roadrunner

In the last two weeks, cryptocurrency prices have seen significant volatility and during this time onlookers have noticed large bitcoin whale movements once again. Data stemming from blockchain analysis indicates that over the last 48 hours, unknown whale wallets moved over 20,000 BTC ($101 million), showing another large migration not seen since last February. Additionally, bitcoin cash whales have accumulated 1.1 million BCH in the last five weeks. Also read: Bitcoin Whales Have Accumulated Thousands of Coins in the Last 2 Months Whales Have Moved $300 Million Worth of BTC Over the Last Week Bitcoin whale watchers are at it again, monitoring exchange order books and blockchain transactions to uncover clues about the next big market cycle. In February, news.Bitcoin.com reported that large BTC holders captured more than 150,000 BTC ($762 million) since Dec. 17, 2018. Similarly, the top five largest BCH holders managed to gather 138,014 BCH ($39 million) since the same time last year. After a period of accumulation, both cryptocurrencies’ fiat values were much lower than today, with BTC priced at $3,800 and BCH at $135 per coin. On April 12, BTC is priced just above the $5K zone and BCH is averaging $285 per coin across global exchanges. Over the last few days, armchair sleuths noticed a total of 20,378 BTC ($101 million) migrating from unknown wallets to other unknown wallets and exchanges. Blockchain detectives think that the wallets are not preparing to sell the BTC because 9,939 BTC moved separately to an unknown wallet, while 10,439 BTC did the same to another random wallet. From these movements, onlookers then started noticing an extreme amount of accumulation taking place which saw 42,616 BTC ($215 million) leave various cryptocurrency exchanges in the last 24 hours. Trading platforms that saw large withdrawals include Poloniex, Bittrex, Bitfinex, Binance, Huobi, Okex, Kraken, Coinbase, and Korbit. The 42,000 BTC movement took place as BTC dropped below the $4,900 range during the early morning trading sessions on April 12. Central Banking Policies Push Crypto Accumulation Higher On April 10, BTC prices spiked to a high of $5,345 on Bitstamp and analyst Travis Kling of Ikigai Asset Management and Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets, indicated the Federal Reserve was the primer. Cryptos jumped more than 20% almost immediately after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s FOMC report which stated the central bank would not change current interest rate policies. Kling, Aslam, and London-based data researcher from Tokenanalyst, Sid Shekhar, have noticed whale wallets accumulating massive amounts of crypto in the last few months and even more so after the Federal Reserve’s decision. BCH (left) and BTC (right) UTXO Set Size as of April 12, 2019. A big indication of this accumulation can also be seen in the BTC and BCH networks’ unspent transaction output (UTXO) set size growth. Both assets’ UTXO size has grown significantly and crossed levels not seen since 2017’s all-time price highs. History shows that when the UTXO set size grows and accumulation takes place at this speed, a bull rally usually follows a few months later. Bitcoin Cash Whales Wallets Obtain 1.3 Million BCH Since February 25 Our research from February shows that the wealthiest BTC whales holding between 1-100 BTC actually have less coins this April. Back in February, the top 1-10 and 1-100 coin holders held roughly 5,908,501 BTC but since then they have parted ways with 12,914 BTC (-$65 million). The biggest bitcoin cash holders have accumulated a lot of BCH since our report in February. The richest BCH whales have managed to capture 1,330,415 BCH or $377 million at the time of publication. This indicates a lot of BCH whales seem optimistic about the future of the decentralized currency and last week’s 95% price jump showed bitcoin cash markets have seen significant demand. It’s hard to say what the giant crypto whales are up to when all these coins start moving around, especially in multi-million dollar increments. Many traders believe the bottom is in for most cryptos right now and market actors have initiated an accumulation phase. Other observers are still very skeptical and think that we could see another big drop in the future, even lower than what people are currently calling the bottom. Vinny Lingham, often referred to as the “oracle” for his correct predictions, believes BTC must withstand 24-48 hours above the $6,200 range in order to remain bullish. Whatever the case may be right now, BTC and BCH whales are moving large numbers of coins around and whales always seem to be one step ahead of the public when it comes to preparing for large market spikes and dumps. What do you think about the whale activity happening over the last two weeks? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Bitinfocharts.com, Bitcoin.com Charts, and Pixabay. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH, and other coins, on our market charts at Markets.Bitcoin.com, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Whale Watch: Large Bitcoin Cash Holders Accumulate 1 Million BCH Since February appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

There’s a group of countries on the Old Continent that have recognized the potential of the newly forming cryptoconomy. In the past couple of years, nations such as Malta, Switzerland and Estonia have been making efforts to attract businesses from the nascent industry, often rebuffed elsewhere. However, registering and running a crypto company, even in the most favorable climates, comes with certain challenges as businesses across the continent have been finding out. Also read: Online Bank Mistertango Offers Crypto Companies Multiple Accounts and Ibans Four Months Later, Malta Approves First Crypto Asset Agents Financial authorities in Malta, a nation which takes pride in calling itself the Blockchain Island, recently approved 14 entities that will become the first Virtual Financial Asset (VFA) agents in the country. They will serve as intermediaries between crypto companies and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) which issued the approvals. The agents are expected to provide guidance and assistance with legal and accounting matters to businesses and entrepreneurs on behalf of the regulator. These include token issuers and service providers operating under the country’s Virtual Financial Assets Act which came into force in November. The certified agents will be responsible for evaluating business plans and conducting due diligence under the anti-money laundering regulations. The approvals have been granted “in principle,” which means the details need to be clarified, as the local press reported. That happened more than four months after the filing of the first 28 applications and almost a year and a half since Malta began working on its crypto regulatory framework. Despite this important milestone in government efforts to create the necessary conditions for the industry, crypto companies continue to experience difficulties in their business activities on the island. Banks, for example, have been refusing to provide them basic financial services such as the opening of an account. Strict Regulations Slow Maltese Registration To find out more about the obstacles facing crypto businesses and authorities in Malta and other countries, news.Bitcoin.com contacted SBSB Legal Services. The law firm, which has offices in Moscow, Kiev, Tallinn, and Prague, has expertise in the field and experience with fintech and crypto regulations across multiple European jurisdictions. According to Julia Demskaya, legal expert at SBSB, the approval process for the first VFA agents in Malta has taken a lot of time because of the absence of prior regulatory practice. These agents will be obliged to ensure the full compliance of their clients with the law. “It’s likely that the regulator’s requirements are too strict and not every applicant has been able to prove that their verification procedures would prevent money laundering or the funding of illegal activities,” she said. Demskaya further commented that the specifics of registering a company in Malta depend on the nature of its business. What’s common in all cases is the requirement to open an office in the country, which can be fulfilled with the help of a VFA agent. Entities must also hire personnel with expertise in their particular field. Firms working with smart contracts, for instance, will have to employ a system auditor. And if the company is unable to do that, the regulator will assign a qualified professional. Asked which of the major crypto-friendly countries in Europe, such as Malta, Gibraltar, Switzerland, and Estonia, offers the best conditions for businesses from the industry, Demskaya said that the answer depends on the business activity. Estonia offers the best conditions for crypto trading platforms. The low initial capital needs, the fast licensing process and the favorable taxation have turned the tiny Baltic nation into a leader among similar jurisdictions. However, towards the end of last year, news came out that authorities in Tallinn are preparing to tighten the licensing regime for crypto companies. According to SBSB’s representative, it’s still hard to guess what the stricter regulations would look like, but the new Estonian requirements are likely to be similar to those adopted in Malta and may include additional licensing for certain activities. Switzerland: Expensive Destination for High Level Projects “When we talk about reputation and if we want to present a high level project, of course the choice falls on Switzerland or Liechtenstein,” Julia Demskaya noted. “However, launching in these countries requires a considerable budget, starting from 500,000 euros. On the other hand, working with banks as well as with customers there would be much easier compared to Estonia.” Talking about other jurisdictions in Europe, Demskaya commented on the situation in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, where a number of “gray and black” crypto platforms are currently operating. She believes it’s very hard to oversee and prevent their activities when there’s no legislation in place prohibiting or regulating cryptocurrency-related business. “Introducing dedicated legislation would be the optimal solution, which would allow this type of businesses to be brought to light and possibly granted preferential tax treatment, which would make Ukraine an attractive country for investments. However, given the level of economic development and corruption in our country, even such conditions are unlikely to attract foreign capital,” the legal expert concluded. What do you think about crypto regulations in Europe? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you need to reach out to a global audience interested in Bitcoin? Post your press release here. If approved and paid we’ll include it in our main sidebar, in our subscription newsletters and in our other distribution channels, such as Telegram. The post Regulators Tackle Businesses in Europe’s Crypto-Friendly Nations appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Immediately after the Silk Road was taken down in 2013, a marketplace known as the Silk Road 2 launched. The new darknet market was run by a person who called himself the Dread Pirate Roberts 2 and he was arrested a few months later in November 2014. However, privacy advocate Thomas White, otherwise known as DPR2, was released on bail for the next five years and has only now been sentenced to 64 months in jail. Also read: Wikileaks Bitcoin Donations Soar Following Assange Arrest Silk Road 2 Founder Sentenced The founder of the notorious Silk Road 2 marketplace has been sentenced to prison this week for operating the illegal website for over a year. Thomas White was known as DPR2 when he ran the underground marketplace Silk Road 2 back in 2014. SR2 was not affiliated with the original Silk Road (SR) but popped up on the invisible web roughly 30 days after SR was seized in October 2013. Similarly to the original, SR2 sold narcotics, fake ID cards, counterfeit merchandise, credit cards, and software. Law enforcement said that SR2 made roughly $8 million every month after it launched for a year. Law enforcement wasted no time investigating the newly created SR2 and arrested both White (a.k.a. ‘St Exo’ or ‘DPR2’) and Blake Benthall (a.k.a. ‘Defcon’) a year later in November 2014. However, White has been out on bail since his arrest and has remained in the public eye over the last five years. Benthall was charged with conspiracy to traffic narcotics and was released and has yet to be sentenced by any courts. Silk Road 2 creators mocking U.S. law enforcement. According to multiple SR2 vendors and law enforcement officials, the website grew fast because of people’s admiration for the original SR and its leader the Dread Pirate Roberts. An investigator from the National Crime Agency (NCA), Paul Chowles, told the media this week that White told his band of companions that he would stop using his St Exo monicker and start calling himself DPR2. “DPR2, aka Thomas White, was the boss. He was the controlling mind in all of this, and he was the one driving it forward,” Chowles explained in a recent interview. “Dread Pirate Roberts is now immortal and if you devote yourself to that ideal, and our enemies cannot stop it, then the idea becomes something else entirely,” DPR2 stated in 2014. The post continued: They may have sunk one ship, but now they have awoken the kraken. Ulbricht Family Underscores the Contrast Between White’s Punishment and the Much Harsher Sentencing Ross Received Reports detail that after White was released on bail, he also used the name ‘The Cthulhu’ online and commented regularly on tech articles, forums, and became known as a privacy expert. He also ran a few websites that focused on data breaches and ran numerous Tor nodes as well. Motherboard attempted to talk with White this week but he declined and also deleted his Cthulhu profile. White pleaded guilty for his involvement with the SR2 website which involved charges of money laundering and MDMA distribution. According to the courts, in Germany alone White earned 1% commission off $143,000 worth of class A drug sales stemming from the region. The NCA also revealed that White owned around 50 BTC ($255,000) at the time of his arrest in 2014. The case was a combined effort between U.S. law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, the Justice Department, and Homeland Security. But the SR2 server was identified by the government-funded Carnegie Mellon University’s Scientific Engineering Institute, which unmasked many Tor services that year. After the unmasking, the FBI and other three-letter agencies gained access to a large cache of IP addresses stemming from SR2 participants and other darknet markets. From here, law enforcement discovered White’s role as DPR2 and that Blake Benthall coded the website. DPR2 did an exclusive interview with Motherboard reporter Jason Cox back when the site was raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars a day. DPR2 recounted the day he decided to launch SR2 and how he was extremely anxious when he published the site on the deep web. “I had the URL ready to launch,” DPR2 explained to Cox. “I think I must have sat there for five minutes staring at the screen. Once you hit that enter button, you’ve just launched something that you know there is going to be an absolutely fucking huge manhunt after you.” The Thomas White (DPR2) sentencing also affected the lives of Ross Ulbricht’s family members when they heard the news. With White being sentenced to five years and another SR2 admin Brian Farrell sentenced to eight, the Ulbricht family believes it is unfair that Ross is serving a double life sentence for his role in the original Silk Road. “Please sign Ross’s petition for clemency,” explained Freeross.org on Twitter this week. “This is his sixth year in prison, he deserves a second chance.” The tweet also displayed a picture of Ross sentenced to double life in prison and a picture of Thomas White sentenced to only five years. Moreover, the picture shared on Twitter shows how the SR2 marketplace run by White was filled with child pornography, which was something strictly prohibited on the original Silk Road market. White is required to register as a sex offender for 10 years in addition to his five-year prison sentence. What do you think about the sentencing of Thomas White a.k.a. DPR2? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Twitter, and Wiki Commons. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com The post Silk Road 2 Founder Finally Sentenced 5 Years After His Arrest appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Wikileaks’ bitcoin address has received a deluge of support following founding editor Julian Assange’s arrest. Donations have reached nearly $32,000 on Friday, 60% more than was raised the day before, when Assange was taken into custody. Also read: How Traditional Stock Markets Can Help Mainstream Cryptocurrency BTC Donations Reach $32,000 More than 6.3 BTC worth of donations to Wikileaks has been recorded from 272 transactions at the time of going to press. About $20,000 of donations poured in on April 11, when police dragged Assange out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he had been holed up for the past seven years. In 2016, Wikileaks’ bitcoin address reached a milestone of 4,000 BTC, five years after turning to cryptocurrency to avert financial censorship. In addition to bitcoin, the whistleblowing website is accepting donations through different fiat and crypto mediums listed on its Courage Foundation page. Data from the other payment formats is not immediately available but bitcoin donations sizeably spiked after Wikileaks embedded its address in its Twitter announcement of the arrest of its former editor on Thursday. Celebrities including Pamela Anderson also urged the public to show their support for Assange. Bitcoin and Wikileaks go back to 2011 when the cryptocurrency kept financial assistance flowing to the guerrilla publisher after Paypal, Mastercard, Visa and Bank of America disabled services to Wikileaks under political pressure from the U.S. In return, bitcoin, then newly incepted, enjoyed international attention for the Wikileaks association. Ecuador, which had granted asylum to Assange, revoked it on Thursday and invited the London police to arrest him. The South American country’s desire to curry favor with the U.S. are seen as having influenced the decision to give Assange up to possible jail time. Ecuador’s former president, Rafael Correa, the man who granted asylum to Assange, has described his successor as “the greatest traitor in political history.” Apparently, even the most principled of states are ultimately vulnerable to shifting interests, showing that they cannot be entirely trusted with upholding individual freedoms at all costs. Wikileaks and Bitcoin’s informal alliance suggest the need for more entities that thrive outside state and corporate control. Unlike Paypal and Mastercard, Bitcoin gives users the financial freedom to act according to their conscience rather than under political instruction. Shooting the Messenger The Moreno administration never pretended to like Assange, indicating that the Australia-born dissident had overstayed his welcome at the embassy. Assange worsened an already frosty relationship, first by allegedly meddling in the U.S. elections, before voicing support for Catalan rebels and angering Ecuador which supports a unified Spain. An ungenerous historical allusion on Germany’s involvement in the Catalan secessionist saga by Assange prompted his hosts to cut off his internet connection and restricted visitors’ access to him. With Assange isolated from the world, Wikileaks – icons of the global left – and his mother condemned the deteriorated conditions of his stay at the embassy and the limiting of his freedoms. But if the Lenin Moreno administration had shrugged off the criticisms, it could not deal with a Wikileaks report indicating that the president was under parliamentary investigation for financial impropriety allegedly committed offshore. The website, which is under a new editor, also published that the Moreno administration was in negotiations to hand over Assange to the UK in return for debt relief from the U.S. The accusations appear to have prompted Ecuador’s withdrawal of asylum, leading to his immediate arrest. The U.K. is charging Assange with skipping bail when he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy at a time when Sweden wanted him extradited to answer sexual assault allegations. Although the Swedish charges have since been dropped, the U.K. kept its intact and the U.S. has since announced that it wants Assange extradited for conspiracy to leak its military secrets. There has been an international outcry, particularly by media personalities and authors, that such a conviction by the U.S. would not only flout its First Amendment but also set a precedent for the criminalization of journalism. Given that the Trump administration considers Wikileaks not so much a media organization as a hostile foreign intelligence agency, and has sent Chelsea Manning, the veteran who provided Assange with the 2010 War Logs publication, back to jail for refusing to testify against Wikileaks, it seems unlikely that it will show clemency to the controversial Australian. What do you think about Julian Assange’s arrest? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Wikileaks. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com The post Wikileaks Bitcoin Donations Soar Following Assange Arrest appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Darknet marketplaces (DNMs) provide a wide range of services beyond those commonly portrayed by the media. One of these is the provision of pain relief drugs for the terminally ill. In this guide, we run through the process for obtaining CBD, a cannabis oil compound that provides comfort to people suffering from chronic pain, anxiety, and mood disorders. Also read: Darknet Buyers Flock to Wall Street as Dream Winds Down The Darknet Is a Refuge for the Desperate and the Downtrodden In 2016, a close friend of mine was diagnosed with terminal cancer. As part of her therapy, she began self-medicating cannabidiol (CBD), derived from the cannabis plant. It helped her to relax and to sleep better. Every time she purchased CBD capsules, she was technically breaking the law: in Britain, as in many countries, cannabis products are illegal. Last year, an outcry over a seven-year-old boy denied the right to use CBD to control his epilepsy seizures prompted the government to soften its stance, but the oil still remains all but impossible to obtain for pain relief purposes – only doctors can prescribe it in extremely narrow circumstances. Even in the U.S., companies such as Stripe refuse to process payments for CBD. On October 31, my friend lost her struggle with cancer. She was 29. The following day, the law permitting the prescription of CBD came into effect in the U.K. For anyone who finds themselves in similar circumstances to my friend, CBD oil can help to make the pain manageable as well as minimizing discomfort. If you’re not fortunate enough to know a cannabis grower, the darknet is your best bet for getting hold of the stuff. Here’s how you might go about doing that. Wall Street market How to Buy CBD on the Darknet Like many bitcoiners, I’ve bought an array of wares on the darknet over the years, but until recently, I’d never purchased CBD. With the normally reliable Dream market in the process of shutting down, I elected to make my purchase from Wall Street. Its Tor address can be found on sites like Deepdotweb and Darkwebnews. Because I already use the Brave browser, I don’t even need to download Tor to pay a visit to Wall Street: a Tor browsing tab can be opened directly within Brave. From there, I log in to Wall Street and browse the drug listings. (If you don’t have an account, it only takes a couple of minutes to set one up. Be sure to choose a unique username and password). Wall Street accepts bitcoin core and monero for payment. In this case, I’ll be using the former since I already have some BTC to hand on a mobile wallet. Since I’m based in the U.K., I’d prefer to order from a seller in this country for quickness and because domestic mail attracts less suspicion. While CBD oil is at the lower end of the scale when it comes to classified drugs, it’s still illegal to purchase here. I filter my search results for U.K. sellers only, and soon I’ve found my CBD supplier. A note of caution before ordering: always check the seller’s most recent feedback. The one I’ve selected looks legit, but as a glance at the feedback for other sellers shows, there are some lowlifes out there: The Purchasing Process One of the cool things about Wall Street is that funds don’t have to be deposited into your account on the DNM – instead they go directly from your personal wallet to the seller’s, with multisig preventing the funds from being released until you’ve marked the order complete. This provision also protects customer funds in the event of the market committing an exit scam. The CBD listing describes “30 x 35mg THC/CBD oil capsules” and promises to be the cleanest and purest product on the market. “Capsules are produced from concentrate extremely high in DELTA-9 THC (58.8%) This is sky high for Delta-9,” reads the listing. “We recommend 1 capsule to be taken at a time.” Using PGP, I encrypt my delivery address and sign the message. This means that only the seller will be able to decode our correspondence; even if the marketplace is compromised, law enforcement will have no means of descrambling the data. Deepdotweb has a good tutorial on PGP; once you’ve gotten to grips with it, it only takes a few seconds to encrypt and decrypt messages, and is a measure that’s well worth taking. Within minutes of submitting my order, Wall Street has generated a unique BTC address for the transaction, which I complete using the Bitcoin.com Wallet. 15 minutes after that and the payment is marked as received. Two days after that, a padded envelope lands on the doormat. Inside a smell-proof and scan-resistant silver bag is a ziplock pouch containing 30 THC/CBD capsules. While I must now undo my anonymity by writing an article about the purchase, if I were a cancer suffer, I could now set about self-medicating in peace and quiet. Cryptography and cryptocurrency are a beautiful thing. What are your thoughts on using the darknet to purchase medicinal products that cannot be obtained easily by prescription? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse this product/service. Review editorials are intended for informational purposes only. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company or any of its affiliates or services. 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, goods or services mentioned in this article. The post How to Buy Pain Relief Drugs off the Darknet With Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Finding the cryptocurrency exchange with the best options in your region in terms of prices, fees and features, can be a time-consuming endeavor. Exchangewar.info is a website that can save you some of that effort. Also read: Simple Bitcoin Widget Gives You Crypto Prices on the Go Select Best Exchanges by Indicators and Features Exchangewar allows users to compare 144 digital asset trading platforms from 48 countries by various features and indicators. It provides information about the region each exchange operates from, its total daily trading volume calculated in BTC, and a link to its website. The online platform shares data about the fees applied by the exchanges and the accepted fiat and stablecoin payments. There’s also information about the number of supported trading pairs as well as the top pairs by volume. Users are able to list the platforms according to different indicators and the data is updated every 10 minutes. A separate column contains details about the features offered by the trading platforms such as futures and options contracts, leverage, margin trading, P2P lending, escrow, stop orders, limits, loyalty programs and others. Traders can also learn about signup promotions and read the latest news concerning a particular exchange. Exchangewar.info has a useful filtering functionality that allows users to select exchanges offering a particular trading pair. It can display all exchanges where you can buy or sell a given cryptocurrency such as BCH, BTC or ETH for U.S. dollars, for example. Meanwhile, if you want to stay informed about cryptocurrency prices, Satoshi Pulse is a market capitalization aggregator developed by Bitcoin.com. The portal shows market valuations, current prices, hourly, daily and weekly percentages, charts, and more, providing traders with real-time data about their favorite coins. What other platforms for crypto traders do you regularly use? Tell us 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. At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Exchangewar Lets You Compare Crypto Trading Platforms appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Since the launch of bitcoin cash (BCH) mixer Cashshuffle a fortnight ago, the platform has accrued a lot of attention and users. A total of 8,625 BCH shuffled outputs have been recorded since March 27 and close to 2,000 Cashshuffle transactions. Also Read: Liberland’s Merit Token Built on Bitcoin Cash Captures $1M Market Cap ‘Every Day I’m Shuffling’ The Cashshuffle platform is gaining traction. Since the initial launch, and aided by support from the Electron Cash wallet, there’s been 8,625 BCH ($2.6 million) shuffled outputs processed so far. A BCH developer also noted on Twitter that there’s been a total of 1,917 Cashshuffle transactions since March 27 and the sum of all outputs is 20,766 BCH as of April 10. Cashshuffle is a shuffling protocol which is quite different to most cryptocurrency shuffling services where users have to trust the operator or pay a substantial fee. The biggest difference is the Cashshuffle protocol is significantly cheaper than any other service of its kind. Cashshuffle is also open source and there’s no counterparty risk as the server and individual participants never have access to knowledge of which input corresponds to which output. Initially, an alpha or experimental version was released as an Electron Cash (EC) plugin extension, and now the protocol is a standard feature in EC. Additionally, the software was diligently reviewed by security and code analysis firm Kudelski. The security report was quite positive, and Kudelski checked the protocol for any known vulnerabilities, bugs, and general code safety. “We did not find any critical shortcoming in these components,” Kudelski Security detailed in its recently published Cashshuffle audit. Kudelski’s audit added: It seems that the Coinshuffle protocol and the Cashshuffle implementation provide a practical solution to the problem of mixing transactions without the risk of funds being stolen in the process. Bitcoin Cash Community Helped Make Cashshuffle Possible The Cashshuffle developers have also been receiving donations in order to continue funding, maintaining, and improving the protocol going forward. In the last 24 hours, Cashshuffle has raised close to $14,000 in donations from the community. The Bitcoin Unlimited development team donated 15 BCH ($4,500) to the project yesterday as well. Further, last week Electron Cash lead developer Jonald Fyookball announced the launch of EC version 4.0.0 with Cashshuffle which is now available for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux. Fyookball also thanked the community who helped bolster the protocol and the developers and those that helped pay for the security audit. In the EC 4.0.0 version, developers added coin control and other logic in order to make the wallet more privacy-centric. EC developer Nilic the Grim specifically thanked the programmers Calin Culianu, Clifford, Josh Ellithorpe, Mark Lundeberg, Imaginary Username, Emergent Reasons, Acidsploit, and others for assisting with the latest release. The EC programmer stressed that it was the BCH community that helped the most, stating: This community is the MVP — Really I swear, so many people helped out from suggestions to testing to finding esoteric bugs, to organizing stuff like the audit and finding funds for it — It was a community effort beyond the devs 100%. The BCH community has been thrilled with the Cashshuffle development which brings greater privacy to the BCH ecosystem. Bitcoin ABC lead developer Amaury Sechet thanked the EC developers for their hard work and told them to be sure that this is only the first step in the journey. “There is more to do before that thing is as secure as it could be given the auditability of the chain,” explained Sechet. Another BCH proponent stated that “[The Bitcoin Cash network] is right on the sharp edge of the most interesting technology of our time — A true pioneer.” With over $2.6 million BCH shuffled since the protocol’s inception and the $14,000 worth of BCH donated to the project in the last 24 hours, it seems many people agree with that sentiment. What do you think about the traction Cashshuffle has been seeing lately and all the donations sent over the last 24 hours? Let us know what you think about this project in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, @Acidsploit, and Cashshuffle. 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, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Bitcoin Cash Users Have Mixed Millions of Dollars Since Cashshuffle’s Launch appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

It’s not a stampede, but a growing number of traditional stock exchanges have begun to offer cryptocurrency-related products, in a move that’s been viewed in some quarters as key to introducing cryptocurrency to conventional equities investors. But will the involvement of stock exchanges help the cause of cryptocurrency, or is this merely an opportunistic endeavour by profit-oriented bourses fearful of missing out on crypto revenue? Also read: Bibox Exchange to Launch Leveraged BCH Perpetual Contracts Breaking New Ground On April 3, the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) announced that it will start a limited pilot to trade bitcoin and ethereum within the next few weeks. The move by the JSE is the latest in a series of announcements that aim to open the doors to cryptocurrency investment. In the U.S., the Nasdaq has recently listed BTC and ETH indices, while Switzerland’s main stock exchange, SIX, listed an XRP-based exchange-traded product. According to Marlene Street Forrest, managing director of the JSE, the exchange’s project, implemented in partnership with Canadian financial technology company Blockstation, is aimed at creating a “safe, efficient and transparent regulatory framework” for the trading of digital assets. But it is also clear that the potential for profit might have played a part. “[BTC and ETH trading] is an unprecedented opportunity for the JSE to diversify its product offerings and attract new listings and inbound investments,” said Street Forrest. Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at Etoro, the global multi-asset investment platform, told news.Bitcoin.com that the integration of cryptocurrency by traditional stock exchanges is mainly motivated by FOMO – the fear of missing out. “Institutions have realised that crypto is here to stay and have been looking for ways to seize the opportunities presented by crypto assets,” Greenspan opined. “The Jamaica Stock Exchange news is yet another sign that adoption happens gradually in front of your eyes, until you pause for a bit, look around, and realize that crypto is front and centre of the investment landscape,” he added. Win-Win Situation Unlike banks, which are experts at lobbying against the competition, traditional stock exchanges aren’t worried about cryptocurrency startups moving in on their turf. On the contrary, quite a number of them appear to have interpreted this as a potential win-win situation. For example, the Nasdaq stock exchange, the world’s second largest stock market by capitalization, started offering real-time information on two new indices tied to the cryptocurrency market – bitcoin core and ethereum – on Feb 25. The Nasdaq’s move has been seen as key to introducing cryptocurrency to conventional stock market investors on Wall Street and elsewhere, while simultaneously driving mainstream adoption. The stock exchange has swam against the tide in being drawn to crypto assets, starting with publishing analytical reports on bitcoin and partnering with Vaneck to launch BTC futures trading in a falling market in 2018. Whereas most investors still favor equities over virtual currencies, the arrival of stock exchanges – with their many years of experience – to the crypto markets will in future change all this says Marvin H. Coleby, a securities lawyer and CEO of Raise, a Bahamas-registered digital securities platform. “People trust them [stock markets], institutions trust them and governments have developed safe regulatory frameworks for them to operate,” Coleby told news.Bitcoin.com. Marvin H. Coleby He continued: “They are by far one of the most important examples of human efforts to distribute economic wealth via fractional financial instruments to anyone around the world. Their buy in of distributed ledger-based assets is not only a huge stamp of approval for crypto and other similar digital assets, but it means that those stock markets will make it easier for people to access assets around the world.” Cryptocurrencies and security tokens are digital assets that will significantly extend the impact of fractional financial products that exist both on and off stock market exchanges, he added. Legitimizing Crypto Coleby admits the proliferation of opportunistic tendencies exhibited by many entities within the crypto space, but dismisses stock markets as ranking among them. He stated: “Exchanges and stock markets are some of the best placed institutions to understand fractional and divisible financial products that are characteristics of many cryptocurrencies. This seems like a genuine attempt to enter and legitimize the market.” The Caribbean is perhaps one of the most innovative regions in regard to cryptocurrency, pushing out regulation that is friendly to the development and growth of the technology. The Jamaica Stock Exchange became one of the earliest stock markets to announce any interaction with crypto, long before 2019. Moreover, the rest of the Caribbean is working to develop new regulatory frameworks and technologies, such as in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica and Barbados. “I hope that centralized stock markets like the JSE take more seriously how the world will be moving away from centralized exchanges, and the impact that smart contracts will have on the traditional roles of custody and settlement served by centralized exchanges,” cautioned Coleby, the Raise CEO. What do you think about conventional stock markets integrating cryptocurrency-related products on their platforms? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com The post How Traditional Stock Markets Can Help Mainstream Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. Switch.ag is a new kind of token exchange. Switch not only gives users the ability to seamlessly “switch” between other assets, but you can buy gift cards, donate to non profits, gamble & more. As an extension of the Switch brand, the team recently released SwitchDex.ag, a fully decentralized exchange that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. The release of SwitchDex has seen support among many prominent people in the crypto space, including John McAfee. In a recently release video John said, “the most amazing decentralized exchange in terms of speed and utility is SwitchDex”. The CEO of Switch, Josh Case said, “We want to have the lowest fees, and the best trading environment on SwitchDex. We are really “pro trader”, and want to develop the tools, and features traders need to be successful.” There are no fees to list a token on SwithDex, no restrictions on trading limits, no restrictions on jurisdictions, and no user information is collected. SwitchDex charges a .2% taker fee. There are no other platform fees. SwitchDex offers users a one time flat fee amount to remove this platform fee forever. From April 1st through April 30th this fee is $20. This fee will increase $10 monthly, and will top out at $100 in December 2019. 100% of all fees collected by SwitchDex (trading fees + whitelist fees) are airdropped to ESH & SDEX token holders. * 50% are airdropped to ESH holders, the native token of Switch.ag * 50% are airdropped to SDEX holders, the native token of SwitchDex.ag For more information about Switch and SwitchDex you can visit or websites or email us at contact@switch.ag www.switch.ag www.switchdex.ag This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: Switch.ag Releases SwitchDex – a Decentralized Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The sovereign microstate known as Liberland has recently minted a new token called merit (LLM) and the coin has been added to the Altilly exchange. Merit is a token built on top of the Bitcoin Cash chain and was issued using the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) on March 11. Since the Altilly listing, the token has gathered a market valuation of $1.1 and each LLM is swapping for more than $1 at press time. Also Read: Installing a Subdermal Bitcoin Wallet Is Only for the Brave Liberland’s Mints Merit Tokens Using the Simple Ledger Protocol Last October, Liberland revealed that it planned to issue a new cryptocurrency called merit and originally the micronation was going to use the Ethereum blockchain. However, Liberland has decided to create its merit (LLM) tokens using the Bitcoin Cash network coupled with the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP). According to blockchain statistics, Liberland has created 1 million LLMs and started minting on March 11. Each token also has a website URL tethered to the coin’s metadata which leads to Liberland.org. LLMs were created at block 573350, are divisible to nine decimals, and the last mint took place on 573350. More merits can also be issued again at a later date so Liberland can add more coins to the token supply. “Liberland is pleased to confirm that thanks to the private initiative of Liberland citizens and supporters, people have started to trade Liberland Merits (LLM) on the exchange Altilly,” the official Liberland Twitter account announced on Tuesday. Merit (LLM) token stats. In the future, Liberland citizens with holdings of LLM can use them for voting and people can use them for state contributions (voluntary taxes) as well. The Free Republic of Liberland’s President, Vit Jedlicka, explained last year that merits would be “more of a share in Liberland than a cryptocurrency.” “LLM has multiple purposes and I think that the concept that we put together is quite smart and again that’s the plan to outcompete the existing nation-states in the design of our internal system,” Jedlicka stated at the time. Merit (LLM) token minting details. The BCH community were pleased to hear the news about Liberland’s new token and especially the fact that the coin was built using SLP. Bitcoin ABC lead developer Amaury Sechet tweeted about the new token on Tuesday afternoon. “Liberland has tokenized its currency, the merit,” explained Sechet. “They chose to do so as an SLP token on the BCH chain — You earn them by helping the project, or buy them to support them financially.” Merit (LLM) token graph movements as of April 10, 2019. Merit Market Cap Commands $1.1M Jedlicka believes there is an additional value to the merit system crafted on the BCH chain. LLM aims to help bolster the creation of the freest country on this planet that allows its citizens to prosper with libertarian ideals and free market enterprise. “Like all the things that are here on this planet has subjective value, and I think it is of great value that we are bringing to the table and our currency will back this basic idea,” Jedlicka explained in an interview last year. Merit (LLM) token price and market stats according to the Altilly exchange. At press time, merit (LLM) has an overall market capitalization of roughly $1.1 million and each coin is trading for $1.13 per LLM. Merits have four markets on Altilly and are paired with BTC, ETH, USDT, and XQR. “[Merit being built with SLP] is a big deal,” explained Electron Cash developer Jonald Fyookball on Reddit during the announcement. “SLP is starting to catch on — It’s also great that we are building a network effect around a singular token protocol now on BCH.” Additionally, BCH supporters were thrilled to hear that the ACD token, which is also built using SLP, was listed on the Coinsuper exchange on April 9. Currently paired against USD, the ACD token is trading for $0.16 per coin at the time of publication. ACD has a total supply of 1 billion tokens. Now that BCH-based tokens are getting more exposure to trading platforms and backing from the micronation Liberland, BCH supporters believe the token ecosystem will continue to accelerate. What do you think about Liberland creating a token with the SLP platform on BCH? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Liberland.org, Simpleledger.info, and Altilly. 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, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Liberland’s Merit Token Built on Bitcoin Cash Captures $1M Market Cap appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Pewdiepie has announced that he is joining live streaming platform Dlive. The service supports cryptocurrency payments for purchases of its native tokens, with accepted options including bitcoin cash (BCH) as well as BTC, ETH and LTC. Also Read: How 30 Full-Time Staff Created the New Crypto TV Network Blocktv Pewdiepie Partners With Live Streaming Platform Dlive Pewdiepie, the leading Youtube star with over 93 million subscribers, has announced that he is partnering with Dlive. An alternative to video live streaming platform Twitch, Dlive is defined as a “decentralized livestreaming community built using the Lino blockchain.” Dlive claims to have over 3 million monthly active users and 35,000 active streamers. The platform is available online at Dlive.tv as well as via its Android and iOS apps. Content creators and viewers can earn rewards for their participation in the form of Lino points, the native tokens of the network. For users outside the U.S. it is also possible to buy Lino points with cryptocurrency including bitcoin cash (BCH) as well as BTC, ETH and LTC. Why Is Pewdiepie Going With Dlive? Pewdiepie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, has often complained about the demonetization of his videos by Youtube for a long while now, whether due to controversy, copyright claims or other issues. In contrast to Youtube and Twitch, he calls Dlive a platform that is focused on its content creators first. And according to its website, Dlive “takes absolutely zero platform cuts from users’ donations and subscriptions.” Streaman exclusively on @OfficialDLive , eic livestream platform that focuses on it’s creators first. On April 14th. I will do my part & #SupportCreators by donating up to $50,000 Follow any creator on dlive to increase the donation amount! https://t.co/rzq5VEslX2 — ƿ૯ωძɿ૯ƿɿ૯ (@pewdiepie) April 9, 2019 “DLive is a place where instead of competing against each other, it benefits creators to support one another. With no platform cuts, we incentivize everyone to create the highest quality content for viewers,” said Wilson Wei, Co-Founder of Lino Network, “PewDiePie has always been a fierce advocate for the value that creators bring with their hard work, time, and effort, and he believes in DLive’s vision.” Paul Joseph Watson, who has over 940,000 Twitter followers, has since announced that he will be following Pewdiepie’s lead in moving to Dlive. Given that YouTube demonetizes all my videos immediately upon upload, I too will be switching to DLive for live streams. Good on Pewds for taking this step. https://t.co/cQ1g2xlIzA — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) April 10, 2019 What do you think about this move by Pewdiepie and its possible implications for cryptocurrency? 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 Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Youtube Star Pewdiepie Joins Live Streaming Platform That Accepts Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency adoption by merchants is still far from ubiquitous, so you might need some help finding places where you can spend yours. Here’s how you can easily locate nearby businesses that accept bitcoin cash (BCH) wherever you go. Also Read: How to Buy Gift Cards for Nike, Adidas and Other Top Brands With Bitcoin Cash Find BCH Spending Locations With Marco Coino The Marco Coino app maps the location of brick and mortar stores where you can pay with bitcoin cash (BCH). The service already lists about 800 locations around the world and you can also use it to add your own business in order to mark it on the map. The app is available for both iOS and Android mobile devices, and the global map can also be accessed directly on the website. To use Marco Coino just download the app to your phone from the relevant app store. Using your operating system’s location data it will display all the stores that accept bitcoin cash near you. The service can also help you quickly plan your route to the stores and offers additional merchant details straight from the map. What do you think about the Marco Coino app? 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 Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post How to Easily Find Businesses That Accept Bitcoin Cash Near You appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Philippines is catching up to Japan with a growing number of approved cryptocurrency exchanges. The central bank has green-lighted 10 crypto exchanges so far. Meanwhile, one of the country’s largest banks now has a bitcoin ATM at one of its main branches. In addition, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority has independently licensed 24 crypto exchanges. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Postpones Crypto Case at Government’s Request 10 Legal Crypto Exchanges The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved 10 cryptocurrency exchanges in total, according to the most recent list provided by the central bank. Three of them were recently added, the Manila Times reported Monday. Melchor T. Plabasan, the officer in charge at the Technology Risk and Innovation Supervision Department of the central bank, said the latest crypto exchange operators authorized were Bexpress Inc., Coinvillel Phils Inc., and Aba Global Philippines Inc. The most recent list of remittance and transfer companies with money changing or foreign exchange dealing as well as virtual currency exchange service provided by the central bank comprises 10 businesses. Besides the three new additions, the seven others are Betur Inc. dba Coins.ph, Remittance Inc., Bloomsolutions Inc., Virtual Currency Philippines Inc., Etranss Remittance International Corp., Fyntegrate Inc., and Zybi Tech Inc. In comparison, Japan’s top financial regulator recently registered two new crypto exchanges, bringing the total of approved exchanges in the country to 19. Furthermore, the regulator has told news.Bitcoin.com that over 140 more companies have expressed interest in operating crypto exchanges in Japan. Bitcoin ATM at a Major Bank Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) aka Unionbank, one of the largest banks in the country, recently installed a bitcoin ATM at one of its main branches, with the approval of the central bank and in partnership with Coins.ph. Last month, the bank announced that this ATM is now operational. News.Bitcoin.com talked to a representative of the bank who explained that the machine can only be used to buy and sell BTC currently. Noting that the “ATM is located in the Ark Makati and can only be accessed during Ark branch hours,” the representative elaborated: When they sell their bitcoin, users will be able to withdraw the money they made in the transaction from the ATM directly. You have to be a UBP account holder and have a crypto wallet (like Coinsph), users who do not have a UBP account can open one in the Ark where the ATM is located. Bitcoin ATM at Unionbank. Image by Coins.ph CEO Ron Hose. The BSP issued Memorandum 2019-006 on March 14 reminding banks that operators of cryptocurrency ATMs are considered virtual currency exchanges and must be registered with the bank, as mandated in Circular No. 944 dated Feb. 6, 2017. According to Business World, Unionbank CEO Edwin R. Bautista said the bank plans to add more crypto ATMs in more branches, with the approval of the BSP. The bank currently has about 300 branches. Ceza Has Issued 24 Licenses Instead of obtaining a license from the central bank, crypto exchanges can obtain offshore licenses from the government-owned Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) which has independently been approving a number of crypto exchanges. Ceza CEO Raul Lambino said last month that “24 principal licenses and six regular licenses for cryptocurrency exchanges” have been issued, “as well as four licenses for 15 companies involved in financial technology solutions.” However, unlike the harder-to-obtain BSP license, the Financial Technology Solutions and Offshore Virtual Currency (Ftsovc) license issued by Ceza comes with several restrictions. According to Bitpinas news outlet, this license allows exchanges to “run the business in the Philippines but must only service users from outside the country.” The publication further explained that “This license allows the company to do crypto-to-crypto transactions but does not allow the company to facilitate crypto-to-fiat transactions as that is a separate license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.” What do you think of the Philippines approving all these crypto exchanges and Unionbank having a bitcoin ATM? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Ron Hose. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Philippines Now Has 10 Approved Crypto Exchanges appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Four days ago, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the April 3 notice to Mt. Gox creditors from the court’s civil rehabilitation trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi. Now a disclosure stemming from the founder of Mt. Gox Legal explains that the coordinator, Andy Pag, is leaving the ongoing legal battle because he thinks the process could take years to settle the case. Also read: Uyen T Nguyen: The Powerful Young Woman Behind the Alleged ‘Satoshi Affair’ Mt. Gox Legal’s Coordinator Leaves His Post Blaming the Coinlab Claim and Karpeles Schemes The coordinator and founder of the largest group of Mt. Gox claimants will be leaving his post at the end of April and has disclosed he is selling his claim according to a document published on April 9. Andy Pag is the founder of Mt. Gox Legal, a cooperative of over 900 claimants with claims totaling more than 125,000 BTC. Pag and the organization represent a sizeable portion of the entire Mt. Gox creditor body who want to get their funds back as soon as possible. However, Pag is not so optimistic and has decided to step down from his post because the payout distribution could drag out to “18-24 months” and he feels it could possibly be much longer. Pag says in his recent letter that he strongly believes that the Coinlab claim for ¥1.7 trillion yen (US$16 billion) is the main reason behind his belief things will be stalled but there are others. Pag also noted that “Mark is scheming again” and he “suspects he’ll be the source of more costs and delays.” The Mt. Gox Legal founder is also selling his claim and has found a buyer willing to pay 15% or $600 per BTC. He also emphasized that he will leave at the end of April and a new coordinator will have to be elected, but added that Mt. Gox Legal may go into “hibernation for a while.” Pag explained when he was recently traveling to Tokyo he learned two things that made him make his decision and one of them “blindsided” him. One is that there will be no civil rehab until the Coinlab claim is settled and secondly Mark Karpeles allegedly told him he wanted help with bringing Tibanne (the Mt. Gox parent company) out of bankruptcy. According to Pag, Karpeles told him that specific move could help the creditor body battle Coinlab in court and get them to drop the claim. Never-Ending Litigation Pag doesn’t seem to trust Karpeles’ new plan and called it an elevator full of manure saying that it is “shit on every level.” What really bothers Pag is the “scheming and conniving” is very similar to Karpeles’ prior actions in 2011-2014. “[Karpeles] is straight at it again trying to co-opt co-conspirators to rob Peter to pay Paul,” he claims. Overall, the main issue throughout most of Pag’s disclosure is that Coinlab’s claim is the main impediment to creditors getting a settlement any time soon. Coinlab’s claim has been a very controversial subject since it started and the firm and its founder Peter Vessenes recently upped the stakes filing a claim for $16 billion which is over and above every claimant’s filing. Peter Vessenes, CEO of Coinlab. The reason Coinlab is a creditor is because in 2012, Coinlab made a deal with Tibanne which purportedly gave Coinlab and Vessenes the rights to both U.S. and Canadian Mt. Gox customers. Ultimately, the deal never materialized and both Coinlab and Tibanne sued each other and the disagreement found its way into the bankruptcy proceedings and then the rehabilitation process. A highlighted portion of the most recent ¥1.6 trillion Coinlab filing explains that the CEO is pursuing the funds for the “fiduciary” interest of the remaining Coinlab shareholders. Pag also said that leaving his post was not a decision he came to lightly and Mt. Gox Legal was a big part of his life. In addition to selling his claim for $600 per BTC, the group’s coordinator detailed that the person buying his claim will consider buying other claims as well. Pag added that the individual was only offering the $600 per BTC deal for a month-long period and the next best deal is BE Capital purchasing claims at $400 per BTC. The Mt. Gox Legal founder further added that he can now concentrate more on other life plans and he “feels really positive about this new future.” What do you think about the founder of Mt. Gox Legal leaving his post and selling his claim for $600 per BTC? What do you think about the opinion that the Coinlab claim will continue holding up the payout process? Image credits: Shutterstock, Scribd Upload, and Pixabay. Keep track of the bitcoin exchange rate in real-time. The post Founder of Mt. Gox Creditors Cooperative Resigns, Says Settlement Could Take Years appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On April 8, BCH developer Jonathan Toomim revealed how far he’s come with the Xthinner block compression protocol. Toomim tested the platform between two Bitcoin ABC full nodes on the BCH main network and a 363 kB block was compressed down to 1,660 bytes, or 99.54% compression. Also read: Uyen T Nguyen: The Powerful Young Woman Behind the Alleged ‘Satoshi Affair’ Xthinner Compression and CTOR in Action The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community is all about scaling and increasing the block size, but very adding large blocks is just one part of the equation. In the first week of September, the BCH chain processed some significantly large blocks and millions of transactions per day. However, developers noticed issues with block propagation, bottlenecks, and nodes crashing when very large blocks were processed. Last January, news.Bitcoin.com reported on Jonathan Toomim’s project Xthinner, which could help alleviate such problems in the future. Xthinner is block propagation software that leverages canonical transaction ordering (CTOR) and can compress blocks by more than 90%, if all of the transactions in the block were previously transmitted. On Monday, Toomim detailed that he’s been testing the protocol on the main network and used two Bitcoin ABC full nodes to record his data. “A few hours ago, I fixed the last showstopping bug in my Xthinner code and got it running between two of my ABC full nodes on mainnet,” Toomim told members of r/btc. “One node serves as a bridge to the rest of the world, receiving Compact Blocks and transmitting Xthinner — The other is connected to no other nodes except this bridge.” One Block Showed 99.54% Compression The first block Toomim transmitted through Xthinner was BCH block 577,310 and he had a few issues transmitting a portion of the block’s transactions. Following that block, Xthinner worked on “every block since then, with no failures, and with no block taking more than 1.5 networking round trips,” Toomim explained. The developer noted that most “non-tiny block” got around 99% compression while compact blocks got roughly 96-97% compression. “Eight blocks have been complete on arrival without any missing transaction fetching (0.5 round trips), and 24 blocks have required a round trip to fetch missing transactions,” Toomim added. Moreover, Toomim revealed that one specific block of 363 kB with 841 transactions was compressed to 1,660 bytes. According to the programmer that’s roughly a 99.54% compression or 15.79 bits/tx. “Uncoincidentally, this was also one of the largest blocks so far, with 23 minutes elapsed since the prior block,” said Toomim. The BCH developer further stated: Bigger blocks get better compression because the header, coinbase, and checksum specification overhead is a smaller proportion of the whole, and sometimes also because the Xthinner algorithm can more consistently omit the initial bytes of the TXID. Toomim Might Release an Alpha Version of Xthinner Soon Bitcoin Cash enthusiasts were pleased to hear about Xthinner being tested on the main network and discussed the project throughout the day. “Wow, 99.54% compression, I’m impressed — Thank you, Jonathan, for your marvellous work and thanks lead devs for sound roadmap and CTOR/LTOR which made this possible,” one BCH supporter wrote. Toomim also detailed that he would likely be releasing an alpha version of the Xthinner protocol soon so other developers can experiment with the platform as well. He stressed that the code still has a few bugs and vulnerabilities and recommends that people don’t run the software on a node that needs to stay running. “There’s still a lot of work to be done before the code is of high enough quality to be merged into Bitcoin ABC,” the developer concluded. What do you think about Xthinner and the possibility of 99% block compression? Let us know what you think about this project in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Jonathan Toomim, and Bitcoincash.org. Keep track of the bitcoin exchange rate in real-time. The post Xthinner Protocol Tested on BCH Mainnet Shows 99% Block Compression appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Volume has been ramping up across the cryptocurrency markets, with April seeing a new all-time high posted for daily global cryptocurrency volume. The month has also seen Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) report record trade volume for its BTC futures contracts, in addition to Cumberland’s trade desk reporting an influx of 1,000 BTC buy orders, signaling strength across numerous facets of the virtual currency ecosystem. Also Read: How 5 Asian Countries Regulate Cryptocurrency New All-Time High Posted for Global Cryptocurrency Trade According to Coinmarketcap, new records for daily global cryptocurrency trade were posted on April 4 and 5 consecutively, with $77.07 billion and $79.99 billion worth of crypto changing hands on each day. The new records beat out the former all-time high of nearly $70 billion that was posted on Jan 5, 2018, by more than 10%. The rally appears to have been driven by a significant spike in USDT trade, with USDT volume beating BTC on both April 3 and April 4. Currently, April 4 comprises the strongest day on record for both USDT and BTC, with $25.3 billion worth of tether and $21.7 billion worth of bitcoin core changing hands. As of this writing, BTC and USDT volume is nearly identical, with almost $15.81 billion worth of BTC and $15.74 billion worth of USDT having been traded over the past 24 hours. CME Reports Record Volume April 4th also saw CME report record volume for its BTC futures contracts with more than 22,500 contracts or the equivalent of 112,700 BTC traded, beating out the previous record of 18,300 contracts that was set as of February 19. On April 1, Cumberland reported that a large influx of 1,000 BTC buy orders had been executed within the span of a single hour on its trading desk, further evidencing a dramatic spike in demand across the cryptocurrency markets. Speaking to CNBC, the chief executive officer of Binance, CZ, reported that the platform has seen a record number of orders executed in recent days, stating: “The number of transactions … is at an all-time high, we are actually seeing more orders than January 2018.” News.Bitcoin.com also reached out to an over-the-counter (OTC) BTC broker, who noted that “demand is picking up” in the OTC markets. Do you think that the increase in trade volume is an indication of a shift in the cryptocurrency meta-trend? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coinmarketcap At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Crypto Markets and CME Futures Post Record Trade Volume appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bounty hunters have been helping to bring criminals to justice since the days of the Old West, and they are still just as needed today. If you want to become a bounty hunter and get paid with cryptocurrency, you don’t even need a fast horse or a revolver these days – just useful information on some highly wanted hackers. Also Read: New BCH Apps and a Special Giveaway in This Week’s Video Update From Bitcoin.com How to Become a Bitcoin Bounty Hunter Bitcoin Bounty Hunter is a service from Bitcoin.com that allows people to anonymously crowdsource payments for completing tasks. The platform now offers several missions with a total payout of over 750 BCH. Unlike other bounty programs that only focus on software bugs, this service is open to all kinds of bounties, including those for catching crypto criminals. As such, a focus on hackers, who often hurt the crypto ecosystem, has naturally evolved. Among the crowdsourced bounties on the platform, we can see that individuals are offering over 400 BCH to help catch the entity who hacked into Satoshi Nakamoto’s email accounts, over 200 BCH for the identity of an extortionist, almost 100 BCH to help catch whoever is responsible for the theft of tens of thousands of BTC from Bitcoinica and Zhou Tong, as well as about 30 BCH for the notorious Mt. Gox hacker. If you’ve been hurt by a hacker you want the public to track down, or just need a particular task completed, from graphic design to video editing, create a new listing at Bitcoin Bounty Hunter and name your price. Do you want to start earning BCH by becoming a bounty hunter? 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 Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post How to Earn BCH as a Bitcoin Bounty Hunter appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In the state of Florida, there’s an ongoing lawsuit against Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto, for billions of dollars. Wright is being sued by the Kleiman family on behalf of the late Dave Kleiman for allegedly misappropriating billions worth of BTC through a partnership years ago. On March 29, the Kleiman vs. Wright discovery meeting transcript was published revealing more interesting details about this unique case. Also read: Jeff Garzik Subpoenaed in Kleiman Bitcoin Lawsuit Against Craig Wright The Billion Dollar Bitcoin Lawsuit Continues With a Discovery Meeting According to Ira Kleiman, his brother David’s inheritance was allegedly manipulated during a multi-year partnership with Australian native Craig Wright. On Valentine’s Day last year, a case was filed against Wright in Florida which accused him of defrauding Kleiman out of an assumed 1.1 million BTC stash. The lawsuit has continued into 2019, after Wright’s legal counsel attempted to get the case dismissed only for Florida district Judge Beth Bloom to deny the defendant’s dismissal. This week, on March 29, the court’s discovery meeting transcript was released which explains that Wright and Kleiman’s partnership was very complicated. Wright is scheduled to be deposed under oath by Kleiman’s lawyers on Thursday, April 4. The discovery meeting reveals some fascinating aspects in regard to one of the most compelling Bitcoin-related lawsuits to date. For instance, during the proceedings, the court asked Wright’s legal counsel whether he did or did not collaborate with Kleiman in the development of Bitcoin. Wright’s attorneys replied by saying: “It is Dr. Wright’s position, your Honor, that Dave Kleiman assisted in editing the protocol related to Bitcoin but did not create Bitcoin.” The judge then asked the defendant’s counsel if Wright and Kleiman jointly mined bitcoin and co-owned any cryptocurrencies. The lawyer detailed that Wright’s position is that he never mined bitcoin with Kleiman nor did any co-owned bitcoin exist. Additionally, Wright’s attorney asserted that Kleiman had no legal rights to intellectual property associated with Bitcoin or the Bitcoin protocol. Parsing Through Thousands of Documents The judge and the two disputing parties also discussed Wright’s issues with the Australian Tax Office (ATO), which explained that the ATO was and still might be investigating Wright and Kleiman’s collaboration. The lawyer representing the Kleiman estate stated that the plaintiffs were contacted by the ATO while conducting an investigation to find out whether there was information the Kleimans had for corroborating evidence on the matter. Further, the discovery transcript reveals that the late David Kleiman left a significant trail of documents behind which may pertain to the lawsuit. The two disputing parties are parsing through thousands of documents that belonged to David Kleiman, his brother Ira, and the business W&K Info Defense Research. This includes documents that stem from a number of electronic devices, computers, phones, hard drives, encrypted chats, and emails that belonged to Kleiman. Submitted evidence from the Kleiman estate that allegedly shows Wright promising certain assets to Dave’s heirs. Kleiman’s Legal Counsel: ‘The Satoshi Nakamoto Story Is Relevant’ Toward the end of the discovery hearing, the parties also discussed the Satoshi Nakamoto moniker and how Wright claimed to be the creator of Bitcoin but failed to provide evidence. Kleiman’s lawyer explained how Andrew O’Hagan, the famous London Review of Books author who wrote an article called “The Satoshi Affair,” had hours of Wright discussing how he invented Bitcoin. The entire story between O’Hagan and Wright makes the plaintiffs believe that Wright came out saying he was Satoshi for “celebrity status” and to “sell his intellectual property that Satoshi Nakamoto created for billions of dollars.” The Kleimans think the Satoshi story is “relevant” to the proceedings and that the late David Kleiman was very much involved in a partnership with Wright involving Bitcoin. “So the plaintiffs’ position is that admissions with regard to who owned the intellectual property created by Satoshi Nakamoto and the story of Satoshi Nakamoto are relevant to the case because it is plaintiffs’ theory that Satoshi Nakamoto is the name of a partnership between Craig Wright and Dave Kleiman,” explained the Kleiman estate’s lawyer. In addition to the Wright deposition scheduled for April 4, Ira Kleiman will be deposed as well. After the depositions, the court will reconvene to discuss the matters and come back with any follow up. The judge also gave the plaintiff’s counsel permission to ask Wright about the communications with O’Hagan in order to proportionate the findings. The entire case between Wright and Kleiman goes beyond any scope of all the other high profile BTC cases so far because it involves the creation of Bitcoin itself. Moreover, the lawsuit started many years after Ira Kleiman became his brother’s beneficiary when Dave died from a rough battle with MRSA. The Kleiman vs. Wright case is thought provoking because whatever way it settles, some believe it will either provide answers or even more questions to the Satoshi Nakamoto mystery. So far, Wright has failed to convince the greater Bitcoin community that he is the creator of Bitcoin and has yet to provide any cryptographic evidence. What do you think about the Kleiman vs. Wright legal battle? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Court Listener, and Pacer. At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even look up the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Kleiman Estate Says Satoshi Reveal ‘Is Relevant’ in Billion Dollar Bitcoin Lawsuit appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

2019 has witnessed a Cambrian explosion of crypto interest schemes. Previously, the only way to make a passive income on your cryptocurrency was through hodling and hoping it would rise in dollar terms, or to operate a masternode for a dubious altcoin. Today’s investors have it a whole lot easier thanks to a string of new savings programs that promise annual interest simply for locking up digital assets. Also read: This Photo Gallery App Is a BCH Light Wallet in Disguise Crypto Companies Are Borrowing From the Fiat Banking Toolbox Last week, Nexo became the latest crypto company to introduce interest to its customers, with the provision of up to 6.5 percent annually on stablecoins DAI, PAX, USDC, USDT, and TUSD. Interest will be compounded daily and funds will be protected by custodial insurance. Unlike most of the crypto interest schemes to have emerged this year, Nexo enables its clients to withdraw any amount of cryptocurrency at any time. As such, their crypto account essentially becomes a checking account, stocked with dollar-pegged tokens, but bolstered by the promise of annual interest that exceeds that of most fiat saving accounts. Nexo is by no means alone in incentivizing customers to secure their crypto in a custodial account and be rewarded. Blockfi will disburse 6 percent annually to clients who store ETH or BTC deposits. Ledgerx introduced its own interest-bearing BTC account last year for U.S. investors, while Compound provides up to 4.2 percent annually for assets such as DAI. At the start of March, Universal Protocol Alliance announced a stablecoin that would pay interest of up to 10 percent per year. Cryptocurrency users have never had more options in terms of where to store their digital assets. Having had it drummed into them for years that noncustodial wallets are the best place to stash their coins, long-term hodlers now find themselves torn on account of the attractive interest rates offered by third parties. Even with the promise of full custodial cover, cryptocurrency owners face a dilemma: to seek the sanctity and privacy of storing funds in a noncustodial wallet, or to raise the risk a little in return for a generous 6 percent. Balancing the Risks and Rewards of Interest-Bearing Crypto Accounts When Blockfi announced its crypto interest scheme, eagle-eyed readers scrutinizing the terms and conditions spotted that the assets would not be insured against losses. While offerings from the likes of Nexo and Coinbase Custody are fully insured, consumers should nevertheless familiarize themselves with the small print before committing. Coinbase hasn’t begun offering crypto interest accounts per se, it should be noted: rather, it’s added staking as a service, which obliges hodlers to lock up qualifying Proof of Stake coins such as tezos (XTZ). The end result to clients is much the same as receiving interest however; by the time Coinbase has taken its 2 percent, stakers will be left with an annual yield of around 6 percent. Staking and interest are not the same, as industry commenters such as Meltem Demirors have been keen to stress. For the end user, however, be it an institutional client who doesn’t want to “get their hands dirty” with the technical side of staking, or a retail client who doesn’t want to assume custody for their crypto, the outcome can appear indistinguishable. “Financialization of Bitcoin is inevitable and vitally important,” argued Zane Pocock in a Medium post on March 29. He continued: Financialized structures allow for much better liquidity, debt structures, and other benefits that mean institutional custody and lending can be good for Bitcoin. Pocock urged investors to do their own research into the interest accounts being offered by crypto companies and not to “fall for the illusion of free money. Bitcoin is our emergency exit from the outcomes of precisely that fallacy.” Crypto interest programs remain an alluring proposal, however, and their number is set to multiply over the coming year. As Shapeshift’s Erik Vorhees pointed out, once the inflationary nature of central bank currencies is factored in, crypto interest accounts become significantly more appealing than their fiat counterparts. When comparing crypto-denominated interest/yield to fiat-denominated yields, remember to subtract 2-3% of the fiat yield due to inflation. Stated differently, compare the real yield of fiat returns to the nominal yield of crypto returns. The delta is what central banks r stealing — Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) March 29, 2019 What are your thoughts on interest-paying crypto accounts? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned companies or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com and the author are not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. This editorial is for informational purposes only. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Interest-Paying Crypto Accounts Are This Year’s Leading Trend appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In addition to learning about the latest developments in the world of Bitcoin Cash, you can take part in a special giveaway in this week’s video news update from Bitcoin.com. Streamed live and hosted by Roger Ver, the weekly show is shared on Bitcoin.com’s Youtube channel every Sunday. Also Read: How to Print Your Own Bitcoin Cash Paper Wallet Watch Bitcoin.com’s Weekly News Update This week’s show features a special giveaway enabling viewers to win prizes such as hardware wallets, cool BCH t-shirts and other swag. To participate all you have to do is subscribe to the Bitcoin.com Youtube channel and leave a comment on the video regarding which Bitcoin Cash news item you are most excited about. 10 winners will be randomly selected by Wednesday and their names will be announced on next week’s show. Among the topics discussed this week are the launch of the Cashshuffle coin mixing protocol on Electron Cash, a new Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) explorer that lets users browse tokens built on the BCH blockchain, and a new app for customers to order menu items with their phones and pay with an integrated point-of-sale system using QR codes. Additionally features is the Peaceful Warrior online shop created by a group of female entrepreneurs from within the crypto space as well as the BCH community raising funds for young people in need from South Sudan. Make sure to subscribe to the Bitcoin.com Youtube channel and leave a comment on the latest video for your chance to win. 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 Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post New BCH Apps and a Special Giveaway in This Week’s Video Update From Bitcoin.com appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On March 27, a developer released a different kind of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) application called Bchgallery, an Android BCH wallet that is disguised as a generic photo gallery app. The platform aims to provide added security through obscurity by acting as a decoy application. Also read: New Crypto-Friendly Banking and Payment Services Launch in the UK and Russia Developer Launches Decoy Wallet Called Bchgallery Last Wednesday, BCH fans were introduced to a wallet that is concealed by pretending to be a generic photo gallery application. The developer who designed the new BCH wallet, Bchgallery, calls himself ‘Pokkst’ and has been working on a number of platforms over the last few weeks. Bchgallery is an open source Android-based BCH light client that allows users to store funds while keeping the wallet hidden behind the veil of a fake application. Essentially the wallet uses a decoy home screen and the first time the wallet launches the user must set up a PIN. To make the wallet more masked, the application’s title bar must be tapped five times in order to access the PIN screen. Bchgallery supports the BCH Cashaddr address format and also has BIP70 support so the wallet can be used to pay for things like Bitpay invoices. The wallet also features an offline mode for composing raw transaction hexes to NFC tags. Additionally, the wallet supports the Cash Accounts protocol designed by Jonathan Silverblood. The camouflaged nature of the Bchgallery wallet adds another effective privacy style wallet into the BCH ecosystem following the Electron Cash Cashshuffle release and the recent Neutrino launch. Moreover, Pokkst has been developing cryptocurrency applications for quite some time and is known for creating the BTC wallets Crescent Pay, Apollo Wallet, the Orion Client and server, and an app called Procedural Pass. Bchgallery app for Android mobile phones. The Developers Move Over to Bitcoin Cash Pokkst was a big BTC fan at one time and explained in a recent blog post that he “had high hopes for the Lightning Network.” However, Pokkst now considers the Lightning Network an “over-engineered mess.” First, Pokkst post details that attempting to walk someone through opening a channel and routing a large payment is a horrible experience. The developer’s post, called “Why I’m Moving to BCH,” highlights that Pokkst isn’t against the Lightning Network per se but thinks it could have been designed so much better. Pokkst was a big BTC fan at one time but recently joined the BCH community and has decided to port his apps to the BCH chain. “The biggest issue that stands out to me is stating we need to keep blocks small to keep nodes decentralized — I agree with that, unfortunately, the 1MB block size limit has become unbearable,” Pokkst’s blog post adds. The programmer’s critique further states: They say it’s to keep the cost of running a node down, but at the same time we’re paying $50+ dollars in transaction fees (in 2017) and roughly $1.00 in transaction fees in 2019 — That simply does not make any sense. Pokkst concludes that he doesn’t mean any harm to his Bitcoin friends but has decided to choose a different path. Even though Pokkst is moving to BCH, in the broader sense of the Bitcoin movement he is still there fighting the corrupt governments and central banks. Following the post, Pokkst demonstrated he meant business when he ported the photo gallery wallet over to Bitcoin Cash. Moreover, the developer has been working on his other project Crescent Pay which will use handles similarly to the Hand Cash wallet which is now solely for BSV. Crescent Pay aims to offer a simplified BCH wallet without the complicated and long alphanumeric string addresses. What do you think about the Bchgallery application? What do you think about Pokkst’s decision to port his applications over to BCH? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse this product/service. Review editorials are intended for informational purposes only. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company or any of its affiliates or services. 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, goods or services mentioned in this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Bchgallery, Twitter, and Bitcoincash.org. At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even look up the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post This Photo Gallery App Is a BCH Light Wallet in Disguise appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Closely following market movements and price fluctuations is something every trader and investor in the crypto space must do in order to take advantage of opportunities and avoid losses. Cryptonaut is a portfolio management app that allows you to track your holdings in multiple cryptocurrencies. Also read: New Crypto-Friendly Banking and Payment Services Launch in the UK and Russia Application Tracks Thousands of Coins and Tokens The Cryptonaut mobile app, available for both Android and iOS devices, has gathered positive reviews thanks to its intuitive interface and smooth performance. It lets you add virtually any coin or token you can think of and track the value of your crypto holdings in a number of fiat currencies, including major ones such as the U.S. dollar, the euro, and the British pound, but also Indian rupee, Russian ruble, and Turkish lira among others. Price charts for different time periods – hour, day, week, month, and year – can be displayed in BTC and ETH as well. The option to set price alerts for the digital assets crypto traders are interested in is other useful feature. Each time the price of a particular coin moves above or below a preset level, the app sends a push notification that allows investors to adapt their trading strategy. They can also use the application to calculate the return on their cryptocurrency investments. Cryptonaut is quite flexible in terms of registration requirements. Once the app is downloaded and installed, users are prompted to create a new account and log in or opt for a more private experience. They can either link an exchange account or simply input their portfolio data manually to protect their information. Accounts can be deleted from the Settings menu at any time. Another positive to the portfolio management app is its availability in multiple languages. Cryptonaut has English, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese and other versions. Are you using a mobile app to track your crypto holdings? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned 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 content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Cryptonaut. At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Cryptonaut Is an Easy to Use Portfolio Management App appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The inaction of India’s supreme court to end the prolonged banking restriction has forced another cryptocurrency exchange to shut down. The exchange has given its users 30 days to withdraw funds at increased fees, prompting several other exchanges to offer to refund these fees for customers switching to them. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Set to Hear Crypto Case on March 29 Coindelta Shuts Down Indian crypto exchange Coindelta announced its service termination on Saturday. The exchange wrote, “we will no longer be able to provide exchange services for cryptocurrencies,” elaborating: The curb on the bank accounts by RBI has made us handicapped in order to provide seamless deposit and withdrawal services. There has not been any significant progress in the supreme court case which makes it difficult to predict when we will see the regulation. The central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), issued a circular in April last year banning banks from providing services to crypto businesses including exchanges. The ban went into effect in July and banks closed the accounts of crypto exchanges at that time. The banking restriction has put many crypto businesses in limbo. Zebpay, formerly one of the largest crypto exchanges in India, was forced to close down its exchange operations in the country in September last year. A number of industry participants have filed writ petitions against the ban which the supreme court originally scheduled to hear in September last year. However, the case has repeatedly been postponed. During the most recent hearing which took place on Friday, the court adjourned without addressing the ban until at least July. Expensive to Run an Exchange The team at Coindelta, an 18-month-old exchange, explained that “Running the exchange is very expensive in such [an] unfavourable environment.” Noting that “We have been operating at a minimal trade fee, bearing all the costs ourselves ensuring that your trading experience remains unaffected in the current unregulated environment,” the team admitted: It has been really difficult for us to operate Coindelta exchange for the last 6 months … Economically, it’s no longer viable to continue with the exchange. According to Saturday’s announcement, Coindelta’s exchange services were suspended and all open orders canceled in all markets at 2:00 p.m. (Indian time) on March 30. However, the wallet services will continue until April 29. Customers Forced to Withdraw Funds at High Fees Coindelta has requested that its customers withdraw all their funds within 30 days of the suspension, after which all requests must be submitted to support. “There will be a fixed fee applicable on all the withdrawals,” the exchange warned. According to the Indian crypto community, these fees are high compared to what other exchanges are charging. For example, “they increased the XRP withdrawal fees to 10 XRP,” Coindcx CEO Sumit Gupta told news.Bitcoin.com, emphasizing that this fee is “a lot” since his exchange charges 0.01 XRP for withdrawals. Coindelta’s BTC withdrawal fee is 0.002 BTC, worth about $8.19 at the time of writing. Nischal Shetty, CEO of crypto exchange Wazirx, tweeted that he “Got many messages that withdrawal fees from Coindelta have been increased,” adding that his exchange is offering Coindelta’s users 100 percent refund of withdrawal fees if they switch to Wazirx. Another Indian exchange, Bitbns, has made a similar offer. “We are waiving off/refunding any fee incurred while depositing funds to Bitbns from any other cryptocurrency exchange across the world. This means you can now transfer your funds from any crypto exchange to Bitbns without bearing any transfer charges,” the exchange announced on Sunday. What do you think of the Indian supreme court taking so long to end the RBI ban that Coindelta has to shut down? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Indian Supreme Court Takes Too Long on Crypto Case – Exchange Shuts Down appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

After more than five years of business, Dream is preparing to close its doors. The darknet marketplace (DNM) will shut up shop within a month, before relaunching under a new name and onion domain. The move has caused jitters within the darknet community, with buyers seeking reassurances that the site hasn’t been compromised by law enforcement. Also read: 6 Popular Darknet Marketplaces That Accept Cryptocurrency Dream Moves House to Evade the DDoSers In the post-Silk Road era, Dream has came to be known as the darknet’s most reliable marketplace, both in terms of uptime and vendor reputation. It appeared to be impervious from law enforcement and from hackers seeking to extort money from the marketplace. In the last few weeks, however, Dream has suffered from intermittent service, with a determined DDoSer knocking the site offline. In a post shared on Reddit-like darknet forum Dread, Dream admins explained they were being extorted for $400K by the DDoSer, who has persisted with his attack for the past seven weeks. Urging everyone to ignore the FUD suggesting the site had been compromised by law enforcement, Dream admins promised that the new-look market will be “as good as Dream.” As an infographic by the EU Drugs Agency shows, the number of scammy darknet markets has vastly exceeded the number of legitimate ones over the years. The loss of Dream has been hard to stomach for users, even if its replacement is promised to be every bit as good. Many customers rushed to withdraw their funds from Dream following the announcement, only to find the site had been knocked offline again, with pages loading sporadically. While Dream Winds Down, Other Markets Prosper The uncertainty over Dream’s impending closure has proved a boon to other DNMs, which have enjoyed an influx of buyers and vendors. Wall Street Market appears to have been the prime beneficiary; Point marketplace, meanwhile, has been suffering from its own bout of downtime. “I’m heartbroken,” wrote one Redditor in reaction to news of the darknet’s largest marketplace shutting shop. “I exclusively use Dream and it has never let me down.” TMG has closed for registration while the whole Dream thing gets sorted out. The Hub has still not come back online. It's lights off in the dark web at the moment pic.twitter.com/QBCOt1Atf3 — Eileen Ormsby (the Darkest Web) (@EileenOrmsby) March 28, 2019 While Wall Street accepts BTC and XMR, Dream is powered by the two bitcoins – BTC and BCH. It is unclear whether its successor will retain the same format, both in terms of digital assets and wares. It’s also unclear how the move to a new onion domain will mitigate the DDoS attacks that have plagued the DNM of late. Buyers, many of whom use darknet markets to purchase narcotics, recall the time when law enforcement shut down Alphabay and then funneled users to Hansa, which they had also compromised. The latter served as a honeypot, and significantly increased the number of arrests while decreasing trust in the darknet’s opaque ecosystem. There is nothing to suggest that Dream has been compromised, but until such a time as its replacement can launch successfully and rebuild trust, speculation will continue to mount. Will the domain earmarked for the rebranded Dream – weroidjkazxqds2l.onion – show the logo of the brand new darknet market leader when it launches? Or will it, as Silk Road did on the day of Ross Ulbricht’s arrest, show the logo of the Federal Bureau of Investigation? The DNM community shouldn’t have to wait long to find out. What are your thoughts on Dream’s closure? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post The Darknet’s Largest Marketplace Is Closing – But a Replacement Is on Its Way appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Last summer, Bitcoin.com launched a developer suite so Bitcoin Cash (BCH) programmers could have access to a slew of resources, tools, and software development kits (SDK). At the time, the web portal contained three key tools for blockchain programmers: the Bitbox SDK, REST, and the GUI platform. Now, Developer.Bitcoin.com hosts two more SDKs so developers can build applications with Badger Wallet and the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP). Also read: Mempool ‘Spam’ and Rising Fees: The Consequences of Veriblock’s Mainnet Launch Build Killer Apps With Bitcoin.com’s Developer Platform Bitcoin.com believes that BCH has the potential to change the world and provide people with economic freedom. On account of this conviction, our web portal provides resources, tools, and other helpful services so individuals and groups can dive right into this innovative industry that’s transforming our world. After providing a wide variety of resources for retail investors and newbies, last July we launched Developer.Bitcoin.com in order to provide assistance to the BCH development community. The service includes a bunch of tools that leverage the BCH blockchain to build decentralized and censorship-resistant applications. Initially, the software included on Developer.Bitcoin.com consisted of Bitbox SDK, REST, and GUI tools, but we’ve added two more SDKs to the mix. Badger SDK The first is the Badger SDK which can act as a gateway to the world of BCH apps. Programmers can utilize the Badger API and provide website visitors with the ability to allow apps to request their permission to send BCH, send tokens, or authenticate with the Cash-ID protocol. Badger Wallet has become the BCH version of Metamask as it allows connections to a variety of BCH applications and tokens. For instance, it supports SLP tokens and has been easily integrated with popular platforms such as Satoshi Dice and Sideshift. The Chrome and Firefox-based Badger software has the ability to process micropayments and smart assets, fuel decentralized exchanges, and power distributed autonomous organizations. Badger is also connected to the Cash-ID protocol which can give users the ability to sign in to web pages and BCH-based applications and unlock content using their private keys. Developer.Bitcoin.com also hosts Badger React components that make integrating Bitcoin Cash into any project much easier. SLP SDK Lastly, the development suite now has a Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) SDK so users can experiment with the SLP token universe. Ever since the launch of SLP cryptocurrency, people have been creating all types of tokens built on top of the BCH network. The SLP development kit provides programmers with a fully featured Javascript framework powered by Bitbox. This means developers will have access to everything they need to issue, spend or trade a token backed by the security of the BCH chain. The SLP framework is robust and extensible toward the light wallet ecosystem and programmers can apply multi-signature addresses and other Bitcoin script features with SLP tokens as well. Moreover, there’s a built-in console with REPL, Bitbox, and a Bitcoin Cash JSON RPC API. The SLP SDK is also coupled to REST, so no further setup is necessary. Fueling Innovation and Economic Freedom There’s been a ton of new applications that use the innovation and security instilled within the Bitcoin Cash network and at Bitcoin.com we want to keep the momentum going. Developer.Bitcoin.com is designed to bolster the innovation and building happening in the cryptocurrency space and all of the resources are free. At Bitcoin.com we hope our developer platform will help you change the world by leveraging the benefits of the peer-to-peer electronic cash system we all love. What do you think about Developer.Bitcoin.com? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Image credits: Bitcoin.com Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Supercharge Your BCH Workflow With Bitcoin.com’s SLP and Badger SDKs appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article