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Bitcoin.com’s very own online gaming platform has a special promotion for the holiday season. Each day for the next 12 days, the players ranking in the top 10 places on the Stars leaderboard will be eligible to participate in a daily Christmas raffle. Players can win gift cards from Adidas, Columbia, Footlocker, Delta, and other major brands. Also Read: Nexo Now Offers Bitcoin Cash Instant Crypto Credit Lines Bitcoin.com Games Launches Special Promotion for Holiday Season Christmas has come early for Bitcoin.com Games users. The online casino has launched a cool new promo where during 12 consecutive days the casino will give away daily prizes. The Christmas Raffle is part of the popular Stars Leaderboard promotion. Players can now enter the Stars promotion by playing the platform’s exclusive games – Slots, Roulette and Keno – or by wagering on any of the slots available on the site. A separate leaderboard is available for players using bitcoin core (BTC) and for those who prefer playing with bitcoin cash (BCH). Both leaderboards are running with a weekly prize pool of $1,000 up for grabs. Prizes will be credited in BTC or BCH respectively. Top 10 players on the promotions’ leaderboard are automatically entered into the daily Christmas Raffles. The raffles are held at midnight every day from Dec. 14 to Dec. 25. Lucky winners will get gift cards from Adidas, Columbia, Footlocker, Delta and other major brands valued up to $300. Bitcoin Games is a secure platform that offers absolute transparency. The site allows users to enjoy the games anonymously. At the same time, players are offered two-factor authentication, password-protected accounts, and a dedicated customer support team to ensure a smooth gaming experience. Bitcoin Games offers a mobile app for Android devices so players can play all the available casino games on the go – even while waiting in line to finish the Christmas shopping checkout. Join the Stars Leaderboard promotion now and pick up extra presents in the Christmas Raffle! Check out the promotion pages for Bitcoin Games and Bitcoin Cash Games for the full terms and conditions that apply to the offer. Bitcoin.com’s online gaming platform has recently been releasing a whole range of new games, thanks to successful partnerships with leading companies in the industry. More than 50 new options have been added to the roster since early October, with even more on the way. The recently released games have been developed by popular providers from the online gaming industry such as Bgaming, Belatra, and Mr. Slotty. Many of the new options are based on game mechanics from that very popular casino attraction — the slot machine. The platform also offers a diverse range of other fun-to-play games and even has a stylized minesweeper for players to wager on. What do you think about the new holiday promotion by Bitcoin.com Games? 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 Christmas Comes Early for Bitcoin.com Games Players appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Around half of European countries, over 20, now have 0% interest rates and a few are already in negative territory. Ukraine, which has the highest benchmark interest rate on the continent, has just reduced it again, for the fifth time this year. The race between central banks to cut rates, when there is inflation, has made it costly to keep fiat money in a bank account or under the mattress. Also read: European Banks Struggle With Low Interest Rates and Strict Regulations Ukraine Slashes Interest Rate by 2 Percentage Points There are over 40 countries in Europe but only half of them nowadays have their interest rates above 0%, and just a few come close to Ukraine’s high rates. But the Eastern European nation, which has also been facing high inflation amid political turmoil, economic crisis and an unresolved military conflict, has reduced its benchmark rate five times this year. This past Thursday, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) slashed its key interest rate again, from 15.5% to 13.5%, which is its lowest level in two years. As Reuters and local media noted, the decision has been motivated by Ukraine’s inflation that is slowing faster than expected, to 5.1% year-on-year last month, a strengthening hryvnia, and prospects of new loans. Kiev reached a provisional agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday. But a new deal, expected in the first months of 2020, will depend on the progress of important reforms. For example, the IMF wants to make sure the government gets its money back from bailed out banks and ban the return of failed institutions that have been nationalized to their previous owners, as in the case with Ukraine’s largest lender, Privatbank. Ukraine has maintained double-digit interest rates since 2014, when protests led to a change of the government administration in Kiev, followed by Crimea’s annexation by Russia, and the eruption of a bitter conflict with pro-Russian separatists in the country’s Eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. Only a couple of countries in Europe come close to Ukraine’s interest rate figures, like Turkey with 12% and Belarus at 9%. Europe’s Low Interest Rate Pandemic Nations such as Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark are at the other end of the spectrum. Sweden’s key interest rate is currently at -0.25% but there have been reports of even lower rates imposed by Swedish banks on euro accounts, -0.40%. The other two countries have their interest rates set at -0.75%. Both Switzerland and Denmark have kept them below zero since early 2015 and they are currently at their record lows. None of the three countries belongs to Europe’s single currency area. According to the Trading Economics website, 21 European countries currently have 0% policy rates and the majority of them, including the region’s largest economies, are members of the Eurozone. The benchmark refinancing rate in the monetary union reached its all-time low in March 2016 and has remained there. The main deposit rate, at which banks leave money at the ECB, was cut to a record low of -0.5% in September. During its Dec. 12 policy meeting, the European Central Bank (ECB) left its key rates and stimulus measures unchanged. They are likely to remain so or be slashed even further until inflation moves closer to the 2% target. Most of these countries have a positive inflation rate, however, which averages 1% in the euro area and 1.1% for the whole European Union. In Sweden the annual inflation rate increased to 1.8% in November, from 1.6% the previous month and above market expectations of 1.7%. This means the citizens of the majority of European nations are losing on their savings every day, regardless of how they store their funds, in a bank account, in a safe deposit box, or at home. BCH, 1-year inflation rate and price. Inflation goes hand in hand with fiat money and attempts to stimulate the economy through quantitative easing and interest rate cutting is the recipe of choice for most governments nowadays. Decentralized cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, come with a limited supply. By design, bitcoin’s inflation rate follows a steady long-term downward trend. A quick look at the Bitcoin.com Charts shows that the BCH inflation rate has been hovering around 3.74% in the last month and that of BTC has negligibly increased from 3.85% in early November to 3.89% now. At the same time, the growing crypto banking industry offers interest rates that are quite higher than what you’d get in the fiat world. For example, the global financial services platform Cred lets you earn up to 10% on your BTC and BCH holdings. And let’s not forget that the prices of cryptocurrencies can increase as well. Do you think the interest rate cutting spiral is going to end in the foreseeable future? Share your expectations and thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitcoin.com. 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 The Country With Europe’s Highest Interest Rate Has Cut It 5 Times This Year appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

High-powered bitcoin miners and next-generation semiconductors go hand in hand and as process node technology grows, SHA256 hashrate follows. Coinshares’ recent bi-annual mining report highlights that newly introduced mining rigs have “as much as 5x the hashrate per unit as their generational predecessors.” Advanced chip technology has grown relentlessly and it’s significantly bolstered ASIC device manufacturing. Moreover, news from the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held on December 7-11 shows that the semiconductor industry is moving beyond the 7nm, 5nm, and 3nm processes and expects to design 2nm, and 1.4 nm chips by 2029. Also Read: Lightning Network Wiki Page Faces Removal for Lack of Notability 2019’s Bitcoin Mining Rigs Produce Far More Hashrate Than Last Year’s Models As far as the bitcoin mining industry is concerned, the ASIC device manufacturing industry is growing fast. Today’s devices produce far more hashrate than the mining rigs produced years ago and a number of them produce far more hashpower than last year’s models. Coinshares Research published a report this week that highlights how today’s mining rigs have “5x the hashrate per unit” compared to the earlier-generation units produced. News.Bitcoin.com covered the rising hashrates per unit from devices sold in 2018 and the hashrate increase in 2019 has been exponential. For instance, in 2017-2018 many mining rigs shifted from the 16nm semiconductor standard to the lower 12nm, 10nm and 7nm processes. On December 27, 2018, top bitcoin mining machines produced an average of 44 terahash per second (TH/s). Top 2018 machines included the Ebang Ebit E11+ (44TH/s), Innosilicon’s Terminator 2 (25TH/s), Bitmain’s Antminer S15 (28TH/s) and the Microbt Whatsminer M10 (33TH/s). Two of the top producing bitcoin miners manufactured in 2019. In December 2019, a number of mining devices now produce 50TH/s to 73TH/s. There are high-powered mining rigs like Bitmain’s Antminer S17+ (73TH/s), and the S17 50TH/s-53TH/s models. Innosilicon has Terminator 3, which claims to produce 52TH/s and 2800W of power off the wall. Then there’s rigs like the Strongu STU-U8 Pro (60TH/s), Microbt Whatsminer M20S (68TH/s) and Bitmain’s Antminer T17+ (64TH/s). At today’s prices and an electrical cost of roughly $0.12 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), all of these high powered mining devices are profiting if they mine the SHA256 networks BTC or BCH. At the end of the Coinshares Research mining report, the study discusses many of the next-generation miners available, alongside older machines being sold on secondary markets or still being used today. The report covers machine logistics and prices from manufacturers like Bitfury, Bitmain, Canaan and Ebang. Each mining product is given an “Assumption Rating Strength from 0 – 10,” the report notes. On December 27, 2018, top bitcoin mining machines produced an average of 44 terahash per second and today’s models produce upwards of 50-73TH/s. While Bitcoin Miners Leverage 7nm to 12nm Chips, Semiconductor Manufacturers Have a Roadmap for 2nm and 1.4nm Processes In addition to the notable performance increase with 2019 mining rigs compared to models produced last year, the semiconductor industry’s recent IEDM event shows ASIC miners will likely continue to improve as the years continue. The five-day conference underlined the growth of 7nm, 5nm, and 3nm processes within the industry, but more innovation is on the way. Slides from Intel, one of the top semiconductor manufacturers in the world, indicates the company plans to accelerate its 10nm and 7nm processes and expects to have a 1.4nm node by 2029. This week saw the first mention of the 1.4nm infrastructure in an Intel slide and anandtech.com says the node would “be the equivalent of 12 silicon atoms across.” The IEDM event slideshow from Intel also shows a 5nm node for 2023 and a 2nm node within the 2029 timeframe as well. Participants at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held on December 7-11 saw Intel’s first mention of the 1.4nm infrastructure. Right now the ASIC mining rigs produced by manufacturers like Bitmain, Canaan, Ebang, and Microbt mostly leverage 12nm, 10nm, and 7nm chips. The 2019 units that utilize these chips are producing upwards of 50TH/s to 73TH/s per unit. This means as 5nm and 3nm processes fortify in the next two years, mining devices should improve a great deal as well. It’s hard to conceptualize how fast mining rigs packed with 2nm and 1.4 nm chips will perform, but they will likely be significantly faster than today’s machines. Do you own high-powered mining hardware? If so, connect it to our powerful Bitcoin.com mining pool today. Moreover, the majority of mining companies are using chip processes by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The Taiwan semiconductor foundry plans to accelerate processes just like Intel and it’s possible that TSMC might be ahead of the game in that regard. Despite which semiconductor firm creates better chips faster, the improvements within the chip industry as a whole will most definitely bolster bitcoin mining rigs being built over the next two decades. What do you think about the growth of high powered bitcoin mining rigs between 2018 and 2019? What do you think about the improvement of 7nm, 5nm, 3nm processes and the possibility of 2nm, and 1.4nm chips by 2029? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, Bitmain, Innosilicon, and Pixabay. 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 2019’s Bitcoin Miners Are 5x Faster Than Predecessors appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

If you bought synthetix (SNX) this time last year, you don’t need to read these words. You’re already rich after your moon bag lived up to its billing and pulled a 50x. Despite the era of undiscovered gems tapering off in 2018, there’s still a handful of tokens that achieve the impossible each year, making their holders ridiculously rich. Seele, synthetix, and link were among this year’s biggest winners. Which tokens will be next to 50x in 2020? Also read: Lightning Network Wiki Page Faces Removal for Lack of Notability Digging for for Diamonds in the Dirt Glancing at this year’s best performing coins, as recorded by Coincodex, you could be forgiven for thinking astute investors were all presently sunning themselves on tropical islands, purchased with the proceeds from their ETM, with its 700 million percent gains. Most of the coins depicted here have no liquidity, and thus their percentage gains are meaningless. The reality, of course, is less glamorous: there were few buy-and-hold winning trades this year, and the coins that proved profitable had actual tradable volume, unlike En-Tan-Mo and Dragonvein with their sick percentage gains but $0 market cap. Filter Coincodex’s year-to-date (YTD) returns for the top 200 assets and the picture becomes clearer. Top of the heap, with an impressive 3,417% return, is seele, whose YTD chart looks like this: Zoom out to when seele was issued the year before, however, and its chart looks like this: As Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred, mused in The Dark Knight Rises: “There is a prison in a more ancient part of the world. A pit where men are thrown to suffer and die. But sometimes a man rises from the darkness. Sometimes the pit sends something back.” In 2019, the pit of dead ICO tokens threw something back in the form of seele, which got market made to the max on Huobi, resulting in the most impressive YTD gains of any top 200 asset. To misquote Vitalik Buterin, “Congrats on this Seele. Seriously.” Alfred in “The Dark Knight Rises” If You Bought ‘Molecular Future’ This Year, Take a Bow Aside from seele’s rocket ride from ignominity to the moon, a handful of other tokens recorded triple or quadruple percentage gains in 2019 – and some were even achieved on the basis of fundamentals, rather than exchange-related jiggery pokery. Molecular future (MOF) is something of a mystery, but it was pumped hard on Okex, resulting in a price of $1.58 per token and a YTD gain of 3,280%. Impressive. In third place comes defi favorite synthetix (SNX), perhaps this year’s overall winner given that its trajectory hasn’t been reliant on any single exchange. For a token that started the year at $0.03 and is currently trading for $1.27, SNX must down as one of this year’s best buys – and with the decentralized derivatives platform now the second largest defi protocol, with $170M locked into its ecosystem, Synthetix would appear to have a promising future. Just don’t count on it doing another 50x next year. Other tokens that have had a very good 2019 include Constellation’s DAG, up 720%, and chainlink, up 600%. After that, the quality and gains of the top performing coins diminishes sharply. Whatever next year’s market brings, be it bull or bear, a handful of coins are likely to pull a seele and go 50x. But which? Picking 2-3 winners out of 3,500 tokens is a shot in the dark that’s almost certain to fail. That didn’t stop news.Bitcoin.com from polling a number of traders and industry insiders on next year’s likeliest to succeed coins. Here are their picks. Arweave If any project has a chance of emulating Seele and going from obscurity to mainstream awareness long after its token sale has concluded, it might just be Arweave. Its token sale ended in June 2018 and the AR token has yet to reach a major exchange – Bilaxy is as good as it gets. Despite this, the Arweave mainnet has been up and running since the start of the year, and its team intensively shipping code, organizing hackathons and raising awareness of its permaweb for archiving information, from websites to tweets. In November, Arweave revealed it had secured funding from a16z crypto, Union Square Ventures, and Multicoin Capital, who have taken tokens as part of their stake in the project. Arweave appears to be that rare thing: a blockchain project solving a genuine problem – namely broken links and disappearing web content. It’s got the team, the VC backing, and the infrastructure in place. Now all Arweave needs is some liquidity for its AR token for beautiful things to happen. Kleros Justice as a Service project Kleros also had a busy year, rolling out useful products such as a generalized token curated registry (TCR). This enables anyone to create their own list of vetted vendors, merchants, products, services or places, with crowd wisdom used to gauge the validity of each entry. From rating restaurants to darknet marketplaces, the potential uses for Kleros’ TCR are vast. That alone won’t cause the value of its PNK token to rocket, but other developments might. Kleros, which was singled out for praise by Vitalik Buterin this year, is currently building out Proof of Humanity with Democracy Earth, a process for establishing identity without relying on central authorities. Perhaps more importantly, from an investor perspective, Kleros is selling the second tranche of its tokens in January, setting PNK up nicely for a year of price discovery. Elrond As a Binance IEO, Elrond needs no introduction – even if most of those who’ve traded it have no idea what the project actually does. It’s a high speed interoperable blockchain basically – nothing new there, admittedly. However, Elrond does have a couple of things in its favor: for one thing, ERD is a low sat coin (currently trading for 28 sats), and for another its mainnet is about to launch. Coupled with the Binance factor, it seems reasonable to predict price appreciation for ERD next year. Not 50x, but 2x perhaps, and in the current climate, that’s a respectable return. Pegnet and Nyzo The final two tips for 2020 come courtesy of a crypto whale who would prefer to remain anonymous. His moon bags for 2020 include Nyzo, a collaborative verification project that uses a queueing system instead of PoW or PoS, and Pegnet (PEG), an open source, mineable stablecoin network which is currently only available on Citex exchange. The odds of any of the tokens mentioned here pulling a 50x next year are vanishingly small, yet that won’t stop a small band of believers from trying their luck with these and hundreds of other mid- and microcap coins. One of them’s got to come in, right? Which tokens do you expect to do well next year? 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 Searching for Synthetix: Which Token Will Be Next Year’s 50x Winner? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A slew of Wikipedia editors would like to delete the Lightning Network (LN) Wiki page because the subject matter does not hold notability. Wikipedia editors use notability as a test to find out if a topic warrants its own article. The LN article debate on Wikipedia is still raging as a few editors believe the subject is “dredging for mainstream press coverage” while highlighting that the article does not have reliable third-party sources. Also Read: Mainstream Investment Vehicles Tied to Cryptocurrencies Grow Exponentially Lightning Network Wiki Article Questioned for Notability and Sourced Content The controversial LN scaling solution for BTC is being discussed on Wikipedia because a group of Wiki editors would like to delete the Lightning Network article for lack of notability. The discussion among Wikipedia contributors shows there’s a disagreement about the validity of the LN article. “There is a problem with notability of the subject: the citations in the article refers to self-published texts that are not acceptable for notability,” explains the editor Ladislav Mecir. “Other sources found also do not qualify as significant coverage by sources independent on the subject,” Mecir added. A few people came to the LN article’s defense and said that they think that the LN page “is sufficiently notable for WP.” “It’s fair to say that it’s one of the most important initiatives in the Bitcoin ecosystem and seems to be the only viable path for Bitcoin,” Wiki contributor ‘Jimd’ wrote. Another editor who wants to pull the entire subject from Wikipedia said he finds it difficult to take any press coverage of the LN project seriously. He further said that the ‘Bob and Carol’ explanation within the article is a better example but “still laughable.” “I’d prefer to get rid of the whole lot — Ultimately it looks like many people are having the wool pulled over their eyes by a few crooks who claim the impossible — There’s no reason for Wikipedia to get involved at all.” Another contributor said that the subject may be best suited for a broader article on consensus-less decentralized payment systems. The editor further added that the LN project would be near the bottom of the list as the project is not “Bitcoin-specific but could be used with a multitude of systems.” During the LN article deletion debate, an editor named ‘Jtbobwaysf’ said that [Wikipedia] doesn’t “remove old dead subjects.” “They are useful from a historic perspective — Also think your suggestion of a broader article would be nice, maybe we can do that when there are some other similar networks on Ethereum, etc.,” Jtbobwaysf wrote. “Or maybe they will later all be referred to as Lightning if that becomes the common name.” Greg Maxwell: ‘LN Article Has a Fringe Chance of Removal’ After this comment, Bitcoin Core and Blockstream developer Greg Maxwell stepped into the conversation. Maxwell is well known for contributing to Wikipedia but some Wiki contributors have called him an editor who “regularly makes personal attacks.” Maxwell believes the LN article should be kept and told Jtbobwaysf that “Lightning is very much not dead.” “My only point there was that effort debating the boundary of cryptocurrency notability would be better spent on things that weren’t close to obvious keeps,” Maxwell remarked. The debate continued with a few more editors throwing in their two cents about the LN article on Wikipedia. It seems a good portion of the contributors believe the sources used in the article were not up to standards. Throughout most of the commentary, there were issues about the validity of sourced content. Besides the source problem, an editor named ‘Kjerish’ believes that the LN subject “has enough notability as a data structure alone.” “The subject potentially applies to several chains (not just Bitcoin),” the editor added. After the news spread about Wikipedia editors discussing deleting the LN page, a few crypto influencers spoke about the subject on social media. “Go ahead, delete it,” tweeted Casa CTO Jameson Lopp. “The Wikipedia page for Bitcoin was deleted in July of 2010 and it wasn’t a big deal — It ended up being restored 6 months later.” When someone posted about the subject on r/bitcoin, Greg Maxwell told the creator of the thread not to “spam this sort of thing” on the Reddit forum. “Wikipedia is exceptionally unlikely to remove this article, and in the fringe chance it were removed it would only be merged into some bigger article,” Maxwell stressed. Instead of discussing the subject further the Redditor said: “All right, deleted the post.” What do you think about the Wikipedia editors who would like to see the Lightning Network article removed for lack of notability? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, Wikipedia, and 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 Lightning Network Wiki Page Faces Removal for Lack of Notability appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

At her first press conference as head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde outlined her plans to lead the ECB “ahead of the curve” in the field of digital currency. “There is clearly a demand out there that we have to respond to,” she said, referring to stablecoins. Also read: Regulatory Roundup – Bitcoin Futures Fund Approved, India’s RBI-Backed Digital Currency Lagarde’s Plans to Put ECB ‘Ahead of the Curve’ New European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde talked about her digital currency plans while explaining other monetary policy decisions at her first news conference as head of the ECB on Thursday. The press conference followed a meeting of policymakers in Frankfurt where the topic of central bank digital currencies was reportedly discussed. In answering questions regarding the Eurosystem’s digital currency, Lagarde said: My personal conviction is that given the developments we are seeing, not so much in the bitcoin segment, but in the stablecoins projects … we had better be ahead of the curve if that happens. Because there is clearly a demand out there that we have to respond to. Regarding stablecoins, she also noted: “we only know of one at the moment but there are others being explored and underway.” While the new ECB chief did not name the stablecoin she was referring to, an ECB Occasional Paper Series report published in August entitled “In search for stability in cryptoassets: are stablecoins the solution?” discusses a number of stablecoins including Facebook’s libra, tether, and nubits. Lagarde also revealed that the ECB has set up a digital currency task force and will accelerate its digital coin efforts, drawing on research by the eurozone’s central banks that have spent resources on studying central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). She proceeded to outline her plans. “We will identify number one the purpose that we have with that,” the former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief explained. “Are we trying to reduce cost? Are we trying to cut out the middleman? Are we trying to have inclusive finance at no cost? There’s a whole range of objectives that can be pursued. So I think we will start by doing that.” Next, she elaborated, “we will identify the technicalities of it all, which is not a given, particularly when you talk about the Euro system.” The new ECB president concluded: I think we’re trying to do that by mid-2020. ECB’s Own Digital Currency The ECB has also reportedly been looking into the prospect of issuing its own digital currency that would give the holders direct claims on the central bank. Several countries have similarly increased their efforts in this area following the announcement of the Libra project in June by Facebook, which was met with resistance from many regulators. The European Council and the European Commission jointly issued a statement last week stating that “no global ‘stablecoin’ arrangement should begin operation in the European Union until the legal, regulatory and oversight challenges and risks have been adequately identified and addressed.” Furthermore, the ECB indicated last week that it will develop its own digital currency if the private sector cannot make cross-border payments faster and cheaper. At the aforementioned press conference, Lagarde also talked about the Eurosystem’s existing digital payment frameworks: TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement) and PEPSI (The Pan European Payment System Initiative). “We have several items that are completely digitalized that are not at the front end, and that the bank’s clients do not perceive as being in operation,” she asserted. “They deliver in digital terms the operations of clearing and settling, sometimes in one single operation,” she added, emphasizing that through these systems, “settlement and clearing are actually taking place instantly.” Noting that some countries are not using the systems, she affirmed that she “will continue to push” for their usage. Progress on Central Bank Digital Currencies Several countries worldwide have been studying the prospect of introducing their own central bank digital currency, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported. China, for example, has said several times that it is working on a digital yuan. While the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said that there is no timetable for issuing one, there are reports that the Chinese government is preparing to test its digital currency. “I think there is also great interest outside our regional area. I know for instance that Canada, the U.K., other countries way beyond are certainly looking deeply into that to see if it makes sense, what purpose it serves and how we can best deliver on it,” Lagarde said at the Thursday press conference. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has suggested that a global central bank digital currency might replace the dollar as the international reserve currency one day. Last week, the British Virgin Islands reportedly unveiled some details of its digital currency to be pegged 1:1 against the U.S. dollar for use within the territory. However, some countries do not see the benefits of issuing their own central bank digital currencies just yet. In the U.S., Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said that they do not see a need to create a digital dollar, at least for the next five years. Nonetheless, the Federal Reserve is studying the costs and benefits of issuing one. The Bank of Japan has recently released a study on the legal impact of such currency but concluded that the bank is not looking to issue one currently. South Korea is another country that is taking a wait-and-see approach. Do you think Lagarde will be able to lead the ECB ahead of the curve in the crypto space? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Reuters. 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 Lagarde Sees Demand for Stablecoins, Plans to Put ECB ‘Ahead of the Curve’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

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What is the second realm? It’s both an abstract and concrete “place” parallel to here, where temporary autonomous zones (TAZ) provide a chance to escape the burning surveillance spotlight of the state and brutal law enforcement culture, and allow for at least temporary exercises of human rights and freedom. A TAZ may allow for free and private trade of crypto and other goods, use of substances, and freedom of speech unafforded by the state. As governments worldwide crackdown violently on protestors more and more, these decentralized, concrete nodes of freedom become increasingly essential to the true proliferation of liberty in our lifetimes. Also Read: New Cypherpunk Podcast Debuts Discussing Cryptoanarchy The Second Realm Sometimes the best way to defeat one’s enemy is to remain quiet and just do what you want. The protestor shouting in the street and lobbing rocks at riot cops may not be morally amiss, but ultimately a club to the face, pepper spray, jail time or a bullet awaits him. Begging tyrannical governments to please give some more leeway to exercise natural rights ultimately amounts to further empowering the control freaks at the top. After all, how would you feel as a ruler to see hundreds of thousands standing below in the streets, begging and yelping for mere permission to have their rights back? The power dynamic is clear. Though the exact body count is disputed, a look at what’s happening in Iran with the recent lethal crackdown on gasoline price protestors shows who is ultimately in control. Similarly, protests and demonstrations continue in Hong Kong. Though some semblance of good seems to have been won there, struggle through police brutality and reported protestor violence against Beijing supporters has led to little but another form of slavery-lite. To the ignorant, flag-waving praise of the brutal American regime, complete with continued submission to mob rule, democratic governance. In another example, residents of India in recent months have not been able to access their own bank accounts, though they’ve demonstrated and petitioned persistently. Protest is typically a first realm strategy. The second realm takes a much more direct approach. We don’t ask, we take what is rightfully ours. The second realm is both abstract and concrete, and its definition varies from place to place. Though nothing is a one-size-fits-all solution in scale or quality for the above listed woes currently plaguing the earth, the second realm focuses on individuals, and what they can do right now to take a little power back for themselves. Temporary Autonomous Zones TAZs can be both physical, brick and mortar locations or more virtual and cyber spaces. A TAZ might be a private club, abandoned shipping container, or one’s own inconspicuous house where anarchists meet on weekends. It could be a darknet website, an OTC trading platform, a campground for a weekend, or a moving train car. Though a more conspicuous example, it can also be an event, such as the recent Don’t Comply activists’ illegal feeding and sheltering of the homeless in Dallas, Texas. Anywhere that is generally out of the purview and attention of the state, or which becomes more of a hassle to investigate and invade than to just let it be, can be a useful TAZ. In the case of the Texas activists, police interference with the legally armed lawbreakers would likely be much more costly both physically and reputationally than simply letting them function in peace. In fact, what the second realm affords is a chance to exercise freedom in the same way that the state does. Backdoor meetings, quiet alliances, and private favors and trades. It cannot be said that top makers and enforcers of the state’s laws are truly beholden to those same rules. They function largely in anarchy. Why not allow good people the same freedom? We just released a new episode of the Cypherpunk Bitstream podcast where we talk about "The Second Realm": Is more liberty possible? Parallel systems, conflict management, TAZs, and The Sovereign Individual. https://t.co/UUSkEOvvsC Hosts: @TheRealSmuggler & @thefrankbraun pic.twitter.com/hPC33NmUwi — Frank Braun (@thefrankbraun) December 11, 2019 Unobtrusive Non-Compliance Cryptoanarchists Frank Braun and Smuggler have recently released the second episode of their new Cypherpunk Bitstream podcast and go in-depth on the subject of the second realm. A point they repeatedly emphasize is the utility of blending in and remaining outwardly polite — as well as being a ‘non-good’ target for law enforcement. This goes hand-in-hand with maintaining good relationships with those surrounding oneself. Smuggler details: Give them a story that is not too wrong … Keep a certain mystery, don’t tell everything, but give the plausible and unsuspicious part of what you do … Just be a good neighbor … build relationships, because they’re your allies. He goes on to detail an episode where law enforcement was snooping around his community, and good relationships with those in the area helped to disincentivize further state interest (presumably in non-violent activities the state deems illegal). Braun and Smuggler note the value of impersonal non-compliance. Give a fake name. Don’t get hot-headed and shout about your right not to give it. Give a real name but refuse a search. Make yourself a “non-threatening” pain in the ass that isn’t worth the state’s time and resources. This can be part of the essence of functioning effectively in the second realm. Free Trade and Free Association Second realm strategies don’t have to be illegal. Free and private trade of crypto can be afforded to individuals everywhere via non-KYC, encrypted internet trading platforms and private chats. Whether or not the individuals then choose to report their dealings to a violent agency like the IRS is up to them and only them. Decentralized exchanges also afford crypto enthusiasts the ability to trade more freely, without jumping through the cumbersome, unethical hoops imposed by a violent, non-individual-self-ownership-respecting state. The second realm affords traders the ability to buy and sell in person, privately. If person A wants to sell a plant like cannabis, and B has the crypto to pay, they might meet in any TAZ and make their transaction with the lowest possible risk of state interference. Also with the lowest risk of attributability. Meeting in a crowded TAZ, in an urban environment for example, makes it harder for law enforcement to pinpoint any “guilty” party associated with the plant matter should they invade. A Network of TAZ ‘Nodes’ Critics of the second realm strategy might say it’s a fantasy. A kind of libertarian live action role play which ultimately has little effect on the tyranny of the state. But look where centuries of riots and protests have put humanity. The global economic and social situation at present is dire, with blatant abuse of human rights becoming more and more commonplace. One small shipping container facilitating disobedience and freedom for a few people may not seem like much, but multiply this “node” by a thousand, and then a hundred thousand, and that concrete feeling of freedom inspired by direct experience — and the network effect of disempowering the state and its culture via non-participation — becomes clear. In the same way a decentralized network like Bitcoin has gained value and ubiquity to the point of being virtually unstoppable — and this in parallel, and not in direct opposition to, existing monetary systems — so can “encrypted people” around the world exercise freedom and liberty now, with a little knowledge and awareness, by creating their own second realms. There is always risk to such disobedience. There is also great personal and societal risk in continuing to comply with anti-human laws and regulations. Each individual must decide what is right for them, of course. That said, a whole decentralized world of tiny nodes would be much freer than the monolithic, centralized violence we experience at present. And like cryptocurrencies, people could pick and choose freely which social nodes and networks they’d like to participate in, instead of being forced into non-consensual relationships, as is the current dysfunctional model under statism. What are your thoughts on the second realm? 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, iarecottonstudio, fair use. You can now purchase Bitcoin without visiting a cryptocurrency exchange. Buy BTC and BCH directly from our trusted seller and, if you need a Bitcoin wallet to securely store it, you can download one from us here. The post Iran, Hong Kong, India: Failed Protests Point to Need for Crypto-Anarchy ‘Second Realms’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. 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These days bitcoin and a variety of other digital assets are now being traded as funds and traditional equity holdings. The landscape of crypto investment vehicles has changed significantly as institutional and retail investors don’t need direct exposure to cryptocurrencies in order to invest in this technology. Also Read: Gocrypto SLP Token Starts Trading on Bitcoin.com Exchange Traditional Investment Products Tethered to Digital Assets Bitcoin has been around for more than a decade and the digital asset has invoked the creation of trusts, exchange-traded products, cash-settled futures, and investment funds. Investment products like these are tied to cryptocurrencies like BTC but there’s a slew of others that track baskets of coins and single assets like ETH, BCH, and XRP. Derivatives products allow investors to trade crypto-based futures and options adding a whole new landscape to digital currency markets. For products like these, customers don’t need to hold the cryptocurrency or be concerned about storage as the exposure is quite different than traditional crypto spot markets. Crypto Products Managed by Grayscale, CME Group, Erisx, Amun AG, Ledgerx, and Wisdomtree One of the earliest investment vehicles tethered to BTC is Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC:GBTC) which launched on September 25, 2013. Originally GBTC was an investment for accredited investors only but the product eventually received FINRA approval so eligible shares could trade publicly. The Trust is not an exchange-traded fund (ETF) per se, but the product is modeled in a similar fashion. GBTC can be traded on the over-the-counter market OTCQX and since the trust’s launch, Grayscale has created a variety of other investment solutions for other cryptocurrencies. Currently, there’s the Bitcoin Cash Trust, Ethereum Trust, Ethereum Classic Trust, Litecoin Trust, Stellar Lumens Trust, Horizen Trust, Zcash Trust, XRP Trust, and the Digital Large Cap Fund. Investors can also purchase bitcoin exchange futures offered by the global markets company CME Group. The company announced it was offering BTC-based futures on October 31, 2017, and investors have been able to trade the derivatives product since December 2017. Essentially CME Group’s BTC futures are cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR). The BRR allows the exchange to reference the daily rate of BTC prices measured in USD. Each contract unit is equal to five bitcoins and with a margin rate of 35%, investors can trade the BTC product on CME Globex and CME Clearport. Investors interested in crypto futures products can also trade with Bakkt, but the offerings are physically settled futures. Additionally in July, Erisx was approved by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and granted a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) license. Ledgerx was also CFTC approved a week prior by receiving a designated contract market (DCM) license so the firm can provide new derivatives products. More futures contracts that utilize bitcoin cash (BCH) will soon be available at a CFTC-regulated exchange during the first quarter of 2020. News.Bitcoin.com just reported on Amun AG getting its base prospectus approved by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA). Right now Amun manages nine exchange-traded products (ETPs) that are traded on Swiss Bourse. The company offers the Amun Bitcoin Suisse ETP (ticker: ABBA) a fund that tracks prices for both ETH and BTC. Alongside this, Amun’s other index ETPs consist of the ‘Hodl’ crypto basket, the Bitwise Select 10, and the Sygnum Platform Winners ETP. Amun also offers six single digital currency tracking ETPs for BCH, BNB, BTC, XRP, ETH, and XTZ. Investors can obtain Amun products on the Swiss exchange SIX and after the SFSA approval Amun plans to expand into more European markets. Another ETP listed on Swiss Bourse is Wisdomtree’s physically-settled ETP which was recently listed on the stock exchange. The New York-based Wisdomtree ETP called BTCW allows people to invest in BTC “without needing to set up with a custodian themselves.” ETPs and Traditional Finance Applications Changed the Precious Metals Landscape, Will It Do the Same to Cryptocurrencies? On December 7, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the Stone Ridge Trust VI registration and the firm is cleared to launch the NYDIG Bitcoin Strategy Fund. The fund invests in BTC futures contracts that are cash-settled on CFTC registered exchanges. A similar fund from France launched on December 6 when the French asset management firm Napoleon AM launched the “Napoleon Bitcoin Fund.” The fund is only available to residents of France and it requires a $110,000 buy-in. Just like the Stone Ridge Bitcoin Strategy Fund the Napoleon Bitcoin Fund will use CME Group-based cash-settled BTC futures. Just like precious metals markets in the eighties, digital currencies are finding a home within traditional finance. Exchange-traded products, trusts and other types of investment funds transformed gold and precious metals markets 16 years ago. During the late nineties, precious metal-based funds started to grow exponentially, but the first gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) didn’t launch until March 28, 2003. The same thing is happening with bitcoin and other digital currencies within the cryptoconomy. Even though there’s a wide range of traditional investment vehicles tied to crypto many speculators are patiently waiting for a U.S. approved Bitcoin ETF. So far, after many attempts from myriad firms the U.S. regulator (SEC) still hasn’t approved a Bitcoin ETF. Despite the lack of a regulated ETF in the U.S., firms like Amun, Bakkt, Grayscale, CME Group, Wisdomtree, and others still provide traditional investment vehicles tied to crypto. What do you think about all the traditional investment products that utilize cryptocurrencies? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Grayscale, CME Group, Amun AG, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, and 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 Mainstream Investment Vehicles Tied to Cryptocurrencies Grow Exponentially appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Fintech companies in the Federal Republic are quickly moving to develop and offer custodial solutions for digital assets under the new German legislation that will allow banks to store, transfer and trade cryptocurrencies next year. Berlin-based Solarisbank has established a subsidiary that will focus exclusively on the niche. The new entity and another German startup, Finoa from Potsdam, are planning to apply for new crypto custody licenses. Also read: Skrill Now Lets You Swap BTC for BCH Solaris Digital Assets to Apply for Bafin License As an important partner of crypto companies in Germany and Europe, Solarisbank aims to be among the first financial institutions in the Federal Republic to start keeping cryptocurrencies. The tech company maintains a digital banking platform to which other businesses can connect and use its API to build and offer their own financial products and services. It obtained a German banking license in 2016 which allows it to operate also in other jurisdictions in the European Economic Area (EEA). Solarisbank has been involved with important projects in the European crypto space such as the development of the crypto trading app Bison and the launch of the digital asset trading platform BSDEX by the Boerse Stuttgart stock exchange. Its partnership with cryptocurrency banking provider Bitwala allows customers in 31 EEA countries to have a German bank account with an integrated bitcoin wallet. The new subsidiary which was presented Wednesday will allow it to take full advantage of the new German anti-money laundering law permitting banks to hold cryptocurrencies. Solaris Digital Assets will offer crypto custody services in compliance with the regulatory requirements of Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin), the leading German business daily Handelsblatt reported. To be able to do so, the entity is going to apply with Bafin for one of the newly introduced licenses for custodial activities in 2020. Cryptocurrency storage solutions will be the new company’s main product at the initial stage but the subsidiary plans to expand its offerings in the future. Michael Offermann, Managing Director of Solarisbank’s Blockchain Factory, told the newspaper: We have been working intensively on crypto custody for a year and a half. With the new regulation, a good time has come to start. After all, we are not a research institute but a commercial bank. Bringing Fundamental Change to the Financial Market According to the publication, Solarisbank will remain true to its well established approach to provide white label solutions. The company will offer the new service only to other financial institutions and business clients while private customers will not be able to open a direct account with the Solaris Digital Assets subsidiary. “So far, we have done well with our focus on business customer offerings. Our partners keep in contact with end customers and that should remain so,” Offermann stressed. The Solarisbank executive believes that digital assets will fundamentally change the financial market. “As soon as the purchase and safekeeping of bitcoin and company becomes easier, we expect strong growth,” he added. Michael Offermann described the decision to create a separate entity instead of offering crypto custody directly through Solarisbank as a good move in case the regulatory environment in Germany changes again. Since its establishment about three years ago, the fintech company has more than tripled its revenues to €7.4 million in 2018. At the end of last year, Solarisbank’s balance sheet totaled €120 million, Handelsblatt remarks. Its success is part of the rapid development of the crypto banking sector in the past few months and years that led to the introduction of a variety of new services in the space. Platforms like Cred, for example, offer bitcoin enthusiasts an opportunity to earn up to 10% on their BTC and BCH holdings through custodial services. Another German startup that’s been working on a new crypto storage product is the Potsdam-based Finoa, which already operates as a crypto depository and claims to be serving over 50 professional investors. The company hopes to receive a provisional license from Bafin around the end of the year and, like Solarisbank, is going to apply for a full crypto custody license in 2020. Do you think we are going to see more crypto custody services in Europe following the adoption of the new German legislation? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you need a reliable bitcoin mobile wallet to send, receive, and store your coins? 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 German Fintechs Rush to Offer Crypto Custody Services Under New Law appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

As the end of 2019 approaches, Coinshares Research has published its bi-annual mining report that contains informative research and observations about the bitcoin mining industry. Since Coinshare’s last report published in June, BTC’s hashrate grew by 50 exahash per second (EH/s) and the firm believes a decent portion of the power stems from China. Also Read: Bakkt Launches Bitcoin Options in US, Futures in Asia China Captures 65% of BTC’s Processing Power, Province of Sichuan Commands 54% With crypto market prices seemingly in a slump, one would think that BTC miners would slow down. However, this hasn’t been the case this year, and despite the turbulent markets, BTC’s hashrate has grown monstrous. On December 12, Coinshares Research revealed some new statistics on the state of bitcoin mining today and a lot has changed since the last report. Of all the consensus algorithms, BTC’s proof-of-work (PoW) miners dominated by both security spend and total revenue. Moreover, the network’s processing power jumped by 50EH/s since the firm’s last bi-annual mining report. “Since our last report of June 2019, the hashrate has nearly doubled, from approximately 50 EH/s to almost 90 EH/s, having peaked at more than 100 EH/s,” Coinshares’ report details. “During this period the Hashrate grew somewhat slower than the 5-year average — a period which roughly corresponds to the start of the ‘industrial era’ of Bitcoin mining — but significantly faster than both preceding 6-month periods.” The Bitcoin mining trends research notes that the rising hashrate is due to a combination of stronger BTC prices since the $3,000 range lows and next-generation bitcoin miners. Coinshares says that next-generation mining rigs produced by Microbt, Bitmain, Canaan, and Ebang produce “as much as 5x the hashrate per unit as their generational predecessors.” Between November 2018 and June 2019, Coinshares Research saw capital transfers and bankruptcies in the mining industry but the last two quarters have seen “expansion.” A bitcoin mining facility in the desert outside of Tehran. “What we have seen is some movement of previous-generation hardware to Iran and the establishment of Kazakhstan as a major mining region,” the study underlines. With prices on the rebound, next-generation bitcoin miners, and new mining territories, Coinshares still sees a lot of mining in China. “We have reasons to believe the lion’s share of the newly deployed hardware has been predominantly installed in China,” the company’s research reveals. The report adds: Regardless of the reasons, the effect is that the current Chinese hashrate ratio is likely higher than in June 2019. While we expect this ratio to fall again as latest-generation hardware further makes its way into the non-Chinese market, at the time of writing, as much as 65% of Bitcoin hashpower resides within China – the highest we’ve seen since we began our network monitoring in late 2017. According to Coinshares, the remaining 35% of BTC miners stem from regions like Washington, New York, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Siberian Federal District of Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Iran. Concentrations of global bitcoin miners. China captures 65% of BTC’s processing power. Industry-Wide Renewables Penetration Stands at 73% Coinshares’ last report noted that 74% of the world’s bitcoin mining operations are driven by renewable energy and since then data has scarcely changed. The researchers’ new estimate for industry-wide renewables penetration stands at 73% today. Coinshares assumes that it depends on location but certain areas such as New York State and Texas utilize renewable energy. The province of Sichuan commands 54% of BTC’s hashrate. “Conversely, however, we also know anecdotally that miners in Kazakhstan – where there does exist a small amount of renewable energy – are all mining on coal,” the researchers suggest. The combination of global mining location estimates and regional renewables penetrations gives Coinshares researchers the impression that the “Bitcoin mining industry is heavily renewables-driven.” Next-generation miners stemming from manufacturers like Bitmain, Canaan, Microbt, and Ebang have helped bolster BTC’s hashrate. The 15-page report indicates that there was significant growth in the latter half of the year as far as bitcoin mining is concerned. Further, high-powered mining rigs have bolstered the network’s overall hashrate even more so. “Hardware efficiency keeps rising in line with its 5-year trend — an exponential increase where efficiency increases by an order of magnitude(‘does a 10x’) roughly every four years,” the study notes. Coinshares’ report concludes that BTC mining is acting as a “global electricity buyer of last resort” and because of that the industry “tends to cluster around comparatively under-utilised renewables infrastructure.” What do you think about Coinshares’ bi-annual mining report? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Coinshares, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, and Bitmain. 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 Mining Report Shows 65% of Bitcoin’s Hashpower Stems From China appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Croatian Post, the biggest provider of postal services in the Republic of Croatia, is now offering a cryptocurrency exchange service at 55 post offices throughout the country. Currently, five cryptocurrencies are supported. This follows a successful implementation and positive results of a pilot program at a few branches. The Post found interest in this service and plans to offer additional crypto services in the future. Also read: Regulatory Roundup – Bitcoin Futures Fund Approved, India’s RBI-Backed Digital Currency 55 Croatian Post Branches Can Exchange Crypto Croatian Post announced on Wednesday that its customers can now exchange five cryptocurrencies for Croatian kuna at 55 post offices throughout the country. Croatian Post is the biggest provider of postal services in Croatia. In addition to offering postal, financial, retail, and insurance services, the Post declared: Starting December 11, all Croatian and foreign service users will be able to convert their cryptocurrencies to HRK in just a few simple steps. The announcement explains that once a customer submits a crypto exchange request, “a QR code will be scanned and you will receive cash at a post office.” Currently, five cryptocurrencies are supported: bitcoin core, ether, stellar, XRP, and EOS. The crypto exchange calculator on the Croatian Post website. Croatian Post’s website lists all of the 55 post offices with the crypto exchange service and provides a calculator for customers to find out how much HRK they will receive from the Post for exchanging their cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency exchange is carried out in cooperation with Electrocoin, a Croatian crypto brokerage and payment processing provider. Noting that “Digitization is one of our development strategies and a driver of numerous business projects,” the Post further announced: In the future, we also plan to introduce the option to buy cryptocurrencies at Croatian Post’s post offices, thus making them the central points for cryptocurrency transactions across Croatia. Map of Croatian Post’s branches with the crypto service shown on the Post’s website. Successful Pilot Project and Other Countries Croatian Post currently has 1,016 post offices, 2,135 counters, and more than 10,000 employees, according to its website. The crypto exchange service launch at 55 post offices follows “a successful implementation and positive results of the pilot project for cryptocurrency exchange in post offices in Zadar,” the Post detailed, adding: The pilot project has shown that there is an interest for this type of service, which is why Croatian Post will introduce the service of cryptocurrency exchange at post offices across the country. The same five cryptocurrencies were offered in the pilot project, which was implemented in three post offices in Zadar, a city on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast. “In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of cryptocurrency users, who very often plan to travel to those places where they can convert their digital money to the national currency,” the Post elaborated on Wednesday. “Due to a wide range of possibilities this service offers, the numerous guests visiting Croatia will find our cities even more interesting.” Post offices in a few other countries have been offering similar services such as in Liechtenstein and Austria. In February, Liechtensteinische Post started selling BTC. Since then, ETH, LTC, and XRP have been added and the service is currently available at post offices in Vaduz and Schaan. In Austria, over 400 Austria post office branches and about 1,350 post partner stores throughout the country sell Bitpanda crypto vouchers which can be redeemed online, Bitpanda’s website details. Croatians can also trade BCH on Bitcoin.com’s non-custodian, peer-to-peer marketplace. What do you think of Croatian Post offering a crypto exchange service at 55 post offices? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Croatia Post. 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 Croatian Post Now Offers Crypto Exchange Service at 55 Branches appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The private details of 15 million bank debit cards in Iran have been published on Telegram in the largest banking security incident in the country’s history. Iranian authorities so far try to blame the breach on common criminals but cyber security experts suspect it was the work of intelligence agencies from the U.S. or Israel. Also Read: Global Crypto War Is Heating up – Iran Next in Line With Its Own Gold-Backed Coin Millions of Iranians’ Cards Exposed on Telegram As if people needed another reason to get away from the insecure current financial system, it appears that banks may now be on the front lines of a global conflict waged with cyber warfare where personal accounts are a legitimate target. The details of 15 million debit cards in Iran have been exposed online in the largest financial security breach in the history of the country, according to local media reports. The exposed accounts belong to clients of the three largest Iranian banks, Mellat, Tejarat and Sarmayeh, and they represent almost 20% of the country’s entire population. “This is the largest financial scam in Iran’s history,” reported Aftab News. “Millions of Iranians are worried to find their names among the list of hacked accounts.” On Sunday Iran’s information and telecommunications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, claimed that the banks’ systems were not hacked and that the personal data was simply stolen by a disgruntled contractor with access to the accounts, for extortion purposes. However, cyber security experts suspect it was the work of intelligence agencies from the U.S. or Israel according to a report in the New York Times. Tejarat Bank, Tehran The Iranian debit cards started to be exposed online on November 27, with private information posted on a Telegram channel named “Your banking cards” according to the reports. The data on the Telegram channel included the names of account holders as well as their account numbers. The attackers also added instructions on how anyone could use the information to make fake cards for themselves. The Telegram channel offered contradictory explanations for the real intent of the hack. On the one hand the attackers claimed that they demanded money from the banks to prevent them from publishing the card details but have been ignored. On the other hand they wrote “we will burn the reputation of their banks the same way we torched their banks,” trying to link themselves to the Iranian people who reportedly burned over 700 banks across the country in recent protests. Banks Now Legitimate Target in Global Cyber Warfare? A growing list of governments is reportedly engaged in some form of cyber warfare in recent years including Iran, Russia, China, North Korea, the U.S. and Israel. Attacks by state intelligence agencies have been carried out against civilian targets such as nuclear plants and electric infrastructure as well as the financial system. The U.S. for example accuses Iran of major cyber attacks against American targets including Bank of America, JP-Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, US Bank and PNC Bank. Assuming that the latest attack on banks in Iran came from the country’s foreign adversaries, the goal seems to be to create financial panic among the populace that is already losing trust in the government’s ability to stabilize the economy. However, the civilians of Iran’s rival nations could also soon learn how exposed they are too, if the country decides to retaliate against their banks again. Clear Sky, a cyber security company that helps protect many major Israeli financial institutions, issued a warning last week to credit card companies in Israel to be on alert for a possible Iranian retaliation. Boaz Dolev, the chief executive officer of Clear Sky, told the New York Times that the large scale of the cyber attack in Iran suggested that those behind it have a “high technological capability, which is usually at the hand of state intelligence services.” If the Iranian debit cards hack was indeed part of a larger cyber warfare campaign it doesn’t seem to be letting up. On Wednesday Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi announced that a massive cyber attack against Iran’s electronic government systems had been thwarted. “Recently, a highly organized and state-sponsored cyberattack was carried out against our e-government infrastructures, which was successfully identified and repelled by the country’s cyber security shield,” the minister told Iranian reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting. “The attack was really massive. I can’t disclose any details right now, but all aspects of the attack have been already discussed and there will be certainly a report on it later. I can’t say the attack was carried out by which country right now,” he added. What do you think about the possibility that the U.S. or Israel attacked Iranian banks and exposed the private details of 15 million debit cards? 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 15 Million Debit Cards Exposed as Iranian Banks Fall Victim to Cyber Warfare appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The New York State Department of Financial Services, the Bitlicense regulator, has published a proposed framework for licensed companies seeking to list new coins. This is the first time the regulator has proposed changes to its crypto regulation in five years. Among the changes, licensees will be able to self-certify the compliance of their new coins without having to obtain prior approval from the regulator. Also read: SEC Approves Bitcoin Futures Fund First Regulatory Changes in 5 Years The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) published “proposed guidance regarding the adoption or listing of virtual currencies” on Wednesday. “To provide regulatory clarity and efficiency, and to ensure that our approach to regulating virtual currency businesses reflects the realities of an evolving market,” the DFS announced: We are reviewing our virtual currency regulations and the manner in which they are implemented. The department started regulating the crypto industry in July 2014. So far, two dozen Bitlicenses or trust charters have been granted to crypto companies to operate in the state of New York. The regulator explained that some of its licensees have asked to list new coins in addition to those listed in their initial applications with the DFS. The department is now seeking comments from all interested parties and the general public regarding two proposed coin adoption or listing options it wants to make available to licensees. Comments should be submitted by Jan. 27, 2020. The Proposed Framework Firstly, the DFS proposes creating a webpage listing all of the coins it has pre-approved for all licensees to list without having to obtain prior approval. The list “may be updated from time to time, as long as such listed coins have not been subject to any modification, division, or change after their listing on the DFS web-page,” the regulator detailed, adding: Coins currently contemplated for the list include bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, ether classic, litecoin, ripple, paxos standard, and Gemini dollar. Secondly, the regulator is proposing a framework that allows the listing policy to be tailored to a licensee’s specific business model and risk profile to create a firm-specific listing policy. The DFS clarified: Upon approval, the company may self-certify the listing of new coins on an ongoing basis, consistent with the company’s approved policy, with prior notice to the department and without the need for prior approval. The DFS reiterated that licensees that do not have DFS-approved company coin-listing policies are required to seek its prior approval in order to offer coins that are not on its approved list. Furthermore, all licensees “are required to keep DFS informed, no later than at the time of their next quarterly filing, of all coins to be used or offered in connection with their Virtual Currency Business Activities.” A licensee’s coin-listing policy “should consist of robust procedures that comprehensively address all steps involved in the review and approval of virtual currencies in connection with the Virtual Currency Business Activities of the licensee,” the DFS described. The policy must be tailored to the licensee’s “specific business model, operations, customers and counterparties, geographies of operations, service providers, and the use, purpose and specific features of the coins being considered. It should also include procedures for notifying DFS of new coin listings.” What do you think of the New York regulator’s proposed coin listing policy? 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 as 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 NY Regulator Proposes Relaxing New Coin Listing Requirements appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

According to a recent press release from IDEG Investment Limited, “Asia’s First Bitcoin Trusts” have been launched “as a traditional and comfortable way for ‘old money’ to invest in digital assets.” The two trusts, Asia Bitcoin Trust I and Atlas Mining Trust I, reportedly allow for investors to gain wrapped exposure to bitcoin and to participate in mining profit sharing, respectively. The total size of the trusts, according to IDEG, stands at $200 million, with Coinbase Custody acting as custodian for both. Also Read: Bakkt Launches Bitcoin Options in US, Futures in Asia New Trusts for the Asian Market IDEG, a “trading platform that bridges the worlds of fiat currencies and digital assets” made a formal press announcement posted to ACN Newswire Dec. 8, stating: “IDEG Investment Ltd, a professional digital asset management company, announced on Nov. 27 in Hong Kong the launch of Asia Bitcoin Trust I and Atlas Mining Trust I, two trusts designed as a traditional and comfortable way for ‘old money’ to invest in digital assets.” While some are calling IDEG the ‘Grayscale’ of Asia, Asia Bitcoin Trust I will be an actively managed investment vehicle, unlike the passively managed Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. According to IDEG CEO Kevin Yang, “We’ve been in the quantitative trading business for a long time. Some of our core members have been trading digital assets since 2013 … As the investment manager of the Trust, IDEG will apply a range of hedging and arbitrage strategies in order to gain more Bitcoin for the investors and meanwhile effectively control the risk of drawdowns.” IDEG Founder Raymond Yuan stated: It’s time for the institutional investors to include digital assets in their asset allocation strategies. Our positioning is to be a bridge to connect traditional investors and digital assets with the highest transparency and the highest security in the industry. Getting Old Money Into Crypto and Mining The two investment vehicles focus on different areas. Asia Bitcoin Trust I focuses on actively managed bitcoin investment, providing “accredited and institutional investors compliant, secure, and professionally wrapped bitcoin exposure supported by selected service providers.” Atlas Mining Trust I aims at helping institutional and legacy money enter into bitcoin mining profits. According to Yuan: “The mining business is quickly evolving, with more and more institutionalized miners stepping in. The keys to mining efficiencies in hardware, infrastructure and electricity costs. Individual miners are dropping out because institutional miners like us can improve in almost every aspect, including capex, opex, operation, and risk management.” Coinbase Custody as Custodian The press release reports that Coinbase Custody, “the world’s largest digital asset custodian holding over 900,000 Bitcoins, will act as the custodian for both trusts.” Other sources have reported receiving separate confirmation of this claim. News.bitcoin.com has reached out to Coinbase Custody as well, not yet receiving confirmation at press time. Acting as trustee, Hong Kong-based Profound Trust Company Ltd, “a trust company with more than 1000 clients in Asia,” is also part of the project, according to the release. Whether IDEG’s new investment vehicles can mimic Grayscale’s success remains to be seen, but CEO of Profound Trust Lu Qi is hopeful: “Nowadays as more and more institutions and sophisticated investors seek exposure to the blockchain and digital asset market, they demand compliance, security, and professionalism. We seek the highest standards in these aspects. The two trusts are designed to offer such investment vehicles for investors.” What are your thoughts on the launch of these new investment vehicles? Let us know 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 IDEG Reports Launch of New Bitcoin Trusts in Asia With Coinbase as Custodian appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

China has been confronted with multiple economic and financial problems this year amidst an ongoing trade war with the United States. Authorities in Beijing have been trying to overcome the challenges with administrative measures in what has become a market economy over the years. Inflation of the yuan just rose to its highest level since January 2012 and is projected to increase even further, to 4.7% by January. This is happening while Chinese state banks and corporations prepare to trial a digital version of the national fiat. Also read: Another Bank Run Highlights China’s Brewing Financial Crisis Chinese Inflation Records 7-Year High In November, the annual inflation rate in the People’s Republic jumped to 4.5%, from 3.8% in October, according to official data provided by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The increase surpassed market expectations of 4.2%, the Trading Economics website noted in its analysis. Consumer prices also increased on a monthly basis, by 0.4% last month and 0.9% the previous month, well over the forecasted 0.1% for November. The main driver behind the steady increase this year has been the rise of food prices, which adds a politically sensitive dimension to the general economic picture. Food inflation exceeded 19% percent in November, which is the highest figure on record since May 2008. That was mainly caused by the continuing increase in pork prices after last year’s African swine fever epidemic. They jumped over 110% in November due to a low supply of pork. Non-food prices increased as well, including rent, fuel and utilities (0.4%), healthcare (2%), and other goods and services (4.5%). Although Chinese inflation is yet to reach the highest levels of the years following the last global financial crisis, the current trend is certainly worrying. It has been formed alongside a deepening liquidity crisis in the country’s enormous financial system that has led to several small banks failing or suffering bank runs. Some of these institutions had to be bailed out by the government as hundreds of regional Chinese banks control as much assets as the country’s ‘big four’ state-owned banks. Digital Yuan May Be Greeted With a Crisis The bank insolvency cases have created a real credit crunch on the interbank lending market and small banks have been forced to increase their already high deposit interest rates, to over 4% on annual deposits. To sustain liquidity in the sector, China’s central bank continued to pump fiat cash into the system. According to a recent report by Xinhua, only last month the People’s Bank of China injected 600 billion yuan (over $85 billion) via its medium-term lending facility (MLF), an instrument introduced back in 2014 for that same purpose. True to its commitment to conduct a monetary policy that’s “neither too tight nor too loose,” as described by the government-run news agency, the PBOC also introduced 4.8 billion yuan of funds through pledged supplementary lending to the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China and the Agricultural Development Bank of China. Besides, the central bank lent more than 62 billion yuan to financial institutions through the standing lending facility, “maintaining market liquidity at a reasonably ample level in 2019,” as the report concludes. But in a slowing economy, damaged by the trade conflict with the U.S., the People’s Bank has had to deal with declining growth rates as well. In November, it cut its one-year MLF rate, at which it provides funds to other banks, to 3.25% and reduced its one-year loan prime rate by five basis points to 4.15%. State-owned lenders were instructed to take the latter as a reference value for their loans and told to better serve the real economy. The administrative measures were aimed at stimulating businesses to borrow more after new lending fell in October to its lowest level since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, Chinese media broke the news this week that the launch of a planned central bank-issued digital currency (CBDC) could be imminent, with Beijing stepping up efforts to finalize the project. According to a report by Caijing Magazine, PBOC is preparing to start trials of the digital yuan in places like Shenzhen, where these may commence by the end of the year, and in Suzhou next year. Some of China’s largest financial institutions, the four major state-owned commercial banks, three leading telecom operators, and the tech giants Huawei, Alibaba, and Tencent are expected to participate. The People’s Bank has already set up two digital currency development companies in the two cities, the outlet noted citing knowledgeable sources. “In the era of global digital currency, China is becoming a leader,” the Caijing Magazine stated. The digital yuan is obviously coming to existence soon rather than later. The question is whether it’s going to inherit the high inflation of the paper version. Do you think China will be able to successfully quell its inflation crisis? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Trading Economics. 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’s Inflation Hits a Record 4.5% as Beijing Prepares to Test Digital Yuan appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

For over a year now, the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) token universe has grown quite vast. There are now more than 6,000 SLP tokens in existence and a number of SLP tokens have seen price discovery. Moreover, tokens listed on our SLP market capitalization aggregator show in the last two months SLP valuations have doubled. Also Read: Gocrypto SLP Token Starts Trading on Bitcoin.com Exchange Data Shows SLP Token Market Cap Doubled in Value Since August 2018, the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) ecosystem has continued to grow relentlessly and there have been 6,196 tokens created since the protocol’s inception. The SLP system is appreciated by BCH proponents because it’s built on top of the Bitcoin Cash network, but SLP doesn’t interfere with the chain’s consensus rules. Essentially, the protocol uses metadata tethered to OP_Return transactions on issuance, and every time an SLP token is sent or received. Since launch, a handful of popular SLP tokens have seen price discovery and numerous SLP tokens have been listed on various cryptocurrency exchanges. Currently, a number of SLP tokens are listed on exchanges like Bitcoin.com Exchange, Digifinex, Altilly, Coinex, Sideshift.ai, Cryptophyl, and Coinsuper. Since a number of SLP tokens have gained value, they are now listed on markets.Bitcoin.com’s Featured Tokens page. At the time of publication, there’s a total of six SLP tokens listed on the market cap portal: Flex Coin (FLEX), Gocrypto (GOC), ACD Coin (ACD), Sai (SAI), Spice (SPICE), and Honestcoin (USDH). Flex Coin is a platform token that was created by the trading platform Coinflex. The token is meant to reward traders based on the proportion of the person’s trading volume. Each FLEX is worth $0.34 today and the market capitalization is roughly $34 million. The second-largest market valuation for an SLP token is Gocrypto’s GOC, which is a coin that can be spent at any of the hundreds of Gocrypto locations in several countries. GOC is trading for $0.03 per token and the Gocrypto market cap is $12 million. ACD Coin is an SLP token issued by the Tokyo-based Alliance Cargo Direct and the token can be used alongside BCH at online and brick-and-mortar merchants in Japan and worldwide. Last month, ACD partnered with Alchemy to continue bolstering ACD merchant acceptance. Currently, each ACD is swapping for $0.26 per token and has a market valuation of around $5.2 million on Wednesday. The fourth-largest SLP market cap belongs to Sideshift.ai’s native token SAI, another platform coin meant to reward Sideshift users and further the swapping platform’s development. Today, one SAI is swapping for $0.04 and the entire market cap is hovering around $492,000. The token SPICE is an appreciation coin developed by an anonymous developer for the community. The token first appeared when people started tipping with the coin in the Coinspice Telegram chat room. Since then, it’s been listed on exchanges and people can use it to tip individuals on Twitter as well. A single SPICE is going for $0.00032679 on global exchanges and has a market valuation of $316,000. Growing Interest in SLP Token Solutions The last SLP token on the market cap list is USDH, a regulated stablecoin built on top of the Bitcoin Cash network. Honestcoin (USDH) was created by the Honestnode team USDH and is backed by USD with a 1:1 ratio. News.Bitcoin.com reported on several occasions during our recent market updates that USDH has steadily been growing as far as being paired with BCH is concerned. Since Honestcoin is a stablecoin, the price of USDH on markets.Bitcoin.com is roughly $1 and USDH has an overall market capitalization of over $46,000. In the last two months, SLP valuations listed on our Featured Tokens page have doubled and it shows there’s a growing interest in SLP token solutions. In just a short period of time, the SLP environment has seen a bunch of development and innovation doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Also with a bunch of newly listed SLP tokens, users who wish to store these new digital assets don’t have to keep them on an exchange. The Bitcoin.com Wallet will support SLP tokens soon and SLP-based tokens can be stored non-custodially using Badger, Ifwallet, Electron Cash, Honeypoints, and the Crescent Cash wallet. What do you think about the environment being built around the Simple Ledger Protocol and all the tokens created on top of the BCH chain so far? 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.” Token prices referenced in this article were recorded at 1:15 pm EST on December 11, 2019. Images via Shutterstock, Trading View, Bitcoin.com Markets, 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 SLP Token Market Cap Surpasses $50 Million appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

An artificial intelligence-driven personality research on the characteristics of crypto industry leaders such as Vitalik Buterin, Justin Sun, and Brian Armstrong found that intellect, liberalism, and cautiousness are their top personality traits. And a comparison with general tech titans showed that crypto leaders are 98.4% more likely to demonstrate anger and 46.4% more likely to harbor depression. Also Read: Research Exposes Anti-Bitcoin Bias in Mainstream Media IBM Watson Picks the Brains Behind Crypto Clovr, a research-focused cryptocurrency company, has performed a personality analysis on the characteristics of 17 cryptocurrency leaders using the artificial intelligence platform of IBM Watson. The researchers collected letters and interview transcripts from each founder or CEO and fed them to IBM’s Watson Personality Insights service for analysis. Cryptocurrency leaders were selected by their coin or exchange being in the top 20 of market capitalization or trade volume, but they were excluded if the researchers were unable to get at least 3,000 words for them. Watson analyzed the psychology of language and combined it with data analytics algorithms to compile a personality profile based on the input of writing samples provided. For comparison, the crypto leaders were tested against general technology bigwigs such as Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, and Apple’s Tim Cook. IBM Watson headquarters office building in San Francisco The researchers first focused on the “Big Five” personality traits of Openness, Emotional Range, Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness. After feeding Watson the appropriate data to digest, the cryptocurrency leaders were similar to their technology counterparts in openness and emotional range. The one area where the difference was most significant was conscientiousness, or the tendencies to act in an organized or thoughtful way. Crypto leaders were rated at 60.1% in conscientiousness, while tech leaders came in at 74.7%. The researchers suggest that crypto leaders may be less organized than their tech counterparts, yet with multiple changes occurring at lightning speed, cryptocurrency executives must act quickly and decisively or risk losing millions of dollars. The area where crypto and tech leaders showed the most commonality was emotional range, which measures how sensitive they could be to their environment. They AI found that the top trait for both groups is intellect. They also share common traits when it comes to adventurousness and assertiveness. Where the two groups part ways is liberalism and cautiousness. For Watson’s purposes, liberalism is defined as willingness to challenge authority or go one’s own way. Behind intellect, liberalism is the second characteristic of crypto leaders and ranks fifth for tech execs. Cautiousness, the third personality trait for cryptocurrency leaders, doesn’t even make the top five list of tech leaders. In Watson’s case, a high cautiousness score indicates a leader is deliberate in their actions. How Crypto Leaders Measure Up The data shows that there isn’t much of a difference in the intellect (meaning being intrigued by new ideas) of the top 17 crypto leaders, with only four-tenths of a percent separating the group. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder; Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase; and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse all had a 1.0, or perfect score, in intellect. Regarding liberalism, the trio of Buterin, Armstrong, and Garlinghouse each scored 0.999, and several others received high marks too. Justin Sun, founder of Tron, received a score of 0.997 and was closely followed by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and Ryan Taylor, the CEO of Dash, with a rating of 0.995. In cautiousness, Jesse Powell, Kraken’s CEO, and Changpeng Zhao of Binance received top scores, right behind Sun, who led the pack. Regarding adventurousness, Taylor, Booth, and Garlinghouse captured the top three spots, with the co-founder of IOTA, Dominik Schiener, coming in fourth with a score of 0.961, only 0.014 away from the top. Alan Booth, Ryan Taylor, and Daniel Larimer received Watson’s gold, silver, and bronze for assertiveness. IBM Watson’s extensive measurements also allowed the researchers to dissect some specific characteristics. Crypto leaders, on average, demonstrate vulnerability at a 107.2% difference compared to their tech counterparts. However, cryptocurrency executives are, on average, 79.5% less friendly than technology leaders. IBM Watson’s overall tabulations also indicate crypto leaders are 98.4% more likely to demonstrate anger and 46.4% more likely to harbor depression. Besides being more friendly, technology leaders are much more gregarious and cheerful than crypto generals. What do you think about the findings for the personalities of crypto industry leaders? 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 AI Research Reveals Crypto Leaders Are Angry and Depressed appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Breadwallet, later known as Bread, and now just as BRD, was the first crypto wallet in the App Store in 2014. Its non-custodial, open source and user-friendly nature saw it become very popular, now with nearly 3 million users worldwide. CEO Adam Traidman took some time to field questions from news.Bitcoin.com this week, detailing BRD’s upcoming first enterprise blockchain product launch, the importance of branding, and the function of usability and regulation in bringing crypto to the world. Also Read: Bakkt Launches Bitcoin Options in US, Futures in Asia News.Bitcoin.com (BC): BRD has come a long way since its beginnings six years ago, now with support for multiple cryptos, a BRD token, coin swapping, holiday giveaways and more. Is there anything new in the works for 2020 you can tell us about? Adam Traidman (AT): BRD (better known as Breadwallet to most consumers) has indeed thrived and survived multiple market cycles in the crypto industry since being the first-ever crypto wallet in the App Store back in 2014. The initial vision was to enable consumers and crypto enthusiasts at the individual level. This industry doesn’t have much if individual consumers do not have a secure and unhackable way to protect their crypto assets. It all starts there. As we’re nearing 3M total users worldwide and another record year for new user growth, we feel very accomplished in seeing that initial mission through. As we enter 2020, it’s time for the next phase of the BRD mission, which is to enable enterprises and large organizations to build the next set of applications and utility for both the business and broader consumer markets. We will be formally announcing the global availability of Blockset, BRD’s first enterprise blockchain product. This will be BRD’s most significant product launch ever, and it will provide all the building blocks that businesses need to build to meet the next set of needs and usability in future crypto applications. More details to come in the next month, but for now, you can visit www.blockset.com for an early look. BRD Co-Founder and CEO Adam Traidman BC: Privacy has always been a central focus for BRD. What are your thoughts on the current, increasingly AML/KYC-focused regulatory climate in the crypto space? AT: We have to continue to adapt, like all other thriving industries in their early days. Remember, the traditional finance and banking industry needed to be heavily regulated to ensure that consumers were protected and not exploited by corporate interests. I want to remind the entire sector that adherence to privacy does not mean non-compliance. I think China in the next three years is an essential barometer for how crypto assets and currency will be regulated at the federal level. There’s constant talk about how they are ready to roll out the most comprehensive set of regulations for the crypto industry, allowing for all licensed entities to operate legally in their jurisdiction. I think that’s the most exciting development related to regulatory progress, so let’s all keep an eye on those developments. Lastly, the right amount of regulation has been a critical path for sustainability in all major industries, from ride sharing to social media. They are ultimately there to protect consumers, and that’s a good thing. “I think China in the next three years is an essential barometer for how crypto assets and currency will be regulated at the federal level,” Traidman notes. BC: With over 2 million users in 170 countries, the BRD wallet is well-trusted for its open source, non-custodial and secure design, with many also complimenting the user-friendly interface. Is the key to onboarding in your opinion a combo of privacy and ease of use? AT: Nearly 3 million users now. The key to successful onboarding starts before that, much further up on the funnel. It’s brand, brand, and brand. That’s been the key to our success. We’ve operated for a long time now with the highest of ethics and transparency. We’ve stuck to our principles when others chased fast money, and this is how we’ve endured the downturn that started in mid-2018. Our CMO, Spencer Chen, has done a fantastic job in creating a brand that’s both welcoming, embracing, and warm to all consumers in an industry that’s frankly been alienating to new participants. I’ll give you the Apple example: Their brand engenders trust, you’d buy anything from them … from phones to music. For the consumer business, it all starts with the brand. Our CMO, Spencer Chen, has done a fantastic job in creating a brand that’s both welcoming, embracing, and warm to all consumers in an industry that’s frankly been alienating to new participants. He often jokes that there’s this green-on-black-Matrix-like aesthetic that’s plaguing the crypto industry. BC: BRD has stated that “Our goal is to bring the number of people unbanked from 1.7 billion to 0,” and emphasized the critical importance of direct wealth ownership and financial sovereignty. How will this vision be made reality? AT: Usability. Tons more usability for everyday consumers, especially for the unbanked and underbanked. As an example, when there were big issues with the central bank in Venezuela in 2018, we saw a massive uptick in new users from the country. I think we were the #4 ranked app for the entire country. But there was still usability issues, such as the inability to easily send crypto to friends in their address book or trying to understand what seed phrases are and their importance. There’s just a lot of non-intuitive usability issues for the mainstream audience and the quicker we address them, the faster the broad adoption among the unbanked. This remains the top priority on our consumer roadmap — usability as the killer feature. What do you think of BRD and Adam Traidman’s thoughts on adoption and the crypto industry? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, BRD, 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 BRD’s Adam Traidman on New Products, Crypto Adoption, and Banking the Unbanked Into 2020 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Digital currency prices have slumped again as the entire crypto market capitalization has dropped below $200 billion. At press time, most of the top digital assets are down a few percentages after gathering some gains over the last few days. With multiple coins getting rejected after trying to surpass upper resistance, skeptics think crypto prices could see further declines. However, BTC/USD long positions have spiked considerably despite market uncertainty. Also Read: Gocrypto SLP Token Starts Trading on Bitcoin.com Exchange Crypto Cap Drops Below $200 Billion The cryptocurrency market cap on Wednesday is hovering around $197 billion and there’s roughly $58.9 billion in 24-hour global trade volume today. A few days ago cryptocurrency traders attempted to push prices northbound but after being crushed by upper resistance, crypto asset values went south. For instance, on December 9, BTC prices shot up to $7,600 but since subsided and each coin is now swapping for $7,230 per BTC. The heavily correlated markets below BTC followed the coin’s downward path and the entire market valuation of all 3,000+ assets slid significantly. Currently, BTC is down 0.96% today and has an overall market cap of roughly $130 billion. The second largest market valuation is held by ETH as each coin is trading for $145 today. ETH is down 0.39% on Wednesday and 2.8% for the entire week. This is followed by XRP markets which are up 0.48% today and 0.92% over the last seven days. With a $9.63 billion market valuation, each XRP is currently swapping for $0.22 per coin. Tether (USDT) holds the fourth largest market cap and is the most dominant stablecoin paired with most coins in the cryptoconomy. At press time, statistics from coinlib.io show USDT captures roughly two thirds of the global crypto volume. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Market Action Bitcoin cash (BCH) markets have lost a few percentages over the last few days and BCH holds the fifth largest market valuation. Right now each BCH is swapping for $206 per coin and markets are up +0.47% today but 3.8% down for the week. Bitcoin cash has an overall market valuation of around $3.76 billion and there’s $1.1 million in global BCH trades today. The top pair traded with BCH is USDT which commands 56.4% of all BCH trades. This is followed by BTC (30.5%), USD (8.3%), ETH (2.6%), and KRW (0.84%) pairs. The BCH-based stablecoin honestcoin (HUSD) represents the sixth most traded pair with BCH on Wednesday as the stablecoin has been gathering steam. This week Fxstreet analyst John Isige said that even though the general market trend has been sideways, “[BCH] is turning bullish amid expanding volatility.” Isige highlights that BCH markets have been consistently settling above the moving averages. “The RSI and the MACD suggests that the sideways trading could last through the next sessions on Monday,” Isige’s analysis suggested. “However, a break above the 23.6% Fib level taken between the last swing high of $308.13 to a swing low of $198.61 will ignite the much-awaited rally above $250 and heading to $300.” Venture Capitalist Mark Cuban ‘No Chance of BTC Becoming a Reliable Currency’ On December 10, Shark Tank star and owner of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, explained that he doesn’t believe BTC has a chance to become a reliable currency. In an email with columnist Benjamin Pirus, Cuban told the reporter there is “no chance.” “Not because it can’t work technically, although there are challenges, it could, but rather because it’s too difficult to use, too easy to hack, way too easy to lose, too hard to understand, too hard to assess value,” Cuban told Pirus. Venture capitalist Mark Cuban doesn’t believe BTC will ever be a currency. “It is a collectible. If you consider art or gold a viable stable financial asset, then yes. It can be.” Despite Cuban’s opinion, as of August 2019, the Dallas Mavericks accept BTC for payments for merchandise and tickets. Chinese Blockchain Fever Starts to Fade A few weeks ago, crypto market observers thought that China’s President Xi Jinping pushed a lot of optimism into crypto markets after blessing blockchain technology in October. Crypto prices did spike after the announcement but quickly went southbound about a week or so later. Crypto analysts believe President Xi Jinping’s blockchain talk was a false positive for crypto markets and digital asset prices have been removed from the hype. “China’s firm stances on blockchain were initially a positive driver,” said John Iadeluca the founder and CEO of multi-strategy fund Banz Capital on Monday. “[Regrettably] the Asian market apprehension increased once the state media clarified they didn’t mean cryptocurrency in that stance,” Iadeluca added. “The Xi Jinping announcement very quickly brought the price up to the top of the channel, but market forces eventually drove it back down,” Quantum Economics founder Mati Greenspan remarked. “If you want to plot it on a chart, we can see that bitcoin has been in a downward channel since the recent peak in June,” Greenspan further stressed. Charles Schwab Says Bitcoin Trust a Top 5 Equity for Millennials On December 4, U.S.-based stock brokerage Charles Schwab published a report that shows the publicly tradable bitcoin trust fund managed by Grayscale Investments is a top five equity investment held by millennials. Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust joins popular equity holdings like Facebook, Amazon, Tesla, Netflix, Microsoft, and Apple. “Millennials continued to allocate more to ETFs (24%) than did Gen X (20%) and Baby Boomers (17%), and they also held more cash (16%) than other generations (Gen X had 14% followed by Boomers at 12%).” The report shows that Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust was held by 1.84% of all the participants Charles Schwab surveyed. Charles Schwab notes millennials are investing in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust. BTC/USD Long Positions Skyrocket At the moment people are still uncertain of what’s in store for the cryptoconomy and market prices. However, there are a lot of traders who are long on BTC and BTC/USD long positions have skyrocketed since November 22. BTC/USD long positions recorded from Bitfinex show a whopping 38,802 longs registered, while short positions are low at 5,824 BTC/USD shorts at press time. ETH/USD long positions have been gathering steam since August but the rise is nothing compared to the long positions recorded for BTC/USD in the last three weeks. 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 10:45 am EST on December 11, 2019. Images via Shutterstock, Trading View, Bitcoin.com Markets, Getty, 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 Update: Despite Uncertainty, BTC Longs Skyrocket appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The tax authority of Denmark has reportedly sent out warning letters to 20,000 crypto owners asking them to amend their tax returns, pay taxes on crypto gains, or face penalties. The tax agency is demanding a full breakdown of their crypto transactions; it recently obtained information on these traders from three local crypto exchanges. Also read: IRS Now Requires Tax Filers to Disclose Crypto Activities Warning Letters to Crypto Investors Danish Skattestyrelsen, the tax authority of Denmark, has reportedly sent out warning letters to 20,000 cryptocurrency owners. Swedish crypto tax startup Koinly posted a copy of the letter on its website on Monday. The company detailed: In the last 2 weeks, the agency began sending out warning letters to these investors urging them to amend their tax reports by the 15th of December or face penalties. “Many of our Danish users have received these letters, Skat is asking for a full breakdown of all their transactions and asking them to fix all past reports as well,” said CEO Robin Singh who founded Koinly last year. “Filing tax on cryptocurrency trades is a difficult task as crypto traders usually hold several exchange accounts and wallets and freely transfer crypto between them, so there’s no easy way to figure out what the capital gains are for any particular trade.” The company claims to have helped thousands of crypto investors track and generate tax reports for funds worth over $250 million last year. Tax Agency Has Info on 20,000 Crypto Traders Earlier this year, Skattestyrelsen announced that it had been authorized by the country’s tax council, Skatterådet, to obtain information on crypto traders using local exchanges. The agency then announced on Aug. 29 that it had acquired information on 20,000 citizens trading cryptocurrency on these platforms. The tax agency declared: For the first time, the tax authorities have received information on trading, for example, bitcoins, on Danish crypto exchanges. In total, information of approx. 20,000 citizens. The exchanges were required to provide information on all crypto purchases and sales made between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2018. The data obtained includes “identification information such as names, addresses, social security numbers and possibly CVR [business registration] information,” Skattestyrelsen revealed. How Crypto Transactions Are Taxed in Denmark The Danish tax authority explains on its website that trading bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies is considered speculation, meaning that the purpose of acquiring them is to make a profit. Therefore, as a general rule, profits or losses from their sales must be disclosed to the tax authority. Anyone unclear whether their trading activities are considered speculation can ask the tax agency for a specific “binding” answer, which costs DKK 400 ($60) and takes between 3-6 months. The answer is valid for a maximum of five years. The letters sent to some 20,000 crypto traders request information about profits and losses from crypto transactions made during the fiscal year 2016 through 2018, calculated using the FIFO method. The tax agency’s website describes: If you have several purchases, you must initially calculate profits and losses according to the FIFO principle (FIFO = First In First Out). This means that the bitcoins you bought first are the ones you sell first. Tax Agencies Worldwide Turning Attention to Cryptocurrencies A growing number of tax authorities worldwide are turning their attention to cryptocurrencies as they have become more popular with growing market capitalizations. Koinly asserted Monday that “Tax agencies are taking note of bitcoin and want to avoid it being seen as a safe haven from taxes.” CEO Singh noted that Denmark has special laws about how capital gains are reported, elaborating: You can only offset profits with losses from the same cryptocurrency during the same income tax year. This is different from how it works in other countries so existing solutions require a lot of manual work. The Danish tax authority is not the only one that has sent letters to crypto investors. The U.S., Canada, and India are among the countries that have similarly sent letters to crypto owners seeking to tax their crypto gains. In July, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it sent out letters to over 10,000 crypto investors reminding them of their tax obligations. The IRS has also stepped up other efforts to identify and convict crypto tax evaders. In its report issued last week, the agency emphasized that “Cryptocurrencies are undermining the financial and tax system,” adding that cyber criminals “now deal in cryptocurrency, again thinking this will make them anonymous, but our agents have once again proved that there is nowhere to hide. We will not stop in our pursuit.” Furthermore, the IRS is now using a new tax form requiring all tax filers to disclose whether they received, sold, sent, exchanged, or acquired any crypto during the year. “As regulations and guidelines around cryptocurrency taxes clear up, more people are likely to receive similar letters,” Koinly wrote. “This is just the first step in the fight against tax evasion and more serious actions are likely to be taken against investors in the future so it is a good idea to get your affairs in order as early as possible.” News.Bitcoin.com has previously published a tax guide as well as a list of useful tax tools for crypto owners. What do you think of the Danish tax agency sending out warning letters to 20,000 crypto traders and how it was authorized to obtain information from local crypto exchanges? 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 as 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 Denmark’s Tax Authority Sends Warning Letters to 20,000 Crypto Owners appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On December 10, Switzerland-based firm Amun AG announced the company’s base prospectus has been approved by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA). The ETP provider said it has extensive plans to expand its digital asset ETPs throughout Europe, while Sweden shows “strong demand” for these products. Also read: Wisdomtree’s Physically Backed Bitcoin ETP Goes Live on SIX Stock Exchange The digital currency-based ETP provider Amun AG gained headway in Sweden this week when the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA) approved its base prospectus. A base prospectus essentially describes an offering so a firm can file for registration similarly to traditional security-based ETPs currently traded on the regulated market. Amun said in a press statement after the SFSA approval, the company is pleased to confirm its plans for expanding its digital currency-based ETPs. Amun already provides exchange-traded products (ETP) that track digital currencies and a variety of Amun’s crypto ETPs are traded on Swiss Bourse. “Our mission is clear and that is to help investors more safely, cost-effectively and easily invest in crypto asset classes through our crypto ETPs. We are very fortunate to have finished this process within four months of its consultancy period” Amun’s President Ms. Ophelia Snyder remarked during the announcement. Snyder added: We recognise that the regulatory framework in Sweden has been supportive of such initiatives and we welcome its deliberation. Right now Amun manages a slew of crypto ETPs that are traded on Switzerland’s principal stock exchange SIX. Amun recently partnered with Bitcoin Suisse in October to offer the Amun Bitcoin Suisse ETP (ticker: ABBA) a fund that tracks prices for both ETH and BTC. Then Amun also offers the ‘HODL’ ETP which consists of a basket of five different digital currencies. Amun’s Index ETPs. It also offers an ETP for the Bitwise Select 10, Amun’s Sygnum Platform Winners Index, and six single tracker ETPs that use ETH, BNB, XRP, BCH, XTZ, and BTC. However, Amun’s SFSA approval announcement does not disclose what ETPs the firm will list or which exchanges it will use in Europe. Amun is working with regulators across the EU and the firm says there’s a lot of demand in Sweden for crypto-based investment vehicles. “The combination of strong demand for ETPs in Sweden – especially in crypto assets – among private investors and institutional clients and our strong expertise in these product categories create ideal conditions for Amun’s entry into the Swedish and European Union markets for ETPs,” Snyder further stated. Amun’s Single-Tracker ETPs. Amun’s Swedish EU approved prospectus will help the firm gain a foothold in Europe. The SFSA’s approval shows that investment funds tethered to digital assets continue to enter the world of mainstream finance. During the first week of December, Amun’s cash-settled ETP’s got some competition on the Swiss exchange SIX when the New York-based Wisdom Tree listed its physically-settled bitcoin ETP. What do you think about Amun getting regulatory approval from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA)? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Amun AG, Pixabay, Finansinspektionen, Wiki Commons, and 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 Sweden’s Financial Authority Approves Swiss Crypto ETP Provider Amun appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Many Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have been and are frauds. The state enables this con game in various ways, including the establishment of accredited investors and the regulation of businesses that sell equity. Shut off from the most lucrative aspects of investment, average people rush into the few sources of profit still available to them. ICOs are a prime example of how state interference in the market increases the risks of doing business. Also read: Don’t Blame China: Why BTC Still Can’t Compete With Fiat Where There’s Money, There’s Fraud Some degree of theft and fraud will always be present wherever there is money. The free market dramatically reduces those risks, however, as deregulation and securitization illustrate. The golden days of ICOs are over, largely due to an understandable loss of public trust. This is a shame because ICOs serve a valid function. They raise funds by offering cryptocurrencies, called tokens, that are future claims on the profit of a startup project. Investors buy the bargain-priced tokens with fiat or another crypto, and the start up acquires capital. If the project is successful, then early investors reap huge profits. ICOs are also attractive because they are unregulated and sidestep red tape. To attract investors, ICOs often require nothing more than the publication of a whitepaper. Unfortunately, the ease of entry coupled with the fact that ICOs are often based on paper promises attracts scammers. A startup can surround a token offering with so much hype that investors plunge in out of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). A common peril is “pump and dump” by which tokens are artificially inflated by scammers who buy low and sell high; after this, the price collapses and average investors lose. There are common-sense methods of identifying a solid ICO—the reputations of the programmers and others involved, for example. Recommendations from respected figures in the crypto community add assurance, as well. Due diligence does not mean start ups are risk free, but it does dramatically decrease the odds of falling for a con. By contrast, the state dramatically increases those odds. What Is an Accredited Investor? A key problem is the legal category of accredited investors, which was supposedly created to protect the average person from being a fool with his money. In reality, it is a statist con game by which investment privileges are handed to the rich and professional traders so they can become richer while the average person cannot. After all, if anyone can join, then it is not an elite club. Regulations severely restrict the ability of average people to invest traditionally in high-risk ventures, especially startups. The elites who enjoy these opportunities are called “accredited investors.” The requirements to become an accredited investor vary slightly from country to country, but they are basically the same. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is typical in offering one of three ways to qualify: The individual (or entity) must have an annual income of $200,000 or a joint one of $300,000; they must have a net worth of over $1 million; or they must be a general partner, executive officer, or in business with or a family member of whomever is issuing the security. The rich have almost exclusive access to one of the few remaining lucrative opportunities: startups. Accredited investors can see returns of far over 100% when a successful venture goes IPO (Initial Public Offering). The state justifies excluding average people on the grounds that they are too financially stupid and must be “protected.” Of course, the word most often used is “unsophisticated”; it means “stupid.” And, so, the average person is restricted to mutual funds and other low-return vehicles that are said to be safe. This is “passive investing” because control is vested in trusted third parties—strangers who allegedly place the interests of clients over their own and never embezzle, mismanage, or commit fraud. Or so the story goes. Protecting the Poor or Preserving the Rich? Low-return institutional investments have flourished because of regulatory advantages. The SEC Act of 1933 “allows issuers … to issue securities that will be traded only among qualified institutional buyers without having to fully register the securities.” Average people can legally invest in companies through state-approved trusted third parties that enjoy huge privileges. Whether the investments rise or fall, the institutions skim off a cut of money. Meanwhile, they notify the state of every dollar earned or transferred so that it can skim off an even more sizable cut. There is nothing wrong with institutional investments, of course, if they compete on an open market with other opportunities. The current system is a rigged game but it is a way for average people to play at all. The claim of protecting the poor through regulation is absurd. It rests on equating wealth with wisdom even though many roads to riches require no financial savvy. They include political connections, inheritance, theft, fraud, legal privilege, blackmail, and counterfeiting. The claim of protection also assumes that startups are more volatile or dishonest than the traditional stock market. Even worse, accredited investor regulations prevent average people from pooling their money to invest. In fact, the claim of protection is more than absurd – it is the opposite of what is true. Those with limited wealth are the ones most careful in how they use it; the state and corporations are the vultures and fools when it comes to the money of others. Check Your Investor Privilege Accredited investors enjoy other, less publicized privileges. A blogger on the U.S. site “Her Every Cent Counts” describes one: I recently worked for a startup that was sold to a large company that has since went public. While I did not own a large number of stock options (2000), I was not eligible to transfer my shares to shares of the acquiring company because I was not an accredited investor. Instead, I had to sell my shares for $3 a share, netting a profit of $5k. This was a nice bonus, for sure, but had I been able to convert my handful of shares into the now-public company’s shares, I would have netted approximately $52k. Accredited investors hurt honest startups that must comply with expensive state requirements to raise capital. They hurt average people who are shut out of financial opportunities for being too stupid to spend their own money according to their own judgment. The limitations also stoke a pent-up demand within average people for the same opportunities enjoyed by the elite. They create a demand for ICOs that mimic traditional startups but without entry barriers. Lacking alternatives and the ability to accumulate experience, people make rookie mistakes; some could be called “forced mistakes” because they result from the statist regulation of alternatives. If the state wanted to protect average people, then it would allow all startups to function competitively so that reputation and rivalry could naturally narrow the field down to solid products and services. Instead, the state protects the elite. What Is Securitization? The SEC requires corporations and financial institutions to follow expensive and intrusive regulation in order to sell equities, which allows the state to further tax and regulate wealth. Securitization of crypto is the unregulated conversion of an asset into marketable securities in order to raise cash by selling them to investors. A recent article by Kevin Bloom entitled “How Crypto Currency Will Save Western Civilization” opens optimistically: “Our culture and economy are doomed.” Bloom bases this conclusion on America’s “unfunded pension liabilities and debt somewhere North of $200 trillion, quite more than the Gross Domestic Product of the entire world … Eventually something awful is going to occur to the money, and by extension, to you.” The awful is not inevitable. Crypto offers possible remedies, including ICOs. Bloom is not naïve about ICOs, however. He writes, “Ah, those heady days of ICOs! Risk? Ha! It was all risk. Companies were promising nothing, and delivering it in abundance. They’d take the money and vanish to Thailand, or someplace where your dollar was good for the most hookers and blow possible.” (Even securitized ICOs are not immune from this misconduct, of course.) The Securitization of Crypto Assets The practice of offering assets without equity or an enforceable obligation can be solved easily: remove all legal barriers, and let free-market competition sort wheat from chaff. This will not happen because it removes the state from the financial loop. But the securitization of crypto assets may still be possible. Bloom explains what it would look like on a very simplistic level: For example, your house, land, or car would be an obvious asset—but what about the USE of your house, land, or car? You could issue a token and sell it, to represent the rental of your vehicle for a set number of hours or days, ditto with your land or car … Farmers can issue tokens based on their future crop yields. Artists have already sold percentages of their artwork, bands have sold upcoming music. Anything you can imagine will be sold in advance, to finance its production … Smart tokens will allow scheduled and recurring payments. The currencies described by Bloom may be best viewed as proofs of principle rather than practical replacements for a widely accepted money. In another article entitled “Print Your Own Money At Home! 100% Legal!,” Bloom explains how a more practical securitized e-currency could function. “Waves is a particular type of cryptocurrency, and also a platform. Using the Waves desktop app, you can create your own token, and trade it for other tokens, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. and it only takes seconds.” Bloom continues: There is another cryptocurrency that uses one of the Bitcoin forks, SLP, promoted recently by Roger Ver. SLP stands for Simple Ledger Protocol, and it has a cool feature that lets you create dividends for your tokens. See SLP here. You can also download a free desktop exchange for SLP, just like Waves. Bloom concludes, “I believe that the asset securitization business, with its trillions of euros currently invested, is ripe for tokenization … Finally, the problem of capitalizing new amazing projects might just be solved in 2019.” Conclusion The state controls the flow of money through schemes such as accredited investors and the severe regulation of equity offerings. These manipulations have badly distorted crypto markets by limiting investor alternatives and removing the context of competition. By contrast, the free market provides natural protections against fraud, including rating companies, reputation, and transparency. The state drives average people to the edges of the financial world in search of profit; the free market is an open door. Bloom may be overly optimistic. “The blockchain securitization of assets will represent the free market at its very best. When all the money goes broke, you don’t have to.” Along with eliminating accredited investors, securitization is a good first step, however. The ultimate goal, of course, is to eliminate the state’s participation in finance altogether. Op-ed disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this Op-ed article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post The State Encourages ICO Fraud. The Free Market Minimizes It appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Ross Ulbricht, serving life without parole for allegedly running the Silk Road marketplace, hasn’t allowed his detention to deprive him from monitoring bitcoin’s price action. In a new blog series titled Bitcoin by Ross, Ulbricht reveals that he is closely attuned to BTC’s price movements, and shares some suggestions as to where the market might be headed next. Also read: Film Reveals Never-Before-Seen Information About the Silk Road Case Bitcoin Analysis Without the Noise There are few advantages to being locked up in a maximum security facility, but one unexpected benefit is being able to monitor bitcoin minus the noise of crypto Twitter that can color attempts at analysis. Ross Ulbricht has used this edge to construct an analysis of bitcoin’s price movements over the last decade, and to predict where the cryptocurrency might be headed next. In the first six installments of Bitcoin by Ross, the Silk Road founder explains Elliot Wave Theory, and how it can be applied to bitcoin. The series starts by answering a question that many followers of the Silk Road case have had ever since Ulbricht’s arrest in 2013: how closely has he been following BTC’s trajectory? During his first year of incarceration, Ulbricht concedes that he was caught up in his case, “but every now and then, I’d see a chart or someone would mention the price,” he writes. “From that meager data, I still had a strong intuition around the ~$175 low that the bear market was over and Bitcoin would continue its meteoric rise.” Bitcoin Behind Bars When bitcoin embarked on its giddy run in 2017, culminating in the cryptocurrency reaching an all-time high of almost $20,000, the news was impossible to avoid. Everyone was talking about bitcoin, whose record highs even permeated the maximum security facility where Ulbricht was being held. Just as he had “a strong intuition around the ~$175 low that the bear market was over and Bitcoin would continue its meteoric rise,” Ulbricht claims to have sensed when the top was in, and based on “strong intuition” he shared his thoughts “with some people close to me and was able to help them cash out close to the peak.” Ruminating on the reasons for his instincts being right, Ulbricht ventures “I realized that my distance from the market is more blessing than curse. With all the day-to-day news and market info filtered out, I was only seeing the big picture, so my intuition had a chance to be heard.” After outlining his credentials as an analyst, Ross Ulbricht proceeds to explain his favorite TA method – Elliot Wave Theory. How Elliot Waves Work Elliot Wave Theory is a technical analysis technique that involves looking for recurring patterns formed by investor sentiment and market psychology. Developed by Ralph Nelson Elliott in the 1930s, the theory holds that markets, just like history, repeat, with the same patterns playing out over and over again. Ross Ulbricht expounds on the theory, writing: Mass psychology comes into play when other investors see the price rise and it causes them to be optimistic, so they buy in too, pushing the price still higher … Eventually — at peak optimism — everyone who is going to buy in already has, and there is no money left to drive the price higher. Then, the few sellers left in the market start to push the price back down. As they do, optimism turns to pessimism and the reverse feedback loop takes hold. What Elliot Waves Portend for Bitcoin Ross Ulbricht explains how he gathers the data for his analysis in a penitentiary where prisoners have no internet access, writing: “Every week I have several Bitcoin charts send in to the prison so I can do my analysis and stay up-to-date.” Applying Elliot Wave Theory to bitcoin, Ulbricht uses a logarithmic price of BTC’s price movements since birth, identifying the five peaks he believes correspond with Elliot Waves. Based on his analysis, he postulates that the next wave could take bitcoin to $93,000-$109,000. Since the historical waves he has identified have taken longer to complete each time, Ulbricht ventures that the current wave could last until sometime between now and February 2021. “Thus, we have a price and target for the end of wave I of ~$100,000 some time in or near 2020,” he concludes. Ross Ulbricht’s hand-annotated BTC chart. Given that the 144,000 bitcoins seized from Silk Road would have made their owner a billionaire at current prices, Ross Ulbricht is magnanimous in his treatment of bitcoin’s moonward trajectory over the last five years. Should his life sentence without parole ever be commuted, allowing Ulbricht to walk free, one thing he’s assured of is a generous outpouring of crypto donations from supporters grateful for everything he’s done for bitcoin and for advancing free trade. What are your thoughts on Ross Ulbricht’s bitcoin price prediction? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post Ross Ulbricht Uses Elliot Waves to Predict Bitcoin’s Trajectory From Behind Bars appeared first on Bitcoin News. 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Italy, one of the world’s largest economies, has faced plenty of financial challenges in the past decade. That’s probably one of the reasons why cryptocurrencies have been faring better there than in other European countries. Italians love cash but are also warming up to its decentralized digital alternative. The number of businesses accepting crypto payments has been growing, new data from the Apennines shows. Also read: New Ukrainian Law Says ‘Virtual Assets’ Can Be Used for Payments Positive Statistics Reveal Northern Italy Leads in Adoption Figures published recently by market data provider Statista indicate that the number of Italian stores and companies accepting bitcoin is growing. Over 350 businesses in the retail or food service sectors, for example, supported cryptocurrency payments as of November 2019, significantly more than in other industries. In total, there are 270 Italian retailers and 214 service providers who support crypto payments. Also, as of September this year, Italy had approximately 0.8% of the global number of Bitcoin ATMs. Most stores and companies accepting cryptocurrencies are located in Northern Italy, which is the country’s economic powerhouse. It accounts for over half of the Italian economy and has one of the highest values of GDP per capita in the whole of Europe. According to the Statista report, the northern region of Lombardy is home to 149 stores that take digital coins, or roughly 18% of the total, while Trentino-Alto Adige (South Tyrol) and Veneto each host around 12% of all entities supporting crypto payment methods. This year, Trentino-Alto Adige has been the region with the strongest presence of Bitcoin as there are 10 stores and companies accepting cryptocurrency per 100,000 inhabitants. While having the most merchant locations where it’s possible to pay with bitcoin in 2019, Lombardy has an average of only 1.5 stores per 100,000 inhabitants. However, Lombardy’s capital, Milan, has the highest number of cryptocurrency ATMs, followed by Bologna, the capital and largest city of another northern region, Emilia-Romagna. Real Cryptoconomy Grows, Proves the Story of an Italian Company Another piece of statistics caught the attention of crypto media earlier this year. A study claimed that Italians are buying more and more online, noting that total B2C spending in e-commerce exceeded 40 billion euros in 2018. “Therefore, the days when our country was wary of virtual payments are far gone,” the La Stampa daily concluded in an article published in October. According to the analysis carried out by Semrush, a U.S.-based company selling online visibility and marketing analytics software, Bitcoin ranks third among preferred online payment methods in Italy, only after Paypal and Postepay, a popular Italian prepaid card issuer, and before major credit cards. It’s very difficult to assess the volume of crypto payments in the country, Chainblock CEO Federico Pecoraro told news.Bitcoin.com, hinting that this particular rating might not accurately reflect the reality. His is one of the oldest crypto businesses in Italy and Pecoraro knows the industry quite well. But Chainblock’s own development proves, however, that although growth in the Italian crypto space might not be that big yet, it is nevertheless significant. Chainblock, which started in 2013 as Italy’s first Bitcoin ATM operator, has since expanded its portfolio of services. It now operates Chainblock Buy, a hybrid exchange for buying and selling cryptocurrencies, Chainblock Buy With Cards, for those who would like to purchase coins with a debit or credit card, and Chainblock Pay, a solution for merchants who want to accept crypto payments. The company supports bitcoin cash (BCH) and other cryptocurrencies across its platforms. Chainblock is still a very important ATM player in Italy, where approximately 4 out of 5 transactions are carried out in cash. Its teller machines, which allow users to buy cryptocurrencies with paper cash, are also located mostly in Northern Italy, with four ATMs in Milan and devices installed in Verona, Turin, Florence, Padua, Roma, and Cagliari. The company has also registered a considerable increase in the user base of its Chainblock Buy platform in the past three months and is working on new projects. Chainblock’s chief executive noted: Let’s say that leapfrogging for Italians may just be around the corner… in a very particular setup. Chainblock Pay is currently used by 22 businesses, most of them running vape and e-cigarettes stores, but also in places such as bars and night clubs. “We are concentrated in Northern and Central Italy, mainly Milan, Genova and Firenze,” Pecoraro shared. His company’s long-term goal is to service 5,000 clients accepting crypto payments and is working with institutional players to achieve mass adoption in Italy. Some time ago, his team advised Banca d’Italia to convert a portion of its gold reserves into bitcoin. “After this first phase, we will concentrate on expanding the availability of services to accept and transact with crypto. First in purchases, then in spending,” the Italian entrepreneur added. Do you think Italy has what it takes to become a leading crypto destination in Europe? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. You can now easily buy bitcoin with a credit card. Visit our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely, and keep your coins secure by storing them in our free bitcoin mobile wallet. The post Italians Love Cash But Are Growing Fond of Crypto, New Stats Suggest appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article