roadrunner

There are many reasons why the Philippines is becoming increasingly crypto-friendly. Not only has its central bank registered more crypto exchanges recently, but the Securities and Exchange Commission has also been actively finalizing crypto guidelines. The country has an active crypto community, and one of its largest banks has engaged in multiple crypto projects. Also read: Central Banks Worldwide Testing Their Own Digital Currencies Rising Number of Crypto Exchanges The number of approved crypto exchanges has been increasing in the Philippines. The country’s central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has registered 13 of them so far: Betur Inc. dba Coins.ph, Rebittance Inc., Bloomsolutions Inc., Virtual Currency Philippines Inc., Etranss Remittance International Corp., Fyntegrate Inc., Zybi Tech Inc., Bexpress Inc., Coinville Phils Inc., Aba Global Philippines Inc., Bitan Moneytech Co. Ltd., Telcoin Corp., and Atomtrans Tech Corp. The latter two were added to the BSP’s list of approved exchanges last month. The central bank adopted a formal regulatory approach to cryptocurrency through the issuance of Circular No. 944 back in 2017. It requires businesses engaged in the exchange of cryptocurrencies for fiat money in the Philippines to register with the central bank as remittance and transfer companies. Among the registered companies is Rebittance Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Satoshi Citadel Industries (SCI), a fintech company building a blockchain ecosystem in the Philippines. Co-founder Miguel Cuneta told news.Bitcoin.com that, besides the 13 registrants, many others are in “in the process of applying.” In addition, the Philippines has a special economic zone where many overseas crypto exchanges have been licensed to operate. The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) revealed in June that it had licensed 37 crypto exchange operators. In collaboration with property developer Northern Star Gaming and Resorts, the authority has been building “Crypto Valley of Asia” for companies operating in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport. However, CEZA’s licenses do not entitle licensees to “sell securities to Filipinos or to exchange tokens into fiat currency,” the authority clarified, noting that a BSP license is needed for such purpose. Growing More Crypto-Friendly Cuneta further shared with news.Bitcoin.com that he believes “The Philippines has always been one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world,” highlighting several factors. Firstly, he emphasized that the Philippines is “one of the first in the whole world” where the central bank registers companies wanting to provide services using cryptocurrency. The BSP started registering them in 2017, the same year Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), began registering Japanese crypto exchanges. The FSA has registered 19 operators to legally operate crypto exchanges in Japan so far. Moreover, Cuneta elaborated: We also now have new draft guidelines from our own SEC on ICO fundraising and order-book exchange regulations, paving the way for a more mature ecosystem with our own crypto marketplace for local price discovery. The SCI co-founder additionally remarked that his country has “an active community and active meetup groups established since 2014.” He also acknowledged that CEZA “allows overseas crypto companies to register and cater to offshore customers.” After conveying various reasons for the crypto savvy image of the country, he concluded that “Definitely, the Philippines is becoming more and more crypto-friendly.” Luis Buenaventura, founder and chief strategy officer at Bloomsolutions Inc., shares a similar sentiment. Describing his country as “one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world,” he told news.Bitcoin.com: “Not only do we have an actual regulatory framework for crypto exchanges, but we’re also a predominantly English-speaking population that can use all the same tools and apps as North American or European audiences with minimal localization. Thus we tend to be a launchpad for U.S. startups looking to expand in the region.” As an example, he mentioned popular mobile bitcoin wallet and investing app Abra. The startup has been offering its crypto-to-fiat conversion network in the Philippines since 2016, trialing it in the country first, before expanding to others. Many Filipinos are also trading bitcoin cash on Bitcoin.com’s peer-to-peer marketplace. Crypto Adoption Advancing Buenaventura estimates that there are approximately two million people in the Philippines who have had some exposure to crypto; some were “caught up in the buying frenzy of late 2017.” He further shared with news.Bitcoin.com: We have a fairly sizable expat population, mostly Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese so there’s a lot of cross-pollination when it comes to financial technologies and payment systems. Cuneta also believes that crypto adoption is growing in the Philippines, “at least in terms of the number of on-ramps and off-ramps we have for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the country,” he explained to news.Bitcoin.com. “You can send money, pay bills, buy phone credits, and exchange crypto to fiat using several central-bank licensed exchanges and service providers.” Another factor recognized by the SCI co-founder was that “Banks and other business are also more comfortable working with companies that are licensed by the central bank, unlike when we were starting out in 2014 and banks would just shut down our accounts as soon as they found out we are dealing with bitcoin.” He continued, “In terms of user adoption, we see more sophisticated and knowledgeable users, traders, and enthusiasts as compared to the speculative mania of 2017.” While asserting that “Bitcoin-as-retail-payment has never caught on here,” Buenaventura opined: Less than 2% of payments in the Philippines happens digitally so the importance of creating cash-to-crypto bridges can’t be overstated. Stressing the growing number of places where “people can actively exchange physical cash for crypto,” he disclosed that his company “powers about a dozen physical locations, and they’re all licensed FX outlets, and we’re aiming to be in 50 by the end of the year.” Unionbank’s Crypto Initiatives The Union Bank of the Philippines (Unionbank), one of the largest banks in the country, has engaged in a couple of crypto projects. Following the installation of a bitcoin ATM at its branch in Makati called The Ark, the bank has reportedly launched a stablecoin. The Philippine Star reported on July 26 that Unionbank had issued “a stablecoin dubbed PHX and became the first bank in the country to conduct transactions using the blockchain technology.” This stablecoin is not to be confused with the Red Pulse Phoenix coin which uses the same symbol. Unionbank backs the value of its coin, which is guaranteed to be at parity with the Philippine peso at all times, the publication conveyed. A senior vice president and head of the fintech business group at Unionbank, Arvie de Vera, revealed that live PHX transactions were implemented on the bank’s i2i platform. Project i2i, which stands for island-to-island, institution-to-institution, and individual-to-individual, is the bank’s clearing system that connects rural banks through blockchain technology. Three banks participated: Summit Rural Bank in Luzon, Progressive Bank in Visayas and Cantilan Bank in Mindanao. Each performed buy, transfer, redemption transactions and domestic remittances using the stablecoin. Initially available only to i2i participants, the coin can be purchased and redeemed by debiting from and crediting directly to their Unionbank accounts. According to de Vera: PHX is a stable store of value, medium of exchange and is a programmable token with self-executing logic. It enables transparent and automatic execution of payments. SEC’s Digital Asset Exchange Rules The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines has published a document entitled Rules on Digital Asset Exchange, which primarily governs the registration and operations of digital asset exchanges accessible in or from the Philippines. The document has 10 main sections covering areas such as registration requirements, anti-money laundering measures, as well as the powers and responsibilities of digital asset exchanges, including capitalization maintenance requirements. “The digital asset exchange shall maintain the unimpaired paid-up capital of one hundred million pesos (Php 100,000,000.00 [~$1,912,450]) at all times … in a form, and amount as the Commission determines is sufficient to ensure the financial integrity of the digital asset exchange and its operations,” the SEC document reads. Stakeholders, exchanges, broker-dealers, investment houses, the investing public, and other interested parties had until Aug. 14 to submit their input regarding the proposed rules. What do you think of the Philippines’ crypto ecosystem? 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 Philippines Increasingly Crypto Friendly – A Look at Driving Forces appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

If you have outstanding tax debt, the IRS may now want to take your passport. For U.S. crypto holders still waiting on promised IRS guidelines for filing — especially those overseas who may have missed these warning memos — the over 400,000 agency notifications issued since February last year are troubling. This kind of behavior from government is nothing new, however, but an oft-repeating pattern of parasitism which sucks value from producers of goods, services and surplus, and punishes progress. Also Read: Elon Musk Supports Yang – But Does Andrew Yang Really Support Bitcoin? True Tyranny Is Vague It has been said that the most cruel and insufferable forms of tyranny are not those with the most rules, but those with the rules that are the most unclear. Even under extremely unfair and unjust law, if one knows what is expected, one can often survive. It’s the proverbial drunken hand of the volatile, abusive caregiver, who one day is reserved about some small matter, and the next flies into a violent rage about the same, which is truly the crushing burden to bear. In the case of the caregiver, old, unaddressed emotional wounds are likely to blame. In the case of the state, the leveraging of ambiguity to produce fear is intentional. In May, IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig wrote in a statement: “We have been considering these issues and intend to publish guidance addressing these [crypto issues] and other issues soon.” To date, no such guidance on filing crypto taxes has been issued. What has been issued, however, are vague threats and warnings to crypto holders and traders. IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig has announced that letters will be sent to crypto holders who may have misreported or neglected to file, even in the absence of promised guidelines. Since February, 2018, notifications have been going out to over 400,000 taxpayers who owe more than $51,000 (recently adjusted to $52,000) in overdue taxes. Since June this year, letters specifically targeting crypto holders have been issued. These letters also clarified inexplicably that, contrary to Rettig and the IRS’s previous statements, crypto is not simply treated as a property under U.S. policy. Every transaction except for buying crypto with fiat is a taxable event. Expats, who may not have gotten these letters due to residing overseas, could potentially have their passports revoked. Those attempting to visit the U.S. may find themselves trapped in an airport, now without a recognized nationality, unable to return home to their families overseas should they set off alarm bells at immigration. Such mobility-stifling measures are a key means to contain and control financial assets, as the value creators moving them are then unable to relocate to more favorable economic climes. The Attack on Sustenance But, where there’s blood, there will be ticks. Where there’s self-sufficiency, surplus and charity, the government will be there to suck it dry. Attacking the geo-mobility of wealth holders through passport revocation is one desperate way to do this. But that’s not where the punishment of productivity ends, of course. Much like the free exchange of bitcoin in the financial realm, being able to grow one’s own food is a major threat to the forced dependency of government. States worldwide have a long, continuing history of destroying food for price regulation, and shutting down private businesses serving their communities. Just last month, for example, the U.K.’s sole organic hemp farming co-op was forced to destroy its crop worth an estimated £480,000 (~$583,000) due to licensing issues. The group, Hempen, states it had been completely forthright and transparent with officials, who had seen no problems for years until recently, suddenly deciding to revoke their license. The rationale for the revocation is of course, defined in tyrannically vague terms. According to a BBC report, Hempen co-founder Patrick Gillen, lamenting the waste of potential tax revenue and benefits to the country from his products, stated: Instead of capitalising on the booming CBD industry, the Home Office’s bureaucracy is leading British farmers to destroy their own crops, and millions of pounds’ worth of CBD flowers are being left to rot in the fields. U.S. price control regulations have repeatedly forced Michigan cherry farmers to destroy massive portions of their produce. Historically, the New Deal legislation of the Great Depression (which also included the abandonment of the gold standard and a mandatory surrender of privately held gold) made these types of practices a norm in the U.S., when regulations were introduced in a bid to protect prices. John Steinbeck describes the travesty in sobering fashion, in his classic novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”: And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges … A million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains … And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. Though fiction, the novel describes actual events that took place during that tragic era. These wasteful practices continue in the U.S. today. After being ordered to dump 30 million pounds of cherries to rot on the ground in 2009, for example, Michigan cherry farmer Rob Manigold echoed Steinbeck’s words: The food pantry shelves are bare, people going hungry, and here we are dumping millions of pounds of cherries on the ground. Arguments for such massive waste based on “the greater good” or “necessary regulation” don’t hold up to economic principle or moral scrutiny, as stifling production where demand is present is irrational, unless justified by one class of individuals possessing a supposed right to determine what others may or may not do with their own bodies or property, which is slavery. Why Crypto Is the Final Target So what in the hell do mountains of rotting fruit and revoked passports have to do with crypto? Quite a lot, it transpires. A money that cannot be centrally regulated provides the same essential power that a flourishing, productive private farm does, but on a whole new level. Self-sufficiency. A passport allows free movement, which is another necessity for self-sufficiency. Once the state is not needed for money, however, that’s the very end. At that point, centralized governance is not needed at all. The advent of bitcoin made the financial transcendence of central banks, geopolitical restrictions, and third party oversight possible. With global devaluation of fiat currencies ever growing, and reckless low and negative interest rate policies being instituted to create more credit bubbles worldwide, the state is beginning to panic. That’s a good sign. The way to sense a debate has been won is often to simply observe one’s opponent beginning to react with fear or irrational outbursts. In the state’s case the reaction is actual violence, however, and that’s why no matter how hard anyone might try, it cannot be said that there is any freedom to be had without a very real risk. What price one is willing to pay for that freedom is entirely up to the individual. What are your thoughts on government parasitism? 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. 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 IRS Revoking Passports Shows How Government Erodes Everything We Hold Dear appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On Friday, a variety of paid press releases were published stemming from a company called Satoshi Nakamoto Renaissance Holdings, a firm that claims a big “reveal” is coming on Sunday, August 18. According to the announcement, Satoshi Nakamoto will divulge his “real-life identity” alongside his “country of origin, education, professional background, and why he has yet to move any of his 980,000 bitcoins.” Many cryptocurrency supporters believe the press release is nothing more than a market ploy similar to the Gotsatoshi.com ruse ‘unveiled’ last May. Also read: Another Self-Proclaimed Satoshi Appears in the High Profile Bitcoin Lawsuit Another So-Called Satoshi Plans to Reveal His Identity There have been so many self-styled Satoshi Nakamotos over the years it’s starting to get hard to keep track of them all. Now this weekend on Sunday, August 18, another person who claims to be Bitcoin’s inventor is supposedly doing a “reveal” to show the world he’s Satoshi. The press release published by a PR agency called Ivy McLemore & Associates never mentions who the mysterious man is, but claims that the person will be disclosing his true “real-life identity.” “After a decade of anonymity, Satoshi Nakamoto will break his silence in Part I of his ‘My Reveal,’” the media release explains. The statement to the press stemming from the company Satoshi Nakamoto Renaissance Holdings can be found on various paid press service websites. The reveal website. “Indicative of the compelling evidence he presents in each part of the series, Nakamoto will illustrate the role that cyphers and encryption related to his devotion to Chaldean numerology played in many decisions in his creation of Bitcoin,” the announcement claims. Moreover, the so-called Satoshi revealer aims to publicize why he registered the website Bitcoin.org 11 years ago. The statement adds: Nakamoto also will disclose why he chose the date August 18 not only to register Bitcoin.org in 2008 but also to release Part I of “My Reveal” this coming Sunday on the 11th anniversary of his registration of Bitcoin.org through Anonymousspeech.com. Here We Go Again — There’s No ‘Blank Slate’ When It Comes to All the Satoshi Marketing Ploys The company behind the reveal says that the revelations will allegedly culminate Tuesday with part II and III being published on the two websites mentioned in the media statement. The public will be introduced to the “Tabula Rasa, his clean-slate vision for Bitcoin’s transformational rebirth, and the declaration of his identity.” The Tabula Rasa is a theory defined by John Locke that suggests humans are born with a “blank slate” and everything is learned through one’s sensory experiences. What this theory means for the Bitcoin network is anyone’s guess, and it’s likely written in a cryptic way to keep a person curious about the so-called reveal on Sunday. The reveal day follows a similar announcement made last May when the creators of the website Gotsatoshi.com revealed themselves, and it turned out to be a cryptocurrency news feed app for mobile phones. Despite the last Satoshi reveal marketing ploy, the cryptocurrency community has been discussing the matter. “Cryptographically signed message or piss off,” exclaimed the Casa CTO Jameson Lopp. The PR team behind the Satoshi Nakamoto Renaissance Holdings reveal. Since the whole Craig Wright fiasco and the multitude of other self-proclaimed Satoshi’s, people seem to be getting tired of deception and sensational tactics. “Even if somebody did sign/verify the genesis block it doesn’t mean they are Satoshi,” the Twitter handle Bitconsultants responded to Lopp’s tweet. “It just means they have the keys. At this point, it’s next to impossible to prove who Satoshi is/was,” the account further remarked. Digital currency enthusiasts have also been responding to the announcement tweet stemming from Ivy McLemore. “Just get him to move a coin from the genesis block, then people will be bothered,” one person wrote to the PR agency. Another individual tweeted: This would literally be the single stupidest move he/she/they could make and it would be known to be — 100% bullshit. And the Satoshi LARP Award Goes to… The story highlights the fact that there are a great number of people in search of the mysterious Nakamoto, but now marketers and businesses are using this desire to their advantage. It also shows the ridiculous number of Satoshi suspects and those who have claimed to be the currency’s creator. There’s the Hawaiian domain owner, Bitcoin Origins writer Scronty, the writer called “Duality,” the Bulgarian Debo Jurgen Etienne Guido, and of course the Australian who has claimed to be Satoshi for years. There are also Nakamoto suspects who are not alive or are in jail like the criminal mastermind Paul Le Roux, the forensics investigator David Kleiman, and the renowned cryptographer Hal Finney. There have been so many claimants over the years that it’s not even unbelievable anymore that people are willing to come forward and say they created Bitcoin. If anything the crypto community might want to host a live-action role-playing (LARP) award ceremony for all the nuts who say they are Satoshi. There have been so many Satoshi LARPers there needs to be an award for the best performance art. These Satoshi revealers have put far more energy into the Nakamoto LARP in contrast to the simplicity of merely verifying an old message or private keys. Instead, we have people creating domains using Satoshi’s name for marketing purposes, people writing memoirs, and Bitcoin inventors with their own PR teams. A great example of these ludicrous theatrical performances was back in May 2016 when Quartz columnist Joon Ian Wong reported that Craig Wright allegedly used the rockstar David Bowie’s PR agency, Outside Organisation, to help with the big reveal that week. Outside Organisation was so good that they were able to get the public’s eyes fixated on Bowie, David Beckham, the Spice Girls, and allegedly the self-proclaimed Satoshi. Wong’s Quartz article details that during the Wright reveal ceremonies reporters from three different publications were “selected” for “proof sessions.” In addition to David Bowie’s PR firm, the selected journalists from the Economist, GQ, and the BBC publications were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA) in order to participate in the reveal, Wong detailed. The Satoshi Nakamoto Renaissance Holdings PR attempt is not much different than the slew of wannabes and attention seekers in the past. Part I of his “My Reveal” on Sunday, August 18, at 4 p.m. EDT will be shown on the company website, Satoshinhr.com. Its likely people will tune in to hear what the person has to say for a brief period of time, but its more probable that the reveal will be nothing more than a tacky marketing attempt in order to highlight something else. An illustration of the announcement’s marketing nonsense can be read under the Satoshi Nakamoto Renaissance (SNR) Holdings business description, which states the company is a provider of “blockchain technologies to help transform people’s lives.” In reality, the only thing this announcement will likely provide is another attempt at Satoshi performance art — And a poor one, too. What do you think about the so-called Satoshi reveal scheduled for Sunday? Do you think it’s just another marketing ruse? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Satoshinhr.com, and Twitter. How could our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool help you? Use the handy Bitcoin address search bar to track down transactions on both the BCH and BTC blockchains and, for even more industry insights, visit our in-depth Bitcoin Charts. The post Bitcoiners Brace for More Performance Art and Another ‘Satoshi Reveal’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Record low and negative interest rates have put commercial banks in a difficult spot. Across Europe, they have been passing the burden to their clients. Some have introduced fees for those with large account balances, while others are punishing everybody equally. In any case, some bankers fear this could lead to withdrawal of large amounts in cash, jeopardizing the cashless society traditional financial institutions have been building. Cryptocurrencies and their users have a lot to win in this situation. Also read: EU Members Adopt Tougher Crypto Rules Than AML Directive Requires Danske Bank Sees Risks for Society Danske Bank, the troubled Danish institution which is struggling to overcome the consequences of a large money laundering scandal, is among those European banks that have been dealing in negative interest rates the longest. Denmark was arguably the first country on the continent to introduce them after the 2008 crash. In the summer of 2012, the central bank lowered its benchmark rate to -0.2% and has kept it around or below zero ever since. Benchmark interest rate in Denmark With unprecedented low interest rates in Europe, many financial institutions have made a decision to pass the burden on to their account holders and even introduce fees on large cash balances. However, Danske has recently vowed not to punish its wealthy depositors with additional charges, unlike other major banks in the region. Chief Financial Officer Christian Baltzer warned in a recent interview with Bloomberg that charging customers with large deposits could pose a risk to society, as he put it. Baltzer said that Danske acknowledges the difficult conditions in the financial sector, but emphasized Denmark’s leading bank does not plan to impose negative interest rates on personal savings or current accounts. In his opinion, charging private customers to hold money in their accounts could add new risks, one of which would be the erosion of the progress toward developing a cashless society. He further commented: Doing so could have a negative impact at the societal level, including the risk of customers withdrawing more deposits in cash. Negative interest rates are becoming the norm in Denmark, and corporate clients have already felt the brunt of the shift. Some banks admit they are about to pass the costs to retail depositors as well, something Danske views as a risky move and states they’re not even considering. Also, the Danish bankers association is now trying to convince Denmark’s central bank to introduce measures mitigating the pain for account holders. Sub-zero rates have left investors in the Nordic country and elsewhere in Europe with very few options. Denmark’s government debt is currently trading at negative yields across all maturities. For example, the yield on the 10-year bonds has dropped to -0.6%. By the way, that’s not a phenomenon isolated only to the Scandinavian region. Bond yields in the rest of Europe and in industrialized countries elsewhere have been close to zero or negative for some time. Big Banks Impose Fees on Big Deposits In these unfavorable circumstances, Danske Bank, which has been dogged by various problems, is trying to avoid a move other banks have already decided to make. Starting from November, UBS, the largest Swiss banking group with global presence, is going to apply an interest rate of -0.75% to CHF deposits of more than 2 million francs (approx. $2.04 million) and charge an annual fee of 0.6% on deposits of €500,000 ($550,000) or more. The adjusted fees will be paid by the bank’s individual clients who hold Swiss francs with the Group’s bank in Switzerland, where other financial institutions like Julius Baer have already imposed similar rates and fees on cash deposits, Reuters reported last month quoting an official UBS statement. Another giant, Credit Suisse, also revealed it might do the same in regards to wealthy customers. Banks operating in the Eurozone are charging corporate depositors to cover the cost of negative rates but most large institutions have not levied such fees on private accounts yet. Benchmark interest rates in the developed world remain historically low as central banks stubbornly insist on applying the same old recipe against recession. It’s a recipe that in an atmosphere of uncertainty and looming trade wars has largely failed to stimulate tangible economic growth but has instead inflated new bubbles, in the property market for instance. The Swiss National Bank policy rate and the rate it charges on commercial banks’ sight deposits remain in negative territory at -0.75%. The European Central Bank is expected to cut its deposit rate by 10 basis points to -0.5% next month. Denmark has its main interest rate set at -0.65%. A Chance for Cryptocurrencies A decade after the 2008 global financial crisis, banks are once again facing serious challenges. Beside Danske, other prominent European banks like Deutsche Bank, Raiffeisen, and KBC also had to deal with money-laundering accusations last year. In a first sign of what may be the next big financial meltdown, several banks in the U.S., Europe and China have already failed and had to be bailed out. The wave of job cuts in the industry is another indication the banking sector is struggling to overcome major problems. In this situation, passing the burden of low rates on to bank account holders is going to hurt the traditional financial system. Even if wealthy depositors aren’t charged with additional fees, the negative interest rates are enough of a punishment for all clients in general. And it would be much easier for ordinary Europeans who keep billions in numerous small accounts to cash out their money, or even switch to alternative digital assets. Such transition would happen even faster if people take a minute and think about what cash deposits really are. When you give your money to the bank, it becomes an asset of the financial institution and your account is only a liability. From a legal standpoint, you no longer own the money, just the right to withdraw under the terms agreed to with the bank for your checking or savings account. These terms define your rights when it comes to accessing what used to be your funds. Things work differently in the world of cryptocurrencies where you are the sole owner of your holdings. The troubles of the traditional financial system have reignited interest in decentralized digital coins, the prices of which do not depend on benchmark interest rates determined by central banks. But at the same time, in case you prefer to receive stable income for your crypto assets, new platforms have emerged offering banking services in this space and the interest rates are in fact much higher. If you are looking to securely acquire bitcoin cash (BCH) and other leading cryptocurrencies, you can do that at Buy.Bitcoin.com. And thanks to a new partnership between Bitcoin.com and Cred, you can now earn up to 6% on your BCH holdings. The offer shows that saving in digital assets can be much more profitable than keeping fiat in a bank account. This not only when prices are going up, but also through newly developed crypto banking services introducing more traditional products to the nascent industry. Do you think banks should pass the burden of interest rates onto their clients? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Tradingeconomics. 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 Passing the Burden of Negative Rates to Bank Clients Opens Door for Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On August 15, the San Francisco-based digital currency exchange Coinbase announced that it had acquired the cryptocurrency custody service Xapo’s institutional branch. The business move puts Coinbase in the limelight, making it the largest custodial service for digital assets worldwide, with more than $7 billion under custody. Also Read: Hong Kong Protest Leader Hopes to Incite Run on Chinese Banks Coinbase Acquires Xapo’s Institutional Arm and Now Commands $7 Billion Worth of Digital Assets As early as 2010, Bitcoin supporters such as Hal Finney predicted that someday most BTC transactions would occur between massive bitcoin-backed banks. Finney believed that if a digital currency like bitcoin was to gain mass adoption, the network would not be able to include every single financial transaction in the world. The renowned cryptographer said that large bitcoin-backed banks would fill the void and “work like banks did before the nationalization of currency.” Fast forward to today, where firms like Coinbase are holding massive amounts of digital assets in custody. On Thursday, the California exchange announced that it had acquired Xapo’s institutional crypto operation and established itself as one of the largest crypto custodians worldwide. Coinbase published a blog post in regard to the acquisition and stated: In just over one year since launch, Coinbase Custody has grown to over $7 billion in Assets Under Custody (AUC) stored on behalf of more than 120 clients in 14 different countries, making it the largest, most globally recognized and most trusted institutional custodian in the world. Coinbase Growth Since 2012: $8 Billion Valuation, $600 Million in Annual Revenue Coinbase has come a long way since Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam started the company back in 2012. That year Coinbase allowed users to buy and sell BTC using a bank transfer and quickly became one of the biggest BTC providers next to Mt. Gox. Throughout 2012 and 2013, investors and venture capitalists started seeing potential in Armstrong and Ehrsam’s company and began to invest. The founders participated in a Y Combinator startup incubator, received $5 million from Fred Wilson in May 2013, and $25 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures (USV), and Ribbit Capital in December 2013. By 2014, Coinbase users grew to more than one million accounts and the assets under the company’s control continued to grow exponentially from there. The cryptocurrency community really took notice of how large Coinbase had grown two years later, when in February 2016, Brian Armstrong told the public that “[Coinbase is] now storing about 10% of all bitcoin in circulation.” In February 2016, Coinbase claimed to store 10% of all BTC in existence. Coinbase is now valued at over $8 billion, after closing a funding round in 2018 for $300 million to “accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital assets.” In 2019, despite stiff competition, the San Francisco tech company has estimated revenue between $569-650 million. Binance comes close to Coinbase, with The Block reporting in February that the exchange pulled in $446 million in profits. Kraken captures $150 million annually, Bitstamp $17M, Bitfinex $10M, and Itbit $4M in revenue. Coinbase has around 800 employees and the firm has made roughly 10 acquisitions since 2012. The company acquired startups like Blockr, Earn.com, Cipher, Digital Wealth, Keystone Capital, Blockspring, and now Xapo’s institutional arm. Coinbase has also made various equity investments like the recent cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Blade as well as acquiring Horizon Games, Textile, Near, and Dharma. In 2017 Speculators Estimated Xapo Held $10 Billion Worth of Bitcoin With Keys Spread Across 5 Continents and a Swiss Military Bunker Xapo started its business similarly to Coinbase, but did not offer its bitcoin wallet and cold storage vault services until March 2014. The Hong Kong-based company was founded by Wences Casares and Federico Murrone and quickly became a well-known crypto brand. In 2015, the company moved its headquarters to Zug and two years later the firm was granted a European e-money license in Gibraltar. That year, during the all-time highs of 2017, it was estimated that Xapo’s Swiss bitcoin vaults held billions of dollars’ worth of digital assets. Quartz columnist Joon Ian Wong reported on Xapo’s vault in Attinghausen, Switzerland when he visited the facility. The security was extreme and resembled a James Bond movie, Wong noted during his visit. “[Xapo] won’t tell me how much bitcoin is stored in the vault, but he says he sometimes takes customers with “millions” of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency stored with Xapo to tour the vault,” the reporter wrote in October 2017. Despite the company not disclosing how many coins are held in the Swiss vault, estimates from Bloomberg in the spring of 2018 said Xapo held more than $10 billion. By the summer of 2018, Xapo Inc. received the sixth Bitlicense and was approved to operate in the state of New York as a regulated Bitcoin business. The @xapo bitcoin vault in a former swiss military bunker 320 m inside a mountain is seriously impressive. Thanks for arranging @tedmrogers. pic.twitter.com/H0n36lZfNX — Marc van der Chijs (@chijs) October 5, 2017 Over the last two years, Xapo has made around $4.2 million in revenue annually. Additionally, Xapo employs around 52 people and the company has raised a total of $40 million since its inception in 2014. Reports stemming from Xapo’s vault in Switzerland have made speculators believe the company’s institutional vault still has a massive amount of digital wealth under its wing. Moreover, during Wong’s visit to the vault three years ago, Xapo told him the vault operators can never unwind. “This is not a race. It is a chess game. You have to think about the opponent’s next movement. You can never relax,” the Xapo executive detailed. Sure. Consumers won't mind bitcoin banks, but that is a huge systemic risk. Say goodbye to all of the core benefits of Bitcoin. Inflation resistance, censorship resistance, Gone. — Paul Puey (@paullinator) August 16, 2019 Members of the Crypto Community Discuss the Current Custodial Trend Coinbase and Xapo have scared some cryptocurrency advocates who think that storing a vast array of coins in custodial services might not be a good idea. Digital currency pundit Jill Carlson tweeted: “The Xapo [and] Coinbase collaboration has me asking: ‘What happens if someday one entity just custodies all 21 million bitcoins? Aren’t we just recreating the same, broken financial system?’” Edge Wallet founder Paul Puey responded by saying: “You need more than just the option too. You need a majority of crypto held in noncustodial solutions. Otherwise, we run the risk of losing the ability to transfer funds without a third-party.” Puey continued: Bitcoin then just becomes an overleveraged asset class like a gold ETF. Using a cringe-face emoji, Monero developer Riccardo Spagni jokingly wrote: “A few months back a VC told me that ‘custody is the most exciting space in the ecosystem right now.’” The Block writer Frank Chaparro (Fintech Frank) said that no smart asset manager would custody all of their coins with one provider. “There is a need for multiple custodians – we see this even in the so-called broker financial system,” Chaparro insisted. However, Coinshares executive Meltem Demirors revealed that she believes “everyone custodies their coins with one provider.” “Did you know that everyone in the U.S. custodies their share certificates with one entity – the DTCC?” Demirors wrote. Did you know you can now easily buy Bitcoin in minutes 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 noncustodial Bitcoin mobile wallet. Mega Bitcoin Banks Issuing Their Own Digital Bucks and Verifiable Proof-of-Reserves The mega crypto bank discussion has many crypto enthusiasts wondering if the massive amount of digital currency custodianship is good for the environment. Coinmetrics executive Nic Carter sarcastically explained that he’s “waiting for a major custodian/exchange to implement proof of reserves” with a picture of a rotting skeleton next to a computer. It’s a stark cry from Hal Finney’s 2010 prediction, when he said that megabanks would be “the ultimate fate of Bitcoin.” “Most Bitcoin transactions will occur between banks, to settle net transfers,” Finney detailed. He also said that these banks would use the BTC to be “high-powered money,” which would serve as a reserve. Then these Bitcoin-backed banks could “issue their own digital cash,” Finney emphasized. We have seen Hal’s prediction already start to occur within the cryptocurrency industry as large exchanges, which have silently become the largest crypto banks in the world, are starting to mint their own digital assets. Binance has created binancecoin (BNB), which holds the sixth largest crypto valuation out of more than 2,000 digital asset markets. Coinbase and Circle Financial have the Centre foundation, which controls the regulated stablecoin USDC. With a transparent blockchain system, a true “proof-of-reserves” type of scheme could transpire, unless people decide to trust these companies like the financial institutions today. If the community simply trusts these mega crypto banks without verification, then unsustainable banking techniques like fractional reserves could proliferate unchecked. The way things are moving, with the recent Coinbase acquisition of Xapo and digital currency exchange providers becoming far bigger than traditional institutions, it begs the question: are mega bitcoin banks the shape of cryptocurrency custody to come? It may not be the future we chose, but it’s the one that’s fast becoming a reality. What do you think about the Coinbase acquisition of Xapo? Do you think that custodial services will dominate the crypto industry? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Coinbase, Xapo, Pixabay, Twitter, Centre, Circle, Jamie Redman, and Wiki Commons. Enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free noncustodial Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH, BTC, ETH, BNB, and other popular coins securely. The post How Coinbase Quietly Became the World’s Biggest Bitcoin Bank appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The 11th week of protesting in Hong Kong has passed as the world has witnessed massive sit-ins at the national airport and demonstrations across several locations citywide. The 2019 anti-extradition bill protests have affected Hong Kong’s local economy, investors have dumped on the benchmark Hang Seng index, and now pro-independence activist, Chen Haotian, has called upon the country’s citizens to withdraw bank deposits. The chairman of the Hong Kong National Party, Haotian further told the public that the “primary goal” of the bank run is to target “Chinese banks.” Also Read: Bitcoin Trades for a Premium in Hong Kong During Protests Hong Kong Independence Activist Proposes a Run on Chinese Banks The protests in Hong Kong have been taking place now for many weeks and just recently things started escalating. It all began in March, with tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents taking to the streets to protest the 2019 extradition bill. If the bill is enacted into law, it would allow Chinese authorities to come in and extradite any Hong Kong citizen to mainland China if they are accused of a crime. In April and June, protests gathered a lot of momentum and in the eyes of many Hong Kong residents, the fight has turned into a giant independence movement in order to secede from China’s rule. On Sunday, June 16, the streets of downtown Victoria Park were filled with protestors who marched against the Chinese government’s communist rule. This week on August 12, the country’s airport had to suspend flights for days because thousands of protestors used the international travel hub for a demonstration sit-in. Hong Kong International Airport. Now, chairman of the Hong Kong National Party and well known independence activist, Chen Haotian, is calling for a bank run on Chinese banking entities. The term: ‘run on a bank’ describes the situation where a very large group of people withdraw funds from their financial institution at the same time. The bank run act could cause a bank to basically stop functioning, due to the fact that most financial institutions today operate with fractional reserves. Essentially, if a great majority of depositors run on a bank most likely there are not enough funds to go around to everybody who initially deposited. On August 15, China Press reported: [Chen Haotian] called on Friday (August 16) that Hong Kong citizens take out all bank deposits. The primary goal is Chinese banks, but [Haotian] said other banks should also be targeted, otherwise Chinese banks can borrow money from other banks to solve problems. Pro-independence activist, Chen Haotian. The Threat of a Massive Bank Run Is Serious The news of a bank run follows the reports of Hong Kong investors dumping the country’s most valuable stocks amid the protests. Some have speculated that these funds have moved into alternative markets like cryptocurrencies and precious metals. The bank run threat in the country should be taken seriously as Hong Kong has had bank runs in the past and even attempts during the 2008 financial crisis. At the time, the people thought the Bank of East Asia (BEA) would fall to insurmountable withdrawals after rumors sent thousands of Hong Kong residents to bank branches during a citywide run. Citizens flocked to BEA branches to withdraw deposits, but BEA executive Li Ka-Shing and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) told the public the institution was financially sound. Police have tear-gassed protestors in the streets and railways in Hong Kong. At the airport sit-ins over 700 protestors have been arrested for “taking part in a riot” and “unlawful assembly.” Prior to that fiasco, the people of Hong Kong witnessed a multi-day bank run in August 1991, when thousands of depositors ran on the financial institutions Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank Hong Kong. Politicians were not pleased with Hong Kong residents and David Nendick, the Secretary for Monetary Affairs, called the banks runs “malicious.” At the time, one Hong Kong citizen standing in the long bank run lines at Standard Chartered, said: “Nobody listens to the government any more — Better to listen to your friends and neighbors and to other reports.” Nendick, however, told the public that Hong Kong would wind up being “the laughing stock of the financial world” if the bank run antics kept up. At that time in 1991, Hong Kong was still a British dependent territory, but the sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred to China in 1997. Many residents who live within the nation have wanted independence from China for quite some time and two years after the Occupy Wall Street protests, the Umbrella Movement pushed this cause to the forefront. Bank runs in Hong Kong have happened before. Back in 1991 and during the worldwide financial crisis of 2008. Chinese banks were hit on the mainland during the Umbella Movement protests of 2014. The World Is Watching Just like today, the Umbrella Movement and other Hong Kong protestors wanted independence from China after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) added reforms to the country’s electoral system. That same year, in 2014, a large Chinese financial institution was targeted after rumors spread that Jiangsu Sheyang Rural Commercial Bank in China was on the brink of liquidation. The Reuters journalist reporting from the scene stated that the financial institution decided to stay open 24-hours. The bank was allegedly bringing in truckloads of cash in armored cars to gratify depositors. Meanwhile, the Umbrella Movement urged Hong Kong citizens to continue protesting and China censored images of the 2014 protests on the mainland. The 2019 protests in Hong Kong have a lingering resemblance to the prior Umbrella demonstrations. There likely won’t be a surge of Hong Kong citizens swiftly moving into cryptocurrencies if a bank run happens, but economic events like these have definitely given digital currencies and precious metal markets a push upwards in recent weeks. For decades now China has ruled over Hong Kong and history shows that individuals pursuing independence and autonomy have always found a way to succeed. Bank run or not, the world’s eyes are fixated on Hong Kong just as they were during the protests in Paris. What do you think about the independence activist Chen Haotian inciting a bank run in Hong Kong against Chinese banks? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Getty, AP, and Zerohedge. 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 Hong Kong Protest Leader Hopes to Incite Run on Chinese Banks appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Tax season is months away, which is why you need to start preparing for it now. Leave everything to the last minute and you’ll only end up cursing your procrastination. Organize your cryptocurrency activity in advance and you’ll breeze through tax deadline day without so much as flinching. Despite maddeningly vague or unfair legislation, filing your crypto taxes is surprisingly simple thanks to an array of tools that make tracking and calculating your obligations a cinch. Also read: Argentina’s Peso Collapse Shows Governments Shouldn’t Control Money Crypto Taxation Doesn’t Have to Be Testing Whatever your thoughts on paying tax, the fact of the matter is that it’s an unavoidable obligation. Unless you’re fortunate enough to live in a country that doesn’t impose income tax (here’s looking at you Bermuda, Monaco, Bahamas, Andorra and the United Arab Emirates), come April, you’re going to have to pay your dues. There’s no getting around it, but that doesn’t mean you have to approach the close of the tax year with a sense of dread. With the right planning, you can automate much of the process, saving yourself no end of time, hassle and expense. Accurately filing your crypto taxes calls for maintaining detailed records of all your transactions and trades that occur over the course of the year. As a result, most of the specialist tax software on the market also doubles as an excellent portfolio tracker. That’s right: even if you have no interest in paying tax, you can still derive value from a product that records all of your crypto gains (and losses), and presents them in an attractive package that can be viewed on desktop or mobile. The following tools provide all that plus a whole lot more. Koinly Koinly promises to help cryptocurrency owners calculate their taxes and minimize their bill in the process. It’s compatible with the tax system in over 100 countries and is free to start using: you’re only charged when you need to generate a tax report. When you sign up, you’re prompted to select whether you wish it to realize gains every time you trade crypto; if you select no, Koinly will simply serve as your portfolio tracker. Like the other tools profiled here, Koinly requires you to link exchange accounts and wallets, which can be done manually or via API. You can then review your transactions, tag airdrops, forks, and lost or gifted coins. 33 exchanges are supported as well as six blockchains including BCH, LTC, and BTC. Koinly Koinly automatically matches transfers between your wallets and shows you gains or losses for each transaction. There are also tools for analyzing your trading habits, tax loss harvesting, and cost tracking including mining expenses. The Hodler plan ($79 per year) covers 300 transactions and can record income and capital gains tax. The Trader plan ($179) covers 3,000 transactions, while Oracle ($399) has capacity for 10,000 transactions and offers enhanced support and import assistance. Blox Blox offers many of the same features as Koinly, but is targeted at crypto businesses as well as individuals. It benefits from CPA tools that allow teams to create an auditable record of all crypto activities, which can be exported as a CSV or imported directly into accountancy software that Blox has integrated with. Your current portfolio is neatly displayed in the dashboard, where you can view an account overview, access specific transactions, and see a daily snapshot of your portfolio. With thousands of cryptocurrencies listed within Blox, even the most dubious of tokens can be tracked and the corresponding tax obligations calculated. Blox Blox provides a detailed guide to prepping your taxes using their software, after which you can file your crypto taxes or export the data to your bookkeeper, who can take care of the rest. There’s also a suite of tools devised specifically for cryptocurrency miners, including cloud-hosted mining solutions. Blox even operates its own nodes to help ensure that transactions and balances are accurate. The Pro plan is free and covers 100 transactions (tx) and up to $50K AUM, while the Business plan, at $99 per month, covers 10K tx and $20M in assets. There’s also an Enterprise plan ($249) for heavy users that will accommodate a whopping $60M AUM. Bittax Complying with amorphous and frequently shifting tax guidelines can be challenging. Bittax aims to set cryptocurrency owners at ease by providing expert guidance on the latest decrees from the IRS. At its heart, Bittax is a crypto tax organizer that works similarly to the other products profiled here: import your wallet addresses and exchange data and the software will calculate your taxes. It uses a proprietary tax planning algorithm that helps to efficiently organize and consolidate your liabilities, without compromising your precious privacy. For U.S. citizens seeking to do everything by the book, and to meet the most rigorous standards set by the IRS, Bittax has got your back. Cointracking Cointracking’s greatest strength is as a cryptocurrency portfolio monitor. Its tax prepping properties are also useful, but the quality of the insights it provides active traders is particularly good. There’s a timeline tool, which populates with trading milestones, there are charts displaying your balance per day, trades per month, trades per exchange, average purchase price and much more. When it comes to taxes, Cointracking supports the FIFO, LIFO, HIFO and LOFO methods, of which FIFO (first in, first out) is the most commonly used. Cointracking There’s the ability to track coins that have been held for longer than a year, and which can thus be sold tax-free in certain jurisdictions. Other tools include the ability for U.S. citizens to create an FBAR report in the event of them owning foreign financial accounts containing assets worth over $10,000. The number of exchanges and wallets that Cointracking supports via API or CSV is impressive; there’s even legacy support for closed exchanges, from Btce to Mt. Gox. The free plan covers 200 tx, rising to 3,500 for Pro. There’s also an Unlimited plan for heavy traders. Another good thing about Cointracking is that you can pay for your subscription in BTC including the option to take out a lifetime license. Don’t Let Tax Take Over Your Life In many countries, the U.S. especially, the laws concerning crypto taxation are unfair, vague, and subject to interpretation. Only last month, North Carolina’s Rep. Ted Budd reintroduced the Virtual Value Tax Fix Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill seeks to put a stop to the double tax that is currently imposed on cryptocurrency, making it unnecessarily complex to calculate and record tax every time a purchase is made. As a cryptocurrency user, there’s little you can do to influence government policy when it comes to taxes; the state moves ponderously, and it may be a while yet before citizens in the U.S. and elsewhere see anything approaching a fair crypto tax policy. In the meantime, the best thing you can do is record your transactions using a purpose-built tool and then get on with your life in the knowledge that the hard part is done. Automate your tax and then you can relax. What other tax tracking tools do you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to third party companies or any of their affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any third party content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you want to keep an eye on moving cryptocurrency prices? Visit our Bitcoin Markets tool to get real-time price updates, and head over to our Blockchain Explorer tool to view all previous BCH and BTC transactions. The post These Portfolio Tracking Tools Will Also Prepare Your Crypto Taxes appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On August 13, Samsung, the South Korean multinational conglomerate, published the company’s new Blockchain Keystore SDK for developers and the latest release supports Bitcoin Core (BTC). The version follows Samsung’s previous Keystore release which only supported ETH and the ERC20 standard. Also Read: Exploring the SLP Token Universe Built on the Bitcoin Cash Chain Samsung Quietly Adds BTC Support to Its Blockchain Keystore Cryptocurrency advocates were pleased to notice that Samsung (OTCMKTS: SSNLF) had finally added BTC support to the company’s Blockchain Keystore software development kit (SDK). The news came on Tuesday, August 13, when Samsung published the SDK with release notes, API reference, and programming guide. The reference to BTC can be found in a table that mentions “Cryptocurrency Specification,” “Cryptocurrency Limits,” and “Transaction Type Limits.” The cryptocurrency limits section notes that there’s a limit of 21,000,000 BTC or 2,100,000,000,000,000 satoshis. Transaction type limits include P2PKH (Pay To Public Key Hash), P2PK (Pay To Public Key), P2SH (Pay To Script Hash), and P2WPKH (Pay To Witness Public Key Hash). The transaction type limits are meant to require a sender to supply a valid signature within a wallet application that utilizes the Samsung Blockchain Keystore. The Samsung Blockchain Keystore specs The new Samsung BTC support can only be accessed by app makers and developers right now and only residents from South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the U.S., Germany, Canada, and the U.K. can use the Samsung Blockchain Keystore. Interestingly, the tech giant added support for the Klaytn blockchain as well. This means developers using the Note10s, Galaxy S10, S10e, S10+, S10 5G can use ETH, any ERC20, BTC, and KLAY tokens. Samsung says there are two benefits to integrating the Samsung Blockchain Keystore SDK into an Android application: Developers can use Samsung Blockchain Keystore API to request the Samsung Blockchain Keystore to sign a cryptocurrency transaction. Developers can link a user’s Blockchain address like a user’s account. With the address returned from Samsung Blockchain Keystore, developers can check and show users how much cryptocurrency balance is in the account as well as view the transaction history. The Samsung Blockchain Keystore specs. Did you know Bitcoin.com also has blockchain developer tools and SDKs for the Bitcoin Cash network? This includes Bitbox SDK, Badger SDK, SLP support, Cashscript, and much more. Check out Developer.Bitcoin.com today. Software engineers who use the Samsung Keystore SDK are able to leverage many features that are commonly used in applications like noncustodial lite wallets. For instance, the Keystore will generate a cryptocurrency’s keypair (public & private key) on the device itself, while also storing the keys in a secure environment within the mobile device. “[Samsung] does not rely on other network or a third party to generate these keys,” the Keystore 1.1.0 version SDK specification reads. All the mnemonic words (seed phrase words) are compatible with the BIP-39 standard allowing users to deploy the recovery phrase on another device if the phone was ever lost or stolen. However, sending a signed transaction is out of Samsung’s scope, the company explains, and engineers who want to send signed transactions need to rely on their own nodes or a public node. Opening the Door for Bitcoin Cash Support and the Race to Lead Blockchain Development Within the Smartphone Industry With BTC being added to the Samsung Keystore, the cryptocurrency spec opens the door for similar networks like Bitcoin Cash. BCH also uses transaction types like P2PKH and P2PK and has a hard cap of 21,000,000 BCH or 2,100,000,000,000,000 satoshis. In the Keystore specs, Samsung notes “We plan to support more cryptocurrencies and expand supported regions in the near future.” People who want to test the Keystore functionality cannot simply download the application from the Galaxy store as Samsung’s blockchain SDK is preloaded on selected devices only. Software developers can test the Keystore application by using Samsung’s Remote Test Lab, which is located in the Samsung Developers Site. Apple published the Cryptokit with iOS 13 last June. Posts on social media and Reddit forums show that crypto advocates appreciate Samsung finally adding BTC to the Keystore. Currently, there are 17 cryptocurrency-related applications that can be used with the select Samsung phones and the Keystore. This includes decentralized applications (dapps) such as Enjin, Cryptokitties, Coinduck, and Cosmee. Samsung’s dapp store also recently gained two new dapps in the form of Mars and Jupiter, developed by fellow South Korean tech company Trustverse. There have been unconfirmed rumors that eventually Samsung Pay will sync with the Keystore wallet so people can pay for goods and services with digital assets. The recent BTC support from Samsung follows the released Cryptokit for iOS 13 from the company’s California-based rival Apple. The Cryptokit from Apple gives speculators reason to believe that the Cupertino tech giant will release its own in-house crypto wallet system. Similar to Samsung’s Keystore SDK, the Apple Cryptokit provides three specific attributes: Compute and compare cryptographically secure digests. Use public-key cryptography to create and evaluate digital signatures, and to perform a key exchange. In addition to working with keys stored in memory, you can also use private keys stored in and managed by the Secure Enclave. Generate symmetric keys, and use them in operations like message authentication and encryption. Apple and Samsung entering the cryptocurrency industry by silently releasing software development kits shows that mobile phones that have blockchain capabilities and offer cryptocurrency solutions are here to stay. The mobile phone giants are neck and neck in terms of sales, and adding cryptocurrency features may give them an edge among the lucrative tech- and crypto-savvy demographic. In May 2018, Huawei added pre-installed Btc.com wallets to the company’s mobile phones. The Chinese communications technology company Huawei already beat Samsung and Apple to the punch by selling phones pre-installed with Btc.com’s cryptocurrency wallet in May 2018. Even the phone manufacturer Oppos is on the heels of these three tech giants with its system that could help a peer-to-peer network of cryptocurrency node operators validate transactions in regions with poor internet services. Oppos Mesh Talk could allow for cryptocurrency transactions being sent without Wifi, cellular data, and Bluetooth. According to reports, Oppo’s Mesh Talk system could allow phones to exchange blockchain key data without using Wifi, Bluetooth, or cellular data within a radius of three kilometers. With all of the blockchain-related developments from Huawei, Samsung, Apple, and Oppos smartphones, it’s safe to assume that the mobile giants are well aware that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. What do you think about Samsung adding BTC support to the company’s in-house Blockchain Keystore? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Samsung, Wiki Commons, Huawei, Apple, Oppos, and Pixabay. 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 Samsung Adds Bitcoin Support to Its Blockchain Keystore appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Ron Paul, the muckraking former congressman from Texas, is stirring things up once again, this time taking aim at the new real-time digital payment system proposed last week by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Presented as an innovative solution by government and media voices, the cryptosphere received the news of the Fednow program with little more than a disinterested shrug. Paul is not impressed either, maintaining that the implementation will crowd out competing protocols like Bitcoin, placing even more power in the hands of an already dangerously incompetent federal government. Also Read: Argentina’s Peso Collapse Shows Governments Shouldn’t Control Money Paul: Fednow Is Unnecessary In a press release issued August 5th, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it will develop “a new round-the-clock real-time payment and settlement service, called the FedNow Service, to support faster payments in the United States.” While the Fed already works with the private sector to provide such services via the Fedwire system, Fednow would be available 24-7, 365 days a year. While Fed representatives and some mainstream media outlets are making much ado over the announcement, with CNBC citing instant check clearance and cost reduction as a nice bonus, Ron Paul sees things a little differently. The former congressman and medical doctor released a statement to campaignforliberty.org yesterday, saying: “Consumers already have numerous options to make real-time payments, so the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin work on a central bank-run and controlled real payments system — what Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Berlau calls “FedNow” — is baffling.” Paul continued: A Federal Reserve-run real payments system will crowd out private alternatives, leaving consumers with one government-run option for real-time payments. This will be bad for consumers and real-time entrepreneurs but good for power-hungry Federal Reserve bureaucrats who will no doubt use FedNow to help “protect” the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency system from competition from crypto currencies. Though no expert on the technical inner workings of blockchains, Paul has been a strong proponent of crypto — and the underlying philosophy of financial autonomy and freedom from government control — for a while now. In a July 14 interview on CNBC’s Squawk alley, Paul maintained that “I’m all for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, because I like competing currencies.” Competing Currencies Are Good for the Economy As news.Bitcoin.com recently reported, several countries worldwide are now working on implementing their own central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Some of these are blockchain-based and others are not. Interestingly, various states are creating their own digital assets while simultaneously standing opposed to the free market use of bitcoin and other decentralized, permissionless assets. Although competition can be very good for consumers and value holders, voices like Paul point out that this competition is a very real, direct threat to central banks and governments who wish to maintain a violent monopoly on the money supply. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard has conflicting opinions on currency competition. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), “Competition in the marketplace is good for consumers and good for business. Competition from many different companies and individuals through free enterprise and open markets is the basis of the U.S. economy.” Of course, this quote references goods and services, and not necessarily currencies themselves, but the same foundational principles apply, either way. St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard addressed the topic of crypto and currency competition specifically at a meeting on July 19: Cryptocurrencies are creating drift toward a non-uniform currency in the U.S., a state of affairs that has existed historically but was disliked and eventually replaced. Who exactly disliked this competition is not specified, and maybe for good reason. The free banking era of competing currencies in America was ended by the National Bank Acts of 1863 and 1864, implemented to help the U.S. government collect more taxes via a centralized, one-currency framework, and to raise money for the Civil War. Currency competition can sometimes create difficult situations, as various media of exchange battle for dominance. Still, competition — especially in a borderless, digital age — ultimately means more options for the individual value holder, consumer, and spender, and a choice as to what is paid for. This doesn’t bode well for broke governments frothing at the mouth for war, additional spending programs, or virtually limitless debt ceilings. Forced Monopolies Engender Trade Wars, Competition Provides Aid Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game. – U.S. President Donald Trump This may be money to Trump, but to the average individual, money certainly matters for more than just an ego boost. Its soundness and market value are of prime importance for individuals securing their everyday needs for life, survival, and enjoyment. Centralized monopolies on currency potentiate volatile trade wars, as currently witnessed between the U.S. and China. With no competition to turn to when one currency is co-opted by bad actors or political interests, folks have no option but to “play the game” of fiat, and go down with the ship, so to speak. Now that free banking eras are a thing of the past, to not finance these trade wars via taxes is to risk imprisonment. The global economy can be a lesson in the value of competition as well. Take Venezuela, and the aid that has poured in via crypto donations; the survival that has been enabled for some, in dumping the hyperinflated, virtually worthless bolivar for bitcoin. Zimbabwe’s astronomically inflated economy (perhaps laughably, if not so tragic) forced the state to print 100 trillion-dollar bills. Other world currencies, including P2P crypto, showed up to shore the walls and bring stability to the reeling society. Bitcoin has been trading at reported premiums of 4% to 10% in Argentina, after the country’s peso plummeted 30% on Monday. Without competing currencies, none of this would be possible. Fednow Is Not Ready, Bitcoin Is The Federal Reserve has stated that the new payments system is set to be rolled out in 2023 or 2024. As Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard claims, “Everyone deserves the same ability to make and receive payments immediately and securely, and every bank deserves the same opportunity to offer that service to its community.” No more overdraft fees, no more waiting on that check to clear, and no more inconvenience in having to wait until money is received to pay one’s bills or taxes. What Brainard and others are missing, according to Dr. Paul’s prognosis, is that centralized, violence-backed convenience isn’t anything wonderful or special. It’s akin to talking about the convenience of never having to walk long distances anymore, because luckily the state broke both of your legs. Should violence-backed fiat powers continue in creating centralized CBDCs, pushing agendas to remove paper money from societies worldwide, in combination with forbidding crypto competition, humankind could soon feel the real inconvenience of total financial immobility, firsthand. All this in view, maybe it’s best for the Fed to heed the doctor’s orders this time, and let the medicine of free market competition do its work. What do you think about Fednow? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The Local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Ron Paul Slams Fednow Payment System and Encourages Crypto Competition appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Global leaders from the Bitcoin Cash community will gather at the first Bitcoin Cash City Conference in Australia, being held in Townsville on September 4 & 5. Townsville has really embraced Bitcoin Cash, so hosting this conference in the cozy, coastal suburb was a natural next step. Australia’s first gathering of enthusiasts and global business leaders will convene to use the low-cost, friction-less payment system and digital money, while enjoying the region’s temperate climate and many attractions. Bitcoin Cash has caught-on among merchants in Townsville, mostly because it enables anybody to move any amount of money anywhere in the world: instantly, securely, and consistently, with fees less than a cent. Essentially, Bitcoin Cash does away with banks and puts users in full control of their money. According to locals, merchants are taking up Bitcoin Cash because it competes with Visa and Mastercard, eliminating fees and giving them an extra three percent on all payments. Local enthusiasm for the cryptocurrency has made Townsville a hotbed of Bitcoin Cash activity: many Townsville businesses from coffee shop owners to helicopter operators now accept Bitcoin Cash as payment for goods and services, via a smartphone app. Noel Lovisa, CEO of Townsville-based software company Code Valley explained, “Townsville enjoys the highest per capita merchant adoption of Bitcoin Cash in the world. The North Queensland Bitcoin Cash Merchants’ Group leveraged that to secure the Bitcoin Cash City Conference.” Townsville has become known as “Bitcoin Cash City,” and so the conference naturally takes advantage of such notoriety. North Queensland has also quietly founded nearly a dozen Bitcoin Cash-related software companies, several attracting venture capital in the millions. Lovisa continued, “We’ve got 20 top international Bitcoin Cash speakers coming to this conference. The number one speaker, Amaury Séchet, helped write the original Bitcoin Cash client known as Bitcoin ABC, successfully upgrading Bitcoin to scale on-chain. That was the genesis of getting the original Bitcoin mission back on track after it was derailed.” Hayden Otto, CEO of Townsville-based BitcoinBCH.com stressed a key difference in this first-of-its-kind conference for Australia. “Bitcoin Cash is so popular in Townsville that conference delegates will be able to pay with it for everything they need during their stay,” Otto insisted. “In addition to flights, accommodation, car rental and tourism activities, you can get all your food, drink and even pay for your laundry with Bitcoin Cash.” He says the Bitcoin Cash City Conference presents a unique opportunity for Australians to discover the potential of cryptocurrency. “I want to personally invite you to the world’s premiere Bitcoin event. Bitcoin is peer-to-peer electronic cash that’s paving the way for financial sovereignty and greater economic freedom for people of all walks of life. Not everyone understands this, but we’re bringing together all those who do for an unparalleled conference which won’t be forgotten.” Through a free Bitcoin.com wallet app, attendees can navigate the brave new world of cryptocurrency while learning more from guest speakers such as developers, legal experts, and entrepreneurs active in the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem. Noel adopted Bitcoin Cash initially to solve a problem for Code Valley’s emergent coding project. “We’ve created a new technology for producing software by combining tiny fragments from around the world. Bitcoin Cash enables me to send a million dollars or as little as 20 cents to somebody in another country with it clearing instantly for a tenth of a penny. I can operate in 150 countries without needing to support 150 currencies,” he recalls. “There is also a roadmap of regular upgrades to meet demand so Bitcoin Cash is very reliable. And it’s hassle-free because there is no central point of authority. Bitcoin Cash is going to be the world’s number one cryptocurrency. Come along to the conference to find out why.” The Bitcoin Cash City Conference will be held on September 4 and 5 at Quayside Terminal, Lennon Drive, South Townsville, Queensland. Full details and registration: https://bitcoincashcity.com Press enquiries: Tel: +61416022287 email: sarita@admedia.net.au The post PR: Australian Bitcoin Cash Conference Brings Cryptocurrency Leaders to Townsville appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Central banks worldwide are examining the possibility of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), with some already testing theirs for different uses. Countries that have advanced their digital currency projects include China, Singapore, Canada, the Bahamas, Thailand, Uruguay, and Sweden. India has also included the digital rupee in the country’s draft cryptocurrency bill. Also read: Crypto Regulations Are Changing Worldwide to Comply With FATF Standards China’s CBDC Is ‘Almost Ready’ The most recent country to claim that its CBDC is near completion is China. According to media reports, The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is “almost ready” to issue the country’s own sovereign digital currency. This was revealed at a forum held in the northern Chinese province of Heilongjiang on Aug. 10 by Mu Changchun, deputy director of the PBOC’s payments department. He explained that the CBDC will use a two-tier system where both the central bank and financial institutions will be legitimate issuers, Reuters conveyed, noting that “the digital currency would not solely rely on blockchain technology as current blockchain technology would not be able to handle transaction volumes in China.” The publication added that the PBOC started researching the possibility of launching its own CBDC in 2014 with the aim “to cut the costs of circulating traditional paper money and boost policymakers’ control of money supply.” Trial Between Singapore and Canada The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Canada have jointly conducted an experiment on cross-border and cross-currency payments using CBDCs. The two central banks linked up their respective experimental domestic payment networks — Project Jasper and Project Ubin — built on two different distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms, the MAS described in May. The trial was carried out in partnership with Accenture and J.P. Morgan. The former supported the development of the Canadian network on Corda, while the latter supported the Singapore network on Quorum. “Cross-border payments today are often slow and costly,” the MAS remarked, emphasizing that they rely on a correspondent banking network “subject to counterparty risk, inefficient liquidity management, and cumbersome reconciliation.” The two central banks, therefore, collaborated to use CBDCs “to make the cross-border payment process cheaper, faster, and safer.” The MAS elaborated: This is the first such trial between two central banks, and has great potential to increase efficiencies and reduce risks for cross-border payments. Bahamas Testing CBDC for Payments Another country that is testing a CBDC is the Bahamas. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released details of its discussion with the Bahamas’ central bank in July, including work done on the country’s CBDC. “By enabling peer-to-peer transactions, for example through e-wallets, a CBDC can increase access to digital payments systems,” the IMF explained: The CBOB [the Central Bank of the Bahamas] is planning to pilot a digital version of the Bahamas dollar as a means of payment to boost financial inclusion, especially in smaller islands of the archipelago. Noting that “the issuance of e-currency can also pose risks to financial stability, cybersecurity, and in the AML/CFT sphere,” the IMF staff “recommended investment in human capital and technological capabilities to ensure that the pilot — and the full-scale adoption of a general-purpose CBDC — is compatible with, and complementary to, the existing financial infrastructure.” Thailand’s Multi-Phase CBDC Testing The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has completed the second testing phase of its CBDC called Project Inthanon. Started in August last year, the first phase focused on developing a proof-of-concept decentralized Real-Time Gross Settlement system (RTGS) that uses a CBDC on a distributed ledger. The second phase, now complete, started in February to further explore how DLT can be used in two specific areas. The first area was “the tokenization of BOT-issued debt instruments on a distributed ledger to achieve their life-cycle activities and delivery-versus-payment settlement.” The second was “the incorporation of regulatory compliance and data reconciliation functionalities into the payment process on a distributed ledger, so as to improve process efficiency and mitigate operational and compliance risks.” The results of the second testing phase were released in July. The bank will soon proceed with the third phase, which aims to trial a “DLT-based RTGS prototype” that “will be expanded to connect with the other systems to support cross-border funds transfer transactions,” the BOT revealed. “The scope will also cover the regulatory and compliance issues from both THB and foreign currencies.” Uruguay, Sweden and ECCU In Uruguay, the central bank completed a pilot program on a retail CBDC in April last year as part of a wider governmental financial inclusion program. The pilot began in November 2017 to issue, circulate and test an e-peso, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) described. “Transfers took place instantly and peer-to-peer, via mobile phones using either text messages or the e-peso app.” However, no blockchain was used. Twenty million e-pesos were issued, all of which were canceled when the pilot ended. The program is now in an evaluation phase before a decision on further trials and potential issuance can be made. In Sweden, the Riksbank started working on an e-krona project in the spring of 2017 in response to many years of declining cash use. “An e-krona would give the general public access to a digital complement to cash, where the state would guarantee the value of the money,” the central bank’s website describes. While “There is no decision on whether or not to issue an e-krona,” the Riksbank confirmed that it “is continuing to investigate the possibilities for issuing an e-krona to increase competence and in this way be better prepared to meet a new digital payment market.” The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has signed a contract with Barbados-based fintech company Bitt Inc. to conduct a blockchain-issued CBDC pilot within the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). This pilot will involve a securely minted and issued digital version of the EC dollar (DXCD), which will be distributed and used by licensed financial institutions and non-bank financial institutions in the ECCU. The DXCD will be used for financial transactions using smart devices between consumers and merchants. “For example, an individual in St Kitts and Nevis will be able to send DXCD securely from his/her smartphone to a friend in Grenada in seconds — and at no cost to either party,” the ECCB explained. India Open to a Digital Rupee The Indian government is currently deliberating on a draft cryptocurrency bill entitled Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019. The bill proposes allowing the government to create a digital rupee as legal tender and currency, and defines digital rupee as “a form of currency issued digitally by the Reserve Bank and approved by the central government to be legal tender.” The bill states that “The central government, in consultation with the Central Board of the Reserve Bank, may approve digital rupee to be legal tender with effect from such date and to such extent as may be specified.” Why Central Banks Are Exploring CBDCs The IMF explained in a June report that a number of central banks are examining issuing a CBDC, noting that those in advanced economies with falling use of cash are exploring the option as an alternative payment method. “The main reasons to consider CBDC are lowering costs, increasing efficiency of monetary policy implementation, countering competition from cryptocurrencies, ensuring contestability of the payment market, and offering a risk-free payment instrument to the public,” the report details: Most central banks are considering non-anonymous CBDC. Almost all seem to be favoring a hybrid approach that allows the relevant authorities to trace transactions. Several are focusing research on a two-pronged approach with anonymous tokens for small holdings/transactions, and traceable currency for large ones. Meanwhile, countries with underdeveloped financial systems and many unbanked citizens see CBDCs “as means to improve financial inclusion and support digitalization,” the IMF noted, adding that “several policy and technical hurdles need to be addressed, and a clear case for issuing CBDC has not yet emerged.” BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens said at the end of June that “Global central banks may have to issue their own digital currencies sooner than expected,” The Financial Times reported. With Facebook’s Libra announcement, a number of central banks have reportedly ramped up efforts on their CBDCs. Concurring with the IMF, Carstens emphasized that “There needs to be evidence for demand for central bank digital currencies and it is not clear that the demand is there yet.” He was quoted as saying: Many central banks are working on it; we are working on it, supporting them … And it might be that it is sooner than we think that there is a market and we need to be able to provide central bank digital currencies. What do you think of central banks issuing their own digital currencies? Which country do you think will launch one first? 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 Central Banks Worldwide Testing Their Own Digital Currencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Alcor Life Extension Foundation has revealed the company is accepting bitcoin cash (BCH) donations. Alcor was convinced by Bitcoin.com’s executive chairman Roger Ver to add BCH acceptance, the same person who convinced Alcor to accept BTC payments via Bitpay back in 2014. The nonprofit organization is well known for its cryonics research and practices as the company has a strong relationship with cryptocurrency advocates. Also Read: Exploring the SLP Token Universe Built on the Bitcoin Cash Chain Alcor Foundation Convinced to Accept Bitcoin Cash Donations The Alcor Life Extension Foundation now accepts bitcoin cash (BCH) donations for its cryonics research and operations in Scottsdale, Arizona. Many cryptocurrency historians will recall that the early cryptocurrency pioneer Hal Finney was a believer in life extension and he is cryopreserved at Alcor. However, they might not realize that Bitcoin.com’s executive chairman and one of the industry’s first angel investors, Roger Ver, convinced Alcor in 2014 to accept BTC. At the time, the company accepted BTC through the Atlanta-based payment processor Bitpay. On August 28, 2014, when Finney passed away, his body was brought to the cryonics facility for preservation. Alcor explained that Finney’s remains would be kept in “long-term storage, where he (would be) cared for until the day when repair and revival may be possible.” Finney’s cryonics process was paid for with his life insurance and “bitcoins donated by admirers” and his wife has also chosen to be cryopreserved. Running bitcoin — halfin (@halfin) January 11, 2009 Ver has once again convinced the nonprofit to accept a cryptocurrency and this time around it’s bitcoin cash (BCH). Alcor also accepts cryptocurrency payments in ETH, LTC, and BTC. “If you don’t see your preferred cryptocurrency in the list below you can contact us and we can probably provide you with a wallet address,” Alcor’s crypto donation page details. Donations help the company remain at the forefront of cryonics technology and give the Alcor team the ability to “preserve the future for all members.” Ver also generously gave Alcor 3 BCH (more than $1,000) after the company created a bitcoin cash donation address. People who wish to donate to Alcor’s cryonics research and operations can visit the nonprofit’s cryptocurrency donation page here. Lots of Well-Known Blockchain Technology Advocates Support the Philosophy of Extropy and Cryonics Research Besides Hal Finney being Alcor’s 128th patient, there are a bunch of blockchain technology proponents who believe in life extension and the philosophy of extropy. Extropianism is an “evolving framework of values and standards for continuously improving the human condition” and the belief is that someday humans will be able to live indefinitely through advances in science and technology. “The Principles of Extropy” started as a set of principles invoked by futurist and philosopher Max More. He’s also been the president and CEO of the Alcor Foundation since 2011. A number of blockchain luminaries and digital currency proponents are believers in cryonics, life extension, and futurism. Another member of the Alcor Foundation is the cryptocurrency magnate Robin Hanson and the world-renowned cryptographer Ralph Merkle has been known to be a “researcher and speaker of cryonics.” Years ago, Galaxy Digital founder Michael Novogratz gave money to SENS research, an organization that studies and develops regenerative medical therapies. “SENS Research Foundation works to develop, promote, and ensure widespread access to therapies that cure and prevent the diseases and disabilities of aging,” the website reads. More than $4 million dollars’ worth of digital currencies were donated to SENS from the Pineapple Fund and Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin. Bitcoin pioneer and cryptographer Hal Finney was Alcor’s 128th patient. Whether It’s Anti-Aging Science or Mass Crypto Adoption, Persistence Pays Off A few cryptocurrency advocates think highly of life extension, futurism, the philosophy of extropy, and organizations like Alcor and SENS research in the same way they believe digital currencies will revolutionize the world’s monetary system. Alcor is convinced that cryonics, cryonics research, and cryonics technology will help preserve our loved ones until the technology becomes available to restore them back to good health. SENS research has also redefined age-related ill-health treatments by “inspiring the next generation of biomedical scientists.” Just like digital asset proponents, believers in life extension face skeptics of these technologies and of newly created sciences. There’s no reason to think that some day digital currencies won’t be used by the global masses, because there’s a good chance it could happen. In the same way, we cannot say that science and technology will not be able to stop or slow down aging dramatically. Nor can we say that at some point in the future we won’t be able to restore our deceased loved ones’ lives. Bitcoin Cash supporters are all about spreading mass adoption. Alcor accepting bitcoin cash (BCH) donations is a natural fit, because both concepts derive from being optimistic on the future of math, science, and technology. Moreover, adding a variety of cryptocurrency addresses to the donation page promotes more free market choice by allowing people to donate using their preferred cryptocurrency. BCH fans will be pleased to hear that another well-known organization now accepts the peer-to-peer electronic cash. Similarly, through strong community persistence, organizations like Chess.com accept BCH for subscriptions and the Free Law Project’s Courtlistener Repository accepts BCH donations as well. What do you think about the Alcor Life Extension Foundation accepting bitcoin cash and other cryptocurrencies for donations? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Images credits: Alcor, Shutterstock, Wiki Commons, Pixabay, and Twitter. 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 Alcor Life Extension Foundation Now Accepts Bitcoin Cash Donations appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Whenever bitcoin experiences a sharp drop or volatility, mainstream media analysts jump to declare that cryptocurrency isn’t stable enough to be considered money. The double-digit crash of the Argentine peso in one day, simply due to an election in the country, can be said to prove the same about fiat. Also Read: Big Banks Enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Trafficking Crimes Vote Sends Peso Into Free Fall On Monday Argentina’s peso currency dropped over 30% in value to a record low of 65 pesos per 1 U.S. dollar. The country’s central bank intervened in the foreign exchange market, using its reserves to prop up the peso, but it still ended the day around 15% down. At the same time, the Argentine equity markets were doing even worse, with the country’s benchmark S&P Merval Index losing almost half its value in dollar terms. This was the worst daily performance by any stock market in the world for the past three decades and only the second worst in the last 70 years. In case you missed the news, don’t worry, no foreign power has declared war on Argentina, nor has Buenos Aires been hit by a giant meteor. Instead, the event that triggered such a major financial crisis, with people seeing so much of their life’s savings vanishing into thin air overnight, was just a routine election. On Sunday there was a primary vote that signaled that the current politician in charge of the government might be replaced by another one in a few months, which was enough to send the markets tumbling in historic proportions. Eva Peron’s portrait on the Argentine 100 peso bill Looking at the details of the elections that spooked the markets and led to the collapse of the Argentine peso shows that there is room for some concern. The current president of the country, Mauricio Macri, is at least perceived to have tried to fix some of the structural problems of the local economy, even if his detractors can say that he has failed in doing so. His opposition, on the other hand, the Peronist Alberto Fernández and former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, are considered to be left wing populists who could set the country back with disastrous policies that will wreck Argentina’s economy once more. Regardless of whether these perceptions are true, the fact is that enough investors hold the news that the opposition might assume control of the government from Macri to be a serious threat to stability. Here We Go Again It is important to note that Argentina is not some small and inconsequential banana republic. In fact, it is the second largest economy in South America and even a member in the G20 group of major economies. It also inhabits a vast land rich in natural resources. Unfortunately, Argentina is also a common example in economic textbooks on how government mismanagement can destroy economies as it was once one of the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita, at the start of the previous century, but has greatly deteriorated in relative terms over the subsequent decades. The country has often fallen into financial crises and the people of Argentina have suffered from several severe recessions in recent memory. One of the persistent ills of the economy is very high inflation and the government even had to resort to redenomination, cutting zeros off the fiat currency, four times between 1970 to 1992 alone. This has remained true also in recent years, as in August 2013 one US dollar was exchanged for less than six Argentine pesos and today is worth about 10 times as much. In 2001 the government of Argentina defaulted on its bonds, which cut the country off from the international financial market for years and caused a lasting economic crisis whose impact the people will not soon forget. Now the country might be at the start of another such calamity, with Argentinians again seeing their peso savings crashing to new lows. Who Can You Trust? Argentina of course isn’t the only country that is suffering from high inflation of its fiat currency. Two very notable examples of countries suffering from hyperinflation are Zimbabwe and Venezuela. In 2009, the Zimbabwe dollar set a world record for inflation, estimated to be in the billions of percent, with even the highest notes of 100 trillion dollars not worth enough to buy a single loaf of bread. In 2018 the Venezuelan government removed five zeros off its fiat, making the new “sovereign bolivar” worth 100,000 times the older bolivar which became basically useless as money. However, it shouldn’t be understood that these are the only countries to suffer from inflation. In fact, all fiat currencies suffer from inflation; it is merely a matter of degrees between the extreme cases and the average. If you think that what happened with the peso can never happen with the U.S. dollar, this demands wholly trusting the American government to never mismanage its economic affairs to this extent. It means that you need to trust American politicians to always look beyond their own short-term incentives to weaken the currency to pump artificial growth ahead of elections or to print new money to buy votes. And it means that you need to trust that the Federal Reserve will always be willing and able to protect the USD from all external threats. Right now, with an international currency war going on, none of these seem to be set in stone. The need to trust governments not to debase their fiat has always been a concern. It is why some people try to hamper government control of money by asking to return to a system like the gold standard where there is a natural limitation on the currency. However, in such a system you still need to trust the central bank to hold as much gold as it claims. Even in ancient times, those controlling the mints often diluted the percentage of precious metals in their coins, thus causing inflation. Cryptocurrency tries to overcome these problems by removing the need to trust any centralized entity, instead promising to base the value of your money on cold, hard math. Do you think that the situation in Argentina proves governments shouldn’t control money? 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 Argentina’s Peso Collapse Shows Governments Shouldn’t Control Money appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP), a token creation system built on top of the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network continues to mature as developers have released a number of third-party applications that support SLP tokens. Now the onchain, BCH-based social network Memo.cash has implemented an SLP token exchange allowing people to list SLP tokens and sell them for bitcoin cash. Also read: Creating Your Own SLP-Based Token Using Memo The New Trustless Onchain SLP Token Exchange Memo.cash is a popular social network that’s built on top of the BCH chain where every action uses an onchain transaction. For a while now Memo has accrued users and has added a variety of features since the platform’s inception. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the application adding the ability to forge SLP tokens on the Memo platform and to store, send, and receive SLP coins as well. At the time, we gave our readers step-by-step instructions on how to mint an SLP token using Memo and explained that the process takes less than a minute. Since then, the engineers behind Memo have added the ability for people to trade SLP tokens onchain in a safe environment. The new exchange service utilizes an open source decentralized trust-less protocol that accepts purchase offers and transfers using an atomic transaction. The creators of Memo noted that the new feature that still has limited functionality and people using the exchange should understand there might be bugs. When you visit the Memo exchange page, you’re greeted with options like viewing the tokens already listed for sale, the ability to sell a token, and a list of offers you already created. Right now, looking at the listings page shows there are tons of SLP tokens being sold for various amounts of satoshis. Well-known SLP tokens such as Honestcoin (USDH), Spice, Honks, BTC2, and Trump are being sold alongside coins you probably never heard of. The exchange listings show when the tokens were listed, price, seller, and a tab that allows you to purchase tokens being sold instantly. Selling Rare Stones To demonstrate how the Memo exchange operates, I decided to mint six nonfungible tokens from the same address and called them the Infinity Stones or “IFS.” If you want to try to sell SLP tokens using Memo, you will need to register for an account to enjoy the new trading feature. People who know the story of the Infinity War and Thanos will know that there are six stones needed to complete the Infinity Gauntlet in order to harness god-like powers. So I minted tokens using the Electron Cash SLP wallet and each token represents the mind, space, reality, power, time, and soul stones. I designed them to be nondivisible and each stone was represented by only one token. Each stone is also tethered to a URL, which leads to the original Infinity Gauntlet comic book cover. After the stones (tokens) were forged I sent them all to my Memo account dubbed “Zelda” and prepared to list each stone for sale. On the “List Tokens for Sale” page the Memo platform provides a customizable window to create new listings. On this page, I chose the tokens I wanted to list, how many tokens to list, the price per token, and the total price. I listed the six IFS tokens for 1,560,000 satoshis (0.0156 BCH) per token and for every completed trade Memo takes a 1.5% fee. So the fee for each IFS trade would be a total of 23,400 satoshis (0.000234 BCH). After creating the listings for all six stones, I then tweeted out my IFS sales on Twitter to let people know I had some rare nonfungible tokens for sale. Not long after sending out my tweet, well-known BCH proponent and streamer Collin Enstad, host of “Collin’ It Like It Is,” a “no bullshit crypto show,” purchased two of the stones on the Memo exchange. According to Memo, Enstad is the proud owner of the mind and reality stones. Moreover, Enstad decided to sell the two IFS tokens for double the price I sold them for at 3,000,000 and 5,000,000 satoshis. So far there are four Infinity stones (IFS tokens) left waiting for someone to snatch them up at my price in an attempt to control the universe. Someone will have to buy them at Enstad’s price to capture his two stones. The Memo.cash SLP exchange has a lot of potential, but once an offer is submitted there is no way to cancel it right now, the Memo engineers have explained. https://t.co/W1Y8pMkENU pic.twitter.com/hdmFZPPymD — Jamie Redman (@jamieCrypto) August 14, 2019 Memo’s New Feature Augments the Broad Range of Support for the SLP Token Universe Memo adding a decentralized way for people to swap tokens for BCH in an atomic fashion bolsters the social network’s powerful features. Just like the latest Cryptophyl exchange and the upcoming Exchange.Bitcoin.com, which will launch on September 2, the new Memo SLP marketplace also adds more trading liquidity to these unique tokens. Furthermore, well-known trading platforms like Altilly Exchange, Coinex, Sideshift, and Coinsuper are all listing SLP tokens. With all the exchange endorsements and wallet support from clients like Badger, Ifwallet, Cresent Cash, and Electron Cash, the SLP universe continues to showcase enormous amounts of innovative possibilities. Further, Bitcoin.com will soon be launching an SLP token dividend tool that allows people to pay dividends to groups of specific SLP token holders. Memo’s recent trading platform for SLP tokens has been welcomed by the BCH community, while also highlighting the innovation taking place within the BCH and SLP development community over the last few months. What do you think about the ability to sell and purchase SLP tokens using the social network Memo.cash? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned software and trading platform. Bitcoin.com or the author is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, software, exchange, or services mentioned in this article. This editorial review is for informational purposes only. Image credits: Shutterstock, Memo.cash, Marvel, Wiki Commons, Infinity War, and George Pérez. 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. Also, we just announced launching a cryptocurrency exchange on September 2, 2019. Pre-register today at Exchange.Bitcoin.com to take part in the rewards and trading incentives. The post Social Network Memo Adds Decentralized SLP Token Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Last week in Russia, state agents tore apart the offices of FBK, a privately funded anti-corruption foundation, freezing group assets and more than 100 bank accounts. Officials are using suspicion of money laundering as justification for targeting the largely bitcoin-funded group, possibly in a bid to quell their hand in upsetting Moscow politics. This case and others, like raising donations or moving through airport security checks, demonstrates something bitcoiners have known for years: a math-based money that exists on the blockchain cannot be confiscated. Also Read: Bitcoin Mining Industry’s Exponential Growth Just Won’t Stop Empty Safes in Russia Alexey Navalny’s Moscow-based Anti-Corruption Foundation, known as FBK, is a perpetual thorn in the side of prevailing political powers in Russia, receiving significant funding in bitcoin and converting it to Russian rubles via a cash-in exchange service. According to Russian officials, the group has potentially laundered 75 million rubles (over 1 million USD) and in effect 100 bank accounts have been frozen, totaling assets worth $430,360, according to Russian media outlet Meduza.io. FBK campaign chief Leonid Volkov maintains there is nothing illegal about their funding process, and that authorities there are only trying to intimidate dissenters. FBK’s press secretary Kirya Yarmysh states: This case is fabricated from beginning to end, and its only goal is to scare people and stop the FBK’s activities. These activities include a new “Smart Voting” project which offers voting tips for those interested in opposing United Russia, the ruling party in the country. FBK’s website is currently blocked as well. The group has become especially important now to Russia’s opposition supporters, as opposition candidates have been barred from participation in Moscow’s upcoming municipal elections, resulting in nationwide protests, some of which are aimed more broadly at Putin’s regime as well. Полиция смогла открыть сейф и в этот раз (в прошлый раз его им открыл Алексей). Вот, как старались! Наверное, ожидали найти тот мифический миллиард, не меньше. Жаль, что снова провал: pic.twitter.com/LJMFmDnPI0 — Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) August 8, 2019 You Can’t Confiscate an Idea Posting a picture of their government-demolished safe to Twitter on August 8, Yarmysh quipped “Look how hard they tried! They were probably expecting to find that mythical billion, no less. Shame that the safe failed them again.” This “mythical billion” is in reference to the original laundering suspicion amount, which the government then changed to 75 million, later. Some Twitter commenters also shared their support for FBK’s Bitcoin savvy: On top of the search of FBK headquarters, several members’ private homes were reportedly searched as well, and some were allegedly injured in the process. According to FBK attorney Alexander Pomazuyev’s legal representation, Pomazuyev’s face was slammed against the floor by police. These tactics are brutal, but what remains interesting about FBK’s crypto funding is that no matter how violent somebody gets, it doesn’t matter to the math. Applications here extend all over, even outside the volatile climate in Russia, including taking one’s business off the ground and into the sky. Paper Wallets for Flying FBK’s government-disappointing safes are not the only use case for math-based, computer money. Crypto facilitates uninterrupted business in the air as well. Airports worldwide have limits as to how much cash and assets travelers can legally move through their security checkpoints. Though the limit is typically set to $10,000, crypto assets present a way to fly around these humiliating impositions. One simple printout of a paper wallet, a quick transaction to load it up, and a traveler is good to go, carrying however much they please. At least, for now. Mobile wallets and other hardware also afford this option, but governments are already starting to crack down, searching phones and laptops via random checks and also where there is alleged suspicion of illegal activity. In recent documentation, the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) verify this Orwellian reality: CBP’s search authority extends to all persons and merchandise, including electronic devices, crossing our nation’s borders. A paper wallet stashed in a suitcase, however, is nothing more than a piece of paper. A Bitcoin transaction to another address or device awaiting one’s arrival overseas, is nothing but numbers in the air. A random string of words for a seed, jotted down on a memo pad, is just “meaningless” words. Unstoppable Charity Continues FBK’s case and others are the very reason U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry was right when he testified to lawmakers on July 17 that “The world that Satoshi Nakamoto, author of the Bitcoin whitepaper envisioned, and others are building, is an unstoppable force.” Projects like Airdrop Venezuela, the Dementia Society of America’s crypto write-offs, and numerous grassroots, decentralized initiatives on social media to help with natural disaster relief display the real utility of permissionless giving. For example, in August, 2017, over $50,000 was raised in crypto donations to bring aid to Texas hurricane victims. None of this is to mention the untold number of smaller P2P, grassroots initiatives that fly under the radar, happening via small, community-based online calls for action. As Joe Waltman, editor at Givecrypto.org states: Restoring and fostering donor faith comes down to one simple word: transparency. Transparency is important when large and reputable charities like the American Cancer Society have been reported as spending just 24% of their money on research, and large amounts on executive salaries. With crypto there’s no need for “watchdog organizations,” per se, as long as there’s a decentralized blockchain, guaranteeing that no third party can stand in the way of financial aid being delivered and confirmed. The State’s Only Tool As evidenced last week in Russia, crypto as an idea cannot be stopped, but governments are still going to try. The picture of the busted up FBK safe is a good metaphor for the one go-to tool of government: the application of force. FBK may be correct in asserting that the money laundering accusations are merely a tool to justify the infiltration and destruction of the muckraking organization. Where there’s no transparency, government entities like this can operate with virtual carte blanche by fabricating bogus charges easily. The conversation in the U.S. crypto space is similar, with regulated exchange on-ramps and taxes being now cited as chokepoints by which the government can stifle crypto fluidity. Bitcoin’s success ultimately relies fully on people’s willingness to use it according to its full function, regardless. What do you think about FBK’s situation and the utility of crypto? 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 Anti-Corruption Group Proves Crypto’s True Power: You Can’t Confiscate Math appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Indian supreme court resumed hearing the writ petitions against the banking restriction by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Wednesday. Many issues were discussed, ranging from the legality of the RBI action to the classification of crypto assets and how each country regulates them. Also read: India to Introduce Crypto Bill Next Parliament Session – A Look at Community Responses Supreme Court Resumes Hearing RBI Case The Indian supreme court resumed hearing arguments on Wednesday against the banking restriction by the central bank, which it began hearing in-depth last week. The hearing started with Ashim Sood, counsel for the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), explaining to the court why banking support is necessary for businesses that deal in cryptocurrencies, Indian crypto news analysis platform Crypto Kanoon reported from the courtroom. Sood then argued against the legality of the RBI ban, citing the Banking Regulation Act and the RBI Act, emphasizing that the central bank did no research before issuing the ban. He further claimed that the RBI taking action for the sake of general consumer interest is beyond legality. According to Crypto Kanoon, the counsel asserted: Banning or regulating something must be a legislative act, it is a power which cannot be exercised by way of delegation. A decision to ban or regulate should have come from the legislature instead of RBI. Sood informed the court that, while the RBI does not see the need to define crypto assets, other countries’ regulators recognize three different kinds, citing a report by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, Crypto Kanoon continued to report. The counsel further explained that the RBI itself admitted that it does not have jurisdiction over the legality of cryptocurrency as it is neither a coin nor currency, adding that both the RBI Act and Payment Settlements Act do not apply to crypto assets. During the hearing, the court asked whether the counsel is concerned solely with bitcoin or with all cryptocurrencies. When the counsel replied all cryptocurrencies in general, the judge said, “we want to understand all, give us in writing about all and how they are different,” Crypto Kanoon conveyed. Armed with charts and extensive research, the counsel immediately explained the basics of cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology to the judge, as well as the regulatory frameworks adopted by other countries including all of the G20 nations. New York’s crypto regulation was discussed in depth. The hearing ended with the court scheduling further arguments for Aug. 20. The Hearing Began Last Week The crypto case was originally scheduled to be heard by the supreme court on July 23 but was postponed. The court finally heard the case against the RBI ban in depth on Aug. 8, but the hearing of petitions relating to crypto regulation in India has been moved to January next year. Jaideep Reddy, a lawyer at Nishith Desai Associates representing the IAMAI in its writ petition against the RBI ban, shared what happened in court last week with news.Bitcoin.com. “The counsel Mr. Ashim Sood, briefed by Nishith Desai Associates, started arguments on Thursday with an introduction of the issues and why the circular may not be valid under its parent statutes, including the RBI Act and the Banking Regulation Act,” he detailed, adding: The judges showed an inclination to hear the issues in detail. The RBI issued a circular in April last year banning financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses. The ban went into effect three months later and banks subsequently closed accounts of crypto exchanges, forcing some of them to shut down, including Zebpay, Coindelta, Coinome, Koinex, and Cryptokart. Crypto Regulation-Related Hearing Moved to Next Year The supreme court was informed last week that the Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019 may be introduced when parliament is reconvened, a court document shows. The bill was drafted by an interministerial committee (IMC) tasked with studying all aspects of cryptocurrencies and providing recommendations. The committee submitted its report along with the draft bill on Feb. 28. Both were made public on July 22. Upon learning of the government’s intention to introduce the bill, the court decided to postpone hearing the petitions concerning crypto regulation in India until the last week of January 2020. The IMC report is currently being examined by relevant regulators, according to the Ministry of Finance. However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said she has yet to spend time on the report but thought that, based on the presentation she saw, the report is “very futuristic and well-thought-out.” News.Bitcoin.com previously reported on the content of this bill. The IMC was constituted on Nov. 2, 2017, under the chairmanship of former Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs Subhash Chandra Garg. It has representation from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the RBI, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and Central Board of Direct Taxes. Flawed Report, Banning Not a Solution The Indian crypto community strongly believes that the IMC report is flawed in many ways, including how cryptocurrency is defined. Since the report was made public, the community has been ramping up efforts to convince lawmakers of how flawed the recommendations are in hopes that they will introduce positive regulation instead of proceeding with the draft bill to ban cryptocurrencies. Stakeholders in the industry are reportedly meeting government officials nationwide for this purpose. Many people in the Indian crypto community and industry associations say banning is not a solution. The Indian National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) recently stated that “A ban is more likely to deter only the legitimate operators as they have no intent to be non-compliant.” Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh emphasized: “We cannot close the door on new technologies. We need to learn, experiment and create the right regulatory frameworks to get the best out of these technologies. Banning is not the answer.” RBI Finalizes Regulatory Sandbox While skeptical of cryptocurrency, the central bank is open to blockchain technology, as seen in its final fintech regulatory sandbox framework published on Aug. 13. The draft of this framework was made public on April 18 and stakeholders were invited to offer their comments and feedback. “A total of 381 para-wise comments/feedback from 69 stakeholders, including fintech entities, banks, multilateral agencies, industry associations, payment aggregators, audit & legal firms, government departments, individuals etc. on the various aspects of the framework, were received. The suggestions appearing in 17 newspaper reports were also considered,” the RBI revealed. “The comments/feedback were mainly on the sandbox objectives, eligibility criteria, fit and proper criteria for participants, list of exclusions, legal and regulatory waiver, consumer protection and transparency & disclosure.” The central bank claims that “The suggestions received have been examined and suitably incorporated in the framework.” The framework lists various types of businesses, projects, and services that may not be accepted for testing. They include cryptocurrency; crypto asset services; trading, investing, and settling in crypto assets; initial coin offerings (ICOs); and any products or services which have been banned by the government of India. However, smart contracts and “applications under blockchain technologies” are among the products, services or technology which the RBI would consider for testing in its regulatory sandbox. What do you think of the supreme court hearing today? Do you think the court will lift the RBI ban? 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 RBI’s Power Over Crypto Challenged at Length in Indian Supreme Court Today appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

There’s much talk about multi-billionaire innovator Elon Musk’s newly announced support for Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Yang, known as the Bitcoin-friendly choice for 2020, has a reputation for innovation with his unique stance on Universal Basic Income, emphatic blockchain talking points, and acceptance of crypto donations. But it remains to be seen if the leader of the “Yang Gang” will be a proponent of Bitcoin in the fullest sense of the word, or which of his fellow candidates might do it better. Also Read: How Bridging Blockchains Unlocks Value and Unites Crypto Tribes Crypto Candidates Interestingly, Yang is not the only candidate that is at least a little interested in crypto. Fellow Democratic candidate Eric Swalwell’s campaign (Swalwell has since bowed out of the race) announced in May that it would accept donations in BTC, BCH, BSV, ETH, XLM, and stablecoin WSD. The first ever presidential candidate to accept Bitcoin donations was Rand Paul, back in 2015. Yang’s opponent for the Democratic nomination, Tulsi Gabbard, also appears to be invested, quite literally, listed on an official Financial Disclosure Report as having purchased Ethereum and Litecoin in 2017. Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard invested in a couple of coins back in 2017. Yang’s Position on Bitcoin With Elon Musk’s recent tweet of support for the Yang gang and his Universal Basic Income (UBI) proposal, and many news outlets reporting that Musk is now supporting a pro-Bitcoin candidate, it makes sense to check out what he actually says. Yang states in a January interview with the Being Libertarian podcast: I think there should be a national cryptocurrency. You could even put this social credit stuff on the blockchain. The social credit system he references would potentially supplement the UBI proposal, which is to be funded by a new Value Added Tax (VAT). When pressed in the interview about the VAT raising prices, Yang maintained that prices are staying the same for most things – it’s services like healthcare where the real pinch is felt, according to the candidate. This is interesting considering the general trend of currency devaluation worldwide. One of Yang’s proposals is a digital currency to reward social credit. As for regulation, Yang’s current campaign policy statement maintains that “A national framework for regulating these [crypto] assets has failed to emerge, with several federal agencies claiming conflicting jurisdictions. At the same time, states have come up with a patchwork of varying regulations that make it difficult for the US cryptocurrency markets to compete with those in other jurisdictions, especially China and Europe.” In a Facebook AMA session Yang elaborated that: I’m a fan of the underlying technology around blockchain. It has a wealth of potential. I do think the entire cryptocurrency phenomenon has gone a bit ahead of itself … Blockchain has immense potential …It could help provide the foundation for the digital social currency that I’m very much for. That Blockchain Buzzword Some of Yang’s positions on crypto seem favorable to regulated development in the industry. For example, Yang wants to define “what a token is, and when it is a security,” in the interest of clearing up regulatory confusion. He aims to “Clarify the tax implications of owning, selling, and trading digital assets.” For those lost in a fog of threatening IRS letters with no clear guidelines yet issued, this would likely be a welcome change. Ignoring outright crypto antagonists like Donald Trump for the moment, though, the thing that seems to give Yang his Bitcoin-friendly image is simply that he is talking about it at all. Most are silent, save the likes of self-funded maverick anti-politician John McAfee, running as a Libertarian, and a few select others. Sadly, for the die-hard Satoshi Nakamotos of the world, merely echoing buzzwords like “blockchain” doesn’t mean a whole lot. Even former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke does that, as well as the president of Bitcoin-restrictive China, Xi Jinping. Many sing the praises of blockchain without digging into the real utility of crypto. And this utility is for the smallest minority there is: the individual. As Satoshi himself wrote in the Bitcoin whitepaper: “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” No regulation there, save math. Musk and Other Candidates’ Statements With Yang’s positions fairly well enumerated, it stands to look at other candidates, and also Yang supporter Elon Musk (who tends to wax humorous and tongue-in-cheek when discussing crypto). Their stance on the topic might shed additional light on the Yang Gang’s bid to do something novel in 2020. Below are some short quotes and summarized positions. Elon Musk: “I literally own zero cryptocurrency, apart from .25 BTC that a friend sent me many years ago” (February 2018). “Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency” (April 2019). Donald Trump (R): “I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air…” (July 2019). John Delaney (D): “Chair Giancarlo’s speech at the DC Blockchain Summit sponsored by the Chamber of Digital Commerce highlights the need for tech-forward regulatory solutions. We want savvy leaders guiding the country on blockchain” (March 2019). Tulsi Gabbard (D): (Potentially still holding crypto, but otherwise silent). John McAfee (L): “We are creating a permissionless society” (September 2018). “Bitcoin is at the mid 10’s and people worry. LMFAO!! Why do you pay attention to weekly fluctuations? Look at the past few months FFS! It’s rising drastically. I’m still positive about my $1 mil BTC price by the end of 2020. Alt coins like MTC and Apollo will rise ten times more” (July 2019). The above list – as paltry as it may seem – constitutes most of what is being openly spoken about crypto by current candidates. Save for McAfee, it’s mostly talk about blockchain, the “underlying technology” of cryptocurrencies, and the need for centralized regulations. While many news outlets are hyping Musk support for the pro-Bitcoin candidate, a more apt moniker may be the “pro-blockchain” candidate, whatever that may mean. What are your thoughts about Andrew Yang’s position on Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The Local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Elon Musk Supports Yang – But Does Andrew Yang Really Support Bitcoin? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Europe is gradually tightening the rules for the crypto space. A wave of new regulations are introducing stricter requirements for companies operating in the industry and cryptocurrency users are going to feel the difference in the coming months. The measures stem from the obligation of member states to transpose EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) into national law by January. Unfortunately, they often go beyond what Brussels wants them to do. Also read: Big Banks, Big Troubles: HSBC, Deutsche, Societe, and Citi Lay Off Thousands Worldwide German Regulations Chase Out Crypto Companies Like Bitpay Germany, the flagship of the European Union, is one of the first to make the changes. New anti-money laundering (AML) regulations entering into force next year will oblige digital asset exchanges as well as providers of crypto payment and custodian services to apply for licenses from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin). They have to do so by the end of 2019, as the new pan-European legislation is supposed to be implemented in January 2020. Starting from next year, German financial authorities will consider digital coins a financial instrument. And while some welcome the regulatory clarity regarding the status of cryptocurrencies, others think many more aspects need clarification and even look at the new rules as an obstacle to normal business. Members of the local crypto community believe the government is actually hurting the German blockchain industry and sending crypto companies abroad. A major industry player that evidently needs some time to think about the matter is Bitpay. The payment processor, which facilitates both crypto and fiat transactions, is not providing services to German customers anymore. About a week ago, the platform announced on its website that it doesn’t currently work with merchants or users based in the Federal Republic among countries such as Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nepal, and Vietnam. The list of supported markets is regularly updated according to Bitpay’s evaluation and understanding of local laws. And the company says it engages with local authorities to fully understand the rules in order to retain compliance and offer businesses the opportunity to accept blockchain payments. But the fact that it has pulled out of Germany at this point, even if it’s only a temporary step, means that new German regulations are already making it harder for crypto companies to operate freely. Some serious businesses, like the largest food delivery portal in Germany, Lieferando, have been offering bitcoin as a payment option to their customers through cooperation with Bitpay. Members of the country’s crypto community have been warning that the new rules are going to chase other companies out of Germany in search for a more favorable climate in different jurisdictions in Europe or elsewhere. Prague Tightens Noose on Nascent Crypto Industry The Bundesrepublik is not the only EU member state taking the road to much stricter standards for the crypto industry. According to reports by local media, the Czech Republic is now working on its own set of rules, further tightening the noose around cryptocurrency users. For example, failure to register with the national Trade Licensing Office will lead to massive fines for service providers in the space. Again, these measures have been inspired by the latest European AML directive, but the country’s leading business daily wrote last week that they are going to be tougher than the requirements set forth by the EU. In an article on the subject, Hospodářské noviny recently pointed out that the new cryptocurrency regulations will increase oversight on a wider range of companies than mandated by Brussels, jeopardizing the competitiveness of the Czech crypto sector. Estonia is another EU member that has been tuning its crypto regulations in recent months. The tiny Baltic nation was one of the first on the continent to create favorable conditions for businesses dealing with digital assets and attracted many of them to its jurisdiction. Towards the end of last year, however, regulators in Tallinn took steps to tighten the existing licensing regime. As a result, it’s going to take longer and it will be harder in the future to acquire an Estonian license. This spring, the finance ministry presented amendments to the country’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing legislation. One of the changes requires Estonian companies to keep their headquarters in the country and entities incorporated abroad now have to maintain a permanent office in the republic. Estonia adopted its Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act in 2017 to transpose the provisions of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. France Introduces Optional Licensing Other European nations have also taken crypto regulation seriously. Earlier this year, France announced intentions to publish updated rules for the crypto industry. In April, the government in Paris adopted a bill creating the legal framework for service providers in the space and projects conducting initial coin offerings. The law introduces mandatory registration with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) for providers of crypto custodian services as well as optional licensing for all service providers including cryptocurrency brokers, dealers and exchange operators. About the same time, Finland enacted its law regulating crypto service providers like trading platforms, wallet providers and issuers of digital coins. The Act on Virtual Currency Providers entered into force on May 1 after it was approved by the country’s president. The Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) was tasked with registering and supervising entities that fall into these categories. The new legislation and the introduction of other regulations by the FSA led to changes in the customer verification procedures applied by the peer-to-peer crypto exchange Localbitcoins. Holland Abolishes Licensing Requirement Obliging crypto companies to apply for licenses issued by regulators is a step too far and the case with the Dutch AMLD5 legislation demonstrates that. In early July, the Netherlands’ finance minister filed a bill in parliament implementing the directive and amending his country’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act. The draft envisaged the introduction of a licensing regime for crypto exchanges and wallet providers. However, the unnecessary provision regarding licensing was met with a negative reaction from the Dutch Council of State, a body that advises Holland’s parliament on draft legislation prepared by the executive power and provides assessment of bills in terms of compliance with EU law. According to the council, AMLD5 does not offer a choice between licensing and registration, hence the minister’s proposal is not in line with the directive. In its considerations, the legal portal Lexology reported, the Council of State also notes that the advice of the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and the Financial Markets Authority (AFM) to introduce a licensing system in order to improve the effectiveness of oversight does not mean such a measure is proportionate, given the burden it imposes on service providers. As a result, the licensing requirement was abolished in the latest version of the law submitted to the Dutch parliament. There’s only a registration requirement, which is in line with EU’s directive and the Council of State’s suggestion. AMLD5 Must Be Transposed Into National Law by January The Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive was adopted by the Council of the European Union in May 2018 and published in the official journal of the EU on June 19 last year. AMLD5 modifies AMLD4, which was released in 2015. The revision was proposed in the summer of 2016 as part of the European Commission’s Action Plan against terrorism prepared after the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels and the Panama Papers scandal. AMLD5 entered into force on July 9, 2018 and EU member states are obliged to transpose it into their legislation by Jan. 20, 2020. One of its key goals is to extend the scope of anti-money laundering laws to cover crypto exchange platforms and wallet providers. It also contains provisions regarding know your customer (KYC) rules and procedures. The implementation of the new directive is mandatory for EU countries. In many cases, national laws transposing AMLD5 introduce regulations that are tougher than the directive requires, limiting services that have so far been readily available to the crypto community in Europe. Platforms such as Local.Bitcoin.com offer cryptocurrency users a marketplace where they are free to trade bitcoin cash (BCH) on a peer-to-peer basis and in a secure manner, without the need for KYC. Why do you think regulators and authorities in EU member states adopt stricter measures than required by the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive? Share your thoughts on the subject 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 EU Members Adopt Tougher Crypto Rules Than AML Directive Requires appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On Tuesday, August 13, most digital currency prices have dropped in value between 2-5% while crypto trade volumes globally have fallen to $46 billion in the last 48 hours. Despite the downturns across the board, bitcoin cash (BCH) is holding steady, up 2% today and now commanding the fourth largest market valuation. Also read: Twitter Crypto Scammers Continue to Fly Under the Company’s Radar The Top Digital Currency Markets Most crypto markets are in the red today as many popular digital assets have lost a few points over the last day. At the time of writing, the overall market capitalization is roughly $286 billion. BTC prices are down a touch over 3% this Tuesday as each BTC is trading for $10,984. BTC does capture 68% of the $286 billion with a market valuation of $196 billion this week. The cryptocurrency is down 6.6% over the last seven days and has about $15.1 billion in global trading volume. Did you know you can purchase digital currencies from our trusted platform as well as in-person using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer marketplace? Behind BTC is ETH which has dropped more than 3% today as each ETH is swapping for $205. Ethereum markets have a valuation of about $22 billion in total and there’s roughly $5.6 billion in ETH trades worldwide. Ripple (XRP) has been extremely boring but dropped from $0.32 to $0.29, losing 2% in the last 24 hours. Lastly, litecoin (LTC) has seen the worst of the declines this week, losing more than 10.9%. Each LTC is swapping for $84 per coin and markets are down 2.5% on August 13. Bitcoin Cash Fundamentals Look Bullish Bitcoin cash (BCH) markets are leading the top 10 crypto pack as BCH has gained 2.17% in the last 24 hours. BCH is trading for $337 per coin and the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization today is roughly $6 billion. There’s 1.27 billion in global BCH trades and bitcoin cash currently holds the sixth largest trade volume. The top pair traded with bitcoin cash is tether (USDT) which has around 48.7% of all BCH trades today. This is followed by BTC (32%), USD (9.4%), ETH (6.4%), and KRW (2%). The exchanges swapping the most BCH include Coinbene, Huobi Pro, Huobi Korea, Huobi Japan, and the trading platform EXX. Many traders have noticed that BCH has outperformed a bunch of other digital assets this past week, spiking more than 10% on Sunday. The well known digital currency trader Don Alt explained that bitcoin cash may see a price run-up soon. On August 11, Don Alt tweeted: [Bitcoin Cash] is one of the charts with the most potential out there right now. Looks as if it wants to pull a BTC like run soon. As long as it can close through resistance (0.035) I’ll suspect BCH is going to retest blue (0.075) which would be + 150% from here. Don Alt’s BCH/USD analysis chart. Goldman Charts Indicate a BTC/USD Rally Toward $14K A series of BTC/USD chart slides stemming from Goldman Sachs suggest that the current BTC price dip could be a buying opportunity for investors. The slides were created for institutional clientele and implied there was a possibility BTC could touch $13,971 per coin. “Any such retracement from $12,916-$13,971 should be viewed as an opportunity to buy on weakness as long as it doesn’t retrace further than the $9,084 low,” one slide details. The Goldman Sachs analyst used an Elliott Wave analysis, a tool that attempts to locate market cycles and trends in wave patterns. However, critics of the Elliott Wave principle believe the chart research is too broad and vague due to the fact that it’s very difficult to recognize the start and end of each wave. Chart slides stemming from a Goldman Sachs investors report. SEC Postpones Three Exchange Traded Funds The BTC/USD price started fumbling after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed the Vaneck Solidx Bitcoin Trust, Wilshire Phoenix, and the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust. Almost immediately after the announcement from the U.S. regulator, BTC/USD prices dipped from a high of $11,560 to $11,350 on Monday. Reports reveal that the Wilshire Phoenix proposal decision may come on September 29, while the Vaneck Solidx Bitcoin Trust could be made in mid-October. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed three Bitcoin ETFs. The regulator has delayed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) for years starting with the Bitcoin ETF backed by the Winklevoss twins. Speaking during the Bakkt Digital Asset Conference, SEC commissioner Hester Peirce told the crowd that regulators are stiff against the crypto industry because regulators are the ones who get the blame when things go wrong. “It is very natural for regulators to be conservative because if we make a mistake then people are going to blame us and I know if people lose money, they always blame the regulator,” Peirce told the crowd. Crypto Price Downturn Could Last Much Longer According to the popular trader Cryptowolf, if the current BTC/USD price follows historical data the current correction could continue. BTC prices have failed to break the upper resistance above the $12K region over the last two weeks. Cryptowolf says the current correction will only last six and a half weeks if prices follow historical data. “One of the reasons I don’t expect a new high anytime soon in bitcoin is the lack of time in this correction,” the trader remarked on Sunday. “History has proven that every reversal rally was then followed by a correction of 189 – 203 days before breaking its previous high — Currently at only 45 days correction.” If the analyst’s timeframe correlates with prior prices, it started beyond the $12K rejections this month as BTC/USD stopped short just before the $14K zone at the end of June. Cryptowolf’s chart. Trade Wars, Faltering Debt and Hyperinflation Could Pose Systemic Risk to the Global Economy Overall digital currency prices are still holding strong as the world’s economic woes continue to grow. Fears of a deep recession have started to look certain as particular regions pose a systemic risk to the global economy. There’s anxiety over a no-deal Brexit between the U.K. and the Eurozone as well as a chance that Italy could abandon the monetary system. Hong Kong airport on August 12, 2019. Economists are finding that Hong Kong is not only suffering from the U.S.-China trade war, but the protests are disrupting the country’s businesses as well. On August 12, the country’s most popular airport suspended all flights because protestors brought the international travel hub to a standstill. The airport in Hong Kong is one of the busiest worldwide with more than 1,100 daily flights. Reports detail that over 700 protestors have been arrested for “taking part in a riot” and unlawful assembly. Gold and cryptocurrencies have reaped the benefits of a gloomy global economy. On Tuesday, August 13, gold spot prices remain above $1,500 an ounce. Meanwhile, all eyes are on the German economy this week where economists and data reveal a looming recession. Data expected this week will show how the country’s economy performed during the first two quarters of 2019. Additionally, while the world was focused on the 10,000,000% inflation rate in Venezuela, people are now watching the economic chaos in Argentina. With all of the global fears growing, larger spot gold prices have touched all-time highs above $1,500 per ounce. Despite the 45-day long correction, with the global economy in disarray, cryptocurrency market prices remain strong. 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 markets updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not to 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 and gold prices referenced in this article were recorded at 12 p.m. EST on Tuesday, August 13, 2019. Images via Shutterstock, Trading View, Bitcoin.com Markets, Getty, Goldprice.org, Wiki Commons, and Pixabay. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. The post Market Outlook: Bitcoin Cash Spikes While Economic Fears Spread Worldwide appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Online service providers like Netflix and Hulu can now accept crypto for memberships and subscription services through an easy-to-integrate decentralized payment solution BLOCKCHAIN FUTURIST CONFERENCE — TORONTO — Aug 13, 2019 — Monarch, the decentralized wallet and suite of crypto services, has launched the first decentralized recurring payments system Until now, there’s been no way to automatically pay merchants in crypto on a recurring basis due to the limits of blockchain-based transactions. To solve this, Monarch developed a patent-pending permission-based smart contract system that pays one wallet address the same amount of cryptocurrency on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or other recurring bases. This smart contract allows any merchant to start accepting recurring payments, and any user to start paying onboarded merchants with the supported cryptocurrencies. Not only will businesses be able to create recurring subscription-based plans using the Monarch payment solution, but businesses and merchants will now also be able to create custom product and service payment plans. The applications for these custom payment plans are many, to include even creating 3, 6, 9, or 12-month payoff plans for higher ticket items and more. Businesses have full control over creating the exact type of contract, specific to their needs, and will be able to offer it to their customers in just minutes after the initial set up. “Monarch believes in the free market and giving people more control and freedom over their financial lives. Because of this, we wanted to commemorate the launch of the world’s first Decentralized Recurring Cryptocurrency Payments Platform by honoring a person without whom Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency wouldn’t be what it is today: Ross Ulbricht,” said Robert Beadles, President of Monarch. “For less than the cost of a latte, people can now use aid Ross in the fight for his life using MonarchPay’s recurring payments to donate to the Free Ross Fund at freeross.org/donate”. Coinbase and PumaPay made headlines by offering the first cryptocurrency subscriptions; however, they are both centralized. Centralized cryptocurrency payment systems don’t allow users to hold their own private keys and seed, leaving their personal data vulnerable and exposed. Monarch’s smart contract for crypto recurring payments is fully decentralized — an industry first — and allows users to make recurring crypto payments to subscription services, pay for products and services through custom payment plans and more, all while maintaining their own private keys and seed. Here’s how it works: Merchants can sign up to accept recurring crypto payments using https://monarchpay.com/. On the consumer side, similarly, users set up their smart contract supported wallet to send recurring payments to their selected merchants. The system is decentralized, so any merchant can accept recurring payments without formally partnering with Monarch. Furthermore, Monarch’s recurring payments are Ethereum-based. The smart contract currently supports Ethereum, ERC20 stable tokens like TUSD and DAI to limit volatility, and soon any ERC20 token. “Our continued focus is to provide services that make it easy for any merchant or consumer to start using crypto seamlessly throughout their everyday lives,” said Robert Beadles, President of Monarch. “98 percent of businesses are small businesses in the US alone. This simple utility allows them all to start using and receiving crypto today with MetaMask for recurring services. Why Metamask? We wanted to make this as available as possible to people without changing what they are used to. We’ll add this to the Monarch Wallet within the next few months, and will add support for Badger wallet as well. For now, anyone with a desktop computer and MetaMask can use it.” The Monarch Wallet supports more than 3,000 cryptocurrencies, with functionality across iOS, Android, desktop, and Mac OS. Since launching in 2018, Monarch has become a one-stop-shop for more than 300,000 users, bringing together the best blockchain services under one application for consumers, merchants, and partners. Monarch eliminates the need for multiple applications and improves security with a single wallet, delivering every service needed to buy, sell, trade, and manage digital assets. The company recently concluded its Token Generation Event, raising more than $2 million to help fund further development of the Monarch Wallet, MonarchPay, and a suite of other blockchain services. Monarch’s extensive network of partners includes a recent agreement with Ambisafe to release an Alternative Trading System (ATS) that will allow for investment in tokenized entities (Pending FINRA & SEC Approval). Headlining the offerings in the Monarch/Ambisafe ATS will be a pre-IPO token for SpaceX. Earlier this year, Monarch partnered with Celsius to allow wallet users to earn up to 8.1 percent APR on their crypto. Monarch is advised by Roger Ver, Bitcoin Foundation Founder and Bitcoin.com Executive Chairman; Eric Ly, Co-Founder of LinkedIn; David Zimbeck, lead developer at BitBay and creator of the first smart contracts; Damon Nam, Founder of CoinVest, and many of the most influential names in the blockchain industry. Monarch has acquired a broker-dealer license and is awaiting SEC and FINRA approval. ABOUT MONARCH: Monarch offers mobile and desktop apps, a decentralized wallet and exchange, a portfolio tracker, and universal KYC integration. Monarch supports more than 3,000 cryptocurrencies. It allows qualified users to buy cryptocurrency with a bank or credit card, earn up to 8.1% APR interest on select cryptocurrency holdings, and switch between hot and cold wallets, all while maintaining their own private keys and seed. Contact Email Address Beadles@monarchtoken.io Supporting Link https://monarchtoken.io/#download The post PR: Decentralized Recurring Crypto Payments System Launched by Monarch Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Unlike the unfounded narrative that cryptocurrency enables crime, big banks are more than happy to serve unsavory clients if it is lucrative enough for them. The latest example of this is a report that Jeffrey Epstein was apparently using his bank accounts to fund sex trafficking and possibly other crimes. Also Read: Deutsche Bank Collapse Could Crash Global Financial Markets Follow the Money The reported death of the Wall Street financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday morning in a Manhattan prison cell has left a lot of questions. Among these is how exactly he funded his criminal activities, which included sex trafficking of minors to be used by the rich and powerful. One matter that is not a mystery is how Epstein funded his perversions: he used the traditional fiat banking system, with all its extensive KYC and AML regulations. The alleged suicide of Epstein shouldn’t stop the “Legions of lawyers, bankers and accountants” that have been digging into his financial affairs in recent weeks claims the New York Times. These include officials conducting internal reviews at the two big banks that worked with him for years, JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. The employees at both of these financial institutions have reportedly been going over their books in a long overdue attempt to understand how they got into business with the convicted criminal and what exactly he was using their banking services for. A person who was briefed on Deutsche Bank’s internal review reportedly said “it appeared that Mr. Epstein was using his accounts for sex trafficking and possibly other illegal activity.” Deutsche Bank headquarters on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York Further, according to the report, compliance officers and other employees at both JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank had strongly advised their higher-ups to stop doing business with Epstein years before his accounts were finally closed. This was suggested not due to the unpalatable nature of his businesses, but due to the risks associated with him such as hurting the bank’s brand and upsetting regulators. However, former employees at both banks said that “managers and executives rejected that advice and kept doing business with the lucrative client.” Deutsche Bank Only Recently Closed Epstein’s Accounts Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty and was convicted in court of law of both soliciting a prostitute and of procuring a minor for prostitution back in 2008. He served 13 months in custody with work release, as part of a plea deal, where federal prosecutes had identified 36 girls as young as 14 years old who had been victimized. His case was very hard to miss due to the fact that his name was tied to some of the most famous and powerful people in the world such as Donald Trump, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the U.K.’s Prince Andrew, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and disgraced Hollywood star Kevin Spacey. Despite all of this, it isn’t too hard to see why the higher-ups at the big banks didn’t want to let go of his business. While not much is known about the source of his money, Epstein definitely had a lot of it moving around. Among his confirmed assets is a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a Manhattan mansion worth over $77 million, a Palm Beach estate worth over $12 million, additional real-estate properties in New Mexico and Paris, a private jet airplane and no less than 15 cars. Considering this, it isn’t that surprising that Deutsche Bank only cut its ties to Epstein when prosecutors were set to charge him again with operating a sex-trafficking ring of underage girls in June of this year. A Chase Bank in Manhattan, New York JP Morgan Chase worked with Epstein from the late 1990s until 2013 and Deutsche Bank served him from 2013 until June 2019. The latter bank has reportedly already started giving his complete transaction history to investigators while the former awaits receiving similar demands for his financial data from U.S. authorities. In a statement on Saturday after the alleged suicide, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman expressed his commitment to the victims to keep the investigation ongoing, despite the demise of the defendant. This means that the public will hopefully get a detailed examination into the criminal banking activities of Epstein in due course. Big Banks Have a Long History of Enabling Crime Governments, central banks and international financial institutions have all been pushing a largely unfounded narrative in recent years that cryptocurrencies enable illicit activity. Parroted by the mainstream media, it was used as justification to crack down on exchanges and other crypto service providers with demands for less user privacy or outright bans. In contrast, the established banking system has a long and proven track record of enabling all sorts of crimes, despite its burdensome compliance requirements, and yet erring institutions receive nothing more than a fine equal to a slap on the wrist. The recent seizure of a cargo ship owned by JP Morgan, which was loaded with 20 tons of cocaine, highlight the involvement of the big banks, albeit unwittingly in this instance, in such activities. Money laundering for drug cartels as well as moving funds for terrorists, arms dealers and dictatorial regimes are among the many misdeeds the banks have been caught red-handed abetting over the years. What do you think about the big banks that reportedly enabled Jeffrey Epstein to fund his sex trafficking crimes? 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 Big Banks Enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Trafficking Crimes appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the last two years, cryptocurrency scamming on social media has been prevalent. In January 2019, it was reported that crypto impersonation scams on Twitter raked in millions in cryptocurrencies from people pretending to be well known blockchain personalities. Now a new form of deception can be seen on the platform, as scammers are using photoshopped pictures of tech personalities and businesses like Coinbase to further another crypto con game. Also read: Crypto Impersonation Scammers on Social Media Raked in Millions in 2018 There’s a New Crypto Scam on Twitter There’s a new swindle on crypto Twitter where scammers are sharing screenshots of well known cryptocurrency and tech luminaries promoting supposed BTC giveaways. Typically these fraudsters will use a very popular post with hundreds or thousands of likes and type the phrase “Great News.” Underneath the user’s text is a photoshopped picture of an announcement from Coinbase saying that it’s offering a BTC giveaway. The tweets are a blatant scam in order to con a person into believing they can “double” their coins. For instance, on August 12, Morgan Creek cofounder Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano tweeted his usual weekly investors’ letter where people can sign up and get regular emails from Pomp. Just below Pomp’s tweet is a Twitter account called “Adam[BTC/HODL]” who states: “Thanks Coinbase I just received 1.90680 BTC — Anyone can join, not much left.” Below that statement is a photoshopped picture of a faked Coinbase account stating: To celebrate 50 million users, we decided to host a 5,000 BTC giveaway event — You can use any wallet or exchange to participate. Visit our promotion site — If you are late, your BTC will be sent back, thank you for your support, Coinbase team. Below the tweet, another scam Twitter account adds to the con game by saying they got some coins from the giveaway. “OMG — Just got 2 BTC, thanks for sharing this,” the user “Sierra” exclaims while 59 people have liked her tweet. Another fake account dubbed “Charrlees Hooskiinson” can be seen tweeting the same scam in a real Twitter thread started by Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson. The picture shared, in this case, is a photo of a phony Elon Musk account which says: “Our marketing department here at Tesla HQ came up with an idea — to hold a special BTC and ETH giveaway event for all the crypto fans out there.” Just like the bogus Coinbase account picture, the fake Musk account shows a website to visit where people can allegedly double their coins. These tweets can be seen on hundreds of popular crypto Twitter threads. Impersonating Prominent Crypto and Tech Influencers and a Phony Block Explorer While investigating the first fraudulent website tied to these scams, visitors can see a Coinbase logo and a message geared toward new guests. The site says that if a person sends 0.1 to 10 BTC to the address they will receive a whopping 1-100 BTC in return. Below that is a BTC address the person can send funds to, which has also changed regularly since news.Bitcoin.com started this investigation. The address provided by the phony Twitter accounts today is empty but the fake explorer on scam website shows transactions. Did you know you can verify any BTC or BCH transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Anyone, at any time can simply complete an address search to view it on the BCH or BTC blockchain. The current address displayed on the scam giveaway site today has zero BTC and no transactions tied to the address have ever been recorded. But the website’s visitors get a different look as there’s a dummy block explorer shown on the website aiming to bolster the claim that people are really doubling their money. Watching the fake explorer shows someone just deposited 8 BTC and got 88 BTC sent back to the original address, but on a real block explorer, these transactions don’t exist. The scam Twitter posts have a phony photo with a URL address that leads people to a fake Coinbase ‘doubler’ site. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, is also targeted in the fraudulent Twitter act as photoshopped pictures show another BTC doubling scam. The con is done in the same way as the Coinbase example. Some random Twitter account shares a fake picture and underneath another phony account someone says they were just awarded a couple of BTC. The website in the photo leads to a fake Tesla page too that is almost exactly the same as the Coinbase version, but it’s red with a Tesla logo. Just like the last one, there’s another deceptive block explorer showing fictitious BTC transactions. There’s also a progress bar showing how much BTC is left in the so-called doubling pot and the longer you stay on the website it makes it seem like you’re missing out on a lot of BTC. The fake block explorer shown on the web page. Twitter Scammers Continue to Make Millions of Dollars From Crypto Newbs It’s uncertain whether Twitter is aware of the latest scam revolving around the crypto Twitter space. Last year, researchers uncovered empirical data which confirmed 15,000 cryptocurrency scam accounts were strewn across the Twittersphere. In February, social media cryptocurrency community member impersonators were making $5,000 a day in ethereum on Twitter. One particular person sent $18,000 to a fake Erik Voorhees account. In March 2018, the well known crypto influencer Emin Gun Sirer told Twitter owner Jack Dorsey that the scams were getting out of hand, adding that if he “can’t detect this kind of brazen scam, what hope do you have of improving your platform?” Dorsey did respond to Sirer’s post that day and said: “We are on it.” But the scam tweets have continued relentlessly and people are still complaining to Twitter every day about this obvious con. “People do not tweet out that they are giving away money for free — That is a complete scam — The old saying is true ‘if it seems too good to be true it probably is.’ There is a Bill Pulte investor in the cryptocurrency space that is promising to give away money — Twitter needs to investigate,” one person wrote on Monday. Another person tweeted: “This person has been creating accounts all over Twitter, trying to scam people out of crypto. Accounts keep cropping up replying to tweets from prominent people in the community — It’s a scam.” By the look of some of crypto Twitter’s most popular posts today, it seems the company still hasn’t received the message. What do you think of the latest crypto Twitter scammers who use photoshopped pictures to promote their con game? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence concerning the aforementioned scams and websites. Bitcoin.com or the author is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, company, software or any activities mentioned in this article. This editorial review is for informational purposes only. Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Twitter, and screenshots taken by Jamie Redman. 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 Twitter Crypto Scammers Continue to Fly Under the Company’s Radar appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Interoperability is a multisyllabic word for a multi-faceted problem. How do you get blockchains to communicate with one another? Until recently, there’s been no easy way to achieve this, leaving assets isolated and smart contract-powered dapps siloed on their respective protocols. Before crypto assets can take over the world, first they need to escape the valley where they originated, a task which calls for building bridges. Also read: Bitcoin Mining Industry’s Exponential Growth Just Won’t Stop The Quest to Connect Crypto Networks The cryptosphere is often described as being tribalistic on account of its factions’ skepticism of opposing altcoiners, whose ideology differs from theirs. Tribalism doesn’t just apply to crypto culture however: it’s also deeply woven into the architecture of the blockchain protocols themselves. Early civilizations were quite literally tribalistic due to the geographical difficulties of making it into the next valley, where strangers dwelled. Until recently, it was the same with crypto networks: litecoin could only exist on Litecoin, dash on Dash, while bitcoin cash and bitcoin core were destined to remain forever opposed, despite their shared history. Siloed crypto networks are no better than the incompatible rails that define the traditional financial system, resulting in slow international transfers and high fees imposed by the monopolies that control them. If crypto assets are to deliver financial inclusion for the many, not just the few, someone needs to build the bridges and connect the valleys where the various tribes reside. This calls for complex architecture that can facilitate the cross-chain transfer of assets and enable networks to share resources. Despite the magnitude of the task, significant headway has been made in getting blockchains to “talk” to one another. Building Bridges With Blockchains Liquid Link typifies the sort of projects that are currently making inroads in interoperability. Created by Liquidapps, it comprises a framework that enables dapps to be launched on Ethereum and EOS simultaneously, without suffering the usual trade-offs in speed and scalability. Developers have traditionally had to pick one crypto network on which to build, and then persevere with it, come what may. Blockchain migration, while not uncommon, is costly and time-intensive exercise. Through bridging smart contract networks, developers can enjoy the benefits that each protocol has to offer, while retaining the freedom to switch. Liquid Link CEO Beni Hakak is a major critic of “blockchain maximalism” and has written at length about the need for crypto communities to overcome their petty differences, noting: Supporters and users of crypto networks have a vested financial interest in the success of their chain, further magnifying tendencies to stigmatize and ridicule ‘outsiders’ of a competing chain. He envisages a brighter future in which “The capacity to move value seamlessly across all blockchains will enable each one to focus on their core competency.” Although that vision has yet to be realized, there are signs, at least, of cross-chain concord. The more vocal factions in the BTC and BCH camps don’t see eye-to-eye on much, but that hasn’t prevented Sideshift’s Andreas Brekken from creating “BTC2,” an SLP token that operates on the BCH network, allowing people to transact in BTC while enjoying the low fees of Bitcoin Cash. For developers seeking to create similar applications for unlocking value on the BCH network, Bitcoin.com’s developer portal contains a wealth of tools and tutorials. Wrapped Assets Are the Prelude to Greater Interoperability Just because two cryptocurrencies reside on incompatible blockchains doesn’t mean the value they represent can’t be traded on opposing chains. In addition to Shideshift’s wrapping of BTC on BCH, wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) can be traded on Ethereum, with the BTC held in escrow. Binance has also got in on the act, introducing BTCB as a BEP2 token that’s tradable on Binance Chain. The trouble these solutions face is that they require a third party to custody the coins in order for their synthetic equivalent to be made tradable on the foreign chain. The decentralized alternative to this is the atomic swap, in which the coins on each chain are locked, and a smart contract handles the exchange. Despite having been around since 2017, atomic swaps have fallen out of favor due to the slowness, complexity, and inability to perform high frequency, high volume swaps. The Lightning Network uses similar technology known as Hash Time Locked Contracts, but until such a time as LN moves out of its interminable test phase, real world usage of atomic swaps, and variants thereof, will remain marginal. Facilitating seamless cross-chain transfer of assets calls for the creation of components that can connect blockchain protocols, allowing them to communicate freely. The Interoperability Projects Intent on Helping Blockchains ‘Escape the Valley’ Cosmos is described as an “internet of blockchains” that aims to unite disparate chains through its Interblockchain Communication (IBC) messaging protocol which works a bit like TCP/IP on the web. This “allows heterogeneous blockchains to transfer tokens and data to each other, meaning that blockchains with different applications and validator sets are interoperable.” With Cosmos, for example, tokens and other assets can be transferred between public and private blockchains. Wanchain is an aptly named interoperability project, “wan” meaning “one” in Scots. Its developers aim to create one chain to connect them all, enabling different ledgers to communicate and exchange value, forming a distributed bank. So far, cross-chain transfer of BTC and ETH assets, including ERC20 tokens, has been achieved, enabling Ethereum dapps to access BTC, for instance. Polkadot’s whitepaper is grandly titled “Vision for a heterogeneous multi-chain framework.” Heterogeneous is a term that crops up a lot in the esoteric world of blockchain interoperability and simply refers to the unification of two things that are intrinsically different, like water and oil, or Bitcoin and Ethereum. Any type of blockchain data or asset can be transferred using Polkadot’s series of relay chains, parachains, and bridges. Once it launches later this year, BTC, ETH, ZEC, and other leading crypto networks will be united. The lack of adoption and completion of these interoperability solutions to date attests to the magnitude of the challenge being undertaken. However, just as it seems inevitable that all assets will eventually be represented and traded digitally (in the words of Pomp, it “could take 5 years or 50, but it is no longer a question of if, but when”), it seems certain that in the future all major crypto networks will be interoperable. Whether uniting the chains serves to unite their opposing factions, however, remains to be seen. Which blockchain interoperability project do you think is likeliest to succeed? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Polkadot. Are you a developer looking to build on Bitcoin Cash? Head over to our Bitcoin Developer page where you can get Bitcoin Cash developer guides and start using the Bitbox, SLP, and Badger Wallet SDKs. The post How Bridging Blockchains Unlocks Value and Unites Crypto Tribes appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Negative interest rates have been making big headlines lately, as several countries and big banks are now experimenting with the unorthodox monetary policy. While typically viewed as a last-ditch effort to shock some life back into struggling economies, these policies are getting a shiny new spin thanks to mainstream media outlets promoting government talking points and agendas. Instead of facing the ominous problems of inflation and devaluation of money, now there’s a new solution: normalize the negative, and sweep the consequences under the rug. Also Read: Owning Fiat Just Got More Expensive – NIRP Strikes Again Normalizing Catastrophe Recently, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the current state of affairs globally in regard to negative interest rate policy (NIRP). More than ever, banks and national policymakers are experimenting with unorthodox cuts to interest rates, resulting in things like negative rate 10-year mortgage deals in Denmark, negative yielding bonds, bank closures and consolidations in Japan, and depositors being forced to move their money into alternative means of savings such as fiduciary call deposits. The problem is plaguing banks even in traditionally strong countries like Germany. If quantitative easing is a hail mary attempt at stimulating a chilled economy, one might wonder why so many now view its long-term implementations as desirable. Former COO of Goldman Sachs, and former chief economic advisor to Donald Trump, Gary Cohn’s well-known quote comes to mind: We’re in a currency war. One of the easier ways to stimulate your economy is to weaken your currency. To most in America and elsewhere, strong money is a good thing. It encourages saving, and gives the consumer more purchasing power. To governments, however, who depend on credit, savings can be a threat. A population of hard-working savers means that politicians and bureaucrats are not getting their desired cut of the value being held, and are unable to spend for those things they deem necessary. Further, deflation can be a natural signal that a market readjustment is needed to solve real value debt — not a call for the synthetic, centralized creation of more of the same. Now, even respected business publications like Forbes and Bloomberg are jumping on the NIRP bandwagon, and publishing articles attempting to normalize the devaluation of money. Bloomberg and Forbes See the Silver Lining In an article published on August 8 in Bloomberg Businessweek entitled “The Non-Weirdness of Negative Interest Rates,” the author states: Savers in Europe are having to pay to store their wealth. That’s not so crazy when saving is all too plentiful. The piece goes on to detail how folks have to pay to store anything, and don’t mind paying a fee for a safe deposit box, so why should they complain when they’re charged to store cash? Individuals in NIRP countries and banking at NIRP banks should simply go along for the ride, for the greater good of the economy, and stop grumbling. Ignoring that saving or spending is solely the prerogative of the individual value holder, and not an opinionated third party writing for a news publication, an even bigger error seems to be made. The author is correct in saying that negative rates are not weird, but for all the wrong reasons. NIRP is to be expected in societies whose economies are being blasted by the devaluation inherent to Keynesian economics. Using a simple inflation calculator, one can verify the global trend for themselves. For example, $100 in 1956 would be worth $937.44 in 2019. 100 Japanese yen would be worth 607.57 yen today, and 100 Australian dollars from 1949 would have the current purchasing power of about 3,002.63 AUD. Just because someone is forced to get more and more credit cards to pay for groceries and necessities as they descend into insurmountable debt doesn’t make those credit cards a good or normal thing. They may not be “weird,” but they are certainly not sound in the long run. The food is needed, but the debt is racking up exponentially, and will come home to roost, at some point. One U.S. dollar in 1860 could purchase the equivalent of 30 USD today. Prices in the U.S. today are 2,986.06% higher than in 1860. Source: http://www.in2013dollars.com/1860-dollars-in-2017?amount=1 On the same day Bloomberg published this piece, Forbes also published an article in the same vein, with a similar, sweep-it-under-the-rug type spin. In “Who’s Helped By Federal Interest Rates Cut? Start With Millennials,” contributor Jamie Hopkins lists four reasons that the July 31 Federal Reserve interest rate cut is good for young Americans. The reasons given all amount to — every last one of them — more debt. Reason number two is “Lower Mortgage Rates” and number three is “Credit Card Rates Could Drop.” The Fed’s rate cut is the first since the global economic downturn of 2008-09, caused by easy mortgages and easy credit. One wonders why these top media outlets would publish views praising the very same causes and bad policies. To be fair, the aforementioned articles are both opinion pieces, but an austere, Austrian school criticism of these ideas via the same outlets doesn’t seem to be found anywhere. 2008 All Over Again, But Potentially Worse With media narratives like these being pushed, and countries worldwide beginning to experiment more and more with slashing rates, it would seem stimulation could soon be quantitatively easing the world right into another severe financial downturn. This in combination with the continued attacks on the free exchange of sound, non-inflationary money, including secure cryptocurrencies worldwide, via FATF regulations and severe punishment of those trading outside legal channels. Even in currently non-negative rate countries, the NIRP trend is catching on. For example, New Zealand Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr has his own ideas about coercing spending, stating in a recent interview: Another one, of course, is a simple one, is saying: well, let’s remove the arbitrage between a negative interest rate and holding cash. Let’s tax cash holdings, simple as that: we’re back to monetary policy as usual; people are disincentivised to be holding large lumps of physical cash; they are having to think harder about putting money to work. Taxing cash, cutting the cash rate, and eliminating 100 dollar bills. These ideas are all on the table in a country that has just cut its own interest rates 50 basis points last week. Should the global trend toward currency devaluation continue, it may not be long until another gigantic bubble looms over the world economy. This time, dwarfing the bubble of 2008. If it bursts, no amount of easy credit is likely to save the day. Still, governments and mainstream media worldwide have now begun to cheer on negative rates, pushing the policies on many who feel they have already found a better way via crypto. What do you think about the normalization of negative interest? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The Local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Normalizing Negative Interest: It’s Flabbergasting How Closely Media Parrots the Government appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Investors include Founder/Executive Chairman of Bitcoin.com (Roger Ver), Founder/CEO’s MuleSoft, and JBoss. San Francisco, CA – Evercoin announced today $1M in pre-seed stage financing from gumi Cryptos and prominent Blockchain and Open Source pioneers. Investors in this round include: Gumi Cryptos Capital Roger Ver — Founder, Executive Chairman of Bitcoin.com Ross Mason — Founder of MuleSoft (sold to Salesforce.com) Marc Fleury — Founder, CEO of JBoss Open Source (sold to Redhat) John Pigott — Founder, CEO of the ABE Exchange Eman Pulis — Founder, CEO of Malta Blockchain Summit The company will use the funding to continue development on Evercoin, the market leading noncustodial mobile wallet-based cryptographic asset exchange. Evercoin already features: – Self custody (you control the private key) – Secure key recovery (we never see or store your key) – Popular coins tradeable in the US including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), Cardano (ADA), Tron (TRX), Dash (DASH), Zcash (ZEC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Qtum (QTUM), Decred (DCR) and Dogecoin (DOGE) – Buy with USD (fiat) by connecting your bank (available today in 10 US States, rolling out to more.) – Mobile-first on Android and IOS, download it from http://evercoin.com “Instant” Exchange (Unless it’s a limit order, orders are fulfilled immediately) – Noncustodial Limit Orders (you choose the price, money stays in your wallet until your price is met) “We are proud to welcome a set of extremely strategic investors into our seed round.” said Talip Ozturk, founder and CEO of Evercoin. “These investors represent a tremendous range and depth of experience and deep networks in open source software, Bitcoin and regulatory issues for the cryptographic asset class.” “Evercoin is a beautifully designed consumer user experience that provides all of the benefits of popular services like Coinbase.” said Ray Zhang, Managing Director at gumi Crypto Capital. “What gets us excited is that it’s the strongest product in the market for delivering those features without compromising on user custody, the most important issue for cryptographic assets.” About Evercoin Evercoin is the market leading mobile-first noncustodial wallet and exchange service for fiat and cryptographic assets. Evercoin is based in Silicon Valley and is led by Talip Ozturk, the creator of Hazelcast, a popular open source in-memory distributed database in use at the biggest financial services companies in the world. Having seen the power of open source at some of the largest banks in the world, Talip was inspired to join the cryptocurrency movement which combines his love of open systems and distributed governance with his experience in large-scale high-performance financial infrastructure and distributed computing. The post PR: Evercoin Announces $1M Pre-Seed Financing With gumi Cryptos and Prominent Blockchain and Open Source Pioneers appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article