has already won active support from other well-known figures such as Boris Chigidin, deputy head of the legal department at Yandex Money, Unwired Devices Director Oleg Artamonov, and the Director of the Eurasian Communication Center Alexei Pilko, who are members of the party’s organizational committee. What sets PPD apart from other political projects is that it doesn’t have a favorite political ideology, notes the Russian election information portal Vybor Naroda. The party manifesto offers a “complete overhaul” of the existing political system that corresponds to the popular demand for real democracy. The party turns attention to the high level of property inequality in Russia, which is a leftist political message, but also to the systemic barriers to business and overregulation of all spheres of society, which is more characteristic for right-wing liberal factions. PPD to Address Rights Pertaining to Cryptocurrencies The authors of the manifesto have outlined certain groups of specific problems they feel it’s rational to address. One of them covers ownership rights regarding products of the digital economy including those pertaining to cryptocurrencies and blockchain systems. Another set of issues concerns matters related to the anonymity as well as the safety of participants and consumers in the digital economy sphere. Despite these hints about their intentions, the founders of Direct Democracy Party are not putting forward a predetermined agenda. Instead, they plan to develop a mobile app based on blockchain technology that would allow members to have their say in the party policies. In order to take part in the regional elections this year, the new Russian party must be granted federal registration and establish permanent presence in at least 43 regions. While this may or may not happen within the next three months, the ultimate goal remains to gain seats in the State Duma in the parliamentary elections next year. PPD can win voters’ attention on several fronts, one of which is the introduction of electronic voting, something authorities did not accomplish in 2019. Crypto regulation is another area. The final voting on a key piece of legislation designed to regulate cryptocurrencies has been postponed multiple times since the spring of 2018 when Russians voted for president. There was plenty of talk about adopting the regulations before that election too. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently spoke about the need to finally do that, while this week the Chairman of the Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov, was “99.9%” positive the Law on Digital Financial Assets will be adopted during the spring session of the Duma. Parties with similar ideas have previously emerged in other countries as well. Sweden’s Pirate Party supports the right to individual privacy and freedom of speech on the internet and calls for greater government transparency and reform of intellectual property laws. The Ukrainian “Democratic Horde” party vowed last year to never accept money from oligarchs, rely solely on crypto donations and work to weaken state control over the economy while expanding civil liberties. The party wants to protect the interests of companies and people employed in the IT sector. And the Uruguay Digital Party recently announced an initiative to implement blockchain technology in its internal voting and governance. Its members believe Uruguayans should be able to audit their political representatives and take advantage of technology to expand citizen influence. Do you think political organizations like Russia’s Direct Democracy Party can bring positive change to the treatment of cryptocurrencies? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Direct Democracy Party to Solve Issues With Crypto Rights in Russia appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In an era of unprecedented global surveillance, it is unreasonable to expect the blockchain world to be any different. It is perfectly reasonable, though, to resist this surveillance through countermeasures that thwart the would-be surveillers. Digital privacy is a right that everyone is entitled to. Thanks to the provision of bitcoin mixers, you can claim that entitlement by shuffling your coins and emerging with untainted crypto whose origins have been obfuscated. Also read: How Dropgangs and Dead Drops Are Transforming Darknet Practices Before You Mix, Know the Basics Just as using Tor doesn’t give you internet anonymity, bitcoin mixing alone doesn’t grant you automatic privacy. It helps, but only when used in conjunction with other privacy enhancing techniques, like not using exchanges that enforce KYC, and not recombining your freshly mixed UTXOs, thereby undoing all your hard work. News.Bitcoin.com will examine ways to enhance your anonymity when using mixing services in the near future. For now, just know that the following mixing services are not a silver bullet for privacy. When used as their developers recommend, however, they can significantly enhance the fungibility of your coins. Bitcoin Mixer Bitcoin Mixer does exactly what its name sounds like, but it also does a lot more. In addition to mixing up your BTC, the service can do the same with LTC and ETH, providing privacy for three of the most popular cryptos. It’s a custodial service, which generally means you can mix larger amounts of coins than with a noncustodial service, where you’re reliant on your peers to provide privacy in numbers. Using the service is simple: enter the address you’d like your shuffled coins to be sent to, and drag the slider to select your desired mixing time, ranging from 30 minutes to 20 hours. The longer you’re prepared to wait, the greater the degree of anonymity you can expect. The platform charges a fee of 2-5%. Cashshuffle One for the BCH brigade, Cashshuffle provides noncustodial mixing of bitcoin cash. It’s fully decentralized, and operates by mixing the UTXOs in your BCH wallet with those of other Cashshuffle users. Over $40 million of BCH has been mixed through Cashshuffle, which is compatible with wallets such as Electron Cash. If you’re new to the world of bitcoin cash mixing, news.Bitcoin.com has published a detailed guide to using the service. There’s also plans for a Tor-integrated version of the service, known as Cashfusion, which will further diminish the ability for blockchain forensics firms to profile BCH users. Whirlpool promises to remove deterministic links that blockchain forensics firms use to correlate onchain transactions Whirlpool Most noncustodial BTC and BCH mixers are based on implementations of Coinjoin, a trustless method for combining bitcoin payments from multiple users into a single transaction, masking their origin. Cashshuffle is based on Coinjoin, and so are the two most popular wallet-integrated BTC mixers – Whirlpool and Wasabi. The former is developed by Samourai Wallet, and enables users of the noncustodial wallet to mix their UTXOs with others through selecting from one of three pools of varying sizes: 0.01, 0.05, and 0.5 BTC. If you have 1 BTC to mix, for example, select the 0.5 BTC pool and your UXTOs will be sent through in two cycles, until all of your coins have been cleaned. The Whirlpool fee remains the same whether you’re mixing one coin or 10, making Samourai’s Whirlpool Coinjoin implementation cost-effective. It’s also fast. Wasabi Wallet Samourai and Wasabi are engaged in a dispute over whose mixing service provides greater anonymity. Samourai appears to have the upper hand at present, but that doesn’t mean you should write off Wasabi – it’s an excellent noncustodial BTC wallet for the privacy-conscious, and its integrated Chaumian Coinjoin mixing service is continually improving. The Plustoken scammers famously tried to wash thousands of BTC through Wasabi and failed due to the size of their transactions, which dwarfed those of all other users combined. For regular users seeking to mix modest amounts of BTC, greater anonymity and less scrutiny should be assured, making Wasabi perfect for everyday use. Wasabi’s Coinjoin in action. Whether you’re planning to use a custodial or noncustodial bitcoin mixer, do your homework, read some reviews, and familiarize yourself with its workings. Then, after successfully mixing your first set of UTXOs, make it a point of habitually repeating the exercise with new coins that come into your possession. Think of it as cleaning your digital house. In the process, you’ll also be enhancing the anonymity of your fellow coinjoiners. What bitcoin mixers do you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can 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 4 Bitcoin Mixers for the Privacy Conscious appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Thanks to the EU’s most recent money laundering directive, a small business called Post-a-coin, which sold cute postcards pre-loaded with tiny amounts of bitcoin, is being forced to shut down. Meanwhile, the most heinous criminals in history are continuing to facilitate violence, trafficking and laundering of cash with impunity. Also Read: Why the Counter Economy Is Necessary to Bitcoin’s Survival as a Disruptive Currency Who’s the Real Criminal? Pablo Escobar. El Chapo. ISIS. These are some of the infamous names that come to mind when people mention crimes like money laundering, terrorism, and drug trafficking. With such unethical actors in the world, it seems necessary to have regulations in place to stem the violence. This is especially applicable to the crypto space, where transfer of funds can be easy, borderless and basically anonymous. Contrary to popular misconception, however, when it comes to lives lost or harmed, dollar signs, and promotion of scams, it’s actually governments, policymakers, and banks that are the biggest culprits. Small businesses and ethical actors suffer greatly under common false presumptions — especially the misguided belief that without centralized government regulation, crime cannot be stopped. A deeper look into such infamous monsters as Escobar, and terrorist organizations like ISIS, reveals a shocking commonality: they always work by way of corruption within nation states and banking systems to achieve their unparalleled-in-scope criminal feats. According to Escobar, who himself was a politician for a short period, the business of trafficking is: Simple – you bribe someone here, you bribe someone there, and you pay a friendly banker to help you bring the money back. As for ISIS, a group needing to launder money for terrorist purposes, some of their most effective weaponry has been acquired as a result of quiet deals by big governments in support of opposition groups in Syria. As Newsweek reported in 2018, “These sales were reportedly made possible through deals between Eastern European members of the EU, as well as the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, both of whom ‘supplied most of this material without authorization, apparently to Syrian opposition forces’ … Supplies of material into the Syrian conflict from foreign parties—notably the United States and Saudi Arabia—have indirectly allowed IS to obtain substantial quantities of anti-armor ammunition.” Osama Bin Laden featured in The Independent in 1993, when U.S. and U.K. government perception of the terrorist was more favorable. Like the statist “war on drugs” demonstrably creates and sustains violent black markets, so the U.S. military industrial complex has created its own market, but this time, for terror. The Capones, Escobars, and El Chapos of the world are incentivized to participate in uber-lucrative illegal drug trades. The radicalized Muslim whose family has just been blown to bits by a U.S. drone is incentivized to acquire weapons. In both cases — drugs and weapons trafficking — the U.S. government has been happy to provide, on multiple occasions. The Biggest Money Launderers of All Time Measured in dollars, even big-time independent criminals can’t hold a candle to corrupt governments and the banks they support. Worse, these whitelisted bad actors are hardly held accountable for their crimes. Whether it’s 15,000 kilos of coke on a JP Morgan ship, Wachovia Bank scrubbing a dirty $380 billion clean for Mexican drug cartels, or the so-called “Troika Laundromat’s” multi-bank $8.8 billion dollar operation, state-connected financial institutions, corporations and lobbyists often get a mere slap on the wrist when busted, and can continue to do business with the respect of the public. The above are just a tiny cross section of examples constituting a legalized black market whose scope is almost unfathomable for its breadth and depth. Taken all together, the aggregate crime facilitated by such official and well-respected institutions makes even Escobar’s massive empire look like little more than a Columbian ant hill. The $70 million per day, or about $25.5 billion per year, the Medellin cartel was said to be bringing in at the height of its operations, pales in comparison to a massive $2 trillion a year said to be laundered through traditional banking institutions. None of this is to mention the biggest financial criminals, terrorists, launderers, and counterfeiters of them all — governments themselves, and their central banks. Counterfeiters Succeed, Crypto Small Businesses Are Destroyed “Last summer I started a sideproject. Post-a-Coin,” writes Netherlands-based web developer Bèr Kessels in a recent blog post. “A simple and straightforward idea, really: you can buy high quality postcards with Bitcoin preloaded to give as a gift … I envisioned it as a small side-project: a tiny company that makes some revenue to keep itself running, but which, above all, helps to put bitcoin into more hands.” Thanks to the effects of the EU’s fifth anti-money laundering directive (AMLD5), however, Kessels laments, ending with a sarcastic dig: This autumn, I decided to stop rolling it out. To kill it off. The reason is the draconian Dutch implementation of the European AMLD5 directive, which is certainly going to solve the ‘rampant problem with money laundering with cryptocurrencies /s’. Though the author reassures that they are not against laws and regulations designed to keep people safe and prevent theft, child trafficking, and financial crimes, they note that the implementation of AMLD5 by the Dutch government makes it impossible for a tiny crypto businesses to even operate. Kessels, who doesn’t want to be a huge company, can’t afford the licensing fees, and doesn’t have anything close to a board of directors, is out of luck. “I really liked the idea of Post-a-Coin. But with such laws coming to place, the Dutch government forces me to close my company. Before I’m legally required to apply for registration at the Central Bank, I’ll close down the shop. Another startup killed by bureaucrats trying to control a niche with rules and laws.” Small businesses are suffering under unreasonably strict crypto regulations. Kessels is far from alone. Popular U.K.-based crypto payments provider Bottle Pay had to board up its windows last month thanks to the new legislation, and mining pool Simplecoin, along with interactive crypto faucet Chopcoin, have both met similar fates in recent months. In sickening fashion, small, hardworking crypto startups are seeing their dreams crushed, while too-big-too-fail state policymakers and banks have a heyday siphoning value from the cryptoconomy via parasitic regulation. Even where small businesses wish to be compliant, they’re rendered unable to do, and then punished for it by being forced to close. While massive financial crimes, such as laundering and counterfeiting, are being committed every day by the state. Current paper money is printed in massive amounts, and is made to look like paper money that was once backed by gold. Fiat money such as the U.S. dollar is no longer backed by anything but a violent usage mandate. It’s printed freely, excessively, and irresponsibly by governments worldwide as global debt balloons to new all-time highs. The savings of the poor and rich alike are devalued while the state attempts to incapacitate the efficacy of sounder alternatives like bitcoin. It is not hyperbole to say that the biggest counterfeiters, money launderers, and violent criminals on the planet are the individuals called “the government.” Decentralized Order The above is where the conversation ends for most, and that is truly tragic. To imagine that financial order is not possible without a monolithic system of centralized violence (“stop your crypto business or armed agents will pay you a visit”) should be a definition of insanity. Instead, it’s become the dominant cultural hallucination. Arguments regarding the assumed horrors of the lack of a violent ruling class (anarchy) are easily refuted when viewed through a rational, economic, and ethical lens. Defense against theft and violence is of course necessary, and can be done privately in decentralized fashion, as explained in one possible form by the video above. Order based on the universal, objective reality of individual self-ownership, functioning via decentralized social “nodes,” can calculate demands and needs of a society with much greater accuracy and efficiency than any monolithic system ever could. Similarly, the centralized financial authorities of today struggle — and with great cost to human life — to accurately and efficiently read economic signals thanks to their ridiculous size and out-of-touch, out-of-date protocols. Every day, billions of people get along perfectly fine. There aren’t cops or compliance agencies on every corner, and the whole world hasn’t exploded yet. If anything, it’s our everyday lives where the most peace and rational order exists. It’s state-related affairs that are the bloodiest, most corrupt, and repulsively cruel. This seems highly unnecessary, to say the least. The arbitrary assignment of supposed greater rights to small groups of human beings called government is no different than saying one’s neighbor is “God” and has the magical right to shut down someone’s yard sale by wielding an axe. What are your thoughts on the state’s moves to regulate crypto startups? Let us know in the comments section below. Op-ed disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this Op-ed article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. The post Unnecessary Evil: How Government Regulations Kill Crypto Startups and Encourage Crime appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

U.S.-based Silvergate Bank has launched a bitcoin collateralized loan product with Bitstamp as its launch partner. The crypto exchange will act as the bank’s agent to manage and provide custody for bitcoin collateral. The product utilizes Silvergate Bank’s Exchange Network to fund loans and process repayments in real time. Also read: Regulatory Roundup: EU-Wide Crypto Regulations, New Rules in Europe, US, Asia Silvergate Bank’s New Product Silvergate Bank announced on Wednesday that it has launched a new product called SEN Leverage, which uses the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) to fund loans and process repayments in real time. Bitstamp, one of the oldest bitcoin exchanges, is the bank’s launch partner. The bank detailed: SEN Leverage … will allow Silvergate Bank (‘Bank’) customers to obtain U.S. dollar (‘USD’) loans collateralized by bitcoin held at select digital currency exchanges that are also customers of the bank. Initially, the product will be available to the bank’s institutional clients, with Bitstsamp acting as its agent to manage and provide custody for bitcoin collateral, the announcement describes. “Our digital currency customers have asked us to help them create greater capital efficiency,” Silvergate CEO Alan Lane commented, adding that both companies worked on the project for the past six months. Bitcoin-Collateralized Loans In its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Silvergate Bank explained that the borrowers would provide digital currency as collateral “in an amount significantly greater than the line of credit being advanced.” At no time will the bank directly hold the pledged cryptocurrency, and the offer is limited to bitcoin initially. Silvergate Bank plans to work with existing digital currency exchange clients to act as its collateral custodian for the loans “and to liquidate the collateral in the event of a decline in collateral coverage below levels required in the borrower’s loan agreement,” the bank informed the SEC. Potential future exchange partners. Image source: Silvergate Bank The SEN, the bank’s proprietary payment network, was established in 2017. In the third quarter of 2019, it facilitated over $10 billion in USD transactions, the bank claims. Digital currency and institutional clients can send USD between their Silvergate accounts and the accounts of other Silvergate clients via the bank’s API or online banking portal, enabling real-time transfers and immediate availability of funds. While there are no SEN-specific fees, clients need to have bank accounts with the bank to access the product. Miha Grcar, Head of Business Development at Bitstamp, explained: One of the key features of SEN Leverage is Silvergate’s real-time 24/7/365 ability to both fund loans and accept repayments over the SEN, thus enabling Silvergate’s customers to more flexibly manage their bitcoin positions. Bitstamp explained on Wednesday that it already uses the SEN to provide 24/7/365 account funding to eligible customers. “We are excited to be working with Silvergate Bank to offer a product that will enable our clients to manage their bitcoin positions with more flexibility,” such as with leverage trading collateralized by bitcoin, the exchange noted. Silvergate’s Digital Currency Business Opened in 1988, Silvergate is a commercial bank headquartered in San Diego, California. As of Sept. 30, 2019, it had total assets of $2.1 billion, total deposits of $1.8 billion, and total stockholders’ equity of $230.6 million. Silvergate Bank’s IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. The bank began pursuing digital currency customers in 2013 and has been focusing on serving the crypto community ever since. According to its website, the bank currently has over 700 digital currency and fintech customers using its platform daily to grow and scale their businesses. Silvergate Bank completed its initial public offering (IPO) on Nov. 12, 2019. Its common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 7, one day after the SEC declared its registration statement relating to the IPO effective. According to the SEC filing, the bank’s clients include Coinbase, Genesis, Bitstamp, Gemini, Sofi, Circle, Kraken, Bittrex, and Paxos. What do you think of Silvergate Bank launching a bitcoin loan product with Bitstamp as its launch partner? 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 Silvergate Bank. 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 Silvergate Bank and Bitstamp Launch Bitcoin Collateralized Loans appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Developers from Bitcoin ABC, Bitcoin Unlimited, BCHD, Bitcoin Verde and other teams, are meeting today to continue the building of the Bitcoin Cash infrastructure. They will discuss progress towards the May 15th Bitcoin Cash Network upgrade and the standardization progress for the BCH protocol. Also Read: Grassroots Bitcoin Cash House Movement Expands to Ghana First Bitcoin Cash Protocol Developers Meeting of 2020 Co-Owner and operator of Thefutureofbitcoin.cash, David R. Allen, has announced the first BCH protocol development meeting of 2020, which will take place this Thursday at 20:00 UTC. The link to the meeting, which will be held via video conferencing software, is open to the general public. Details can be found on the website. Developers from Bitcoin ABC, Bitcoin Unlimited, BCHD, Bitcoin Verde and others, have returned from holidays and resumed the building of the Bitcoin Cash infrastructure. Many are meeting with each other to discuss progress on work towards the May 15th Bitcoin Cash Network upgrade and the standardization progress for Bitcoin Cash. Those that are unable to attend will have the opportunity to watch the video of the meeting at a later time. #BitcoinCash 2020 Developers meeting no. 1 to take place Thursday January 16th at 20:00 UTC. #BCH Information and Zoom link available at https://t.co/jg54uZncpy pic.twitter.com/jkzbJouFp5 — Bitcoin Cash (@BitcoinCash) January 14, 2020 In one month’s time, the first upgrade of prepared node software is expected to be released, to be tested by the wider community and ecosystem, so now is the time to present the specifications and start implementing. These meetings offer an opportunity for some of the most important Bitcoin Cash developers to meet face to face and discuss the future. They also allow others to follow the meetings and ask questions. As developers are usually very busy people and often have to combine their work on Bitcoin Cash with other things, it is not always clear who will be able to attend, but it will be recorded and presented on Youtube for those who cannot make the live event. The event organizers are currently in the process of securing sponsors, and are open to suggestions from businesses in the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem. What do you think about the first BCH developers meeting of 2020? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Bitcoin.com Markets, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post First Bitcoin Cash Developers Meeting of 2020 to Be Held Today appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Establishing a “national mining pool” has been declared a priority in Uzbekistan. Miners who join the pool will enjoy lower electricity rates, announced the country’s agency overseeing the crypto industry. The Central Asian nation is also preparing to launch a licensed cryptocurrency exchange, where miners will be able to sell the coins they have minted. Also read: Turkey Prepares to Increase Oversight in the Crypto Space Consolidating Crypto Mining Power The National Agency for Project Management (NAPM), a government body under the President of Uzbekistan, revealed this week its 2020 plans for the regulation of crypto trading and the implementation of blockchain technologies. During a press conference on Monday, the agency stated that the proposed mining pool will help consolidate the capacities of domestic and foreign miners at the national level. The main motivation behind the agency’s decision is to ensure the economic efficiency and increase the transparency and security of cryptocurrency mining in the country, the local news outlet Spot reported. NAPM thinks this will improve energy efficiency in this sector as well and make the former Soviet republic look more attractive to foreign investors. The establishment of a national mining pool is also part of a series of measures by NAPM to take crypto miners out of the shadow economy. Another one of these will be the launch of the country’s first licensed digital asset exchange next week, on which mining companies will be able to sell the digital coins they receive for the processing of crypto transactions. Uznex, a platform operated by the South Korean Kobea Group, is scheduled to open officially on Monday, Jan. 20. Its website, which is currently online in beta, shows seven trading pairs with bitcoin core (BTC) and the stablecoin tether (USDT), including BCH/BTC and BCH/USDT. The exchange is based in the capital, Tashkent. The Republic of Uzbekistan legalized cryptocurrency trading and introduced licensing for crypto exchanges with a special decree signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in September 2018. Another decree issued by the presidency in July of that year prepared the legal ground for crypto-related activities in general and the implementation of blockchain technologies. Pool Participants to Get Better Electricity Rates Despite these initial positive developments, Uzbek authorities have also taken some steps that could negatively influence the country’s nascent crypto industry. Recently adopted amendments to the regulatory regime limit the opportunities for private individuals to use cryptocurrency, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. According to local media, an order issued by NAPM in early December effectively bans citizens of Uzbekistan from buying and trading cryptos. They will only be allowed to sell coins on the country’s licensed exchanges. Domestic mining farms were also targeted. Another government decree set higher rates for the electricity they consume. Under the new regulations, miners would have to pay three times the regular price for the energy they need. Members of the industry warned that any raise beyond 1.7 times the regular tariff would practically reduce profitability to zero, given the current cryptocurrency prices. The continuing market recovery improved the profitability of bitcoin mining but the price of electricity remains a major factor for this business, too. Things should change for the better, however, with the mining pool the government wants to create. The agency for project management expressed its negative stance on the government’s decision to increase electricity rates for miners. In order to remedy the unfavorable situation, the agency plans to allow members of the national mining pool to pay at standard rates. “I think this will be one of the main measures to encourage participation in this pool,” said NAPM deputy director Vyacheslav Pak. At the same time, nonparticipating companies will be charged the high price. The regulator is now stepping up efforts to establish the new mining pool and it’s already preparing, together with other agencies, a draft decree for Uzbekistan’s president which will be released for public discussion in the coming days. “We must do this in time so that investors who are ready to come here do not scatter to neighboring countries,” Vyacheslav Pak emphasized. Do you think Uzbekistan will attract crypto miners to its national mining pool? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Uznex. Did you know you can earn BTC and BCH through Bitcoin Mining? If you already own hardware, connect it to our powerful Bitcoin mining pool. If not, you can easily get started through one of our flexible Bitcoin cloud mining contracts. The post Uzbekistan to Create National Mining Pool, Launch Licensed Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

During the last few days, cryptocurrency participants have been discussing the notorious Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit as new developments have revealed a third party provided Craig Wright with the necessary information to unlock an encrypted file he could not access previously. Additionally, another court filing explains that Wright provided the court with a list of his “bitcoin holdings” so he can comply with the court magistrate’s prior orders. Also read: Scottish Novelist Andrew O’Hagan Asked to Testify in Kleiman v. Wright Lawsuit Craig Wright Reveals a Third Party Has Provided the Final Key to an Alleged Encrypted File Listing His Bitcoin Addresses The billion-dollar bitcoin lawsuit between the Kleiman estate and the self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor Craig Wright continues to heat up. The Kleiman family is suing Wright for allegedly tampering and manipulating the late Dave Kleiman’s bitcoin assets and intellectual property after his death. Last week, Judge Beth Bloom gave Wright an opportunity to wait for a “mysterious” bonded courier who is supposed to deliver the last key to unlock an encrypted file. According to the story on record, Wright could not produce a list of his early bitcoin addresses because the list was kept in an encrypted file using Shamir’s Secret algorithm. Allegedly there were eight keys total and a bonded courier was to deliver the information regarding the final key in January 2020. Wright was previously ordered to forfeit half of his bitcoin holdings prior to 2013 and 50% of his intellectual property as well. But Judge Bloom realized the order was implemented before the January 2020 courier delivery, so she gave Wright until February 3, 2020, to await the courier. David Kleiman (left) and Craig Wright. Now according to a document filed on January 14, Wright’s legal team has told the court that “a third party has provided the necessary information and key slice to unlock the encrypted file, and Dr. Wright has produced a list of his bitcoin holdings, as ordered by the Magistrate Judge, to the plaintiffs today.” Another court filing says that Wright also submitted 16,404 bitcoin addresses that he allegedly owns. The Kleiman estate immediately responded to the compliance submission from Wright and said that the plaintiffs request they be provided with “seven interrogatories about the courier.” The plaintiffs want answers about the bonded courier within 10 business days so they can “seek discovery from the bonded courier and his company.” Moreover, the Kleiman estate plans to have experts review the list of bitcoin holdings Wright submitted on Tuesday. Kleiman Estate Wants Answers Regarding the Bonded Courier and Company The plaintiffs believe they deserve answers about this new information because they think Wright “has forged documents, submitted false declarations and perjured himself in open court.” Kleiman’s legal team has also asked to reschedule depositions with London Books novelist Andrew O’Hagan and Wright’s wife. In addition, the plaintiffs want to depose other fact witnesses and obtain new document discovery. They are also seeking to depose Nchain’s chairman Stefan Matthews for information regarding the case. Coingeek owner Calvin Ayre is also mentioned in the plaintiff’s filing on Tuesday. The Kleimans are seeking more time for additional discovery and have reminded the court that past discovery cut-off dates were that were transgressed upon is “entirely a byproduct of [Wright’s] own misconduct.” The filing stresses that the plaintiffs want this case to go to trial as expeditiously as possible. “Plaintiffs request the Court grant a 90-day extension of the discovery period for Plaintiffs, the pretrial deadlines and the trial of this matter,” explains the Kleimans’ latest court filing. Kleimans’ court document also seems to suggest that the plaintiffs want a trial to proceed in Miami, around June if the court grants them a 90-day extension for more discovery and depositions. What do you think about Kleiman and Wright’s latest court filings? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Bitcoin.com, Twitter, Pacer, Court Listener, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, and Pixabay. 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 Bitcoin Lawsuit Heats Up With More Bonded Courier Tales appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

January 14 was the best trading day of the year for many cryptocurrencies, which saw double or even triple-digit percentage gains. It was also a good day for futures markets, where more than $25 billion in trades was placed on Tuesday. The result constituted the busiest day for futures in almost three months, with the Binance-affiliated FTX seeing much of the action. Also read: Institutional and Retail Bitcoin Futures Demand Continues to Climb Bitcoin Shenanigans Get Futures Traders Buzzing Tuesday, Jan. 14 was all about bitcoin – all the bitcoins, to be precise. BTC, BCH, BSV, BCD, and BTG all posted their best day in months, borne along by Craig Wright’s shenanigans and rumors of bonded couriers delivering private keys. While retail traders scalped what they could from mega-pumps on the spot market, futures traders took a longer view, particularly on platforms like Bakkt, whose monthly futures have been growing steadily. Retail still dominates futures volume, however, as seen in derivatives analysts Skew’s breakdown of Tuesday’s action. Yesterday's was most active session this year for bitcoin futures and busiest since 26th of October $25bln+ going through on our radar pic.twitter.com/LrwGCNQ21M — skew (@skewdotcom) January 15, 2020 The analytics firm also highlighted a 15% increase in open interest for aggregated BTC futures, which now stands at $3.5 billion. BTC wasn’t the only futures market to see heavy trading either, with ETH volumes up three-fold on Jan. 14. FTX and Deribit Catch the Glut of the Action Okex, Huobi, Kraken, Deribit, Coinflex, Bitmex, Bitfinex, FTX, and Binance account for the primary futures exchanges for retail. Of these, FTX and Deribit saw particularly strong demand for futures options on Tuesday, with volumes up around 400% and 500% respectively. On Jan. 11, FTX launched cash-settled bitcoin options, which passed $1 million in volume within hours of going live. 12 hours after launch, more than 2,000 contracts had been traded. FTX may have also benefited on Tuesday by the fact that it offers leveraged trading of BSV, whereas Binance famously delisted the coin last year. A multi-million dollar “strategic investment” from Binance has enabled CZ’s megalith exchange to lend its expertise to the fledgling FTX, with a view to cornering the retail futures market between them. That achievement is still some way off, with Huobi, Okex, and Bitmex far out in front when it comes to futures volume. Regardless of which retail exchanges hold sway, the proliferation of user-friendly crypto derivatives is a boon to traders seeking an on-ramp to a world of bitcoin options. Until relatively recently, it was the adversarial world of Bitmex or nothing, complete with the steep learning curve its interface and options entailed. Today, that learning curve has been substantially lowered, with many traders electing to start off on options exchange apps like Moby Trader, to master “micro-trading” with short contract expiration times. The app gives retail traders access to crypto option exchanges like Deribit and Quedex. Having mastered the simplified derivatives options presented to them here, traders can then gravitate to “full fat” derivatives exchanges, with Binance and FTX providing the next step up in terms of accessibility, leaving Bitmex and Deribit to more experienced traders. Tuesday resulted in around $85M in liquidations on Bitmex, with over 90% of those for traders who’d tried to short BTC. Bears will have better days, and 2020 will have even bigger days for bitcoin futures than yesterday’s impressive $25B haul. Do you think futures volume will reach record highs in 2020? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Price articles and market updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.” 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 Bitcoin Futures Hit 3-Month High in Frenetic Tuesday Trading appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The SEC has issued an alert to investors regarding initial exchange offerings. This warning is not an official statement on regulatory policy, but it does indicate the way the American market regulators view the practice and why many exchanges are shunning U.S. investors. Also Read: Telegram Rejects SEC Request to Hand Over Bank Records for TON SEC Warns Investors About IEOs The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has urged investors to use caution before investing in initial exchange offerings. The alert explains that IEOs are similar to initial coin offerings in that they are offerings of digital assets to raise capital, but touted as an innovation over ICOs because they are offered directly by trading platforms. The online platforms may also claim to perform due diligence or other quality assessments of the IEOs. “Be cautious if considering an investment in an IEO,” the SEC warned. “Claims of new technologies and financial products, such as those associated with digital asset offerings, and claims that IEOs are vetted by trading platforms, can be used improperly to entice investors with the false promise of high returns in a new investment space. IEOs may be conducted in violation of the federal securities laws and lack many of the investor protections of registered and exempt securities offerings.” The SEC stated that, depending on the circumstances, an IEO may involve the offer and sale of securities. This means it may be subject to registration requirements under U.S. federal securities laws. If the IEO involves securities, the online trading platform on which it is being offered may need to register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or an alternative trading system (ATS) to legally operate in the United States. Further, the platform may also be acting as a broker or dealer that is required to register with the SEC as such and become a member of FINRA as well. “It is a red flag if the IEO and its participants, including the online trading platform, do not address or discuss the applicability of the federal securities laws,” the alert claims. “In addition, be careful if the promoter of the IEO or the digital trading platform hosting the IEO states that they are approved or registered with the SEC. There is no such thing as an SEC-approved IEO. It is common for a fraudster to make false and misleading statements or exaggerated claims about regulatory approvals and oversight to lure potential investors.” Ventures Outside US Still Need Its Approval The American regulator noted that many IEOs are offered by entities outside the country. However, it stated that if the IEO is being offered to a person in the United States then its securities laws may still apply. It added that claiming an offering to be outside U.S. securities laws just because it is occurring on an overseas trading platform is a red flag in itself. “Offshore trading platforms that attempt to avoid regulatory scrutiny can leave investors without important information, including information about the IEO issuer, the digital asset offered, and any arrangements between the trading platforms and IEO issuers that enable them to make informed judgments about whether to invest in an IEO,” the SEC warned. The alert also warned American investors that they should be mindful that they may not have effective legal remedies in U.S. courts against offshore trading platforms or IEOs issuing on these platforms. What do you think about the SEC issuing an alert against initial exchange offerings? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Bitcoin.com Markets, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post SEC Issues Alert Against Initial Exchange Offerings appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the last couple of years. the former lead maintainer of the Bitcoin Core (BTC) repository Gavin Andresen has been quiet in regards to the crypto ecosystem. Andresen hasn’t been developing any projects and once in a while makes a comment or two about the digital currency industry. On Monday, January 13, Andresen shared the first blog post he’s written since November 2018, as he decided to review the zero-knowledge protocol for Ethereum called Tornado.cash. Also read: Privacy-Enhancing BCH Tool Cashfusion Begins Working Behind the Scenes Gavin Andresen’s Latest Blog Posts Discuss Wallet Privacy Gavin Andresen was once the lead developer for the Bitcoin Core codebase after Satoshi Nakamoto handed Andresen the repository keys when the inventor left. Since then a lot has changed and Andresen hasn’t worked on the BTC project or any crypto concept in four years. Some crypto observers believe Andresen was ousted in 2016, when the Core development team removed his Bitcoin commit access. Once in a while, Andresen has made comments about the cryptocurrency industry and once tweeted that bitcoin cash (BCH) reminded him of the Bitcoin he worked on back in 2010. Bitcoin Cash is what I started working on in 2010: a store of value AND means of exchange. — Gavin Andresen (@gavinandresen) November 11, 2017 On January 1, 2020, Andresen tweeted that, in his opinion, the most interesting cryptocurrency project in 2018 was Ethereum’s Crypto Kitties and Pooltogether in 2019. Then 13 days later, Andresen wrote a blog post about the project Tornado.cash, an Ethereum-based project that claims to break the onchain link between ETH recipient and destination addresses. Andresen said he’s been “playing around” with Tornado, the smart contract running on the Ethereum blockchain. “When I say smart, I mean really wicked-smart,” Andresen stressed in his blog post. “[Tornado.cash] uses “Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge” cryptography (ZkSNARK) so the ether (or tokens) deposited into the contract can’t be linked to those that are withdrawn.” Andresen also noted that he wouldn’t be surprised if a paper is released in 2023 that shows “85% of tornado usage was not private.” “Not because the cryptography is broken, but because it is really hard for mere mortals to use something like Tornado (or Coinjoin or other similar technologies) in a way that doesn’t leak information about their wallet,” Andresen insisted. But Andresen’s post leads to the conclusion that most people will leak information about their mixed coins when consolidating them into one account he dubs the “Super Secret” wallet. “You have almost certainly accomplished nothing — Unless somebody else just happened to use tornado to move 117 ETH from one address to another in the same timeframe, it is easy to see that 0xabc and 0xdef are both owned by you — Your ‘Super Secret’ wallet isn’t,” Andresen emphasized. More thoughts on private wallets: https://t.co/FEhZbx0pfM — Gavin Andresen (@gavinandresen) January 14, 2020 The Ideal Private Wallet and Cashfusion The former Bitcoin developer does think Tornado is a step in the right direction and called the project a “fantastic building block.” Following the blog post on Tornado, Andresen published another post on the same subject the following day. On Tuesday the developer explained his description of the type of wallet he’d like to leverage. Andresen explained the perfect setup for receiving Andresen’s dream wallet would give individuals a normal ETH address where they could receive some ether. “But after funds were received to that address, the wallet would automatically forward them into Tornado,” Andresen wrote. To the engineer, sending would be a three-step process, which includes one or more withdrawals from Tornado to a never-before-used address, sending the ETH to the destination address, and then re-deposit any leftover funds back into Tornado. However, Andresen doesn’t seem to think there’s a simple solution and he also addressed the “change problem,” which can lead to transaction data leakage. Andresen said that a future version of Tornado could support depositing and withdrawing arbitrary amounts. “Which is the best solution to the problem,” the developer stressed. This issue is being tackled today, as Bitcoin Cash developers have been making strides with Coinjoin transactions that can be done in arbitrary amounts. #CashFusion 111 -> 18 UTXO consolidation! Financial privacy and freedom om #BitcoinCashhttps://t.co/w8qugORpsY — 🦆 sploit#100 (@acidsploit) January 12, 2020 Bitcoin Magazine’s technical writer Aaron van Wirdum wrote an editorial about the subject on January 13 in a post titled: “Do CoinJoins Really Require Equal Transaction Amounts for Privacy? Part One: Cashfusion.” The writer explained that BCH developers claim Cashfusion can provide Coinjoin transactions without the equal amount requirement. “If true, this might drastically change how we think about privacy in Bitcoin as well,” van Wirdum detailed. Andresen’s post explains the problems with Coinjoin transactions and seems to hint that things could be improved. “I’d also be happy with an opinionated wallet that “rounds down balances for privacy” and automatically sent the change to the wallet developer’s favorite charity (or maybe goes to fund wallet development, or a little bit of both),” Andresen’s blog post on Tuesday notes. “Not a huge price to pay for privacy, especially if it goes to a good cause,” the developer concluded. What do you think about Andresen’s blog posts about Tornado.cash and wallet privacy? What do you think about the possibility of Cashfusion being the answer to some of the problems mentioned with Coinjoin-based transactions? 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, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, Twitter, Tornado.cash, 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 Gavin Andresen Speaks About Ethereum’s Tornado and Wallet Privacy appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

India’s supreme court spent all day hearing arguments against the crypto banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday. The counsel for the Internet and Mobile Association of India presented extensive arguments to convince the court that the central bank acted outside its jurisdiction and power in placing a banking restriction on the crypto industry. Also read: Regulatory Roundup – EU-Wide Crypto Regulations, New Rules in Europe, US, Asia Supreme Court Resumes Hearing Crypto Case The Supreme Court of India resumed hearing the crypto vs. RBI case this week. On Tuesday, the court briefly heard the case as scheduled. The counsel for the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Ashim Sood, recapped the arguments he presented last year, starting with the basics of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The hearing resumed all day on Wednesday. In addition to providing a recap of the arguments previously made, local news outlet Coin Crunch India reported that Sood began by reading out the guidelines issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). After explaining how other countries handle cryptocurrencies and how crypto exchanges operate, he emphasized that the banking channel is needed to run an exchange. The court also asked how bitcoins are mined. Sood proceeded to read out the latest RBI response to the IAMAI representation submitted by the central bank in September last year. As directed by the court, the central bank responded to every point made by the IAMAI. Banking Regulation, RBI, Payment and Settlement Systems Acts The IAMAI counsel continued with the Banking Regulation Act, which states that the use of a “public interest” provision can be done only in the context of the Act itself. Local news platform Crypto Kanoon conveyed that the RBI basically cannot just find any problem in the world and use the Act in the name of public interest. Sood supported his argument with several past judgments. The RBI Act and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act were subsequently discussed. The news platform stressed that the court asked whether cryptocurrency is a payment system. Sood replied that it could be, but the RBI claims that it is not and therefore cannot be regulated. The judges then asked the counsel whether the shifting of people from the conventional financial system to the crypto system impacts the country’s monetary system, which the RBI has to protect. Sood cited an RBI circular which states that crypto activities do not currently impact India’s monetary system and would not in the near future. He also read out an August 2018 RBI report stating that crypto does not pose any threat to the monetary system of the country. IAMAI Argues RBI’s Ban Outside Its Jurisdiction Sood presented several arguments that the central bank acted outside of its jurisdiction to issue the April 2017 circular to ban financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses. He noted that the central bank mentioned in its circular that cryptocurrencies carry volatility risk, Crypto Kanoon also reported. However, the same can be said about the stock market, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Sood also referenced statements by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) regarding the taxation of crypto assets. He clarified that every regulator is considering crypto in their regulatory perspective: SEBI for securities trading and CBDT for taxation. However, the RBI claiming to act in the interest of consumers is totally outside its jurisdiction. Sood supported his argument by referencing other cases, the news platform detailed. The counsel noted that while the RBI admitted that it has no power over commodities, it still exercised power to stop commodities from being traded. The next point Sood made concerns the RBI’s lack of power to prohibit crypto activities. He read out several other rulings to support his argument that the authority who enjoys delegated power cannot prohibit the activities in a total absence of any policy or statutory guidelines. Noting that such prohibition can only be done via an Act of Parliament, he asserted that the RBI cannot devise a form of prohibition as there is no law to support it. Crypto Kanoon noted that in another case, “when legislature doesn’t find a reason to stop/prohibit any economic activity, then the authority doesn’t have [the] power to devise a new form to prohibit such economic activity. Such prohibition violates my right to freedom of trade.” The IAMAI counsel further read out the RBI’s counter affidavit, which shows that the central bank did not conduct an analysis before placing a banking restriction on the crypto industry. Emphasizing that the central bank placed a ban on the industry because it has no power to regulate it, the counsel questioned whether any regulator can ban anything it does not have the power to regulate. The hearing is expected to resume on Thursday. What do you think of the supreme court hearing of the crypto case today? Do you think the court will soon lift the RBI ban? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Indian Supreme Court Hears In-Depth Arguments Against RBI Ban appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The global crypto exchanges industry continues to consolidate as some smaller players bow out and the big players try to gobble up as much as they can of the rest. As part of this trend, Kraken has now taken over the Australian platform Bit Trade in a bit to strengthen its foothold in the Asia Pacific region as well as grow its share of the OTC trading market. Also Read: Bittrex, Coinbase and Kraken Set up Crypto Rating Council Kraken Acquires Bit Trade San Francisco-based digital assets exchange Kraken has announced that it has acquired Bit Trade, considered to be the longest-running crypto service in Australia. The two sides have not publicly revealed how much money was involved in the deal as of yet. As part of the acquisition the entire Australian team, led by Jonathon Miller, will join the American company, with Miller becoming Managing Director for Kraken in Australia. “With this acquisition, Kraken will focus on being the premier crypto service in Australia with the best AUD liquidity, trading experience, and support for both institutional and retail clients,” the company stated. “It also deepens our overall presence in the APAC region, and further bolsters our industry-leading OTC trading operation.” The combined service now offers traders a multi-exchange aggregator that combines several trading platforms into a single interface, as well as one of the largest OTC desks in Australia, where bigger players can trade in large volumes without moving markets. Founded in 2013, Bit Trade was a founding member of the Australian Digital Commerce Association – the industry body that represents Australian businesses and organizations that participate in the digital economy through blockchain technology. Besides trading it also offered services which allowed users to pay bills to over 19,000 businesses with any cryptocurrency available on the platform. Kraken is one of the most popular U.S.-based cryptocurrency companies as it operates a multi-asset exchange with $50 Billion USD traded in 2019 and over 4 million clients from 190 countries. It has been aggressively pursuing the acquisition of other crypto businesses around the world for the past few years. In December 2019, it took over one of the most recognized OTC desks in crypto, Circle Trade, to provide personal, “white-glove” service to new global trading partners, particularly in Asia. In February it acquired Crypto Facilities, a British digital asset trading platform and index provider in a “nine-figure deal.” Kraken had previously acquired bitcoin exchanges Coinsetter, Cavirtex and Clevercoin, as well as Glidera, a wallet funding business, and Cryptowatch, a trading and portfolio tracking platform. What do you think about Kraken acquiring Australian crypto platform Bit Trade? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Bitcoin.com Markets, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Kraken Acquires Australian Crypto Platform Bit Trade appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Blockchain casino Fairspin paid out more than 40,000 ETH to players in its first full year of operation. The casino was founded in late 2018 under the name of Fairplay. A year later, it was rebranded into Fairspin to emphasize the casino’s key distinctive feature – each spin in every game is secured by blockchain. Fairspin’s gaming stats are displayed right on the casino website and everyone can check players’ deposits and payouts on a blockchain explorer. This blockchain-stored data shows that in 2019 Fairspin paid out more than 40,000 ETH to players. This is close to $6M at the current exchange rate. The actual house edge (the casino advantage) was less than 1% (0,965%, to be exact). The biggest win from a single bet happened in the Jack and the Beanstalk game – $2,850 at the then exchange rate. The record-high win in a single game session was in the 300 Shields slot – $8,938. The biggest total win in a single day for one player was $14,552. To make all these figures trackable and proveable, Fairspin utilizes a toolset provided by the TruePlay blockchain platform. It enables Fairspin to record gaming and transaction stats on blockchain while using classic, non-blockchain games from the world’s leading providers. Last year, the Fairspin team introduced this technology at major iGaming conferences worldwide (iGB London, SiGMA, MAC, and more) in partnership with TruePlay and online gaming regulator Curaçao eGaming. Fairspin’s innovative approach to blockchain implementation in iGaming was recognized by nominations for several important awards including EGR Operator Awards 2019 and SBC Awards 2019. Contact Email Address pr@fairspin.io Supporting Link https://fairspin.io/?p51788p3108965pcd78&utm_source=media&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=bitcoin_com&utm_content=eng&utm_term= This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post Fairspin Casino Players Won Over 40,000 ETH appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Global debt records were broken in 2019, but that likely won’t be the end of such ominous economic milestones, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) predicts. The number could reach $257 trillion sometime in Q1 2020, according to a recent report by the group. Economies worldwide are struggling to address pressing issues such as stimulation near or below the zero bound, liquidity crisis, and the effects of negative rates on banks and their customers. Some experts believe the world may in fact be gearing up for a financial crisis of frightening proportions. Also Read: Fed Officials Ponder Funding Hedge Funds and Private Brokers Directly Global Debt Could Hit $257T Says IIF According to the IIF, “The global debt-to-GDP ratio hit a new all-time high of over 322% in Q3 2019, with total debt reaching close to $253 trillion.” The pronounced trajectory into the red seems to be continuing unabated. It also appears to the IIF ready to set new records in early 2020, with the institute asserting: Global debt is set to grow faster in 2020 and is estimated to exceed $257 trillion by the end of Q1 2020, driven mainly by non-financial sector debt. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/13/economy/global-debt-record/index.html According to the IIF’s Global Debt Monitor report, China leads the way in leverage, racking up the IOUs with a 310% debt-to-GDP ratio. Developed markets such as the U.S., Europe and Japan contribute to over half of the massive global minus sign, though emerging markets have shown a rapid acceleration in recent years. The report notes that most of the debt is non-financial sector in nature, with global government debt on path to pierce $70 trillion itself. As Reuters’ Marc Jones points out in a recent report: The amount works out at around $32,500 for each of the 7.7 billion people on planet and more than 3.2 times the world’s annual economic output… “Spurred by low interest rates and loose financial conditions, we estimate that total global debt will exceed $257 trillion in Q1 2020,” the IIF report asserts. It further notes that household debt-to-GDP is reaching record highs in multiple countries, largely in the EU, and that government debt-to-GDP has hit record highs in the U.S. and Australia. Negative Rates and Unending Stimulation Result in Fewer Remedial Options As news.Bitcoin.com’s Jamie Redman recently reported, concerns about a global economic bubble are growing, with some predicting a downturn of unprecedented proportions in light of exhausted options. Raphael Bostic, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President, stated this week that “There’s not a lot that we have left to do to stimulate.” U.S. interest rates were chopped three times in the latter part of 2019, and massive printing of new money characterizes an ongoing Hail Mary-type bid to stimulate the economy. In the EU the zero lower bound (ZLB) on interest rates has long since been broken, but the European Central Bank faces a similar lack of options. While associated publications suggest that as long as there’s confidence in the system, rates can continually go lower and lower, this type of economic “faith” has been broken many times, historically. The advent of central bank digital currencies further presents the potential for central banks like the ECB to pin negative rates directly to currencies, making it impossible for small-time savers to preserve value by moving money out of banks. Some interpret the current Shiller PE Ratio to signal a far overvalued stock market, with the ratio climbing back up into dot-com bubble territory. Source: https://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe The Potential New Bubble and Bitcoin If current alarming factors such as a potentially overvalued stock market, newly increased limits on home loans, low to negative interest rates, ongoing printing of new money and a soaring global debt continue unabated, a new recession could be on the way. Economist Robert Shiller recently attributed market confidence to contempt for traditional economic wisdom, writing in a New York Times article: “High animal spirits in the stock market are often associated with the disparagement of traditional authority and expert opinion.” Shiller cited the “Make America Great Again” narrative of the Donald Trump presidency and its contribution to current fearlessness, writing: The rise of an explicit belief in irrationality like this one is troubling on many levels. With all this in view, the recurring narrative of decentralized, permissionless cryptocurrencies as hedge against economic uncertainty emerges powerfully once again, even in mainstream media. I bought #Bitcoin because I don't want all my savings in dollars. What if my government prints lots of dollars and they become worth… pennies? But is owning bitcoin really a good idea? @NaomiBrockwell and @PeterSchiff debate: pic.twitter.com/TwEaGiiGSJ — John Stossel (@JohnStossel) December 15, 2019 With the first month of 2020 already half over, and crypto markets moving dynamically against the uneasy backdrop of a debt-addled world economy, coming months promise to be eventful, if largely uncertain. What do you think about the current global debt and the state of the global economy? Can bitcoin help people avoid the negative effects of a potential crisis? 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, 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 IIF Report Predicts Global Debt Will Reach New All-Time High of $257T in 2020 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On January 13, the New York Federal Reserve gave $60.7 billion to eligible private financial institutions by leveraging U.S. Treasurys and agency securities. With all the stimulus given to financial institutions since September, it hasn’t relieved the stress of economic uncertainty. Now the Fed is pondering giving money directly to hedge funds and private brokers in order to ease the current pressure and lack of liquidity within U.S. repo markets. Moreover, two Federal Reserve branch presidents have voiced concerns in regards to the American economy in 2020. Also Read: Money and Democracy: Why You Never Get to Vote on the Most Important Part of Society The Fed Wants to Ease Pressure Within Repo Markets by Directly Funding Hedge Funds and Private Brokers The U.S. Federal Reserve has slashed interest rates three times since September 2019 and has pumped massive amounts of fiat into the hands of financial institutions by leveraging overnight repos and other monetary easing tactics. On Monday, the New York Fed provided eligible banks with $60.7 billion, with $30.2 billion toward agency securities and $30.5 billion in U.S. Treasurys. A few times a week since September, the Fed has been stimulating private banks in this fashion, giving them trillions of dollars. The New York Fed reported that it gave $60.7 billion to eligible banks on Monday, January 13, 2020. Now the Fed is talking about giving cash directly to eligible hedge funds in order to help ease the demand within U.S. repo markets. Last week, Fed officials discussed a similar idea by creating a “standing repo facility” so private banks can access fiat reserves any time they want. Officials on Tuesday brought up the idea of hedge funds, smaller banks, and securities brokers borrowing funds from the Fed through the repo clearinghouse by pledging securities like government bonds. The Federal Reserve is pondering giving funds directly to hedge funds and securities brokers. Analysts think it will create a “hedge fund bailout” situation. “The Fed protects gamblers at the expense of the economy,” said the chairperson of the Public Banking Institute Ellen Brown earlier this week. According to market observers, the Fed wants to step away from repo-market operations. However, critics believe that lending funds directly to securities brokers and hedge funds could lead to a “hedge fund bailout.” After all the rate cuts and massive printing, numerous people believe “the Fed protects gamblers at the expense of the economy.” The chairperson of the Public Banking Institute Ellen Brown noted this week that the “repo market is little known to most people.” But the repo market is: “a $1-trillion-a-day credit machine, in which not just banks but hedge funds and other ‘shadow banks’ borrow to finance their trades,” Brown recently wrote. Brown’s scathing critique of the Fed’s monetary solutions further added: The repo market is a fragile house of cards waiting for a strong wind to blow it down, propped up by misguided monetary policies that have forced central banks to underwrite its highly risky ventures. Inflation and Asset Bubble Concerns Mount The Public Banking Institute chairperson is not the only one worried, as two Federal Reserve Bank presidents have expressed “concerns,” seeing a surge in inflation and a growing asset bubble. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren cited the real estate market as a potential area for a bubble. From left to right: Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren (L) and the Fed president of Atlanta Raphael Bostic (R). Both presidents have voiced concerns about runaway inflation and asset bubbles. Additionally, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic told the public: “There’s not a lot that we have left to do to stimulate.” Following the statements from two Fed branch presidents, former Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke said if the central bank takes “extraordinary steps,” it could save the economy. Bernanke also detailed that’s what he and the Fed did during the 2008 Great Recession. During a speech delivered in San Diego Bernanke stressed: A moderate increase in the inflation target or significantly greater reliance on active fiscal policy for economic stabilization, might become necessary. Former Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke said if the central bank takes “extraordinary steps” it could save the American economy. Bernanke also detailed that’s what he and the Fed did during the 2008 Great Recession. U.S. residents witnessed the Fed’s ‘extraordinary measures’ (QE) that took place back in 2008-2009, which led to massive Occupy Movement protests in 2012 against the bankers and 1%. In addition to the dreary outlook from former and present Fed employees, last week Rabobank executive Philip Marey said he believes the Fed will cut interest rates to zero. Despite Marey’s forecast, the central bank’s board seems reluctant to cut rates again. However, on January 14, the Swiss wealth giant UBS said the Fed will likely cut rates three times in 2020. “We think this tariff damage is going to push U.S. growth down … that’s actually going to trigger three Fed cuts, which is way off consensus, nobody believes that,” Arend Kapteyn, global head of economic research at UBS stated on Tuesday. At the time of writing, CME Group’s Fed Watch tool indicates that the probability of the Fed slashing rates again in 2020 is 50%. What do you think about the Fed’s capital injections lately? What do you think about them giving funds directly to hedge funds, smaller banks, and securities brokers? Do you think the Fed will cut rates again in 2020? Let us know what you think about the central bank’s monetary schemes in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, Wall Street Journal, Getty Images, 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 Fed Officials Ponder Funding Hedge Funds and Private Brokers Directly appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Digital currency markets are seeing significant gains this week as the entire market capitalization gained $28 billion in the last seven days. Moreover, trade volume has spiked to a massive $100 billion and during the last 24 hours, numerous digital assets have gained between 3-48%. Also read: Close to 11 Million BTC Haven’t Moved in Over a Year Crypto Markets Show Strong Bullish Trend Cryptocurrency prices have been moving northbound and the market valuation of all 4,000+ coins is around $235 billion on Tuesday. At the time of publication, BTC is trading for $8,681 and the crypto has a market cap of around $157 billion. There is $30 billion in global trades today between BTC and a range of trading pairs. 69% of BTC trades are swapped with tether (USDT) while USD (11%), JPY (8.4%), EUR (2.3%), USDC (2.1%), and PAX (1.7%) follow. Behind BTC is ETH and each coin is currently swapping for $156 at press time. ETH’s overall market capitalization is around $17 billion and there’s been $10 billion in ETH trades in the last 24 hours. Following ETH’s trail is ripple (XRP) which is currently trading for $0.22 per XRP. The cryptocurrency has a market cap worth $9.6 billion and has seen $356 million worth of XRP trades on Tuesday. Lastly, the stablecoin tether (USDT) has seen its market pushed down to fifth position after bitcoin cash (BCH) took the fourth spot. Currently, USDT captures more than half of all crypto trades on January 14. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Market Action Bitcoin cash (BCH) markets have done very well during the last week and each coin is swapping for $313. BCH is up 19.7% on Tuesday and more than 30% for the week. The 24-hour trade volume for BCH is around $2.6 billion and the overall BCH market valuation is roughly $5.7 billion. Bitcoin cash really started showing significant gains on January 6 and prices have been climbing ever since. This week a number of traders believe that BCH may be due for another surge. The well known crypto analyst @Bigcheds detailed that BCH is likely forming a bull flag pattern after massive consolidation. Another popular analyst dubbed @Imbagsy also revealed some bullish factors for BCH on Twitter. “[Bitcoin cash:] To expand my bullish thought process: Halving coming up, 4th tap of horizontal resistance, massive bullish divergences on HTF, [and] volume is growing,” Bagsy said. CME Group Launches Bitcoin Options On January 13, the global markets company Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) launched the company’s highly anticipated options products for Bitcoin futures. During the first day of trades, CME saw 54 options on bitcoin futures according to Monday’s records. “Although it takes time to grow any new market, we’re pleased with the response from customers and market participants so far,” Tim McCourt, CME’s global head of equity index products, explained in an interview on Monday. Despite a sluggish start, CME’s Bitcoin options volumes ($2.3 million) surpassed Bakkt’s reported options volumes ($1.1 million). Looks like 55 contracts went through on CME's BTC Options first day of trading, approx. $2.3mln notional. 100% were Calls. Source: CME (preliminary estimates) pic.twitter.com/M7StLOApom — skew (@skewdotcom) January 13, 2020 Are Bitcoin Bears Foolish? On January 13, former Goldman Sachs analyst and Adaptive Capital executive Murad Mahmudov shared a chart that shows BTC passing key trendlines. The chart Mahmudov displayed seems to suggest that bitcoin bears might be foolish for betting against the decentralized asset. Murad Mahmudov’s chart shared on Monday, January 13, 2020. “Bears are deluded at best, dishonest at worst,” Mahmudov tweeted. During news.Bitcoin.com’s last market update, Mahmudov shared a chart that indicated BTC might be following a Wyckoff pattern. A significant price transition took place since Mahmudov’s Wyckoff pattern tweet seven days ago. This Week’s Notable Crypto Market Climbers After the January 10 Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit filing hit the docket, the price of Bitcoin SV (BSV) has jumped in value considerably. At the time of writing, BSV currently commands the sixth-largest market capitalization. Each BSV is trading for $238 a coin and markets are up over 48% on Tuesday. BSV markets have also gained 113% during the last seven days. Another notable forerunner this week is the cryptocurrency dash (DASH) which has gained 28.3% today and 48% in the last seven days. In the last 14 days, dash jumped 60% since the Evolution testnet was released. Where do you see the cryptocurrency markets heading from here? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Price articles and market updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.” Cryptocurrency prices referenced in this article were recorded at 9:20 a.m. EST on January 14, 2020. Images via Shutterstock, Trading View, Bitcoin.com Markets, Twitter, Murad Mahmudov, Coinlib.io, Wiki Commons, and Pixabay. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. The post Market Outlook: Bullish Trend Sends Crypto Prices Northwards appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Whales are mega-rich traders who inhabit the depths of the crypto seas. Theirs is a realm of dark pools, hidden order books, OTC deals, and rich list wallet addresses. Shunning publicity in favor of pseudonymity, most whales keep their trading and personal lives separated, with only the blockchain revealing the monster sums they shuffle between exchanges. A handful of whales have bucked this trend, however, laying their trading record on the line for all to judge. Also read: Close to 11 Million BTC Haven’t Moved in Over a Year These Crypto Bellwethers Are Willing to Share Their Trades When quantitative trading firm Alameda Research decided to publicize its trading performance via Bitmex’s leaderboard in early 2019, it was seen as a bold move and clever marketing ploy – a novel way of touting their nascent over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk. A year on, though, and such leaderboards give us a voyeuristic insight into the activities of some of crypto’s biggest whales. But who are they and what can we actually glean from their growing mountains of money? Bitmex is not the only exchange that maintains a trading leaderboard; Bitfinex does too. You can sift through a list containing a couple of hundred traders, many of whom are making modest gains or losses. Few are willing to disclose whether they’re long or short at any given point in time, but the leaderboard on Bitmexresources.com can extrapolate this information, explaining: If the overall profit for the user has increased since last update and Bitcoin price also increased during that period, it is safe to assume that the user on Bitmex’s leaderboard has a long position. It is vice versa for short position assumption – if the overall profit for the user has increased since last update and Bitcoin price has decreased during that period, we can assume that the user on Bitmex’s leaderboard has an open short position. At the top end of the scale, however, are big players, some of whom have elected to forego anonymity and interact with crypto Twitter. The Cult of JOE007 Sitting atop Bitfinex’s leaderboard at present is one such whale, @JOE007, who has racked up over a million dollars in realized profit since the turn of the year. Joe, who identifies as a “proto-bitcoin whale” according to his Loki-like Twitter profile, has also accrued close to 10,000 acolytes on Twitter, with crypto enthusiasts doubtless keen to follow the master and, with any luck, learn a thing or two. Although most accounts on the leaderboard are pseudonymous, @JOE007 is one of six “unmasked” traders sitting inside the Top 50. It’s fair to say he’s by far the most successful, though – something he has fun with on Twitter. In a tweet from January 6, he remarked, “OK, now that I’m back to number one Leaderboard position in every category on every timeframe, can I finally get some time off?” The Bitmex leaderboard. Those who want to mine the White Whale’s tweets for more than mere memes will extract deeper insights: Joe loves bitcoin, detests “shitcoin scammers” and self-appointed influencers, thinks crypto needs more whales and exhibits both pity and contempt for noobs entering the crypto space in pursuit of a “get-rich-quick dream.” He also scoffs at the notion that his followers could replicate his success by reading his posts intently; his Christmas cheer was evident in a droll post on December 23: “Sure, once I decide to close my longs I’ll definitely announce it on Twitter first. For every cryptotrader and his mom to try to front-run me. Of course.” Not every crypto trader is out to “front-run” Joe and other unmasked whales, however. After sustaining an eight-figure loss in December, Joe was back in the profit – something that keen observers couldn’t help but applaud. Another compelled Joe to “pump it, push the price up and punish these greedy bears. I believe in you.” Cult status isn’t too far away for Joe. Seems like the finex whale is out of his 16 million dollar loss and back in profit on his long pic.twitter.com/gEVJuMXukE — [ Romano ] (@RNR_0) January 5, 2020 Whales Making Waves For crypto whales, throwing around life-changing amounts of money like it’s pocket change is the norm. It’s not that they don’t ever sustain big losses; it’s that they don’t sweat the odd failure and soldier on with nary a complaint. Those other non-anonymous Top 50 Bitfinex traders, incidentally, are @BtcKreacher, @FeXBT, @damian_trader, @TraderSadBoi and @HyperTradingBot. While their low follower counts indicate that traders aren’t exactly hanging on their every word just yet, expect their audience to grow if they remain staples of the leaderboard. As noted by Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino, API trader @john_j_brown gained 540 followers in a single day after climbing up the table. Whether you track Bitfinex, Bitmex or another exchange leaderboard, it’s important to remember that social media is curation-based: whales will promote what they want, when they want, to their own ends. By all means follow these crypto bellwethers but don’t linger too long in their slipstream. While their pockets are deep enough to deal with major losses, that’s not the case for us minnows. Do you think crypto whales move the markets, or are they just big fish in an even bigger sea? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can 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 Win or Lose, These Crypto Whales Share Their Trades appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In this roundup, we cover EU-wide crypto regulations and individual countries’ new digital asset rules including Austria and the U.K. We also cover numerous crypto regulatory developments in the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea, India, and the Philippines. Also read: Regs Roundup: SEC Actions, Crypto Tax-Free in Korea, New Chinese Laws EU-Wide Crypto Regulations Begin The deadline for all European Union member states to transpose the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) into their national legislation was Jan. 10. All EU countries should have started regulating crypto exchanges and custodial wallet providers like banks and financial institutions. A number of European countries have independently announced how they are regulating crypto service providers such as Austria and the U.K. Some countries have missed the deadline, however. The Netherlands, for example, said on Jan. 10 that its crypto legislation is not yet effective despite many months of preparation. Prior to the Jan. 10 deadline, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said that the bank wants to take an active role in the digital currency field, reinforcing her plan to lead the ECB “ahead of the curve.” The ECB is also actively working on a digital currency, which Lagarde said should not discourage private sector solutions. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency is a focus of European regulators this year, as the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) outlined in its Strategic Orientation 2020-22. US: Multiple SEC Actions and a Registration Statement The U.S. has been active regarding crypto oversight this past week, with several government agencies taking crypto-related actions. As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deals with a number of crypto cases, its compliance office has named digital assets a priority this year. Among the cases the SEC dealt with last week is one concerning Telegram. The agency has gotten a break in this case when the Southern District Court of New York ordered the company on Monday to hand over its bank records by Feb. 26. Secondly, the SEC is seeking more than $16 million in disgorgement plus civil penalties in a case targeting Icobox and Nikolay Evdokimov, a court document reveals on Jan. 10. Thirdly, the agency charged Donald G. Blakstad and two entities he controlled on Jan. 8 with engaging in the fraudulent offer and sale of over $3.5 million of securities. They claimed to have “developed a world-class data center for cryptocurrency mining.” Meanwhile, First Bitcoin Capital Corp. filed a registration statement with the Commission on Jan. 7 seeking to list its shares on Nasdaq. US States: Illinois Blockchain Act, Wyoming Bill, NY Crypto-Focused Several U.S. states have also taken crypto regulatory actions this past week. The state of Illinois’ Blockchain Technology Act took effect on Jan. 1. It outlines the legal uses of blockchain technology, stating: A smart contract, record, or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because a blockchain was used to create, store, or verify the smart contract, record, or signature. In the state of Wyoming, House Bill 43 on “digital representation tokens” was assigned a bill number on Jan. 9. It defines the rights, duties, and obligations associated with digital representation tokens, as well as providing exceptions. In the state of New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed amending the state’s financial service law to place crypto companies “on an even footing with other financial services companies.” He explained that under the current law, entities licensed under the Insurance Law or Banking Law are required to pay assessments to the state’s Department of Financial Services to cover the cost of examination and oversight. However, crypto companies are not required to pay such assessments, despite being subject to similar examination and oversight requirements. China Prioritizes and Tests Digital Currency, Advances Commercial Blockchain China has continued to make headlines in the crypto space, with its ongoing love for blockchain technology and push to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) ahead of Facebook’s Libra. Its central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), has named digital currency one of its priorities this year. In addition, the media reported last week that the bank’s digital yuan had completed its preliminary design and testing. As for blockchain technology adoption, the provincial government of Anhui announced earlier this month a plan to use blockchain technology across governmental service centers. Moreover, the country’s nationwide blockchain service infrastructure platform reportedly will be put into commercial operation in April. The Blockchain Service Network is an industry alliance initiated by the State Information Center. Meanwhile, China is still skeptical about cryptocurrency. A report by blockchain security firm Peckshield claims that cryptocurrency-based capital flight from China was around $11.4 billion in 2019. Japan’s New Leverage Rule, South Korea for Mainstream Crypto, Initiative in Crypto Valley of Asia Several other Asian countries have made crypto-related announcements this past week. In Japan, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has reportedly revealed its plans to limit the leverage in crypto margin trading to twice the deposits of traders. Local media reported that the new rule will be included in a Cabinet Office order linked to the revised Financial Instruments and Exchange Act which is expected to go into effect in April. In South Korea, the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution has proposed a number of pro-crypto measures. The committee has urged the government to integrate cryptocurrency into the country’s financial system, allowing financial institutions to directly handle and offer a wide range of crypto products, including derivatives. It also proposes listing bitcoin on the country’s stock exchange. In India, the state of Kerala is positioning itself as the blockchain hub of India, with plans to use the technology to improve a wide range of existing systems, including financial. In the Philippines, a plan to build an airport is underway in the “Crypto Valley of Asia,” an initiative of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), the government agency responsible for managing the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport. Last week, CEZA’s administrator discussed pro-crypto regulations with a Japanese minister of state. They also call for cooperation among Asian countries. What do you think of the regulatory developments covered in this roundup? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Regulatory Roundup: EU-Wide Crypto Regulations, New Rules in Europe, US, Asia appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

With over 21,000 kiosks in the U.S., Coinstar is a popular automated service for those who want to turn their fiat coins into paper cash. 3,000 of these kiosks have been integrated with Coinme to include crypto purchase functionality, and more than 100 BTC-integrated Coinstar kiosks are now newly available in the greater Sacramento, California area. Also Read: Bitcoin ATMs Installed at 5 Major Malls in the US Over 100 Kiosks Updated With BTC Purchase Capability Coinstar found an effective business model in helping people cash in their accumulated change in quick and convenient fashion. The kiosks, found at popular shopping centers and financial institutions across the U.S., allow for loose change to be converted into paper cash, turned into e-gift cards, or used for a charitable donation. Thanks to a strategic partnership between Coinstar and Coinme, 3,000 of the over 21,000 Coinstar kiosks are now revamped to allow the purchase of bitcoin core (BTC), with over 100 machines in the greater Sacramento area being the latest addition. Turning Loose Change Into Cash, Then Crypto Coinstar’s kiosk network is said to be the largest in the country, and as Coinme’s ATM and kiosk network is also extensive, the integration with Coinstar seems a noteworthy opportunity for onboarding curious users to crypto. Neil Bergquist, CEO and co-founder of Coinme stated in a January 9 press release: It’s very gratifying to meet the growing customer demand through our relationship with Coinstar, and we couldn’t ask for a better partner to help people access and utilize the power of digital currency. Coinstar’s CEO, Jim Gaherity, also commented: “There are 3,000 Coinstar kiosk locations across the country that have the Bitcoin purchase functionality and the consumer response has been very positive. We’re happy that the expansion continues with access now in the Sacramento area.” While BTC isn’t purchasable directly via loose change at the kiosks, users could theoretically acquire the crypto by first dumping in their change, getting the cash for the applicable fee, and then using said paper cash to buy BTC. Coinme ATM and kiosk locations across the U.S. A Simple Process, but With Privacy Concerns The process for turning fiat into crypto is fairly straightforward, but involves the use of vouchers, and extensive KYC requirements such as the submission of a phone number and photo ID. Users also need to have a Coinme account as part of this process. This in view, privacy valuing bitcoiners might not find the news too groundbreaking. Considering the IRS’s rabid pursuit of anyone even smelling of crypto in recent months, combined with a lack of clarity on the reporting process, some would-be new users seem to be shying away from becoming too involved. For those who wish to acquire bitcoin conveniently, and without all the privacy invasion, private trading networks like local.Bitcoin.com allow users all over the world to buy and sell bitcoin cash (BCH) via a variety of payment options, with no KYC/AML process. A new market feature has also been added, allowing users to list items for sale to be paid in BCH. What do you think of Coinme’s strategic partnership with Coinstar and the addition of more than 100 BTC purchase points in and around Sacramento? 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, 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 Coinme Adds BTC Purchase Function to Over 100 Coinstar Kiosks in California appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Understanding a complex subject should be easier with access to educational materials. With blockchain and CBDC now part of Beijing’s political vocabulary, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has issued a guide to digital currencies meant to prepare party officials for upcoming changes in the country’s financial system. Also read: China Saw $11.4 Billion in Crypto-Based Capital Flight Last Year Handbook Educates Party Functionaries About the Impact of Digital Currencies “Digital Currency: A Reader for Cadres” is part of a series of guides on various current topics, from artificial intelligence to blockchain technology, Bloomberg reported. The handbook has been released by the publishing house of the largest newspaper group in China, People’s Daily, and is now in printing for its second edition. In 200 pages, the guide acquaints readers with important aspects of digital currencies. Its 23 articles cover not only the basics but also more sophisticated matters such as the impact these currencies could have on monetary systems and global finance, the publication details. Noting their goal is to assist CPC cadres in expanding their understanding of the underlying technology, the authors have stated on the cover: Digital currency is inevitable in the course of history. The guide comes out as China prepares to complete the development of its central bank issued digital currency (CBDC). The research into the matter started about five years ago but the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) stepped up its efforts after the announcement of Facebook’s Libra project last summer. Also, a Politburo meeting in October revealed that the Chinese leadership wants the country to gain an edge in the blockchain field. No timetable has been released for the issuance of the sovereign coin yet but according to recent reports by Chinese media, the central bank has completed “top-level design, standard formulation, functional research and development” as well as “joint testing” of the digital yuan. PBOC is now focusing on establishing “stability, security, and control,” the bank’s Digital Currency Research Institute announced. Launch Date of Digital Yuan Still Unknown Despite the stated progress, a launch date was not announced. According to previously available information, the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) system, as the project is also known, will be introduced with a two-tier approach. PBOC will first issue the currency to commercial banks, which will then distribute it to the public. In December, the 8btc crypto outlet reported that the digital currency will be piloted in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub, and the city of Suzhou. Shenzhen The trials will be led by the People’s Bank of China and will be conducted with the help of four state-owned commercial banks: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BOC), and China Construction Bank (CCB). Three leading telecom operators, China Mobile, China Telecommunication and China Unicom, will also take part, the website detailed. Parallel to the development of the digital yuan, Chinese authorities have been cracking down on platforms working with decentralized cryptocurrencies, with particular focus on exchanges and companies related to ICO projects. The government has also been busy dealing with serious issues in the traditional financial system, where a liquidity crisis is brewing on the interbank lending market with Beijing intervening to bail out several small banks. The debt-to-GDP ratio of China has reached 255% in the past decade. And the latest symptom of the hurting Chinese economy manifested itself in figures showing a 7.5% drop in passenger car sales last year, the second annual decline in a row. What do you think about the digital currency guide issued by the Communist Party of China? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post China Issues Digital Currency Guide for Party Cadres appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The news that Brooklyn Nets star Spencer Dinwiddie was to roll out an Ethereum-based investment vehicle for his own contract took the NBA and crypto communities by surprise. Disregarding an NBA threat to ban him from the professional basketball league, the 26-year-old point guard – who tellingly describes himself as “a tech guy with a jumper” on Twitter – launched his unique bond on January 13 with the aid of security token platform Securitize. Also read: Close to 11 Million BTC Haven’t Moved in Over a Year An Ambitious Leap Into the Crypto World Dinwiddie’s desire to tokenize his lucrative Brooklyn Nets contract first made news in September, with the NBA quickly conveying its ire to the New York Times by citing a CBA provision that “no player shall assign or otherwise transfer to any third party his right to receive compensation from the team under his uniform player contract.” Despite fierce protestations, Dinwiddie has turned his three-year, $34.4 million contract with the Nets into an investment vehicle called Dream Fan Shares, via which he will sell 90 SD8 tokens or Professional Athlete Investment Tokens (PAInTs). There is a caveat, however: the tokens can only be purchased by qualified accredited investors who have passed various SEC and legal standards. Regulations also stipulate that the tokens – priced at $150,000 a piece – cannot be sold or traded for one year. Spencer Dinwiddie As “digital transfer agent and technology partner,” Securitize is facilitating the move, which will let Dinwiddie claim $13.5M of his contract upfront as a sort of business loan. It’s a novel idea, and it is likely that other sports stars will be watching closely to see how it plays out. It’s conceivable to imagine other athletes structuring and issuing their own debt instruments in digital token form, the size of their contracts making it simpler to bootstrap liquidity and interest using tokenized instruments. Incidentally, Dinwiddie’s three-year bond is forecasted to pay out 4.95% base interest on a monthly basis, with the entire principal dispensed at the end of the period upon maturity in a bullet payment. Dinwiddie’s initial idea – to offer dividends for investors if he opts out of his contract in the final year, switching allegiance to another team or inking a new deal with the Nets – was kiboshed by the NBA, who deemed it a form of gambling. Nonetheless, the forward-thinking player seems to have gotten most of what he craved following protracted discussions with the Association. In an attempt to further sweeten the deal for potential investors, Dinwiddie promised to take eight backers to All-Star weekend in Chicago if he’s picked for the game. Home of the Brooklyn Nets When Crypto and Sport Collide The announcement of the player’s bond-based security provoked an outpouring of opinion on social media, ranging from acclaim (“You’re pioneering a new way for athletes and fans to engage with each other”) to scorn (“This is awesome conceptually but the “accredited investor” bit is wack. It’s bullshit in legacy markets and it’s bullshit here. Keeping real folks from participating”). Tron CEO Justin Sun was in the former camp, as he inquired how to get his hands on the token. It will be interesting to see just how many parties back Dinwiddie before the investment period ends on February 10. One person who welcomed the release of SD8 tokens was Messari CEO Ryan Selkis. In his January 13 newsletter, the entrepreneur said, “I’m a net buyer of tokenized athletic contracts as a precursor to widespread ISA adoption, and view the Dinwiddie bonds as merely the first in a coming slew of high-profile contracts that leverage a much more efficient technology (crypto) than previous attempts at similar structures through the legacy securities markets.” Of course, it is not the first time that the worlds of sport and the NBA have collided. Back in 2014, Sacramento Kings became the first pro sports franchise to accept bitcoin for tickets and merchandise, a feat replicated by Portuguese soccer team Benfica last June. English Premier League teams Wolves and Newcastle United have also struck kit sponsorship deals with crypto platforms like Stormgain, while boxing champion Manny Pacquiao launched a merchandise-backed crypto (the “pac” token) in August. As for Dream Fan Shares, their website states that they are “actively working to bring additional athletes, artists, and influencers onto the platform.” What are your thoughts on Spencer Dinwiddie tokenizing his contract? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and NY Post. 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 NBA Star Spencer Dinwiddie Just Tokenized His Own Contract appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On January 13, the online bullion marketplace Onegold announced the launch of a new mobile application so customers can buy, sell or redeem precious metals at any time. Since 2018, Onegold has accepted cryptocurrencies like BCH and BTC and the firm currently gives customers a 2% discount for paying with cryptocurrencies. According to Bitpay, Onegold has seen $50 million worth of crypto payments since supporting digital assets, which represents 10% of the firm’s yearly revenue. Also Read: Close to 11 Million BTC Haven’t Moved in Over a Year Onegold Sees $50 Million in Crypto Payments Since December 2018 In December 2018, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the Apmex and Sprott owned online bullion marketplace Onegold accepting cryptocurrencies via Bitpay. At the time, Bitpay’s chief commercial officer Sonny Singh said that Bitpay and Apmex have worked together for years and when they launched Onegold, the Atlanta firm was “ready to help them accept bitcoin and bitcoin cash.” Since then, Bitpay claims cryptocurrencies have represented 10% of the firm’s online revenue and Onegold has processed $50 million in digital currency transactions. Essentially, Onegold provides a service where users can fund their accounts to purchase gold and silver, as transactions are independently verified and the company uses top-tier vaulting partners. For instance, the company claims its digital silver and gold products are fully allocated and physical metals are kept safe at the Royal Canadian Mint. Onegold clients can redeem their digital silver and gold products at any time through Apmex. The gold or silver credits from Onegold can be exchanged for physical coins, bars or rounds. At the time of writing, Onegold is offering 2% off orders for precious metals purchases via Bitpay. At the time of publication, Onegold also offers 2% off orders if people pay with cryptocurrencies via Bitpay. Since it uses the payment processor, Onegold supports BCH, BTC, ETH, and the various stablecoins Bitpay accepts. Additionally, on January 13, Onegold announced the launch of a new application that will make it easier to buy, sell, and redeem precious metals. According to the announcement, the new platform is available for Android and iOS mobile devices and the marketplace is open 24/7. “This mobile app will further enable our mission to ensure wealth preservation is conveniently available to everyone at the lowest possible total cost of ownership available on the market today,” explained Ken Lewis, Chief Executive Officer at Onegold on Monday. Dollar-Cost Average the Price of Gold and Silver Over Time Precious metals markets have seen increased activity in 2019 and on January 8, 2020 gold prices surged past the $1,600 per ounce mark after Iran allegedly fired rockets at U.S. occupied Iraqi bases. One Troy ounce of .999 precious gold touched $1,605.80 on global spot markets that day. So far, precious metals and digital assets have seen significant gains after the domino effect of war games between American forces and Iranians. Through Bitpay, Onegold accepts BCH, BTC, ETH, and three stablecoins. Onegold isn’t the only online operation that sells precious metals (PMs) for cryptocurrencies as there’s a variety of crypto-accepting providers. News.Bitcoin.com’s Kai Sedgwick recently reported on how to use cryptocurrencies in order to invest in gold. For instance, the well known gold bug Peter Schiff often tweets about how much he dislikes bitcoin but Schiffgold.com accepts BCH and BTC for PM purchases. Onegold launched its iOS and Android compatible mobile application on Monday, January 13, 2020. The report also discusses platforms like Kinesis, Currency.com, and the digital currency Digix gold token (DGT). People can also leverage companies like Goldsilver, Suisse Gold, Silvergoldbull, Apmex, JM Bullion, Roberts & Roberts, Bitgild, Vaultoro, Goldmoney, SDBullion.com, and Money Metals to purchase PMs with cryptos. Onegold’s announcement claims the new application features transparent pricing “with no hidden fees.” The Apmex owned subsidiary believes the mobile application will make it easier for PM investors to dollar-cost average their safe-haven assets. “Onegold is an ideal resource for people who would like to passively save weekly, monthly or quarterly and dollar-cost average the price of gold and silver over time,” the company’s announcement emphasizes. Onegold stresses that with the mobile app, customers can take possession of the physical bullion at any time as Apmex will deliver the products using priority mail. What do you think about Onegold’s new application for iOS and Android smartphones? What do you think about the $50 million the company raked in from cryptocurrency payments? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse or support claims made by any parties in this article. None of the information in this article is intended as investment advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Neither Bitcoin.com 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 via Shutterstock, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, Onegold.com, the Apple App Store, 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 Online Bullion Marketplace Onegold Sees $50 Million in Crypto Payments appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

According to a new research report published by Digital Asset Data, more than 10 million BTC has been sitting dormant for a whole year. Data shows that unmoved bitcoins account for roughly 60% of the current minted supply and it’s the largest number of dormant coins since the start of 2017. Also Read: Mining Report Highlights China’s ASIC Manufacturing Improvements and Dominance 10.7 Million BTC Stays Put for a Whole Year The fintech and cryptocurrency analytics company Digital Asset Data recently published findings that show the number of bitcoins that haven’t moved in a year has touched 10.7 million BTC ($86.4 billion). At press time there is 18.1 million BTC in circulation and the number of untouched coins represents around 60.5% of the current supply. Despite the large number of inactive bitcoins throughout 2019, BTC prices have seen significant volatility throughout the year. Moreover, in 2019 crypto whale watchers witnessed significant increments of BTC being moved from one wallet to another. Not to mention the BTC block subsidy is cutting in half by mid-May and the 10.7 million BTC is the largest number of bitcoins that haven’t moved since the beginning of 2017’s bull run. In addition to the number of unmoved bitcoins report by Digital Asset Data, in November the research firm Delphi Digital explained that more than 21% of BTC hasn’t moved in the last five years. The 21.6% or 3.8 million BTC is another all-time high for the network and Delphi Digital combed the blockchain’s Unspent Transaction Output (UXTO) data for its findings. “The portion of supply that hasn’t moved in at least one year started the year at 55.6 percent, peaked at the end of April at 60.8 percent, and currently sits at 58.3 percent,” the study notes. As far as two-year numbers are concerned, 38.7% of the circulating supply hasn’t moved in 24 months and that metric increased from 34% when it was recorded in December 2018. The increase of year-to-date percentage gains in terms of unspent coins gives long term holders more market leverage in regards to cyclical movements, Delphi Digital’s report stressed. “This is one of the things that distinguishes this mini-cycle from true bull and bear cycles, you don’t have long term holders cashing out as prices really take off,” Delphi Digital’s report said. “Long-term holders will dictate cyclical tops and bottoms, but it’s the short-term traders that will have a larger impact on intra-cycle prices as they gauge, among other things, the flow of new money entering the space.” Bitcoin Address Creation Touches 124 Million, While BTC’s Lifetime Sees $1 Billion in Network Fees In another report published on January 7, 2020 by the digital currency company Decentralised.co shows the creation of BTC addresses has increased since 2017. Decentralised notes that new addresses averaged 124 million since the 2017 bull run and to date there are “516,000 unique addresses that engage with the Bitcoin blockchain.” The researchers do account for a margin of error when it comes to “throwaway accounts” or temporary addresses. Additionally, similar to the reports mentioned above, Decentralised emphasizes that “fewer individuals are selling their coins, and more are testing [the] waters with small sums.” Decentralised adds: For a sense of scale, the number of people holding more than 0 bitcoin in Jan 2011 was a mere 70,0000. Today that number is north of 28 million — a 400x growth over the decade. The report called “Bitcoin’s Growth in Numbers” also underlines that in 2011 the network processed roughly 2 million transactions. To date the BTC network has seen 487 million confirmed transactions that have moved over $7.5 trillion in nominal value. That’s still a far cry from the financial incumbent payment processors ruling the world of payments today. For instance, in 2019 Visa processed roughly 150 million transactions per day while Alibaba settles around 1.5 billion transactions per day. Another interesting factoid pulled from the Decentralised report is that throughout BTC’s entire lifetime, people have paid around $1 billion in fees. When BTC’s network fees increased significantly when the unconfirmed transaction backlog grew at the height of 2017, a few of those days contributed to the majority of the $1 billion in network fees. “The highest single-day fee burn was on the 22nd of December (2017) when over $22 million worth of Bitcoin was spent in transaction fees alone,” explains the Decentralised report. What do you think about the number of unmoved bitcoins in one year representing more than 10 million BTC? What do you think about the creation of addresses and the $1 billion in network fees paid during the protocol’s lifetime? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. 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, mining rigs, mining rig manufacturers, websites, concepts, content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Delphi Digital, Digital Asset Data, Decentralised.co, Fair Use, and Twitter. Did you know you can earn BTC and BCH through Bitcoin Mining? If you already own hardware, connect it to our powerful Bitcoin mining pool. If not, you can easily get started through one of our flexible Bitcoin cloud mining contracts. The post Close to 11 Million BTC Haven’t Moved in Over a Year appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Japanese Minister Naokazu Takemoto and Philippine Cabinet member Raul Lambino of Crypto Valley of Asia recently met to discuss Asian countries’ crypto regulations. They urge the Philippine Congress to introduce legislation on cryptocurrencies and security tokens, calling for cooperation among Asian countries. Also read: Regs Roundup: SEC Actions, Crypto Tax-Free in Korea, New Chinese Laws Officials From Japan and Philippines Discuss Crypto Regulations Naokazu Takemoto, Japanese Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, visited Manila last week to meet with Secretary Raul Lambino, administrator and CEO of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), local media reported Saturday. The two officials discussed the future of fintech businesses in both countries and the Asian region, especially those related to cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and security tokens. According to the Manila Bulletin: Japanese Minister Naokazu Takemoto and Secretary Raul Lambino of CEZA urge Philippine Congress to write laws on security tokens, cryptocurrencies, and other financial technologies. Japan’s Naokazu Takemoto (right) and CEZA’s Raul Lambino met to discuss crypto regulations. CEZA is the government agency responsible for managing the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport, located at the northeastern tip of the country, surrounded by the waters of Balintang Channel, China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Lambino was appointed member of the Philippine Cabinet by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on July 5, 2017. Takemoto has been serving as Japan’s minister of state for science and technology policy since Sept. 11, 2019. Security Token Offerings and Cooperation Among Asian Countries While the Philippines currently has no law covering security token offerings (STOs), Japan is expected to revise its Payment Services Act in April to include this fundraising method, which the two officials discussed in detail. “This digitalization is expected to enable people who could not participate in the investment process to make small-scale investments,” Minister Takemoto explained. “STO is now becoming a worldwide funding method of financing, but the STO market in Asia, including Japan, has just begun to develop.” Furthermore, “To achieve the philosophy of enhancing financial markets and enriching the economy by using technologies to benefit the entire population,” the Japanese minister asserted: Cooperation between financial systems and technologies among Asian countries is essential and must be considered. National Diet of Japan STOs have attracted worldwide attention, including in Japan. Five major Japanese financial institutions — SBI Securities, Kabu.com Securities, Daiwa Securities, Nomura Securities, and Rakuten Securities — established the Japan STO Association in October 2019. New Laws Needed Security token platforms are able to set up shop in the Philippines’ Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport. CEZA currently has 25 principal Offshore Virtual Currency Exchange licensees from Europe and Asia. Among them is a Japanese security token exchange called Allex. According to the Manila Bulletin, the platform’s tokens comply with Japan’s KYC and AML standards. However, even though security tokens are issued inside the Philippines, the country cannot benefit from them due to the lack of relevant laws, Lambino pointed out, claiming: Congress needs to enact laws surrounding STOs and virtual currencies and appoint a particular government agency to have jurisdiction to supervise the implementation of this. Lambino opined that without appropriate laws, CEZA “will end up being a mere host for back offices or business processing office (BPO) for foreign fintech companies while all the buying, trading, and offering payments will be done offshore.” Allex now helps train Philippine blockchain developers on how to create security tokens. Secretary Lambino believes there is an urgent need for regulations that would help the Philippines become more competitive in this field. Referring to security tokens, he elaborated: This matter is unstoppable. It’s now being practiced and accepted by many jurisdictions, including the U.S. CEZA has built the Crypto Valley of Asia in a joint initiative with private developer Northern Star Gaming and Resorts Inc. Efforts are underway to build an airport for the crypto valley. Meanwhile, the country’s central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has authorized 13 crypto exchanges to operate in the country. Companies wanting to sell securities to Filipinos or exchange tokens into fiat currency must be registered with the BSP or the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission. Recently, the authorities in the Philippines, including the central bank, had technical help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) including in the area of crypto assets. Do you think Asian countries need better crypto regulations? Should they cooperate for better crypto oversight? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the Manila Bulletin. 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 Japan and Philippines Discuss Pro-Crypto Laws, Cooperation Among Asian Countries appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe, a diverse region sometimes referred to as the ‘Second World,’ are at different stages of their economic development and political integration with the EU or other supranational organizations. Having less established traditional sectors, looser regulations and weaker associations creates better conditions for new industries to develop there. Along with local crypto exchanges, global trading platforms have been turning their attention to Eastern Europe, catering to the needs of its population by introducing new options to buy and sell coins with local fiat currencies. Also read: Utorg Exchange Grants Access to Traders With Limited Verification Crypto Platforms Targeting Eastern European Traders The crypto space in the region has been expanding in the last few years with more ICO projects originating from Moscow than Silicon Valley at one point during the token sale boom, with over 900 crypto companies licensed in Estonia, and fivefold as many Turks than Germans owning digital coins. Crypto trading has been flourishing as well with numerous local platforms and established players now offering Eastern Europeans easy access to crypto markets. Having the opportunity to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using local fiat money and popular payment methods is undoubtedly convenient. A leading trading platform in the area is Exmo. The crypto exchange advertises itself as the largest in Eastern Europe. Its website is accessible in a number of languages spoken in the region, including Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, and Turkish. Exmo offers residents of these and other countries trading pairs with many leading cryptocurrencies such as BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, and local fiat currencies like the euro, Russian ruble, Ukrainian hryvnia, Polish zloty, and Turkish lira. It supports popular payment methods including major credit cards, SEPA transfers, and payment processors such as Advcash, Yandex Money, Qiwi, and Payeer. Currency.com puts another fiat option on the table. Since the exchange is based in Belarus, one of Europe’s crypto-friendly nations, it allows users to trade major cryptocurrencies with Belarusian rubles, beside Russian rubles, U.S. dollars and euros. Currency Com Bel LLC, the entity that owns the platform, is authorized to provide exchange services under the presidential decree “On the development of the digital economy,” which entered into force in March 2018. Crypto platform operators are registered residents of the High Technologies Park in Minsk. New platforms are also entering the region’s market, such as Utorg which is another U.K.-headquartered crypto exchange targeting Eastern Europe. It was founded last year and its users can currently trade several leading cryptos, stablecoins and tokens with three fiat currencies, the Russian ruble, Ukrainian hryvnia and U.S. dollar. The exchange supports payments via a wide range of service providers available in the region. Traders can use ordinary bank transfers, major bank cards such as Visa and Mastercard as well as Russian Mir cards, and also payment processors like Qiwi, Yandex Money, Webmoney, Advcash, Payeer, and Capitalist. For those Eastern European countries that are not part of the European Union, like the Russian Federation, Ukraine and other neighboring former Soviet nations, multiple alternatives exist. A website called Bestchange.ru lists a number of options to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using payment methods based on local fiat currencies. All you need to do is choose a cryptocurrency you want to purchase or trade and a preferred payment processor. Bestchange will then link you to dozens of platforms, including small online exchangers, which support the desired transaction. Global Exchanges Turn to Eastern European Markets Eastern Europe has gradually attracted interest from global players in the digital asset trading business. Singapore-based Huobi, for example, accepts Russian rubles through regular bank transfers since December. The deposit transactions are processed via Infinbank, a financial institution based in Uzbekistan where HBRU CIS, the entity running Huobi Russia, has managed to secure approval from the country’s authorities. The Central Asian republic legalized crypto trading and introduced a licensing regime for exchanges in 2018. Binance, the world’s leading crypto exchange, also supports purchases and sales of cryptocurrency using the Russian ruble (RUB). Rubles can be deposited and withdrawn through Advcash using the payment processor’s wallet or linked bank cards. The platform recently added several other fiat gateways for the region’s residents: Czech koruna (CZK), Bulgarian lev (BGN), Romanian leu (RON), and Polish zloty (PLN). Users of these currencies can now bind their Visa cards and purchase cryptos like BTC, ETH, XRP, and the platform’s own token, BNB. The Binance move and the expansion of exchange services tailored to meet the needs of Eastern Europeans in general represent another indication of the region’s growing importance in the crypto space. Besides established trading venues that provide traditional intermediary and custodial services, peer-to-peer exchange remains a viable and globally accessible option as well, thanks to platforms such as local.Bitcoin.com. The P2P exchange allows users to buy and sell bitcoin cash (BCH) in a non-custodial manner and they are free to create trades with any payment method. What other crypto exchanges targeting markets in Eastern Europe do you know of? Tell us in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any third party 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, Exmo, Currency.com, Huobi. 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 Eastern Europe Sees More Fiat Options for Trading Crypto appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article